The current state and multiple topics on TKP made me get a bit nostalgic for times past. Now I haven't been here as long as some, over two seasons, but wanted to look back.
Remember when there was constant recruit coverage and hope. If we didn't land a kid, we wished him luck and remained level headed, not getting negative on our coaches.
Remember when we used to post topics about individual players, such as Sam, Bucky, Wang, etc?
Remember when, even though there were a lot of unknowns to the football or basketball programs, we still had hope and looking at the bright side?
Remember when Bitter started posting and responding on the site?
Remember when everyone started tracking airplanes flying into SEc country?
Remember all the LOLUVA jokes and commentary?
Remember when we posted other topics about how great VT is, such as food and academia?
Remember when we had conversations about how proud we were of our head coach for not being like some others?
My list could go on. I used to spend countless hours going through all the blog and forum posts. Now I just check in to see if there is news (per some of my mentions above), and quickly leave when the topics turn to fire Beamer, we suck, etc.
Definitely losing the excitement level that was once TKP. Sure miss those days.
Comments
I am with you. Great thing is it can still be this way. Don't get involved when being trolled on here. Try to only comment and respond in a way that brings about positive conversation related to the current thread. As always follow the TKP rules. Not everyone will do this but for those that do thanks for helping keep TKP a place I come to many times a day while I should be working to read and chat about all things Hokie.
why yes, I do remember last off season
I honestly think its just the nature of a site with exponentially growing popularity. I still love TKP, but I too find myself commenting less and less. I do believe Joe and everyone who has been involved here for awhile still do an excellent job maintaining the essence of TKP but like I said, its just a byproduct of so many people joining
I remember many of these. A few points:
When a recruit chooses another school, by and large we still wish the guy good health and good luck in his future. It's a rare day when I see someone trash a kid for not liking us as much as we, as fans, were interested in seeing him join the fam. If and when we lose a big time recruit, I think it's pretty fair to look at our coaches and recruiting, as long as we stick to valid criticisms. We sometimes do this. We'll see how it goes when Sweat and Settle decide.
Yeah there's still a lot of hope, especially about basketball at the moment, but we're suffering through the doldrums of a few below-par seasons for the football program, so I think it's natural that the conversation turns a little sour at times. Willie Byrn was right, we were a little spoiled with our success over the years. Every new season, though, hope springs eternally anew. I think most of us are still hopeful. I'm holding out hope for 2016 and trying to remain a loyal fan in the meantime, even if it means thinking about things I never thought I would (aka how much time does Frank have left, etc). Again, sticking to fairness in our considerations remains paramount.
Bitter is still chilin'. When are Wood and McFarling going to show up?
LOLUVA jokes persist. Don't worry much about this.
The food is unassailable. Period.
However, I don't like turning to academics or the reputation of our coach. Here's why:
I'm living in State College, PA. Everyone knows what happened up here a couple of years back. The fans up here, at least those who live in the echo chamber that is PSU, talk (or talked) nonstop about the greatness of Paterno and the academics of the school. Every single time I hear it I get a little sad inside (for them, not about us).
Both PSU and VT are good schools. But neither are Duke or Stanford. Neither are even Michigan or UVA (yeah I said it, except the obviousness of our better engineering school). UNC's rep has taken a hit recently, but it's still considered a public ivy outside the classes designed for athletes.
Beamer is good. He has class. So did Paterno. Until it became questionable whether that popular opinion was true anymore. I know it as well as anyone that we love our coach and our school. But I cringe every time I hear someone praise someone for 'doing it right', because I don't think anyone deserves additional praise for doing their job with integrity. That's the bare minimum. Not something to lord over anyone else. That's LOLUVA talk.
I've visited this site as often as ever, but get into discussions much less than I used to. It seems our conversations are taking a turn nowadays, but I can't really put my finger on what or why is reducing my interest. Maybe the disappointment in the season is overflowing into apathy in other areas, who knows. Maybe it's the turkey leg arguments or the one-on-one discussions that occasionally lead to the derailment of some threads. As far as independent publications of Virginia Tech athletics are concerned, this one is the best. I still visit and read. But I contribute less. Waxes and wanes, I suppose.
I've also been spending less time here lately, for some of the same reasons. I've also caught myself getting stuck in the negativity you mentioned, and realized that instead of commenting and spreading it around, some time away was probably what I needed.
That said, this is still one of the best online communities I've had the pleasure to be a part of, and I'm not going away permanently. I just couldn't. It's not what it used to be, for sure, but it could be a lot worse.
I'm ok with some of the negativity. I think it's ok to have a little meltdown every now and again. I think the quality of the discussion is 100% a reflection of the quality that we in the community bring to the table. My #1 philosophy is not to feed the troll, and don't get caught up in one-on-ones.
I have been here since May and enjoyed it very much during the summer, a little less during the season as I see more negativity as we lose games. Still, the overall TKP for me has been wonderful. I do occasionally get sucked in by the trolls, I would like to think I am better than that. :-)
GIFTORY - lord how I miss GIFTORY ....
If we beat Duke, I will publish the best GIFTORY ever.
I take these comments to heart because this website is my baby, but I have an actual son to go along with my wife and full time job. Running TKP is a 40 / week investment on top of that. The last few weeks it hasn't been worth the time for me to ignore my wife and kid, yet I plugged along.
Y'all not visiting hurts our bottom line. This is essentially a break even business, and we produce more content (which I believe is excellent) than any other independent website and probably more than any newspaper that covers Tech.
If you want the quality to remain, and it to be free, we need people to donate, visit regularly and buy our stuff. That's the truth. Otherwise, something has to give.
I said it twice before, in the other threads bringing up this same issue, YOU HAVE THE POWER TO DROWN OUT THE NEGATIVITY. Post a link about one of the players, start a topic on why you think Frank is the right guy to turn the ship around should keep his job. Threads like this do very little to fix any of the valid issues you mentioned.
Furthermore, I don't think it's as bad as you mentioned. We aren't arm-in-arm singing camp fires songs, but that's a reflection of us having a 4-5 team to root for. It's a reflection of the team being bad and increase in users.
Conversely, everyone here is genuinely excited for what will be one of the ACC's worst basketball teams. Buzz Williams hire gave us hope. The football program has left many of us, me included, skeptical of the future.
I'll ask everyone again to keep supporting us and help make solutions, not more threads complaining / pointing out problems.
Great response, Joe. I am sure some of us will take it to heart.
Joe, my comments were not directed at you. You, French, Koma, and all the other reporting additions are doing a great job. There are still some other posters that continue to make this site great as well. The site architecture itself consistently improves.
It was more towards all the negative Nancy's. The constant talk about firing one coach or another. How VT can't recruit top recruits (though we have gotten 5 stars and other top recruits).
If we do try and add the positive, it quickly turns to these other items. That post about Dalton's announcement date is a great example. Seems you even realized it as you started a new thread.
A lot of the reactions and topics that seem to populate the forum now just leave a nasty taste in my mouth. Would be nice if there was more focus on the good that happens, whether sports or otherwise (Architecture is ranked in the top 5 again, over LOLUVA by the way).
Seconded on all counts
Does adblock plus hurt your ad revenue?
Joe I visit all the time and I wanna buy your stuff but debt....I promise I will post graduation are the shirts and cups gonna be on sale in the future cuz I wanna go back someday and make up for lost time
Pepperidge Farm remembers
I love the key play. It is difficult to manage the human condition. Btw, I remember when that AGR guy invented dork magic? Epic!
Great post. I agree completely.
Selfish motherfucker #4
Yeah I deserve that
Remember when we beat Duke at their field with some crazy lady on the mic complaining about every call that went against Duke, and we tried to give away the game but instead our D finally made huge play after huge play and we beat Duke when their perfect kicker missed 2 kicks?
Good times. Feels like only 5 minutes ago.
that lady though...
I muted the game because of that Shriek Beast... Move the dang field mic!!!!
Maybe its the win talking, maybe its the coke and rum. But I love this site. This community is unmatched. Thank you for what you do Joe; please don't stop loving us, because we won't stop loving you.
Hug it out, motherfuckers
Just hug it out.
Today, I forgive the negativity.
But seriously, if people don't realize that their negative views, while valid, are casting a pall on the community and dissuading people from visiting the site, I'm gonna have to start whooping dat Ashe.
Negativity is the one and only reason I don't visit the other tech websites. SO CLEAN UP YOUR LIVES AND KEEP YOUR NEGATIVITY BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR THERAPIST!!
And yes, I play league.