Background:
These boards exist so that Cal fans can discuss all
aspects of Cal sports and to participate with each other in support of Cal's
athletic programs. That's why we - in a long-established Berkeley tradition -
maintain open-access public forums where diverse opinions are welcome.
This is, however, a private message board and a community with standards and
sensibilities; we intend these forums a) to be family-friendly (from
granddaughters to grandfathers), b) to not harm Cal's athletic programs or
recruiting efforts, and c) to avoid board pollution with flame wars.
To those ends, we have formulated a short list of rules.
Rule 1: (requires no explanation)
Racism, sexism, commercial spam and/or
excessive profanity are prohibited.
Rule 2: Recruiting is critical to
Cal's success on the fields of competition. Recruits and their families are
frequent visitors here, reading everything, both positive and negative. We
have tangible evidence that excess negativity from a few fans has harmed or
disrupted specific instances of Cal's recruiting efforts. Because the
reason-for-being of this website is support for Cal athletics, we will not
allow that to happen.
Personal denigration of Cal coaches and
players is prohibited.
This is NOT to prohibit civil criticism of coaches'
play calling or coaching; it IS to prevent personal attacks on them. Personal
denigration of players is simply and always off limits.
Rule 3: Over time, a few posters
here have locked themselves into a style where they criticize a player or a
coach in nearly every post they make. We term these "repetitively
negative posts", i.e. asserting a criticism over and over again.
Unfortunately, these kinds of posters too easily pollute a discussion board by
drowning out (or chasing away) other posters who have something else to say.
This does NOT rule out negative opinions; it DOES rule out negative opinions
that get repeated over and over again. Have your say once but then be done
with it.
Incessant or repetitively negative posts will be deleted.
Rule 4: Posts that personally
criticize other posters - as opposed to posts that might criticize their ideas
or analysis - all too frequently lead to flame wars. As much as these tiny
skirmishes may matter to the few participants, they waste screen space, they
obscure other posts of more general interest, and are often no interest
whatsoever to most readers.
Ad hominem (personal) attacks on players,
coaches, and other posters (etc.) are prohibited.
Criticize what they do, or say, or suggest that
someone else might do better, but don't attack the person.
Note re Board moderators:
Moderators have the responsibility to decide whether
posts violate Bear Insider standards or not. They are accountable only to the
publisher for their actions. If you feel that an inappropriate action has
occurred - you can email us by using the Contact Us link on the website front
page. Board moderators are NOT required to be either totally consistent or
totally vigilant. These ordinary human beings, who also have lives elsewhere,
are asked merely to do their best to help us maintain board standards.
In Summary, Board Rules Prohibit:
- Racism, sexism, commercial spam and/or
excessive profanity.
- Personal denigration of Cal coaches and players
- Incessant repetitive negative posts
- Ad hominem attacks on players, coaches, and other
posters.
In addition to the above, at
Moderators' option, off-topic posts about subjects other than Cal sports may
be deleted or moved to the Off-Topic board.
Finally:
Remember Always to Obey Cal's Rules about NCAA Compliance -
if you have any contact whatsoever with a potential recruit to Cal read
this carefully.
