I give up.
As I alluded to in the infamous "Denny" thread, I have been attempting for five years to participate on MB's, the past three on Dolphins MBs. I have struggled with the issue of having a genuine interest in discussing the fortune of the Dolphins on one hand, and having a son play for the team, on the other.
I have "inside" info. gleaned from such occasions as recent fishing trips with players, visits by Drew and Jason Rosenhaus, and a lunch conversation with Norv Turner. Much of what I learned unfortunately can't be shared on a MB, as much as I would like to (I got into trouble doing that during my son's college days).
Everyone on a MB has different sources of information and forms opinions based on perceptions and biases. Significant cognitive differences result in quite diverse ideas being developed and expressed, as is illustrated in this thread. Despite the press reports on the OA signing stating that his role is as back-up and ST, we see posters like Ozzy, ckparrothead, and grooves12 lambasting Rob Konrad's performance and abilities, and purporting the rise of OA to the starting FB position. This is fine given the absence of Rob's ability to illustrate his capabilities in Gailey's system plus the fact that the OA signing came out of the blue with little explaination. Very fertile ground for speculation.
I have no problem with anyone's opinion, especially if supported with pertinent facts. When it comes to issues about my son, I am well aware that I look through rose colored glasses. I try, probably not very successfully, to respond to comments I disagree with on a non-emotional basis prefering to address the reasoning behind such statements.
There are those posters that I deem quite knowledgeable, and there are those that shoot from the hip. This MB is the best I've seen at keeping the trash out, and the posts from opposing fans are kept in check with some good dialog and a minimum of smack.
Congratulations - its not easy to accomplish the quality that exists here.
But, as I did last season, I will delete the Dolphins MBs from my Favorites list from the beginning of TC to the end of the season. I have still not figured out how to participate so that I can enjoy the experience and at the same time add value to the MB, given my situation. It is extremely frustrating addressing comments that I know are false based on my knowledge from the "horse's mouth" that I can't divulge.
This whole FB thing will work itself out shortly, and I have no knowledge at this point as to what it is all about. By tonight I will. I just don't enjoy hearing about Rob's lack of ability from a fan who knows less than 10% about him than I do and "rose colored glasses" aside, I don't enjoy having to be so thick skinned and having to refrain from lashing out at misinformed or unjustified comments.
Let me emphatically state that this is NOT a negative commentary on this MB or its participants. It is just a statement of my frustration about my own lack of ability to figure out how to participate.
I will end with: "GO PHINS - SB BOUND"