Reality
Staff member
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If you are easily offended, you may not want to read this .. you have been warned.
So you think users can't be negative any more? Take a moment and read a few threads in the Fan Zone. Just because we are cracking down on mindless complaints and insults does not mean you cannot complain about the Cowboys owner, the Cowboys staff, the Cowboys players, etc.
Why are we cracking down? It's simple. Prior to last season, we let users complain, whine, harass, etc. because as fans, we all get it. Just like this season, it sucks. However, the end result was the the site deteriorated into mostly negative content and there were several users who were pushing their own agendas that had nothing to do with being a Cowboys fan, but rather trying to drive away users they hated or trying to make CowboysZone into a place where the users they hated wouldn't want to visit very often.
As I have said countless times over the years, I did not put CowboysZone online to be the most popular site nor did I put it online to make money because I don't. I put CowboysZone online to give Cowboys fans a safe place to discuss their favorite team without being harassed by other fans. Unfortunately, some of those fans have turned out now to be Cowboys fans, despite the fact they rarely say anything positive about the team any more.
I get it. We all get it. You think the CowboysZone staff is filled with Jerry, Garrett, Marinelli, etc. fans? Of course not. We are not protecting any of them. When everyone was gushing over Jerry-the-GM last year saying, "Jerry should be Executive of the Year!" or "I'm glad we stuck with Garrett" or "Romo can play for several more years" I was saying slow down, they haven't done anything yet and I wasn't the only one. The staff's job is to keep the site as friendly and sociable as possible, not push any agenda or protect any Cowboys staff or players.
I know the rest of the internet has deteriorated into a cesspool of hate, personal attacks and socially charged gangs trying to push out those who dare support anything positive, but that's not CowboysZone and never will be! If that's your expectation or goal, you might as well give up and leave the site! Site traffic is higher this year than it was last year and despite the doom and gloom a few users, some of whom are from other sites, are hoping to see, it is just wishful thinking on their part. The reality is that I would rather run a site like CowboysZone with half the traffic it has now than let it turn into most of the other discussion sites on the net which are nothing more than negative hate-fests and personal insults and attacks.
While well thought out and constructive rants are fine, the mindless variations of "Jerry sucks", "Garrett sucks", "random player sucks", etc. or poor attempts at sarcasm stating the same that are posted over and over again with no new information, no in depth thoughts or opinions, etc. are not beneficial to the site and the site is much better off without them.
Everyone acts like we have removed all rants from the Fan Zone but there are several threads right now filled with rants, negative comments, etc. but they fit within the rules and most have real thoughts behind them. The posts in the Fan Zone that don't (aka: someone sucks, we'll never win, blah blah blah) are deleted and repeated occurrences lead to accounts being benched. In addition to several threads in the Fan Zone filled with complaints and negative discussions, there is also an entire forum called the Rant Zone dedicated to those who have nothing more to say than mindless complaints and insults, etc.
At this point, the only people upset with the removal of negative posts are the users incapable of providing constructive criticism or opinions, users who simply want to get mad about something or users who have an agenda that either involves irritating the fans who still want to support the team or harassing other users simply for personal enjoyment.
It's a very simple and straight-forward situation. If you want to post rants and complaints, go to the Rant Zone. If you want to annoy other users, go to the Rant Zone. If you want to spam thread after thread with the same comments, stop posting or leave the site.
Just because the Cowboys season has been well below expectations does not give anyone the right to harass other users who still want to support and root for their favorite team. At that point, you are no different than fans of other teams who come here to harass, annoy or gloat (aka: trolls), with the only variation being that some claim to be Cowboys fans but post nothing supporting that claim.
If you have given up on the season or the team itself, then leave and come back when the bandwagon is popular again like last year. Then you can tell us how you were a fan since the day you were born and cheer along with the other fans who stuck by their team even when they didn't like parts of it.
And yes, I know .. Reality sucks!
So you think users can't be negative any more? Take a moment and read a few threads in the Fan Zone. Just because we are cracking down on mindless complaints and insults does not mean you cannot complain about the Cowboys owner, the Cowboys staff, the Cowboys players, etc.
Why are we cracking down? It's simple. Prior to last season, we let users complain, whine, harass, etc. because as fans, we all get it. Just like this season, it sucks. However, the end result was the the site deteriorated into mostly negative content and there were several users who were pushing their own agendas that had nothing to do with being a Cowboys fan, but rather trying to drive away users they hated or trying to make CowboysZone into a place where the users they hated wouldn't want to visit very often.
As I have said countless times over the years, I did not put CowboysZone online to be the most popular site nor did I put it online to make money because I don't. I put CowboysZone online to give Cowboys fans a safe place to discuss their favorite team without being harassed by other fans. Unfortunately, some of those fans have turned out now to be Cowboys fans, despite the fact they rarely say anything positive about the team any more.
I get it. We all get it. You think the CowboysZone staff is filled with Jerry, Garrett, Marinelli, etc. fans? Of course not. We are not protecting any of them. When everyone was gushing over Jerry-the-GM last year saying, "Jerry should be Executive of the Year!" or "I'm glad we stuck with Garrett" or "Romo can play for several more years" I was saying slow down, they haven't done anything yet and I wasn't the only one. The staff's job is to keep the site as friendly and sociable as possible, not push any agenda or protect any Cowboys staff or players.
I know the rest of the internet has deteriorated into a cesspool of hate, personal attacks and socially charged gangs trying to push out those who dare support anything positive, but that's not CowboysZone and never will be! If that's your expectation or goal, you might as well give up and leave the site! Site traffic is higher this year than it was last year and despite the doom and gloom a few users, some of whom are from other sites, are hoping to see, it is just wishful thinking on their part. The reality is that I would rather run a site like CowboysZone with half the traffic it has now than let it turn into most of the other discussion sites on the net which are nothing more than negative hate-fests and personal insults and attacks.
While well thought out and constructive rants are fine, the mindless variations of "Jerry sucks", "Garrett sucks", "random player sucks", etc. or poor attempts at sarcasm stating the same that are posted over and over again with no new information, no in depth thoughts or opinions, etc. are not beneficial to the site and the site is much better off without them.
Everyone acts like we have removed all rants from the Fan Zone but there are several threads right now filled with rants, negative comments, etc. but they fit within the rules and most have real thoughts behind them. The posts in the Fan Zone that don't (aka: someone sucks, we'll never win, blah blah blah) are deleted and repeated occurrences lead to accounts being benched. In addition to several threads in the Fan Zone filled with complaints and negative discussions, there is also an entire forum called the Rant Zone dedicated to those who have nothing more to say than mindless complaints and insults, etc.
At this point, the only people upset with the removal of negative posts are the users incapable of providing constructive criticism or opinions, users who simply want to get mad about something or users who have an agenda that either involves irritating the fans who still want to support the team or harassing other users simply for personal enjoyment.
It's a very simple and straight-forward situation. If you want to post rants and complaints, go to the Rant Zone. If you want to annoy other users, go to the Rant Zone. If you want to spam thread after thread with the same comments, stop posting or leave the site.
Just because the Cowboys season has been well below expectations does not give anyone the right to harass other users who still want to support and root for their favorite team. At that point, you are no different than fans of other teams who come here to harass, annoy or gloat (aka: trolls), with the only variation being that some claim to be Cowboys fans but post nothing supporting that claim.
If you have given up on the season or the team itself, then leave and come back when the bandwagon is popular again like last year. Then you can tell us how you were a fan since the day you were born and cheer along with the other fans who stuck by their team even when they didn't like parts of it.
And yes, I know .. Reality sucks!