The negativity has got to stop!!! (MAJOR RANT)

[SteveA]

Posters that jump on people for saying anything negative at all are just as bad. Specifically in the game thread. Not everything that happens during the game is positive, and its not terrible to post something negative. Usually the posts go as the team goes. Hence frustration the past few weeks, as this is an ORIOLES message board and the ORIOLES have not played well. It seems like some posters choose to take out their frustrations with the team on posters saying negative things, instead of just posting something themselves.

Also, this site is awesome and is the best team forum I have ever seen, but some posters attack others no matter what they post. Or quote posters every time they say something negative and troll them, but ignore their posts that are positive and useful and pretend they were never there.

But the bottom line for me is if you wanna see the site not have much negativity, the Orioles will simply need to play better.

True, but some of the over-the-top negative crap is kind of ridiculous. In the past 24 hours, this board has seen posts saying:

-- we have no chance to get the wild card

-- it's a shame that we are back to the "old days" when we are already looking forward to spring training before the Ravens shot

-- we have no chance to "catch" the Yankees (this was written when we were a half game behind them)

-- the team should set a reasonable goal of finishing .500, but the chances of that are dwindling

-- the team lacks heart and chokes

All this when we are 3 or 4 games out of a playoff spot with 26 or 27 games to play. I can remember PLENTY of times in the 1970s that the Orioles were not in first place on Labor Day (and back then, you had to finish first to make the playoffs). Guess what, a ton of those times they won it.

Now that the rosters have expanded, one of our biggest weaknesses, lack of bullpen depth, is ameleiorated some. Buck's teams have finished strong in September every year, exceeding their overall season winning % by over 100 points in September.

You want to point out problems and weaknesses, go ahead. But making blanket statements that the team is out of it, has no chance, or has already failed -- is just ridiculous defeatism and you are going to get called on it.

[weams]

Easily the post of the thread IMHO.

Rising expectations. Yep. I am just very glad we did not fall off that cliff like all the experts assured us that we would. We are competitive again.

[weams]

True, but some of the over-the-top negative crap is kind of ridiculous. In the past 24 hours, this board has seen posts saying:

-- we have no chance to get the wild card

-- it's a shame that we are back to the "old days" when we are already looking forward to spring training before the Ravens shot

-- we have no chance to "catch" the Yankees (this was written when we were a half game behind them)

-- the team should set a reasonable goal of finishing .500, but the chances of that are dwindling

-- the team lacks heart and chokes

All this when we are 3 or 4 games out of a playoff spot with 26 or 27 games to play. I can remember PLENTY of times in the 1970s that the Orioles were not in first place on Labor Day (and back then, you had to finish first to make the playoffs). Guess what, a ton of those times they won it.

Now that the rosters have expanded, one of our biggest weaknesses, lack of bullpen depth, is ameleiorated some. Buck's teams have finished strong in September every year, exceeding their overall season winning % by over 100 points in September.

You want to point out problems and weaknesses, go ahead. But making blanket statements that the team is out of it, has no chance, or has already failed -- is just ridiculous defeatism and you are going to get called on it.

You do understand that some of those folks are here to steal the joy from victory and to twist the knife of failure though, right?

[weams]

We are not going to Make the Orioles do anything. We can all suggest things that we would do to improve things. We can all bet on the stacked coin flip to predict ultimate failure. One team gets to win the last game of their season. I've been an Oriole fan that got to celebrate a World Series victory. I'd like to again.

[ledzepp8]

He really hasn't said anything bad, at least from what I can see. This is what I was talking about. People like you just pounce on anything any poster says that can help you shed a negative light on them. But then you completely ignore posts that you can't find anything bad to say about.

He's just still making a BS RISP argument that he had already started in a thread that has since been locked.

[Guest]

The team is 2-10 in one run games since the ASB. Their closer leads the league in blown saves. They had three straight walk-off losses in Arizona after entering the late innings with the lead. And people are surprised that there are some very frustrated fans who might want to let off some steam on a chat board?

When I was in college I read a book by Crane Brinton called "The Anatomy of a Revolution" that studied the American Revolution, French Revolution, Russian Revolution, etc. The book's main thesis is that revolutions happen when there is a sudden turn for the worse after a period of rising prosperity--Brinton calls this phenomenon the "revolution of rising expectations" or something like that.

That's what you're seeing on OH these days--people were excited by last season and the team's good play early in the season, but the sudden spate of frustrating losses since the ASB has left a lot of fans feeling very angry. Not enough to storm OPACY with pitchforks, at least.

<a href='http://gifsforum.com/listofgifs/gallery/clap-clap-clap/1'><img src='http://gifsforum.com/images/gif/clap%20clap%20clap/grand/92489767.gif' alt='clap clap applause clapping clap clap applause clapping'></a>

Well Said.

[SilentJames]

You do understand that some of those folks are here to steal the joy from victory and to twist the knife of failure though, right?

I went into exile because of these people.

They are the first to post simper little whiny, snarky comments when the team loses. They have been pouring dirt on the team since May. Every loss has been the apocalypse.

Yet, if the team DOES make the playoffs, they will be the first ones back on the bandwagon.

They will be breaking their ankles climbing back on.

I took a break because I got tired of reading the crap.

[Guest]

Question for the OP. Should us as fans be happy with the 27th rank pitching staff in MLB ? I'm confused.

[weams]

I went into exile because of these people.

They are the first to post simper little whiny, snarky comments when the team loses. They have been pouring dirt on the team since May. Every loss has been the apocalypse.

Yet, if the team DOES make the playoffs, they will be the first ones back on the bandwagon.

They will be breaking their ankles climbing back on.

I took a break because I got tired of reading the crap.

There is never a need to borrow tomorrow's sorrow.

[SilentJames]

The team is 2-10 in one run games since the ASB. Their closer leads the league in blown saves. They had three straight walk-off losses in Arizona after entering the late innings with the lead. And people are surprised that there are some very frustrated fans who might want to let off some steam on a chat board?

When I was in college I read a book by Crane Brinton called "The Anatomy of a Revolution" that studied the American Revolution, French Revolution, Russian Revolution, etc. The book's main thesis is that revolutions happen when there is a sudden turn for the worse after a period of rising prosperity--Brinton calls this phenomenon the "revolution of rising expectations" or something like that.

That's what you're seeing on OH these days--people were excited by last season and the team's good play early in the season, but the sudden spate of frustrating losses since the ASB has left a lot of fans feeling very angry. Not enough to storm OPACY with pitchforks, at least.

See this is my problem: The anger.

Why anger?

I get disappointment. I get disillusionment. Hell I even get depression - but anger?

Why get so angry about something you literally, in the purest sense of the word, have no control over? Do people honestly believe that the team does not know it had struggled with RISP for a couple weeks? Do you think Adam Jones goes up there looking to strike out? Do people genuinely believe that Wieters just decided to save the hellfire for when he is in a bigger market?

I don't get the anger.

its not just the anger, it is the fatalism that comes with it. Roy's weekly "We are not going to win" thread. The countless threads that use the worst convoluted logic to further some dumb agenda. Just the willingess to pack it in is astonishing. If people had really been steeled by a decade of losing you think they would be made of stronger stuff.

The division is probably out of reach. Aw shucks.

The team is three games out of the playoffs on September 2. The last time I checked that meant that they were well in it. you think Cleveland fans think they are out of it? You think Yankee fans think they are out of it?

Suck it up people. Its a playoff race. Its going to be nerve racking. Its not football, it drags on and it has far more moving parts.

[Guest]

You can't possibly be this simplistic, can you? How many times does someone have to explain that it isn't criticism that is out of bounds before folks like you will get it?

Of course we're not happy about the pitching. I'd love nothing more than a 15 page thread analyzing why our pitching has struggled and what we can do to fix it going forward.

What is out of bounds is "these guys are losers", "these guys have given up", "Buck is an awful manager and should lose his job", etc.... You guys love to hide behind two things - it is going bad so we shouldn't pretend it isn't (when nobody is advocating differently) and I'm simply releasing frustration. Releasing frustration is fine, but saying JJ or Adam or X is a loser isn't. If you wouldn't say it to their face, you shouldn't say it in the game thread. It is that simple so stop equivocating.

First off i have never called a player on this team a loser. Buck is a great manger but it's OK to ? some of his moves without your head getting crewed off here. What's wrong with saying this team wont make the playoffs this year? The data shows since may .500 team that wont cut it. This is Buck's best year as a manger IMO to get 85 or so wins with this Pitching staff is just crazy good.

[SilentJames]

First off i have never called a player on this team a loser. Buck is a great manger but it's OK to ? some of his moves without your head getting crewed off here. What's wrong with saying this team wont make the playoffs this year? The data shows since may .500 team that wont cut it. This is Buck's best year as a manger IMO to get 85 or so wins with this Pitching staff is just crazy good.

Did you ever think that he wasn't directly talking about you in that section of the post?

[Guest]

Did you ever think that he wasn't directly talking about you in that section of the post?

"You guys love to hide behind two things" I think it was pretty clear.

[Frobby]

Question for the OP. Should us as fans be happy with the 27th rank pitching staff in MLB ? I'm confused.

No, but you could occasionally focus on the fact that the team is 3rd in the league in runs scored, and is playing the best defense of any Oriole team in decades. I have no problem with people who point out the negative aspects of the team, but the people who do that to the exclusion of everything else irritate me greatly.

[hoosiers]

I have been with the OH for about 12 years and can say I find the comments in the Game Threads this year to be among the consistently most negative, most attacking that I've seen. There is nothing wrong with having expectations and wanting a winning team, but that does not excuse the comments in those threads.

There is nothing wrong with being negative in attempts to "keep it real", but that is seldom the case. There is genuine vitriol in the comments and I sometimes wonder if what posters do with real problems in their real lives if they are so immature in dealing with a loss for a team that has been comfortably above .500 most of the season and a consistent loser for most of the 12 or so seasons before that.

I must say that I am in awe of the ability of Tony to let folks who have been banned back to the OH community in a one-sided or perhaps mutual "forgive and forget". At least one of these rebound posters is consistently loud and, worse, consistently wrong - heavens knows where we would be with the two main themes from this poster over the past five years - signing Tex and dealing Tillman. I would think someone as wrong as often as this poster would listen and entertain the ideas of other posters, but instead this poster continues to shout folly into the wind and make this a very difficult community for me to engage with.

Finally, I am fairly down on the current team. I enjoy watching them play and I love the fact that they have again laid the opinions of the national press to waste. They are close to a playoff spot and yet, I am find this season to be among the most disappointing in at least a few years. I think the moves of our GM reflect someone far out of touch with statistical likelihood of his team making the playoffs, someone giving away top 50 draft picks and multiple top 10 prospects for "non-difference" makers filling roles as fourth and fifth starters, etc. I know DD pulled all the right strings last year, but he is fully reversing the goodwill of that campaign quickly with multiple suspect gambles on thoroughly mediocre talent.

It all collides in a continued enjoyment of checking in frequently with OH, but participating with far less frequency.