A rant on the folks who think anyone who likes it is a

[TrumpetJ]

I do want to point out that you are fed up with differing opinions. It is part of life.

The differing opinions are fine. It's constantly being a smart$*@ towards people with said differing opinion that grinds my gears.

[Plan9]

More fed up than touchy.

I've done this before (I think I even created a thread once), anyway....I honestly want to ask you and AlexL the proper way to handle "snipers" that enter a conversation with the express desire to bash a corps (BD in this case). Supporters have several choices, they can ignore it; respond in an equally mean or occasionally mocking way; reason with or even quasi agree with the basher. Now when someone zooms in while your having a discussion and says "your kid's ugly and stupid" then zooms out again, you tend not to want to reason with him.

For us BD honks, the argument is supported by their record. It's the other side of the argument...the squeesy, unmeasurable, rationalization side that we tend to defend against. So... your characterization of us descending like arch angels whenever BD is wronged is partially accurate..but we're not really defending BD (I mean really, think about it, do they look like they need defending? ) It's about the squeesy stuff, and bringing balance to a one-sided accusation.

[purenjoyment]

In Boston many fans like to say Yankees Suck.

I am a Red Sox fan but when people say that it makes me cringe.

The Yankees are only the most successful sports franchise ever in sports.

Thus, these fans are showing their bad sportsmanship,ignorance ,jealousy or in some cases just are having fun with it.

This seems to be what goes on with these BD critics.

[TrumpetJ]

I've done this before (I think I even created a thread once), anyway....I honestly want to ask you and AlexL the proper way to handle "snipers" that enter a conversation with the express desire to bash a corps (BD in this case). Supporters have several choices, they can ignore it; respond in an equally mean or occasionally mocking way; reason with or even quasi agree with the basher. Now when someone zooms in while your having a discussion and says "your kid's ugly and stupid" then zooms out again, you tend not to want to reason with him.

For us BD honks, the argument is supported by their record. It's the other side of the argument...the squeesy, unmeasurable, rationalization side that we tend to defend against. So... your characterization of us descending like arch angels whenever BD is wronged is partially accurate..but we're not really defending BD (I mean really, think about it, do they look like they need defending? ) It's about the squeesy stuff, and bringing balance to a one-sided accusation.

No doubt BD's record speaks for itself, and you make some very good points. It's just that in the three years I've been on this site, I've never seen people jumped on so readily for expressing their personal views (Crown honks in 08 and 09 came very VERY close). It seemed like clockwork whenever I would read something against BD, even if it was tame, that a few minutes later there were 3 or 4 posts going after the poster for having a differing opinion. I don't know maybe it's just my general frustration of DCP this summer starting to boil over.

Edited August 25, 2010 by UTtrumpetdude

[SFZFAN]

I often eat waffles in front of a mirror. Does that make me forward-looking and innovative?

[Plan9]

No doubt BD's record speaks for itself, and you make some very good points. It's just that in the three years I've been on this site, I've never seen people jumped on so readily for expressing their personal views (Crown honks in 08 and 09 came very VERY close). It seemed like clockwork whenever I would read something against BD, even if it was tame, that a few minutes later there were 3 or 4 posts going after the poster for having a differing opinion. I don't know maybe it's just my general frustration of DCP this summer starting to boil over.

Boil over is good, it's the pressure cookers that are dangerous.

Look, the nature of the approach is everything. I think that if you look back a few weeks as we got near Finals you'll see an almost desperate feeling to some of the threads on DCP. Almost as if they were pleading with the judges to listen to them... BD this ....BD that...("BD's staying in a hotel, is that an advantage?", I mean really!!) almost nothing negative about other corps. It was a frontal assault up the hill of reality. I defended them in my usual manner, but it felt like "Whack a Mole". Then for me, something cathartic happened at Semi's...I made a connection with the 40 somethings on the field (SOI) and BD's moment. You don't have to agree with my catharsis but it was later proved to me to be accurate (in my view). The reality was that "time" will heal the bad manners of some at LOS towards this hard working corps. They may not understand it now, but like SOI at Semi's, some day they will recognize what a great moment this was.

[TrumpetJ]

I often eat waffles in front of a mirror. Does that make me forward-looking and innovative?

It makes you forward looking and syrupy.

[SFZFAN]

It makes you forward looking and syrupy.

Nice!!!

[TrumpetJ]

Boil over is good, it's the pressure cookers that are dangerous.

Look, the nature of the approach is everything. I think that if you look back a few weeks as we got near Finals you'll see an almost desperate feeling to some of the threads on DCP. Almost as if they were pleading with the judges to listen to them... BD this ....BD that...("BD's staying in a hotel, is that an advantage?", I mean really!!) almost nothing negative about other corps. It was a frontal assault up the hill of reality. I defended them in my usual manner, but it felt like "Whack a Mole". Then for me, something cathartic happened at Semi's...I made a connection with the 40 somethings on the field (SOI) and BD's moment. You don't have to agree with my catharsis but it was later proved to me to be accurate (in my view). The reality was that "time" will heal the bad manners of some at LOS towards this hard working corps. They may not understand it now, but like SOI at Semi's, some day they will recognize what a great moment this was.

Darn you and your logic and cool-headedness.

[skevinp]

I've done this before (I think I even created a thread once), anyway....I honestly want to ask you and AlexL the proper way to handle "snipers" that enter a conversation with the express desire to bash a corps (BD in this case). Supporters have several choices, they can ignore it; respond in an equally mean or occasionally mocking way; reason with or even quasi agree with the basher. Now when someone zooms in while your having a discussion and says "your kid's ugly and stupid" then zooms out again, you tend not to want to reason with him.

For us BD honks, the argument is supported by their record. It's the other side of the argument...the squeesy, unmeasurable, rationalization side that we tend to defend against. So... your characterization of us descending like arch angels whenever BD is wronged is partially accurate..but we're not really defending BD (I mean really, think about it, do they look like they need defending? ) It's about the squeesy stuff, and bringing balance to a one-sided accusation.

I don't think UTtrumpetdude is talking about reactions to the unfortunate handful of people who say anything remotely comparable to "your kid's ugly and stupid" and I doubt you would run into too much disagreement if you handed it back to them (which won't likely make them any nicer though) or make a clever joke at their expense (which they probably won't get anyway but the rest of us might enjoy) or simply ignore them (which might honestly be the best way of dealing with them.)

Rather, I think he is talking about reactions to those people who merely say they don't enjoy the program design this year and are nevertheless immediately treated as IF they said "your kid's ugly and stupid" by supposed "protectors" who seem to want to attach the worst possible motives to such people. For example, for a DCI fan merely to express concerns about the potential enjoyability of a direction that may be taken by the leading (and therefore most likely to be emulated) corps is not an attack but a valid point of discussion in a forum ideal for sharing such a concern.

The fact that there are bashers out there is not a sufficient reason to mistreat anyone whose subjective artisitic opinion is different from yours. That's all I'm saying. If you don't happen to be doing that, then you are not one of those people whose behavior is being addressed by my expressed concerns. And if you aren't USUALLY doing that but let your defensiveness get the best of you on occasion, then I don't think you intentions are bad, but would beg of you not to be so quick to jump to conclusions.