Apology from me on lack of moderation

[Tony-OH]

I would like to apologize to the board for me and my moderators' lack of action on the clearly political thread. We clearly failed to quickly moderate the forum which is something I pride myself on. We will do better. We have removed one poster who clearly doesn't get it and I would like to warn all others that any attempt to drive a post into politics will now be met with a banning.

There are plenty of places to discuss politics, the Hangout is not one of them. I got caught up in it myself in a thread and realized very quickly that this is the exact reason we don't allow politics on our forum. Everyone except for the person removed is fine and we need to just move on.

Anything based on racism will become political so we will not discuss it on here. Politics and religion will remain the two subjects that will not be discussed on Orioles Hangout. Thank you for your cooperation going forward.

Please help us moderate the board by reporting offending posts. Thank you and enjoy the Hangout.

[WEAVERMAN]

1 hour ago, Tony-OH said:

I would like to apologize to the board for me and my moderators' lack of action on the clearly political thread. We clearly failed to quickly moderate the forum which is something I pride myself on. We will do better. We have removed one poster who clearly doesn't get it and I would like to warn all others that any attempt to drive a post into politics will now be met with a banning.

There are plenty of places to discuss politics, the Hangout is not one of them. I got caught up in it myself in a thread and realized very quickly that this is the exact reason we don't allow politics on our forum. Everyone except for the person removed is fine and we need to just move on.

Anything based on racism will become political so we will not discuss it on here. Politics and religion will remain the two subjects that will not be discussed on Orioles Hangout. Thank you for your cooperation going forward.

Please help us moderate the board by reporting offending posts. Thank you and enjoy the Hangout.

Well done Tony.

[Hallas]

1 hour ago, Tony-OH said:

I would like to apologize to the board for me and my moderators' lack of action on the clearly political thread. We clearly failed to quickly moderate the forum which is something I pride myself on. We will do better. We have removed one poster who clearly doesn't get it and I would like to warn all others that any attempt to drive a post into politics will now be met with a banning.

There are plenty of places to discuss politics, the Hangout is not one of them. I got caught up in it myself in a thread and realized very quickly that this is the exact reason we don't allow politics on our forum. Everyone except for the person removed is fine and we need to just move on.

Anything based on racism will become political so we will not discuss it on here. Politics and religion will remain the two subjects that will not be discussed on Orioles Hangout. Thank you for your cooperation going forward.

Please help us moderate the board by reporting offending posts. Thank you and enjoy the Hangout.

Does this mean we can't discuss or make threads about Jones, for example, talking about this stuff in his post-games?  Or does it just mean we tread carefully when we do bring it up?  Sometimes the lines are blurry.

[Tony-OH]

11 minutes ago, Hallas said:

Does this mean we can't discuss or make threads about Jones, for example, talking about this stuff in his post-games?  Or does it just mean we tread carefully when we do bring it up?  Sometimes the lines are blurry.

Talk about Jones all you want, but if he starts discussing race or social issues, let's steer clear. They may be important issues but in the end, they become political and we don't allow that here.

[SilentJames]

I think we all need to get over it. 

Politics and sports, especially baseball, have always been intertwined. Throughout history, forever, and it always will. From MLB's historical exclusion of black players, to its co-mingling with the United States military and government overseas (Read an excellent book Called The Empire Strikes Out (it is not necessarily a critical view of baseball during the age of American Imperialism but merely a "hey this stuff happened and it kinda explains why the Caribbean is nutty for the game.") Baseball and politics have always intermingled. 

What happened the night before last in Boston to an Orioles player is an entirely germane topic for an Orioles messageboard. And shying away from uncomfortable conversations only goes on to allow systemic and wrongheaded ideas to continue to be perpetuated. Perhaps if more people weren't so unnerved by having adult conversations about uncomfortable topics then there would be fewer Boston chuckleheads (trust me I have far more choice terms for them but I respect the language rules here) harassing not just Adam Jones but others in their day to day lives. 

Now, this is an Orioles sports messageboard and it is not appropriate to randomly open a thread discussing the finer points of race theory and intersectionality as it applies to the modern world. But this was a fairly specific and remarkable event considering the responses that came from Orioles ownership, Red Sox ownership, MLB and the MLB PA as well as stories and comments from other players around the MLB. Adam Jones and this issue was the center of the MLB world for a day, and shutting down any valid conversation about that over an arbitrary rule feels wrong. Pretending it didn't happen when this board is consiered basically THE place for Orioles discussion and one of the most popular and recognized fan communities is simply a disservice.  

 

[25 Nuggets]

The Jones issue is going to be talked about, it's gone national, and people are going to come here expecting to see a topic on it.  Of course it could die down quickly, but there are two games left in the series.  And something similar can happen in the future.

I guess what I'm saying is, you'll have to keep this level of moderation up.

[Plutarch]

9 minutes ago, SilentJames said:

What happened the night before last in Boston to an Orioles player is an entirely germane topic for an Orioles messageboard. And shying away from uncomfortable conversations only goes on to allow systemic and wrongheaded ideas to continue to be perpetuated. Perhaps if more people weren't so unnerved by having adult conversations about uncomfortable topics then there would be fewer Boston chuckleheads (trust me I have far more choice terms for them but I respect the language rules here) harassing not just Adam Jones but others in their day to day lives. 

 

While I agree with this point I'll note that the thread in question initially started off as posting J. Angelos' very relevant thoughts/response to the situation and then quickly descended into a name calling contest between people of differing political viewpoints.   The catalyst for the quick demise of the very important opening post appears to have been that either 1) The amount of hatred had escalated in the past few months or, 2) The willingness of people to share their long dormant feelings of hatred has increased.  Either way, the Jones issue is one that all minorities face in all states and cities (it's not just Boston) and it's something that should be able to be debated within the context of baseball without people viewing any point with which they do not agree as an assault on their beliefs/feelings.  That said, I am very happy that politics has no place on the OH and I appreciate the moderators efforts to enforce the rule of decency (no personal insults or foul language) 

[Cumberbundy]

I once lacked moderation. Yadda yadda yadda, the next morning I woke up next to a 2 in Salisbury. ☹️

[El Gordo]

33 minutes ago, SilentJames said:

I think we all need to get over it. 

Politics and sports, especially baseball, have always been intertwined. Throughout history, forever, and it always will. From MLB's historical exclusion of black players, to its co-mingling with the United States military and government overseas (Read an excellent book Called The Empire Strikes Out (it is not necessarily a critical view of baseball during the age of American Imperialism but merely a "hey this stuff happened and it kinda explains why the Caribbean is nutty for the game.") Baseball and politics have always intermingled. 

What happened the night before last in Boston to an Orioles player is an entirely germane topic for an Orioles messageboard. And shying away from uncomfortable conversations only goes on to allow systemic and wrongheaded ideas to continue to be perpetuated. Perhaps if more people weren't so unnerved by having adult conversations about uncomfortable topics then there would be fewer Boston chuckleheads (trust me I have far more choice terms for them but I respect the language rules here) harassing not just Adam Jones but others in their day to day lives. 

Now, this is an Orioles sports messageboard and it is not appropriate to randomly open a thread discussing the finer points of race theory and intersectionality as it applies to the modern world. But this was a fairly specific and remarkable event considering the responses that came from Orioles ownership, Red Sox ownership, MLB and the MLB PA as well as stories and comments from other players around the MLB. Adam Jones and this issue was the center of the MLB world for a day, and shutting down any valid conversation about that over an arbitrary rule feels wrong. Pretending it didn't happen when this board is consiered basically THE place for Orioles discussion and one of the most popular and recognized fan communities is simply a disservice.  

 

Hear, hear!

[Frobby]

The topics are important.   It's not important that they be discussed on an Orioles message board, even when relevant to something a player or team executive has said.    It's hard enough to keep arguments civil when we're debating why Jones swings at so many pitches outside the strike zone.    Nobody's going to change anyone's mind about the extent or causes of racism by posting on a message board.    It's a bad vehicle for that kind of discussion, even though the topic itself is well worthy of discussion.  

[Tony-OH]

53 minutes ago, SilentJames said:

I think we all need to get over it. 

Politics and sports, especially baseball, have always been intertwined. Throughout history, forever, and it always will. From MLB's historical exclusion of black players, to its co-mingling with the United States military and government overseas (Read an excellent book Called The Empire Strikes Out (it is not necessarily a critical view of baseball during the age of American Imperialism but merely a "hey this stuff happened and it kinda explains why the Caribbean is nutty for the game.") Baseball and politics have always intermingled. 

What happened the night before last in Boston to an Orioles player is an entirely germane topic for an Orioles messageboard. And shying away from uncomfortable conversations only goes on to allow systemic and wrongheaded ideas to continue to be perpetuated. Perhaps if more people weren't so unnerved by having adult conversations about uncomfortable topics then there would be fewer Boston chuckleheads (trust me I have far more choice terms for them but I respect the language rules here) harassing not just Adam Jones but others in their day to day lives. 

Now, this is an Orioles sports messageboard and it is not appropriate to randomly open a thread discussing the finer points of race theory and intersectionality as it applies to the modern world. But this was a fairly specific and remarkable event considering the responses that came from Orioles ownership, Red Sox ownership, MLB and the MLB PA as well as stories and comments from other players around the MLB. Adam Jones and this issue was the center of the MLB world for a day, and shutting down any valid conversation about that over an arbitrary rule feels wrong. Pretending it didn't happen when this board is consiered basically THE place for Orioles discussion and one of the most popular and recognized fan communities is simply a disservice.  

 

Unfortunately, we are not going to change our no politics rule regardless or whether an orioles player is in the middle of it or not. Your opinion is noted, but nonetheless, we will not allow any conversation or posts that delves into politics on these boards.

Whether politics crosses between sports and "real world" or not, it's not going to be discussed here. We tried a politics board and it just doesn't work. As Frobby said, at the end of the day, you are not going to change my and and I'm going to change yours, but the biggest issue it feeds into trolls who can't help themselves but to get mean-spirited. This then bleeds into the other board and gets miserable around here.

Feel free to talk about anything in the appropriate categories besides politics and religion.

[25 Nuggets]

2 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

Unfortunately, we are not going to change our no politics rule regardless or whether an orioles player is in the middle of it or not. Your opinion is noted, but nonetheless, we will not allow any conversation or posts that delves into politics on these boards.

Whether politics crosses between sports and "real world" or not, it's not going to be discussed here. We tried a politics board and it just doesn't work. As Frobby said, at the end of the day, you are not going to change my and and I'm going to change yours, but the biggest issue it feeds into trolls who can't help themselves but to get mean-spirited. This then bleeds into the other board and gets miserable around here.

Feel free to talk about anything in the appropriate categories besides politics and religion.

You may want to lock this thread too then Tony.  But don't delete it.

[Cumberbundy]

26 minutes ago, Frobby said:

The topics are important.   It's not important that they be discussed on an Orioles message board, even when relevant to something a player or team executive has said.    It's hard enough to keep arguments civil when we're debating why Jones swings at so many pitches outside the strike zone.    Nobody's going to change anyone's mind about the extent or causes of racism by posting on a message board.    It's a bad vehicle for that kind of discussion, even though the topic itself is well worthy of discussion.  

Take back what you said about Jones. ?

[El Gordo]

Dare we speak of Jackie Robinson ever again?

[ShannieDC]

7 minutes ago, El Gordo said:

Dare we speak of Jackie Robinson ever again?

Apparently that's taboo