Analyze: does the sport of running attract assholes?
Analyze: does the sport of running attract assholes?
it may not attract them, but with all that running alone, ours spent by yourself, one may become a bitter a-hole in the process of training.
What's pychological, professor?
I think the driving factor for so many assholes being present is that this is an internet forum. I think if you went to forums about just about anything, the majority of people that spend time on the internet will be assholes online. There's just something about talking to people without facing them that causes people to be much more brash. There is no risk of getting your ass kicked for saying the wrong thing to the wrong guy. Most of the assholes on the board are probably considerably more sheepish in person.
no- it's the internet that attacts assholes and promotes assholism. The ability to spout off on any subject and to do it anonymously, well, to paraphrase my boy Dwight Yokum from Slingblade, it's hard to not be so "asshole-ish."
I'm inclined to think that LetsRun.com message board postings are more representative of anonymous internet message board behavior than it is representative of runners.
I was asking for you to give a pychological analysis, professor.
The comments on the internet are not completely true.
has a message board. My girlfriend uses it and I laugh my ass off because the posts are so supportive that it makes me want to vomit..the complete opposite of letsrun. but, the posters on letsrun have gone over the top, I feel, and made this message board less educational.
to every rule.
As a whole the internet forum crowd is a bunch of assholes, of course there will be a handful of exceptions like your girlfriend's site. There are factors like registration required and the like that can control the amount of assholes, and letsrun has very little deterent.
I've run with a lot of different groups around the country, I travel a lot for work and meet up with local clubs and groups. Every single one of them almost everyone knows of letsrun, but not one person admits to posting on here on a regular basis. They all just say "all yeah I read it, but very rarely post anything".
rooster crows wrote:
As a whole the internet forum crowd is a bunch of assholes, of course there will be a handful of exceptions like your girlfriend's site. There are factors like registration required and the like that can control the amount of assholes, and letsrun has very little deterent.
I've run with a lot of different groups around the country, I travel a lot for work and meet up with local clubs and groups. Every single one of them almost everyone knows of letsrun, but not one person admits to posting on here on a regular basis. They all just say "all yeah I read it, but very rarely post anything".
good post. yes, it is internet forums that attract the a-holes, sycophants and social retards of the world, not the sport of running.
i used to complain that this forum could be 10x better if they would require registration, but obviously it's not going to happen...too bad. so many people with things to contribute are chased away by all the trolls and stupidity.
slowtwitch.com, a triathlon site with required registration, runs into the problem of having a group of about 5 people who police the message boards. They're self centered idiots who think they're experts and anytime they disagree with something, they gang up on the poster and litter the thread with crap. It's amazing they have that much time on their hands to be on a messageboard as much as they are.
so, registration would not solve the problem.
one possible solution: anyone can start a thread on a select forum, but only selected athletes and coaches can respond.
not so much assholes as folks with pretty severe self esteem issues... there is a reason why most girls don't find distance runners attractive... y'all are a bunch of losers. now that obviously doesn't include everyone, but i'd say the majority.
I think that runners are oftentimes very carbohydrate deprived, which tends to lead to crabbiness.
thoughts wrote:
one possible solution: anyone can start a thread on a select forum, but only selected athletes and coaches can respond.
1) Registration required to post messages;
2) Originator of each thread is allowed to block any post, or poster, from that particilar thread (only);
3) Spamming, porn, profanity etc to be blocked by moderators, but not content.
good idea, but i doubt Webb or Ritz or Radcliffe would want to have to sort through what to block or delete. it wouldn't be good for their morale dealing with stupid cynics.
Mmm Mmm... R U gonna finish them tator fries?
the fact that it's such an open forum allows for any and all ideas and thoughts and is what's so good about this site. the conflicts that arise are what compose good discussion. of course quite a bit seems like pure idiocy, but it does allow us to see the thinking of other human beings/runners. if it weren't for the arguments, name calling and everything else that may be seen as negative, the discussion would be rather lame.
Runners in general are selfish. They are willing to "fight" for ideal conditions so that training and racing can go as planned. You also develop a sense of lonliness while training in difficult periods because you must stay so focused. You are usually a minority because not many ppl run competitively like us. Actually, I find that runners are typically more "with it" and smarter than the average so when people say "stupid" things it's so hard not to comment. I have all of these problems at one time or another myself.
For defense, I think if you started a message board about anything, people in general like to verbally and behind a hidden name attack each other. Usually it is not serious and only done to be funny. Find 2 posters who attack each other vigorously and then have them meet in person and likely they'd get along because they both like running and there would be no friction.
good point, except for the fact that most of the people on this board probably don't running as serious as yourself.
ummm wrote:
What's pychological, professor?
exhibit A...