FanPost

Decorum in game threads.

Niners Nation has long had a rule that you could swear in game threads, and this seems totally reasonable. Football games are intense experiences, and a lot of expletives just come out of us during intense moments. That's cool. I get it. Please understand that in no way am I suggesting that Fooch, who does a great job running this board, change that rule.

But ...

I can't help but feel like the overall vibe has shifted. Rather from curse words just being the sort of thing that burst out of fans at particularly intense moments, it seems like things have shifted. For example, here are some (edited) comments from the game threads:

Reid>Goldson already **** what you heard.

**** you troy aikman

No. Work these mother*****ers. Vengeance for ****ing us over in February

I still want my ****ing Pat

EAT A BAG OF ****S CLAY **** YOU

(for the record, I wouldn't have included that one if it happened right after Clay's cheap-shot. But it happened well later).

"Classy" is a crutch for the ****ing weak

(evidently directing this at other Niner fans).

F*** Palmer

(???)

And so on, and so on, so say nothing of fantasized violence against non-players all all sorts of other uncomfortable things.

67 f bombs in the second quarter thread. 33 in the fourth. And a good chunk of them are not outbursts at bad plays, or understandable frustration after Clay's cheap shot. And, of course f-bombs are hardly the only example of this sort of thing.

So call me old, call me lame, whatever. I've certainly dropped and f-bomb or two over the years, and I'm sure I'll drop more. I am not - and this will be an interesting reading comprehension test, to see if anybody thinks that I am - an argument that we should abolish the site decorum game thread exception.

But, man, some folks need to take up gardening or something. Do some yoga. I dunno. All that anger isn't good for you.

Is there any way we could - without changing the rule, without making people think that a well-timed f-bomb isn't a totally reasonable response to a lost fumble or a boneheaded late hit - encourage people not to swear or spew hatred and vitriol at every possible moment, just because, well, they can?

It actually makes the game threads a lot less fun for some of us. Rather than feeling like a group of enthusiastic fans, at times it feels like the bunch of over-drunk, over-loud guys with boundary issues who you sit as far as possible away from at the bar.

Anyway, I'm sure this post will go over like gangbusters, but whatever. I wanted to share these thoughts anyway.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Niners Nation's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Niners Nation's writers or editors.