"Hear, Ye!" (or: "Listen up, knucklehead!"!)

[yyz]

Today is Thursday. Let's put Bash Wednesday behind us, okay?

What do you look for in a post?

• Name recognition
  
  Do you look for certain cappers, and take heart in what they say?
  
• Post content
  
  Do you like sound stats or reasoning behind why someone has a play?
  

Personally, I like to see some good points in a post. I try to post resons when I post plays, but, like most of you, time is often a factor. I can't always explain why I like a team.

I like feedback. Nobody likes, "Nice call, shithead!" or, "You lucked out!"

I enjoy it when guys have a differing oppinion and constructively post counter points. THAT is what we are here for....a sort of round table. It gets old, and tiresome to read 20 posts a day that say, "Atlanta can't lose tonight!" "Watch me win!" "I'm on a roll!", etc.....

We all want some recognition when we do well. That is our nature. But wouldn't it be great if we put our collective mellons together, and came up with some decent, sound, ideas on a game?

Me? I really don't give a shit if you are 10-0 in the playoffs, and all you do is post, "DBacks roll tonight!"

I need to know why! Sell me!

There have become far too many carnival barkers here.

This leads me to one more thought:

Have you noticed the amount of "newcomers" over the past week? Not general newness, but rather the few guys who come here with an initial post of, "Guys, I am winning like crazy this season, and now I'm here for you!"

From my experience in these forums, these guys pop in about week 4-6 in every season! Most of them said the same crap at other forums at the begining of the season, and have fallen from grace with lousy "guesses". Now, they start all over with a fresh face, in a new place. I could (but won't) put up 6 names of posters who will vanish, just like clock work, in about 3 more weeks.

Jack's place has become so big, that each season, we must sift through more chaff to get to the wheat. That's okay. I look at all the posts, and decide who is worth my while. You all know who is good, who is not.....who caps, who guesses......who is who, and who is not.

In closing, I would like to again state, let's get back to the business of making some cash, here.

Post your oppinion, even if you don't plan on risking a cent. If you feel strongly about a game, a player's progress, the field conditions, the coach, the local medias take on it, whatever..... PLEASE POST!

Anything you have to offer, is better than nothing, and lately.......there has been a whole lot of nothing in here.

Thank you for your time.

 

[Junior44]

yyz - You made some great points and, in theory, it sounds ideal but, in reality I'm not sure if it's possible. MJ's has grown to the point whereby its not achievable to weed out the "not-so-good" stuff. With that being said, lemme add a few things (all of which I've said before) but will adress them again. Many will not agree with me, but I'm pretty firm on these views.

-As far as I'm concerned, a post that says "Bengals +5" is absolutely worthless. The only time where this would be productive is if the poster had a fully documented record. There are only 2 (maybe 3) in this forum who qualify. I'm also will to wager that more than 1/2 of these posts are not arrived at by capping. They are merely piggyback picks which can actually be counter-productive.

-When somebody posts a play, I wanna see the reasoning behind it. It doesnt have to be a full page of text with a buncha figures. Maybe just a short blurb. Something, anything to get debate and communication going so we all have a better chance of winning.

-You mentioned something along the lines of we just need to weed through all the BS. And while that holds true for those of us who have been around awhile, it's easier said than done. You'd be AMAZED at how many people just READ the forum and do no post. some of these people don't have the luxery of knowing what's BS or not which leads to the following statement: Every time ANY of us makes a post, we have a responsibility. We are responsible becuase many people read that, many more than those who actually respond, and we cannot logically decipher what and whom they believe.

-What we have are a ton of people posting plays and then tallying them up at the end of the day. My question is: What good does this do? Is this contributing to the forum and doing your part to help others? No. This isn't any different that what all of us do privately each week. We make our plays and then check our results (read: account balance) at the end of the day. If somebody posts a series of plays and they go 10-2, well, thats great for that poster, but I can't really see how this forum is for the better because of it. This isn't a damn contest. That's what contests are for. This place is about putting our "collective melons" together and sharing every tidbit of info available in order to REACH a decision on a game. I have no interest in a decision, but I have ALOT of interest into the thought processes that lead up to it.

Now, why is this like this? That is simple. Posting reasoning takes time and also opens you up to dissenting opinion or a critique of those methods. There are alot of people here who are intollerant of this. They see it as an insult when, in actuality, it should be welcomed. I mean, hell, if I post a play and somebody has a different take, I wanna hear about it. THEN, I can decide whether to incoporate it or not. One of sportswagering's most important creeds is: Once you think you know everything, you know nothing. I'll take that a step further. Once you close yourself off to the perpertual learning process that this activity requires, you are finished. Dead.

-Now, why does it seem that most threads are of the "Giants -11" variety? And why do these threads inevitably end up being the most active. It't because most people don't care about reasoning. They want plays and they want them NOW. Nevermind the process of how it was reached, just gimme winners. And this is truly sad. If Joe Shmoe opens up a thread and reads "Take the Cardinals" and then goes to the window and plays the Cardinals, he hasn't learned a thing. He may win the wager or he may lose the wager. Whether or not he does is irrelevant in the context of the forum in general.

 

[Patternseeker]

Thanks, guys for intelligent posting. I am a rookie capper, so I read more than post. I've fallen a couple of years ago to some less than upright b*****ds who have "sold" me on "special" information. . .you know the line. I appreciate a forum like this and am trying to separate the wheat from the chaff. I try to examine why I have made my selections; I am keeping records and actually paying attention. I am fascinated by the games, the trends, even when I read them wrong or don't read them at all.

I am hopeful of getting better, becoming respectable and it is a great thing to find folks like yyz and junior44. I would like it if one day cappers like you thought of me as a cohort.

The posts that just say "Bengals +5" are no good to me either, other than a reminder to a rookie like me not to take a pick just because someone else says to.

Thanks again, Jim.

 

[djv]

I agree with a lot that is said here. But! Yes just saying G Bay -4 does not get it done for 75% of the folks. If you know the person saying it. If you have come to find out the picks are reliable. You may only need that amount of info. Now once in a while I get a late idea from a very old friend of mind that is very good at this. I can't get him to join us. He watches some but likes to stay in the shadows. If he tells me hey this looks good. Well that may be all I have time for to say GBay-4 looks strong. By the way for me I think that was about ten times all last year. Now when I do put up my own picks I put some info with them. However I have found if you can say it with 50 words or less why not. I see some folks have more time and like to use 200/ 300 words. When they get all done they have same pick I do. Sorry this old timer can't type that fast and does not have that much time. But then I don't think to many folks are to worked up what I say anyway. You take 1837 and Stanley in the motor raceing forum. They just tell you who to play and keep it real simple. They both were over 65% in Formula 1. They both made over 100 picks. I made more cash in that forum then any year doing any other sport in 35 years. I just feal bad more did not join us this raceing season. Wow Just on real. And they did it with less then 20 words. So if you got it, know what your doing, understand and trust who is telling you. Well you don't need a 1000 words to make up your mind. GL

 

[Rama]

Great points so far, this is just another pattern from our society. People don't care what your reasoning is, they want to know how big the play is. For the few that question someone's plays, they seem to get jumped on as though they are criticizing them. I wonder how many read Nolan's analysis on the games he plays or do they just wager his plays. I'd bet that the majority could care less what criteria Nolan used and are only concerned about whom he likes.
Then there are the idiots with their 100 unit plays, locks, take it to the bank, etc. Unfortunately, these wannabes attract the attention and lead the masses to the slaughter. People never seem to learn and fall for these clowns over and over again.
Finally, why does someone have to create a special thread to announce their record or they went 15-2 yest, it's one thing to recap your plays with your record or for someone else to point this out. But to start a brand new topic about how good I am, etc. Do they crave attention that much? Is the rest of their life that deprived that they need to make special announcements telling us how special they are? If you are good, others will notice.