I know alot of people on here are not found of Paladin. My question is why? This is a message board, for people to gice their opinions, express thoughts and engage in discussions. How "loyal" Paladin or ANY other poster is to YSU is irrelevant. This is NOT a cheerleading site. If players are reading this site, I'd advice coaches find a way to have this site and others blocked on all devices used by players. Also, this is D1, so if coaches, players, AD's...etc want praise when they perform well, criticism comes with not performing up to par. Anyone who cannot deal with that does not belong at YSU or invovled with D1 athletics.
Dan does a good job of monitoring the site to make sure blatant personal attacks are not being made against coaches, players and staff. When he sees it happening, he warns people, if they keep it up he bans the user name. I've also witnessed him delete messages that were blatant PERSONAL attacks. Negative comments about a coach, player or Administrator/Staff which are about their job performance is NOT a personal attack. Saying a person is a bad coach because they are fat is a personal attack. Saying a person beats their spouse or significant other is a personal attack. Implying a person abuses drugs or alcohol are personal attacks. Saying a person is a dumb a&& as a person IS A PERSONAL ATTACK. Saying someone coaches like a dumba$$, or that some of the decisions were dumb a$$ or bone headed is NOT a personal attack.
Expressing an opinion that certain people are not performing their jobs at a level that is acceptable, and naming such people is NOT a personal attack. Again, that comes with having a job that put's people in the public eye. If ANY of you played sports and/or coached, then you know the types of things said at games. The things spouses, significant others, family and friends hear in the stands. The things that can be heard on the field, court, sidelines..etc. Again, it comes with the territory, especially Varsity High School and higher. Not saying I condone alot of the things said in the stands, just saying at times that I played sports, coached or when helping my dad coach or going to watch his teams, I knew I may well hear things that were quite harsh. And, now that type of thing has drifted all the way down to 7-8 year olds playing little league baseball. Saw it with my nephew. At that age, it is totally inappropriate.
Paladin can act like an A$$ at times. I do not know him as a person, so I'm not going to say he is an A$$ as a person. And, while he can act like an A$$ at times when posting, so can others. He gives his opinions. He adds his insight based off his knowledge and past experiences. Sometimes he is right, sometimes he is wrong. The thing is, he is right alot more than he is wrong. As far as admitting when wrong, that is not one of his strong points. Thing is, that could be said for several other people who post on this site. T ome, Paladin is like a dog with a loud, scary bark. Let him bark, and he is harmless. Try to pick an argument with him and call him names, and he will respond in kind. There are ways of disagreeing with people other than stooping to name calling and other kinds of childishness. And, ignoring the comments all together can work quite well.
I remember Wick250 getting crucified as "not a real fan" when starting the thread about what qualities people wanted in the next coach, or something to that extent. It was after the loss to WIU. I think Wick250 may have also said YSU would not win another game the rest of the year, or 2 games the rest of the year. YSU won 3 in a row, people were tearing him apart. And, then YSU hit the meat of the schedule, lost the final 3 games, finished 6-5/4-4, and guess what, Wolford was fired. YSU has a new HC. There are many things that can be said of Wick250. As with all of us, some positive and some negative. One thing that CANNOT be said if knowing anything at all about Wick250 is that Wick is not a true fan. Wick has likely been a YSU fan longer than some who post on this board have been alive. A fan well before it was fashionable to be a YSU fan. Before Stambaugh Stadium and even before Beeghly Center. And, having said that, the trueness of ones fandom(I made up those two word) is irrelevant to rational, intelligent debate/discussions.
One last point, while I'm on my soapbox. The comments about the older fans, especially during football season get's tired. Many of those people have been going to games since the school was called Youngstown College. Since the days of football at Rayen or South, and basketball at South. Those of us who are younger(I'm 47) can only hope that when we get into our late 60's, 70's, 80's we are able to attend sporting events in person. Heck, that we are eve still alive and in somewhat good health, especially once getting into 70's, 80's and even 90's. So, if younger, try and cut them some slack. They may not stand and cheer. Some may knit. But, they are at the games, and likely have been going to games longer than many of us have been alive, myself included.
