FanPost

The Difference Between Drive By Trolling and Constructive Criticism on BN

Some have raised issues about perceived negativity regarding what I believe to be fair criticisms leveled at our beloved Bruins, both after the WSU game and going back a few weeks to Stanford. IMHO, there is a big difference about constructively criticizing performance versus hating on coaches or players.

I don't think that there is one person who contributes to this forum that isn't happy or proud to be a Bruin.

I don’t think that there is one person here who isn't happy that UCLA showed some grit and pulled out a win against WSU yesterday.

I don’t think there is one person here who is ashamed of or non-supportive of our players.

That having been said, there is no reason that we, as fans and supporters of the UCLA football team, cannot provide insightful, reasoned, and critical commentary about certain shortcomings we are seeing on the field.

I support Coach Bullough (called great games against UH and UT), but that does not mean I can be blind to the game he called yesterday.

I support Taylor Embree (and he came through with a big 2 point conversion yesterday) but he has dropped two TD passes this season because he tried to trap the ball against his chest instead of extending his arms and turning palms outward to catch the ball. Basic fundamentals.

I support Sheldon Price (much improved this season) but I wish he would stop with the celebrations after every defended pass especially when the team is getting its collective butt kicked, like in the Stanford game.

I support the team but don’t like the pass interferences and especially the personal fouls.

Now, many of you may have seen some of Nestor’s game posts, but you need to understand that it is the famous “Nestor reverse mojo.” Posters who have frequented this forum understand that. New posters need to understand that and take it with a grain of salt. Same with the newly created “cleansing” threads, where people humorously (and sometimes outrageously) throw out worst case scenarios a day or two before the game.

As far as other “drive by” trolls during the game, the mods on this board addressed that issue a few weeks ago and posted new rules about conduct during game threads, the most important of which was no personal attacks on the players or coaches.

The difference between a personal attack and constructive criticism is as follows:

"Player effing sucks at blocking and must be pulled immediately. Why did CRN give him a scholie?"

vs.

"Player should have made that block. CRN might consider subbing him out for another player."

This forum has always been about addressing the positives and the negatives and not wearing rose colored glasses. Most here picked to win between 5 and 7 games this year. A roller coaster ride with a lot of young talent. I think most would have thought we would be right about where we are right now, 3-2, but probably with the wins and losses spread out among different teams (i.e., beat KSU and lose to UT). We appear to be on track for 5 to 7 wins (although we could conceivably win all of our remaining games or lose all of our remaining games given the unpredictable nature of our team). But that doesn’t mean that we cannot wish, hope, and dream for more.

And when we see deficiencies that trend against those wishes, hopes, and dreams, we should be able to voice them in a constructive fashion in this forum. I don’t think that that is being a “Debbie Downer," a troll, or otherwise not being a Bruin supporter.



This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.

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