FanPost

An explanation of why people dislike you BBS.

I am going to briefly summarize some of the reasons why you are becoming more and more unpopular. While I may be the only one with these opinions, I don't think I am alone, but I am not speaking for anyone else specifically. Contrary to what you may believe, you didn't remotely cover them with your fanpost justifying your behavior.

Reason 1: Presenting opinion as fact is "Bad Journalism, bad work, etc.

You are absolutely correct that part of your job is to issue opinions. There is nothing wrong with issuing unpopular opinions, especially when other parties won't do so. But, there is a crucial distinction between issuing an opinion and stating a fact. You have become woefully oblivious to the distinction.
For example, statements like: "If you think the Thomas pick was good, it's just not worth the effort "debating" with you. The pick was awful" are your personal opinion. That is not a fact. You are entitled to your opinion and there is no inherent problem with you stating it on the front page, but it is a problem when you A) dismiss legitimate criticism of that opinion as being unworthy of debate B) don't clearly state that this view is your opinion and not the opinion of the SB community.

If you truly value the "input" of the community or were certain your statement is a fact, not opinion, then it is unclear why you did not dispose of the "obviously stupid" counterarguments raised in the response to your argument. Points like: 1) few 3rd round draft picks ever become 5+ year starters; 2) kevin thomas played the last two full seasons without any injury and had never before injured his knees.

Reason 2: Ignoring or hiding Contrary Evidence

This problem coincides with the first one. It is one thing to ignore contrary evidence in the comment thread, it is quite another to ignore excellent fanposts in order to hide the flaws in your argument.

BBS wrote several articles about why he believes it is crystal clear that A-go will be benched next year, further examples of problem 1. He then chose to ignore the excellent fanpost written by jamkel. Now, he may argue that since this fanpost was so heavily recommended it was already getting enough views. I don't buy that for one second. If fanposts are ever front-page worthy then this is a perfect example. It was well-researched, directly pertinent to THE most important off-season topic to discuss, and could be front-paged during the slow colts-offeason. Instead, what did we get on the front page? A link to a 3rd party story about Jamarcus Russell becoming a colt. Even if we suspend the laws of the universe, and assume that the colts pick up JR, how is that more pertinent to NEXT season (because peyton ain't retiring soon) than who will be the #2 receiver.

It is behavior like this that makes one think that you are intentionally ignoring and minimizing counter-arguments in order to inflate your sense of self-importance. IF you truly cared about the community or your integrity, then you would do a far better job of giving those who engage in extensive critiques of your views, the same exposure on the front page. Your unwilling to do so cannot be justified by the quality of the posts (which have been excellent), the surplus of other more important news (umm no), or any other factor.

Reason 3: Focusing on YOUR aspect of the story, not the story itself
Instead of focusing on the immediate impact of the loss of Kevin Thomas on the secondary, you chose instead to discuss the injuries impact on your draft thoughts. This is irresponsible at best, narcissistic at worst. By using your position to discuss your own prior opinions, you waste everyone's time. Express your opinion in terms of things that actually matter. I don't care whether you were right in 2006 about our 3rd round draft pack; I am interested in knowing what you think the implications of this move will be.

Reason 4: Engaging in unnecessary, inflammatory personal attacks on 3rd parties

As one commenter pointed out, what is the point of stating things like?

However, [bill polian] definitely messed up this draft selection, and should be held accountable for it.

You concede that BP is one of the greatest drafters of all time. What exactly is supposed to be done to be him? Do you honestly think BP wants to screw up? There was NO point to this attack.

Now, I am in no way arguing that BP is sacred. There is nothing wrong with saying he made a mistake, provided you justify your opinion and classify it as opinion. But that's all that needs to be said. Unless you have an actual point, namely, that BP must go or should stop drafting in the third round or something, all this posturing is just that, useless hot air. This is a small example of the Dan D hit piece. A completely unnecessary article that just makes colts fans look petty and stupid. Again, there is a huge distinction between pointing out when another writer is wrong, or even calling them blatantly wrong, and attacking them personally like a 3rd grader.

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I'm sure there are a number of reasons that I am forgetting right now, that I may add later, or others may contribute, but I felt the need to share this with you. Why? Why did I write this? Because over the past several months, I have fallen out of love with this site. I rarely comment here, but I have read almost every article since the day I joined. When I first discovered a website with this much content and analysis of the colts, it was an incredibly happy day. Comparing Peter King and the indy star to this was like comparing the current pacers to the boom baby era. Gradually, however, i've watched the level of discourse on this site drop. More and more of BBS articles seem like they were written by Kravitz; moreover, I've discovered other excellent sites to get colts news without the opinion. I don't want to leave because I honestly do enjoy reading strong, opinionated colts opinions.

Hopefully, BBS, I can convince you to compromise. Speak your mind, but let others speak theirs too. When you do speak your mind, make it clear that this is an opinion that is perhaps wrong, not issued from on high by moses. These things, in my opinion, will make the site better for all those who visit.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Stampede Blue's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Stampede Blue's writers or editors.