Post by zebrablog on Jan 1, 2014 14:56:59 GMT -5
Welcome to Behind the Football Stripes, a discussion forum of Football Zebras. We have a community that is geared towards the promotion and the critical review of officiating. We separate ourselves from other sites by not complaining about calls that go against our team, but rather to examine the calls and make judgements that avoid bias as best we can.
Because of the nature of the topic, we are going to lay some ground rules. This forum is moderated, and we will remove or edit posts as needed to comply with the rules. We will warn posters who may have accidentally violate the rules, but repeated violations after a warning are subject to having an account suspended or banned.
The intent of the rules and guidelines is not to stifle the free-flow of opinions; rather, we strive to maintain a community that informs and entertains which has, for years, been the consensus of the forum.
1. Discuss, don't flame. Do not flame or belittle someone for his or her opinions. We all think differently and may not agree with others. With that said, tasteful debate is encouraged! If you disagree with someone, please disagree with a little bit of “class”. DO NOT get personal with someone regarding an opinion that you may not agree with. If you have an issue with a particular person, please message that member or bring it to the attention of a moderator.
2. Do not use offensive language. Understandably, little children are not too interested in this topic, but level off the language for a teen audience at least.
3. Keep the thread on topic. When in doubt, start a new thread. Moderators who feel that a discussion has "run its course," and will not provide any new insight may lock a thread or set it to "fall" (new posts won't move the thread to the top of a board).
4. Spam and trolling messages are not tolerated. If there is a link you wish to share that is germane to the topic at hand, it is welcome. If you would like to start a new thread that could be interpreted as a solicitation to this forum, send a PM to a moderator to clear it first.
5. Avoid short posts, like "I agree," or "me, too," because it slows the conversation. Instead, you may "like" a post (this is an internal like, it is not related to Facebook) or if you disagree with a position, explain why.
6. Personal comments about officials. While we do allow some negative comments regarding the officials and league employees, please keep it to a minimum. Keep personal comments about officials to what you might say to them in person. Some officials read and lurk in this forum, and we should respect them as much as anyone else here. In any event, personal attacks and name calling are not acceptable.
7. We do not question the integrity of an official or suggest that someone is rigging the result of a game. Merely having multiple calls go against a single team is not evidence that an official is "in the tank" for the other team. In the exceedingly unlikely situation that there is non-empirical evidence of such impropriety, the moderators will assess that situation and address it specifically.
8. Gambling. While legalized betting may, in some isolated cases, be on topic (favorite/underdog), this is generally not the forum to discuss such items. References to illegal gambling are prohibited.
9. We allow only one user account per person. Users found with additional accounts run the risk of having all accounts disabled.
10. Messages posted express the views of the author, and not necessarily the views of the administrators and moderators of this site. If a message is moderated, it is because of it's relation to the rules, and not an opinion about the content.
In short, we ask that you exercise common sense, and to respect the others around you.
Happy zebra watching,
The moderators
Because of the nature of the topic, we are going to lay some ground rules. This forum is moderated, and we will remove or edit posts as needed to comply with the rules. We will warn posters who may have accidentally violate the rules, but repeated violations after a warning are subject to having an account suspended or banned.
The intent of the rules and guidelines is not to stifle the free-flow of opinions; rather, we strive to maintain a community that informs and entertains which has, for years, been the consensus of the forum.
1. Discuss, don't flame. Do not flame or belittle someone for his or her opinions. We all think differently and may not agree with others. With that said, tasteful debate is encouraged! If you disagree with someone, please disagree with a little bit of “class”. DO NOT get personal with someone regarding an opinion that you may not agree with. If you have an issue with a particular person, please message that member or bring it to the attention of a moderator.
2. Do not use offensive language. Understandably, little children are not too interested in this topic, but level off the language for a teen audience at least.
3. Keep the thread on topic. When in doubt, start a new thread. Moderators who feel that a discussion has "run its course," and will not provide any new insight may lock a thread or set it to "fall" (new posts won't move the thread to the top of a board).
4. Spam and trolling messages are not tolerated. If there is a link you wish to share that is germane to the topic at hand, it is welcome. If you would like to start a new thread that could be interpreted as a solicitation to this forum, send a PM to a moderator to clear it first.
5. Avoid short posts, like "I agree," or "me, too," because it slows the conversation. Instead, you may "like" a post (this is an internal like, it is not related to Facebook) or if you disagree with a position, explain why.
6. Personal comments about officials. While we do allow some negative comments regarding the officials and league employees, please keep it to a minimum. Keep personal comments about officials to what you might say to them in person. Some officials read and lurk in this forum, and we should respect them as much as anyone else here. In any event, personal attacks and name calling are not acceptable.
7. We do not question the integrity of an official or suggest that someone is rigging the result of a game. Merely having multiple calls go against a single team is not evidence that an official is "in the tank" for the other team. In the exceedingly unlikely situation that there is non-empirical evidence of such impropriety, the moderators will assess that situation and address it specifically.
8. Gambling. While legalized betting may, in some isolated cases, be on topic (favorite/underdog), this is generally not the forum to discuss such items. References to illegal gambling are prohibited.
9. We allow only one user account per person. Users found with additional accounts run the risk of having all accounts disabled.
10. Messages posted express the views of the author, and not necessarily the views of the administrators and moderators of this site. If a message is moderated, it is because of it's relation to the rules, and not an opinion about the content.
In short, we ask that you exercise common sense, and to respect the others around you.
Happy zebra watching,
The moderators