Northampton Saints
New Year!
By David Lowrence
December 30 2012
A New Year
com·mu·ni·ty
[kuh-myoo-ni-tee]
Noun, plural com·mu·ni·ties.
1. A social group of any size whose members reside in a specific locality, share
Government, and often have a common cultural and historical heritage.
2. A locality inhabited by such a group.
3. A social, religious, occupational, or other group sharing common characteristics
or interests and perceived or perceiving itself as distinct in some respect from the
larger society within which it exists (usually preceded by the): the business
community; the community of scholars.
4. A group of associated nations sharing common interests or a common
heritage: the community of Western Europe.
5. Ecclesiastical. A group of men or women leading a common life according to a rule.
I take as my text for this evening, the 3rd definition above
The past year has been one of ups and downs for the Saints and for this site. I confess there have been times when I have “lost it” and posted inappropriately, for which I have apologised, and will try to do better in future. (Tim has made it very clear he will cut my rum ration, Flinstone will serve me to her pet, and Stockers will look at me over his glasses!) – So for those members of this community whom I have offended, and may have missed it – I apologise again.
There are a number of new posters who believe that we are unfriendly and unwelcoming. I thought it would be timely if I outlined what this site is (and why that may sometimes appear to be the case) and probably more importantly, what it is not.
Firstly “what it is”
COMEONYOUSAINTS.COM is a not for profit private limited company with some 35 or so shareholders, who bought out Chris Gleadell’s and Rich Lindsley’s interest in the site when they gave up, having moved it from Rivals to Sportnetwork, after the commercial proposition underpinning the Rivals' business model collapsed in the dotcom bust.
The commercial proposition for the Sportnetwork franchise is that COYS is a publisher of news. That is why we need to post articles on a very regular basis, or risk the site disappearing.
We are, by some way, the best supported as news publishers on Sportnetwork. This is measured by hits on stories and articles.
This site is a vehicle for supporters of the Saints to chat, speculate, moan and generally discuss Saints both within this site and across the Sportnetwork Rugby community. Because this is a site that attracts committed Saints supporters, and because of its somewhat unique heritage, there are those who will always think that that the banter around these boards is both aggressive and unwelcoming. It can be, and it can also be incredibly supportive. It is a reflection of the supporters’ passions, familiarity with who is and isn’t fishing or trying to provoke an argument, and the general togetherness, which accompanies the 16th man syndrome In Rugby. Yes it sometimes overspills into more than Banter, but over a season this tends to level out and the offices of Moderators and Editors usually sorts things out.
The community of this site (and I do not use that word lightly) is also highly self indulgent, raising as it does, massive amounts of money for good causes. In 10 years we have raised over £130,000 for the BHF in the Northampton area, plus lots of money for the Matt Hampson appeal, the Academy and other very worthwhile Rugby and Northampton based causes. This is what contributes to making us, in many senses of the word a “community”
Another thing that newcomers should expect is that threads will metamorphose – quite often into nonsense. It is not personal, it is not disrespectful – it is just how it is.
Now for “what it is not”
COYS is not a general bulletin board for people to post anything they like. The publishing aspects of the site dictate certain behaviours, linked to libel and inappropriate messaging, so we have to police that. It is not a “general rugby chat” site normally, unless there is a link to Saints. In spite of what some people are trying to make it, it is not a “po faced” site. We have tried to steer a middle way on this, and we have been getting it wrong, due to pressure for the various wings of the membership. Perhaps we need to readdress our approach here, an ensure that we all realise that humour has it’s place. This site was once known as the wittiest and the most engaging site on SN. Lets try and bring that back.
We are not very good at communication (and that includes reading posts as well as writing). We are also very bad at conveying humorous intent too, for after all one person’s belly laugh is another’s deadly insult. Let us all try extra hard to understand and not extra hard to misunderstand.
We are not a site that supports Llanelli extra 3rds. (The clue is in the name – coySAINTS) We have one poster who believes we are and feels he must constantly dig to keep us on our toes. Quite frankly he is invaluable and if he didn’t exist we would have to invent him.
What will it be?
I don’t see the site changing anytime soon. It works well and is successful. If you as a poster don’t like it, or feel it should be doing other things, don’t hesitate to say so – bearing in mind the community (some of whom may not be as vocal as others). If the consensus feels strongly enough – it will change. If not, perhaps it is not the home for you.
We try and welcome all visitors to the site; even those who are passing through or who last came on to call us a bunch of cheating wotsits. As long as there is a respect for COYS as a community, all will be well.
Or perhaps it will change – perhaps we’ll get our some more of our community spirit back!
A Happy and less fraught New Year (on and off the pitch) to all members of the COYS Community.
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I think this :
If you ask a hundred people what they think, you will get a hundred different definitions. Some will agree, closely, others will disagree violently.
The important thing is that we agree on the fundamentals. If we don't or can't we shouldn't be here - either by our choice, or the collective decision of the rest. However I know I am not as tolerant as some.
"What it is" is not fixed in stone. The best things reflect the composition of their parts. As users and contributors come and go then some facets will change. However there are those "fundamentals" things to which we should refer and for that we should try to remember where this started and what intent fed that creation. Your statement does so and I am pleased about that.
I know I am just a little fish in a big sea, but in terms of COYSDC I think I am quite an old fish - not as old as some, but more so that than many more. It doesn't give me any special rights, but it does give me more memories of "What it was" and like others think that it has lost some of its personality in recent times. I think your manifesto is a very good effort to get us back to a more even keel and to re-cast our mould.
To finish I want to commit a major sin and refer the evil conspiracy and cabal which is known as "The Frooners". We who gather as such actually have very little in common except our unity of support for the Saints. When we meet and drink and chat, we talk and argue and joke about everything under the sun. Hell we even get some rugby in each week (although I always seem to arrive just as this is finishing....)! If we only taked about the last Saints match and the next Saints match then we would be utter bores and the brewers would be major losers.
COYSDC should be the same and enjoy its own skin a bit more.
Happy New Year all, COYS and thanks to David, the other editors, and the Directors.
"Your days are numbered. Use them to throw open the windows of your soul to the sun. If you do not, the sun will soon set, and you with it."
-- Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor 161-180 A.D.
No alcohol for January. I'm a dryathlete in aid of cancer research.
Dryathlon
Nice post. This is not PBS.
You can't always get what you want, But if you try sometimes well you might find, You get what you need.
Richards/Jagger
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012:12:30:21:54:10 by St Owen.
Thanks for that message. I am not one you have offended but it is to your credit that you send apologies to anyone you have.
The timing of the post is apt and this is a good time of year for the likes of me to to thank yourself and the other people who keep the site going. I'd thank you every day of course but it would only decrease the quality of the site I think. But, as a new year approaches, thank you all.
Pedantic point; surely coysdc is a private limited company (denoted by "Ltd") rather than a public limited company ("plc").
David L
What if there were no hypothetical questions?
- Live wrong and preposterously
"sup·port·er"
Noun:
1.A person who approves of and encourages someone or something (typically a public figure, a movement or party, or a policy).
2.A person who is actively interested in and wishes success for a particular sports team.
As a relative newcomer I find the majority of debates and the differing opinions interesting and useful. I particularly enjoy the rugby content and that's why I both read and post.
I don't agree with ChrisG that newcomers have no right to express their views on the way a site should be, on the contrary I think that newcomers can bring a fresh approach to the good work that's been done by others over many years.
It will come as no surprise to anyone that my major problem with this site is that on occasion a small but vocal band of posters show no respect for other people, other opinions, other supporters and other teams. I know from the number of PM's I received about this subject that many existing and potentially new posters agree with me. I was brought up on these values of respect as were my children and my grandchildren. All I can hope for in the New Year is for a few posters to accept that others may have differing opinions and respect them for that.
If you think I'm being "Po Faced" or "Precious" I don't really care because these are my values and I'm not about to change.
This site is a good site, this site has great postings on many topics, this site welcomes newcomers and this site has Eif. Let's keep it like that.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012:12:31:12:11:25 by dragon27.
also Mr Flatt has it just about right.
We should never forget that at the other end of your key board is a whole eclectic mix of human beings with hopes and fears virtues and faults just like you. ( this includes the welsh - the population of Leicester and at least three Saracens supporters )
so may i just add a few gratuitous points
it is possible to be humorous without being cruel.
The clever " put down " often says more about the inadequacies of the poster than their target.
the most effective posting is very often the one you didn't post.
Happy New Year to one and all.
Its now the longest running rugby supporters site on the net.
How did it get here? Well by evolution rather than revolution. Its has evolved with some folks here since day one, some who have drifted in and out over the years and then there have been people that have joined and left for whatever reasons, sometimes they've got bored of rugby sometimes they've got bored or irritated with the content of this message board and I'd not exclude myself from that. I sometimes pull my hair our at what I read here but I'd never suppose to impose my beliefs and values on those I disagree with. Its a broad church.
So clearly it is not for everyone, nor was it ever intended to be. Its not all encompassing and embracing, it is what it is.
I'm not saying its perfect and indeed it could never be, as with most things in life one size does not fit all and you cannot please all of the people all of the time. Given that it is never, ever going to be one mans ideal. However its longevity proves something must be right about the whole caboodle or it would be long dead by now.
I've heard the phrase 'more people will post if' many, many times over the years. In fact what you would probably find is just that different people would post not more, some of the core support of this site would be driven away by the new format. I also tend to think if someone's not posting for whatever reason sooner or later they will refrain from posting again and content is on a downward spiral.
Yes everyone's entitled to their opinions and by the same token people are entitled to disagree and say so but this site isn't going to go through a great sea change overnight for a section of people that on the whole do not post to just accommodate them. However that's not to say by evolution, yes good old evolution, it will not happen in the future.
On the other hand though it might not...
Not sure whether I am considered a newcomer or not..
I'm sure I've posted things considered slightly left field but thats how I saw them. I stand by the fact that IMHO Geordan Murphy is a cheat (Ford took his yellow for a professional foul for him this Sat..) for example. Its my opinion, with my slant on how I watch the game - Eif's slant is welsh - maybe he can point us at an U20 prospect for the centres or wing and we'd get the next North or Cuthbert
I'm with Dragon though, I've looked at your post Chris and its asking me to toe a well trodden and accepted party line.. apologies if this isn't your meaning but thats how I read it. I'm not sure thats really the point of this forum.
I'd like to think people can suggest things could or should change if thats what they believe - even if we had Tiggers or Munsters trophy cabinets - they have to constantly re-invent and so should we. Even when your firmly at the top, as Leinster are finding out, its not easy to stay there.
I would hope 2013 brings us..
Chances for players in the wings to get some game time
A team picked on 'on-field' merit - especially if we are to be mid-table - get the likes of Mercey and Waller settled in for a big next season
Signings that are considered - not every kiwi is a 100 cap all black - we may have the answer sat in the Wandies or playing for Bedford
Replacement of Barnes and Morris with pretty much anyone - I would add Stephen Jones, Eddie Butler and several others to this but one can't have everything..
All I'm asking for is for some posters to try to understand other peoples opinions before slagging them off.
This is just "Good Manners"
No one individual had the right to demand that the site is a certain way - be they an editor, a long term poster - or a relatively new poster.
We are a community - some will like it, others won't. It will evolve over time - not always in good ways, but it normally comes back to the rugby.
I suspect we should all have the equivalent of the Bill Clinton poster in our minds when posting. It's about the Rugby - stupid.
“Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.”
Benjamin Franklin
Tetleys Block F E143
I understand you have a difficult job to do especially with the decency and abuse interpretation.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012:12:31:13:57:24 by dragon27.
I have posted on this board for a number of years, too many to ascertain exactly when. I have some pretty strong views and they often differ from the consensus, I'm also not shy in coming forward with them. With that in mind I have never, not once in the whole time I've been participating here, been verbally abused. Not in open forum, and not in PM.
You'd think I would be an easy target due to the sometimes differing views I hold, the manner in which I sometimes express them and the fact that I have never knowingly met any other poster (but that is the way I like it) - with one exception.
Yes, I may have been called an ass when I've acted an ass and even belittled if I an being particularly obtuse. In both cases I would consider myself fair game.
I feel the editors and directors or COYSDC do a fine job and long may it continue. I like this site just fine, if I didn't I wouldn't have stayed here so long.
What appears to be an issue for some is (in my simplistic world-view) akin to those people who move to a quaint little village in the country and then complain to the council about the church bells after a week of moving in.
You can't always get what you want, But if you try sometimes well you might find, You get what you need.
Richards/Jagger
Quote:dragon27
Party lines, longevity, newcomers, evolution, TOSH.
All I'm asking for is for some posters to try to understand other peoples opinions before slagging them off.
Dragon - are you respecting other peoples opinions by stating what they have written is TOSH? (Capitals are considered shouting on this site and most other forms of written communications).
----------------------------------------
Please sponsor me for Saints with Heart [www.justgiving.com]
If you think my post is rude or disrespectful then you should delete it.
Seems fair to me.
You can't always get what you want, But if you try sometimes well you might find, You get what you need.
Richards/Jagger
----------------------------------------
Please sponsor me for Saints with Heart [www.justgiving.com]
From an impeccable source viz - my 90 year old aunt Clarice -Newport born and bred who is wont to say
" There is a lot of difference between scratching your a*se and tearing it to pieces . "
I am sorry if you would like us to change but I, for one see no need.
As your post is not abusive I see no reason to delete it.
“Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.”
Benjamin Franklin
Tetleys Block F E143
No alcohol for January. I'm a dryathlete in aid of cancer research.
Dryathlon
Quote:OldPete
" There is a lot of difference between scratching your a*se and tearing it to pieces . "
Pete, that is brilliant.
You can't always get what you want, But if you try sometimes well you might find, You get what you need.
Richards/Jagger
A thoughtful thread gets started by one of our Eds gets hijacked by the PC police.
Happy New Year.
Chris G and all other peeps out there. May we cross swords again on the other side - time to get ready to go out!
“Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.”
Benjamin Franklin
Tetleys Block F E143
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