The Direction of GA ?

[tigerlilly]

Hi, gang! I haven't posted in ages, but it's not because of being upset w/anyone or the status of the board....It's just the way life is right now. I want to thank you guys so much for keeping the site going and I enjoy checking in for the latest news.

Personally, I enjoy having diversity on the board and a mix of topics from which to choose. I guess I just want it all... . In my household, we're into sports just about 24/7, so I naturally like to keep up with what's happening in ST. At the same time, I consider Apolo Ohno one of my favorite athletes of all time, across all sports. I love to see this guy still get some glory after all these years. Besides, women gush over other high profile athletes all the time. It just comes with the territory, IMO. I certainly think Apolo is gush-worthy...lol. Also, maybe I'm not so easily offended, but I've never read any of the comments on this board that I thought were so terribly out of line...mostly "tongue in cheek" humor or women cuttin' up a bit.

So....I say bring it on! Give me Apolo Ohno, plus the Wide World of Short Track....the more the better!

[susie]

Feb 16, 2009 0:39:53 GMT -5 wags said:

In my opinion....I'm sure I'm not the only one here that found this place by 'Googleing' Apolo. He's what brought me here. I've developed a real appreciation for the sport but I can't think of anything that would make my day more than to Keep the Sexy A$$ thread.

That said, I felt like I was part of the "let's tone it down" problem. I'm very vocal, highly irreverent and can get a little 'cheeky' at times. I haven't posted much lately due to the fact that I'm just not comfortable being PC. In the immortal words of Popeye, "I yam what I yam." In the absence of monitoring my behavior I'll just stay quiet. So I can just check in here every once in a while to keep up and stay in the background. But I would really like to feel free to talk to my friends here on the open board without worrying if I'm offending anyone. Keep the General Board!

I've always thought there's something beautiful about the form and style of these skaters. I think the human form can be the most awe inspiring sight on the planet. These athletes reinforce that opinion every time I see them. The quiet grace of them as they round a corner. The determination in their eyes. The sleek power of their economic movement. It's art. I like to look!! If the view is from the rear....so much better! Keep the ST threads!

I've personally never felt like it was the responsibility of anyone else to censor what I choose to read/watch/listen. If I'm big enough to navigate the internet, I'm big enough to stay away from materials that I deem inappropriate and you should be likewise. I also realize that everyone's creepy barometer is set at a different level. I think Lindsey and Christy have done an excellent job of keeping the forum from deteriorating into a cesspool of porn or open warfare. Keep the Package Thread!

Anyway...enough from me. As my very wise old grandmother used to tell me, "Never take yourself too seriously. And if they can't take a joke, screw em'." Keep the Doggerel Thread!

Wags, you're a woman after my own heart!

It's looking more and more that a separate, more serious ST section might be the way to go. Make it clear that those who wander further afield might be subject to bawdy (but ultimately good-natured) humor. Keep TRF sites PC.

If there's a separate ST section, we might want to give some thought as to how it's set up. For instance, we might want three separate threads for each meet, i.e. "World Champs News & Info", "World Champs Live Chat" and "World Champs Photos". That would make it easier to find things.

All of these are just suggestions, of course -- it's up to the mods.

And for anyone who hasn't seen Apolo, right in front of them, skating his heart out -- what are you waiting for? The man is absolutely, breathtakingly gorgeous, and no photo can do him justice. Just watching him warm up makes me happy. Get thee to a meet, while you still can!

[ApoloGold269]

I don't post a lot here...I've lurked forever tho, lol. I mainly posted on the AJ board a lot last year during ST season, but when the drama from Julianne's side started to come into conversation in the short track threads, that's when I left. I'm not one of those crazies that thinks everything in the world should evolve around Apolo and Julianne hooking up....lol.

If some of you know me, you know that I'm a HUGE Apolo fan, especially for ST because I've been skating since 2000...I love the sport! So when I saw APolo in 2002 of course I fell in love with him...who wouldn't?

Anyways...I haven't been around any board and I haven't been following the recent news because I'm in the middle of my first year in college. It takes up a lot more time than I expected! But I have been lurking here and I have noticed a change in the posts and an overall change that I want to point out. First things first...the overall change. I've noticed that it's become more ST-centric, but I definitely don;t see a problem with that. Maybe I'm biased cause I'm a long time ST fan, but I really think that the current fixation on ST has to do with the fact that ALL of Team USA (not just Apolo anymore) has us intrigued. Before last year, not a lot of people went to ST competitions (except for the ladies on OZ). But after many went last year and had such a great experience, and then watching Apolo win the World Championship last year, everyone got hooked.

The people that were lucky enough to go obviously got hooked because it's amazing to watch in person. But they also got to know and meet a lot of the skaters that were racing. Between the personal reports of how great meeting with all the other skaters was, PLUS the new technology of being able to watch and/or follow all the competitions last year, a lot of people became hooked on the sport and all of team USA. So Lori and Mtnme....its definitely not your "fault" at all. Think about it: last year was really the first year that a lot of people were able to watch nationals and other competitions through live webcasts. Everybody wants to see more of Apolo, so when this opportunity came, everyone took it.

It's actually a good thing this ST phenomonon (I know I butchered that one) took place. It gives us more than one person to root for...when Apolo's having a seemingly slow ST season (like this one), its nice to not get frustrated...instead we can hope that JR or Jeff wins in the next heat. It is nice to have those random little discussions every now and then, but I definitely don't think that the site is going in a bad direction. I'm sure when there's more actual news about Apolo, there will be more lively convos....we're probably all hoping for that because we haven't seen a picture in over a month!

[sk8er]

The technology IS amazing. We OZ peeps had to travel all over the world to watch Apolo skate, and that's hard on the budget! I've been so pleased to see the attention paid to the other members of the ST family, that's a much healthier outlook I think. And USS finally has something to offer fans who can't attend in person.

[epiphaniii]

Popping in to say that I like all of the short track info discussed here and admire and appreciate all of the work put into the Rocker Fund and Rocker-U.

I am a dedicated short and long track fan and feel that in a perfect world, many skaters would have boards devoted to them. Since they don't, it's nice to see other short track skaters discussed here.

Like many others, I first became a ST fan while watching Apolo during the '02 Olympics. Prior to finding GA, I was not a "fan board member" type of person, so this was my first and only foray into joining that world. I'm not sure I knew fan boards existed before I found OZ in '06, which I think led me to GA. While I treasure OZ and read there regularly, I never posted there partly because of the lack of conversational flow someone previously mentioned, and that I also viewed it as a more public site than GA.

My main attraction to GA was that its members seemed to value Apolo as a real person. As someone else mentioned, I was vaguely aware that there is a fiction board here but never visited it.

Some of the older posters may remember that when it was first rumored that Apolo would be on DWTS, I was so excited I was practically doing cartwheels over the prospect of being able to see him on one of my favorite shows twice a week. I could not imagine why nearly all of my other Apolo-loving sisters responded as if it were a sign of the apocalypse. That reaction really shocked me! Well... let's just say, lesson duly and sadly learned.

During and post DWTS, the new Apolo fandom seemed less about him as a real person and more about planning a fantasy life for him. Or so I'd heard. The good thing was that even though I was vaguely aware of this, I could simply avoid the places dedicated to that new branch of fandom and stick to our branch here at GA. "They'll stay 'over there' and I'll just stay here," I thought. Then those lines became blurred and it seemed GA might have been heading down that road. So I thought, "Okay, I will just avoid certain threads." But soon that wasn't enough as no thread seemed "safe" anymore.

I am still thrilled that he did the show, though, and remain a fan of his dance partner.

For what it's worth, I've always considered it necessary to be PC when posting here, so that's not a new development in my eyes, nor is it necessarily a bad thing to me. I don't mean PC in the sense that I can't comment on Apolo's beauty, but in the sense that, even before and without DWTS, fans' fantasies are important to them. So I've always felt there are things that should not be said here if they clash with fantasies or ideals -- not negative things, just regular conversational things that would be okay offline in the "real" world.

I've often only said about 50% of what I was really thinking on certain subjects here. Unfortunately, I eventually seemed to be losing my inner censoring abilities, and got closer to saying about, ummm, 70% of what I felt. That troubled me terribly, and I decided I should stop posting and reading here.

I was disappointed in myself and sensed that I might be in danger of losing the joy I felt in following Apolo and speedskating in general because of my own frustration with certain topics, posts and overall atmospheric changes. So I went back to following the sport and skaters on my own to preserve that joy.

Then after not visiting GA for quite a long time, and missing all of you, I dropped by and saw that things pretty much seemed back to "normal" so-to-speak, but still felt it would be best to limit myself to general "thank you" posts for all the wonderful info and pics contributed. Nothing opinion-based on my part! But please know that, even if I don't post a thank you, I am always, always, very grateful for what the wonderful members here contribute, including news credited as having come from other boards.

*A Reminder: WC 6 from Dresden airs on Universal Sports TV in two parts this Wednesday and Thursday (18th and 19th) at 7PM Eastern time, or catch it online On Demand at UniversalSports.com starting on those dates*

[Mars]

Feb 16, 2009 19:08:19 GMT -5 sk8er said:

The technology IS amazing. We OZ peeps had to travel all over the world to watch Apolo skate, and that's hard on the budget! I've been so pleased to see the attention paid to the other members of the ST family, that's a much healthier outlook I think. And USS finally has something to offer fans who can't attend in person.

Thank goodness for that!

[number1fan]

epiphaniii...

great great post.....you have been sorely missed around here.

here's hoping to see you post more often once the 2010 apolo/st frenzy kicks in

[gasp]

My last comment on this subject because I don't understand the focus here. Are we to take a VOTE on how the mods want things flowing here? If so, would somebody please set it up.

If not,--go post on your favorite thread--reviatlize them. It takes alot to offend me. I might just join in and get silly with you.

Your favorite threads are gonna stay on the Do Not Resuscitate list if you don't hook up the oxygen machine. Go for it people.

what's that catch phrase? IF YOU POST IT THEY WILL RESPOND!

[gasp]

Go Play--good one Christy. LOL

[Lori]

Here's my
(Yeah, I know I have the right to remain silent, but I don't have the ability... )

There have been some amazing and insightful posts on this thread, and I'm grateful for those of you who have expressed your feelings on this. Several of us wondered if there was an 'elephant in the room' - and if so, the best thing was to reveal it and get rid of it.

First things first - the concern about asking people not to post on certain threads... I recalled Mtnme telling me something about that awhile back but I couldn’t remember the details so when it appeared to be an 'issue' I asked. She told me exactly the same thing she said on the open forum - it was one thread, one day (months ago), one member, and it was someone she felt that she knew well enough to ask a favor from. She has always been (sometimes brutally) honest with me, so I believe her - and I'm confident that it was an isolated incident. It was a knee-jerk reaction and has not been done since - none of us are naïve enough to think that ‘burying’ threads really hides anything anyway.

A bigger issue for me is the possible unspoken perception by the broader membership that certain topics are ‘off-limits’, or that some of us are embarrassed by GA’s roots. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Speaking for myself, one of the first things I did after becoming a member here was to deliver a card to Apolo from GA. I am proud to be a member of GA, and I have never held that back from any skater, fan, or family member - including Apolo himself. I’m confident that I can say the same for everyone I know from GA.

As for skaters and their families visiting, and the fears that they’ll stumble upon some of the more, um, irreverant threads, Casper is absolutely right, and I remember August saying much the same thing more than a year ago – it will happen, is happening now, and has most likely been happening for quite some time, given the many references to GA on OZ and elsewhere over the years (not to mention those random Google searches).

Should we be concerned about visits by 'insiders'? Susie made a great point – if we’re concerned, we’re probably not giving them enough credit. GA is so unique, and we should embrace that. Give ‘em some intelligent conversation and a laugh now and then and they will probably continue to ‘peek in the door’ from time to time…

Regarding the ST Tidal Wave...

As others have mentioned, so many of us from GA have met and become friends at ST events. It’s a common bond CREATED AT GA, and it was only natural to want to continue the ‘party’ when we got home. I looked at the list of GA members, and found no less than 47 who’ve attended competitions within the last 2 years (most of whom I’ve met), and the majority of them are either active posters or active lurkers here at GA right now. Add another dozen or so who have never been to an event, but still contribute regularly to the live chat threads. In every communication I’ve had with Lindsey, she has been excited to see GA and its members getting more interested in ST, and she has always given the green light for more ST on GA. This environment, combined with OZ’s recent inactivity and the lack of much non-ST Apolo news, has resulted in an almost overwhelming number of ST-related threads here at GA.

Christy is right – GA has never been a ST board, so there’s really no appropriate place to post non-Apolo ST threads here. What about a competition like Dresden, where Apolo isn’t competing? Or news about one of his teammates? Which category should people put that in? They’re far more related to ‘Apolo’ on the General Board than to the ‘Happy Birthday’-type threads of the Non-Apolo board, so - right or wrong - everyone seems to have gravitated to the General (Apolo) Board when creating these threads. The concern is that some of what made GA so much fun has been lost in the process.

I remember that after DWTS, some long-timers said that they were frustrated that there was an influx of people who only knew ‘Dancing Apolo’ and didn’t have a clue about ‘Skating Apolo’. Some felt that they were more or less taking over the site, and a small number of these new members brought with them baggage, conflicts and hurt feelings from other boards. I once likened it to a bar brawl that starts up again in the parking lot, with GA becoming the current ‘parking lot’. Some GA'ers asked “how dare they?”. Many of those newcomers have moved on, but others have become some of our most interesting and beloved members.

We are in a similar situation right now. OZ has 'gone dark', so to speak, and the members there miss their friends and the stimulating ST chat. Many have gravitated here. They've found people they know and subjects that interest them. Some would ask "How dare they come into 'Apolo's house' and exalt other skaters???" The good news is that they bring no baggage, conflicts or hurt feelings. What they do bring is a new dynamic that simply begs for a 'place' - not to take away from GA, but to add to it. I welcome them, because in the summer of 2007, I was one myself.

My story is much the same as BBB’s – I was an OZ’er, and ONLY an OZ’er. I clicked on GA’s homepage once or twice when it was referenced on OZ, but never figured out there was a forum, so I didn’t see what could possibly be so great about it. As far as my participation on OZ, I was uneducated about ST (or OZ for that matter) - I asked dumb questions, made wisecracks, ticked Ruff off regularly, referred to Apolo as ‘Cowboy’, and was embarrassingly fangirly (yup, at OZ, for all the ST world to see) – but in spite of that, I was made to feel welcome. In the process, I absorbed quite a bit of knowledge (and interest) about ST. Then OZ went on ‘hiatus’ after DWTS, and I missed my friends. I gave GA another try – VOILA! I FOUND THE FORUM! (Hey, even a blind mouse can find cheese occasionally…) I also found a tiny handful of my OZ friends here. I continued posting in the same uninhibited way I did at OZ, and found a ‘home away from home’.

The ideal situation would be a vibrant, active OZ with an 'old-skool' GA – but that isn’t the reality, so where do we go from here? How do we embrace this new dynamic, but keep GA’s broader membership from feeling like they're not invited to the 'party'? When Mtnme mentioned putting it out on the board, I figured we might have a few tomatoes hurled at us, but agreed with her that we love GA and the friends we’ve made here enough that it was worth the risk.

I don’t know the answers, but Christy is working on a 'happy medium' - and I for one won't complain about whatever solution she feels is best for this board. We fully realize the gift that we’ve been given here at GA, and hope that this site can be everything it has always been – and more.

I will close with this: Last fall, someone PM’d me with a comment from another board (blog?) describing the ‘Apolo’ websites that existed before DWTS… it described GA this way: “…the most eclectic of the Apolo fan sites. It’s a fun, laid-back place where IQ’s run high, wits are sharp, and diversity is the name of the game.”

How true.

[EnElYaK]

Do any Apolo & Juliane sites still exist anymore?

[mtnme]

Feb 18, 2009 11:12:52 GMT -5 EnElYaK said:

Do any Apolo & Juliane sites still exist anymore?

Yes, there is, and even THEY have gone Short Track, even when Apolo isn't skating. The difference is they are a closed forum, so they are not outwardly 'open' to 'enquiring eyes'. Somehow the ST stuff mingles in the Apolo stuff, alongside the Julianne stuff, next to the CSI stuff...

But we have different issues at GA that need to be addressed so that GA can have all this stuff all together somehow without ruffling any more feathers from the whole membership.

I have lots to add to Lori's post to put everyone's minds at ease, but I have to put my thoughts in order...give me a few.....

[Lori]

Feb 17, 2009 22:07:30 GMT -5 gasp said:

--go post on your favorite thread--reviatlize them. It takes alot to offend me. I might just join in and get silly with you.

Your favorite threads are gonna stay on the Do Not Resuscitate list if you don't hook up the oxygen machine. Go for it people.

what's that catch phrase? IF YOU POST IT THEY WILL RESPOND!

Hehehe - I loved this post, Gasp!

And I see that you've taken your own advice and resuscitated Apolo's Sexy A$$! (I think we know which one was YOUR favorite!)

[apolostarr]

I am slightly confused D:....could someone give me a summary..I think GA is a great forum but it was an Apolo forum first, however the subject regarding short track is completely on topic with Apolo so I can't see how this board shouldn't have more short-track related stuff as long as it relates to Apolo...now if we started talking about international teams...maybe a new forum should be created.

[mtnme]

Feb 18, 2009 14:52:45 GMT -5 apolostarr said:

I am slightly confused D:....could someone give me a summary..I think GA is a great forum but it was an Apolo forum first, however the subject regarding short track is completely on topic with Apolo so I can't see how this board shouldn't have more short-track related stuff as long as it relates to Apolo...now if we started talking about international teams...maybe a new forum should be created.

well, that's the problem, it's (meaning the short track element) not all related to Apolo anymore, and that's got some peeps reaaaaaallllyyy upset. But I think we can solve this...but like I said, I need some time to collect my thoughts

...but since it has FINALLY stopped snowing for the first time in a week and the sun's out, I reeeaaaaallllyyy need to get outa the house for awhile. Talk to ya' all later....