Forum Censorship

I support the moderator's position on that.

It's always been the practice here to refrain from negative posts naming players. Asking for opinions about who is likely to get cut would have to include negative comments, even if only by comparison on a depth chart.

What would be the point of the discussion in any case?

You may consider it censorship; for my part, I consider disallowing the topic to be good manners. As time goes on, you'll find out just how small the baseball community is in the US. Chances are good that the players whose names might have been called would end up playing with or against your son at some point and he might have had to deal with the repercussions.

I wouldn't have a problem with saying school x has a problem of 40 kids and a 35 man roster... calling out specific kids as the potential cut victims strikes me as being outside the norms of this community.

I think the moderator's actions showed good judgement. Obviously you disagree since you basically posted the same information (I eliminated the school's name) in this post. Whenever a player is mentioned in a negative manner it will offend someone. Although you didn't mention any player's name, asking which players will (or should) be cut from a college roster is directing a question for the sole purpose of inviting a negative comment. This is called "flame baiting" on the HSBBW. In reading the board manners one cautionary statement is: Please avoid flame wars or anything you KNOW will cause others to flame (aka "flame bait").
It takes a long time for a stepped on toe to heal. Thankfully we haven't stepped on a player's toe and hopefully you don't think someone has stepped on yours.
Respectfully,
Fungo

As my then 8 year old son once said in a very loud voice, to his teammate who had just admitted to the umpire he had not touched the runner with his glove: "Baseball is not a game of honesty".

If no one is willing to put a face on the players affected, the practice will continue. As my son's comments might have emphasized, baseball is not a very kind and "honest" sport sometimes. To ignore the opportunity now to expose those coaches who have put the baseball and academic careers, and financial health of some players in jeopardy, is, in my opinion, an injustice.

I agree that here at the HSBBW it has always been the practice here to refrain from negative posts naming players.

Because for the most part, we are the parents of those players.....

Although I am one of the newly minted moderators of the "ask the umpire" Forum, I am not a fan of censoring opinions. I am however in this case very supportive of the moderators decision to delete your post.

I do not believe that the value that could be garnered by responding would outweigh the damage it may cause to one of our posters sons....Nor do I believe the post would positively affect the situation you describe in your above response...

I commend the moderator in the manner of the response you received as to why the post was deleted. It was polite, concise and thorough.

quote:

To ignore the opportunity now to expose those coaches who have put the baseball and academic careers, and financial health of some players in jeopardy, is, in my opinion, an injustice.

There is a right way to go about "exposing" those coaches but a public forum on the HSBBW is not the proper place. Thanks for the input and opinions from all --- I'm closing this thread.

quote:

Originally posted by Louisiana Lightning:

What do ya'll think about that?

I think that I don't really get the point of asking who websters think will be cut from any program. No problem with mentioning a program that over recruits(not the coach however), but no reason at all to ask for names, which would just be speculation anyway but becomes sensitive when you begin speaking about players in particular.

I also think that if you don't understand this perhaps after 56 posts, you need to go back and revisit the main purpose of the HSBBW.

JMO.

Just weighing in quickly to say:

The moderator made the right decision, and I would have done the same thing. The thread had a strong potential to be needlessly hurtful to some players and parents. I know that it will seem to some that this topic was in that "gray area" between helping and hurting. Just part of what makes the moderator job tough sometimes.

Thank you to all of our moderators. You do a great job!!!

Julie