Introductions

[Fat Man]

. . . overall you seem pretty hung up on stupid shit like getting made fun of in the 5th grade, learn to live on? everyone is the center of a joke once in a while

Excuse me, dumb-ass! But I wasn't just merely made fun of!

If you had read my post in it's entirety, I had said the following . . . . .

When I was in the 5th grade, as I had mentioned so many times before in these forums, my 5th grade teacher who was really Gung Ho when it came to sports liked to humiliate me in front of the other students in the gym during PE class. We were playing basketball, and I dropped the ball during the game, and he picked up the ball and punched me in the stomach as hard as he could. I was doubled over in pain, and it seemed like an eternity before I could catch my breath again.

Then one day we went to the library, and while all the other students were allowed to check out any book they wanted, I was not! I saw this Astronomy book that I wanted to check out and he would not allow me to have it. We got into an argument. He then dragged me out into the hallway and pushed me back against the wall, bashing my head against the corner of the concrete block wall. I got really dizzy and nearly blacked out.

The following year, the teacher was fired and could not get a teaching job anywhere else, but the damage was already done. For years afterward I would have headaches and dizzy spells which gradually became less intense during my teenage years.

I suffered from a severe concussion, and I could have easily died from the blow to the back of my head. My vision was blurred, my eyes wouldn't focus properly, and shortly after the incident I had to get a different prescription for my eye glasses.

So, I was not merely "the center of a joke" but actually, I was violently assaulted!

YOU DUMB ASS!

I suggest you go back and read that again.

Hey boys and girls! Can you say READING COMPREHENSION???

Which of course, you obviously lack!

And as for my three year suspension when I was in the 7th grade, it was the Dona Ana Mental Health in Las Cruces who kept me out of school for three years and held me back.

They were not professionals, but a bunch of post menopausal old bags who wanted something to do in there spare time, so their well to do husbands helped them to get jobs there so that they would not get bored and have something to occupy themselves so that they may feel useful, but they were as useless as balls on a priest and tits on a nun!!

Also, my parents tried to get a doctor to write up an excuse to have me exempt from taking PE but in a small redneck town, to them, not taking PE was considered unpatriotic, or some stupid shit. That of course, was back in the 1960s.

you seem obsessed with me... do you think im hot?

Excuse me, but I'm going to go up-chuck!

I'm mean, seriously, like, you must be kidding! Right?

You really think very highly of yourself! Don't you!

Yeah! Just like the typical obnoxious sports bore that you are, thinking that anybody who hates sports must be a fag or something!

YOU DIRTY LOW DOWN SANCTIMONIOUS SCUM-BAG PIECE OF DOG SHIT!!! GO CRAWL INTO A SEWER SOMEWHERE AND DIE!!! OK???

But in the meantime, until then . . . . .

http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u25/ ... ayBoy2.jpg

Just keep it up, and you're going to be wearing the Jersey Of Shame, soon enough!

You got that? JIMBO!!!

[Re-edited at Tue Feb 08, 2011 3:13 am] My local time.

OK! I had my fun for tonight.

I just made a promise to someone that I won't be doing any more hatchet jobs on your original avatar.

OK???
______________________________
OMGdudeWhat's signature:
___________________
6'4
192 lb
5% body fat
athlete
no brain


[Re-edited - NOTICE: Board moderators say I may post a direct link to this image instead of the image itself in light of the recent controversy over said image]

[Earl]

Thanks for making the effort to communicate with me, OMGdudeWhat. I hope you read this, but I fear you won't come back because of what has happened. Since this is board messaging, I'll try to be brief.

To give you some perspective, as a 60-year-old man (although I look more than ten years younger), I am the oldest member of this forum. (But I did not create this website.) The time I experienced mandatory sports-based P.E. was from 1960 (beginning when I was in the 4th grade) through 1964. Thankfully, as a band student, I was exempted in high school. I heard tales of how hellish P.E. was for nonathletic boys.

I'm quite impressed with your school district's P.E. program that you have described in your post. If such a program had been instituted in my school district (not to mention nationwide), I would have benefited greatly. I never had any interest in sports, but I was ashamed because I was scrawny and physically weak (which doesn't mean that I've ever looked down on other guys in that condition).

The old P.E. was terrible and useless for nonathletic students. No exercise programs were offered. (I never so much as even heard the words "exercise program.") The old P.E. was only about sports, sports, sports. There was not even any instruction about the games themselves. The assumption seems to have been made that all boys already knew about different sports and were active participants. Believe me, there was no education in "physical education" classes. Since my father came from a nonathletic background, I knew nothing about what I could do to increase my physical strength and develop my physique. I was uninformed and ignorant. So, someone (a coach, perhaps) had to tell me how; but no one did. I remember the policymakers claiming that the reason why they were requiring sports-based P.E. to be mandatory upon all students, including those who had no interest in sports, was because they were concerned about the physical health of all students. This claim was a hypocritical lie.

All of my P.E. teachers and coaches (not to mention others in the district whom I heard about) seemed to view nonathletic boys with either indifference or outright contempt. Physical bullying frequently occurred in these classes. I dare say that there has been more bullying of nonathletes (and even some athletes) in mandatory sports-based P.E. than in all the academic classes combined, and I'm not just talking about name-calling. Far from it. The worst place that a nonathletic boy can be is in a mandatory sports-based P.E. class.

This forum has only a few active members. Since you're a college student, I realize that you're quite busy; but if you want to learn how much of a problem physical bullying has been in traditional P.E., I suggest you visit http://www.democraticunderground.com and run site searches on "jock bullies," "p.e. bullying," and "phys ed bullying." I'm not endorsing DU's politics; I'm simply referring to this website because of all the anti-bullying threads and comments by members who were bullied themselves in P.E. These site searches access pages of links. If you were to take the time to click on relevant links and read the referenced posts, you might be amazed by the past experiences of others.

Another observation needs to be made about the old P.E. Two of our members, middle-aged men who grew up in different states, were physically handicapped when they started school. Fat Man has suffered permanent injury to one of his knees in a car wreck he experienced at the age of 4. As a result, he could not run and could walk with only a limp. Greencom was born with an eye defect without depth perception. Both of them were required to take P.E., anyway! Whatever happened to common sense? No consideration was shown to them regarding their physical limitations, which were not of their own making. Instead, they were repeatedly bullied. Both of them retaliated against being physically bullied by some "jock." Guess whom the coaches involved in these separate instances punished. The bullies were exempted while their victims were punished.

Since I started posting at this website in the spring of 2009, I've been gratified to learn that some school districts have reformed their P.E. programs; but different school districts have different programs. I've read recent posts from high-school students who are required to take the same old P.E. that I experienced when I was their age. So, the reform movement still has a lot of work to do; and I dare say that its success is not guaranteed. As Coach Tim McCord (a leading proponent of the innovative PE4Life progam, which I strongly support) told me in an e-mail later that year, the old P.E. is still with us. The old P.E. should be retained as an elective for the athletes and other students who want to participate in sports. I have no problem with sports as a form of recreation, but I do have a problem with sports being imposed in one way or another upon the unwilling.

I know what I'm talking about because I've been on both sides of the fence, so to speak. I mentioned previously I joined a local health club several years ago and hired a personal trainer to work with me on a bodybuilding program. The difference between my health club experience and my mandatory sports-based P.E. experience when I was in school is as great as night and day. And as I've said repeatedly in this forum, I get more exercise in a single workout session with my personal trainer than I ever did in a single year of mandatory P.E.

Well, I ended up writing a long post, anyway. I get agitated about the old P.E. not because I live in the past, but because I think about the latest generation of nonathletic boys going through the same pointless cruelty that nonathletic guys of my generation experienced. And this is the way to promote physical fitness? This is the way to deal with the problem of childhood obesity? If P.E. had been reformed nationwide, I would not have submitted this post (except, perhaps, to inform the reader how bad it used to be).

[ChrisOH]

Well, I'm probably going to come down on the unpopular side of this discussion, but I've never been one to be popular, though...

I believe OMGDudeWhat was being arrogant and self-righteous, however reasonable he made himself out to be. Notice how he put his "vitals" in his signature? What was the purpose of that? Why should we care what his "percent body fat" is? Did he think we'd all get our rocks off on knowing that? I can only conclude it was to proclaim some sort of "superiority" over us.

More importantly, after reading Fat Man's story, even a sports supporter should be appalled at how Fat Man was treated. Anyone with any decency whatsoever, for that matter. What does OMGDude say to it? That it's just "stupid shit" and to "live on" -- and "everyone's the center of a joke sometimes"! I wonder if it were him or one of his friends or family who suffered the same cruelties that Fat Man did, if he'd say it's just "stupid shit" and to "live on" because it was a "joke"?

Maybe he and the crowd he hangs with thinks this sort of a "joke" is OK. I certainly don't consider it funny, nor do I expect someone who went through it to just "live on."

I know Fat Man doesn't need me to defend him. However, I've got to call this one like I see it.

[Earl]

Well, I'm probably going to come down on the unpopular side of this discussion, but I've never been one to be popular, though...

I wouldn't worry about that. Is the popular side always right? No, it isn't. Just look at history. I'm glad you've spoken out. You've made some good points.

I believe OMGDudeWhat was being arrogant and self-righteous, however reasonable he made himself out to be.

That is possible. But I don't know for sure.

Notice how he put his "vitals" in his signature? What was the purpose of that? Why should we care what his "percent body fat" is? Did he think we'd all get our rocks off on knowing that? I can only conclude it was to proclaim some sort of "superiority" over us.

I certainly wouldn't be interested in knowing his or anyone else's percent body fat, and I'm on a bodybuilding program! I know what he's talking about. But (like you) I couldn't care less what anyone's percent body fat is because I'm not in some sort of competition with anyone. I'm simply improving myself. Perhaps he was reacting self-defensively, or (as you say) he very well could have been proclaiming some sort of superiority over us. That's a possibility. But, again, I don't know.

More importantly, after reading Fat Man's story, even a sports supporter should be appalled at how Fat Man was treated. Anyone with any decency whatsoever, for that matter.

I agree completely.

What does OMGDude say to it? That it's just "stupid shit" and to "live on" -- and "everyone's the center of a joke sometimes"! I wonder if it were him or one of his friends or family who suffered the same cruelties that Fat Man did, if he'd say it's just "stupid shit" and to "live on" because it was a "joke"?

Maybe he and the crowd he hangs with thinks this sort of a "joke" is OK. I certainly don't consider it funny, nor do I expect someone who went through it to just "live on."

There's a difference between good-natured ribbing and malicious bullying. Recently at another website I read a post submitted by a man who had been bullied in high school. He met one of his former bullies at a class reunion and asked him why he had bullied him. His answer? "Because I was allowed to do it." How pathetic! Any psychologist worth his salt will say that those who were bullied in school over a period of years, as opposed to occasional bullying, carry emotional scars into middle age. Yes, they must get on with their lives; but sometimes the scars remain. There's no defense for bullying of any kind.

I know Fat Man doesn't need me to defend him. However, I've got to call this one like I see it.

I'm glad you spoke out. Someone with a different point of view may have points to make that the rest of us miss.

I have a theory about OMGdudeWhat that may or may not be true. He described the P.E. program that was set up in his school district. There was no mandatory sports-based P.E. -- which, I'm convinced, has caused a great deal of bullying by pitting athletic students against their nonathletic classmates. When nonathletic students are required to take only fitness classes instead of having sports crammed down their throats, there tends to be less bullying. This has been shown to be true (for example, in the school district of Titusville, Pennsylvania, where the PE4Life program was chosen to replace the "old P.E.") Perhaps OMGdudeWhat had not seen any bullying of the kind that members of this forum either experienced when they were teenagers or have experienced recently in their lives as junior high or high school students. That would explain his seeming insensitivity. But I could be wrong. Just a theory ...

[recovering_fan]

ChrisOH,

I agree that "OMG" didn't come here looking to make friends. He was no angel.

However, just because somebody hits you does not give you the right to clobber him with baseball bat.

Fat Man's response was totally disproportionate.

And it reflects badly on all of us, as members of a site that condones it.

Hence my ambivalence about remaining at this site at all. Fat Man is spitting into the wind right now, and we're all down wind of him. In America, there is no one policing the Internet, except KARMA, and I'm getting some really bad karmic vibes from this place at the moment.

And I am going to propose a remedy to this little problem. I propose that moderators immediately delete all the defamatory pictures of OMGdudeWhat that Fat Man posted. As I see it, either they take those pictures down, or else they are accomplices to what Fat Man did.

(I'm not trying to get rid of Fat Man himself, just those pictures.)

GOODBYE ALL,
Recovering_Fan

PS -- On the off-chance anyone does take them down, perhaps Earl could send me an email? I'll have no other way of knowing...

[Earl]

I can't talk about this right now because I've got to go to bed. I'll have more to say later. I don't have your e-mail address, recovering_fan. As a moderator I don't have access to that information. I presume that you do receive a notification by automatically generated e-mail whenever another member of the forum has written you a PM, unless you chose when you registered to not be notified. Otherwise, unless I'm mistaken, I would have no way of contacting you.

I ask the other currently active members of this forum (as if all them will respond, which is unlikely since some won't even get around to reading this): Would any of you be offended if I did take the pictures down? As of now (since it's too late), I haven't decided what to do. And my decision will not necessarily be based upon some poll. I don't know what I'm going to do at this point.

[Fat Man]

ChrisOH,

I agree that "OMG" didn't come here looking to make friends. He was no angel.

However, just because somebody hits you does not give you the right to clobber him with baseball bat.

Fat Man's response was totally disproportionate.

And it reflects badly on all of us, as members of a site that condones it.

Hence my ambivalence about remaining at this site at all. Fat Man is spitting into the wind right now, and we're all down wind of him. In America, there is no one policing the Internet, except KARMA, and I'm getting some really bad karmic vibes from this place at the moment.

And I am going to propose a remedy to this little problem. I propose that moderators immediately delete all the defamatory pictures of OMGdudeWhat that Fat Man posted. As I see it, either they take those pictures down, or else they are accomplices to what Fat Man did.

(I'm not trying to get rid of Fat Man himself, just those pictures.)

GOODBYE ALL,
Recovering_Fan

PS -- On the off-chance anyone does take them down, perhaps Earl could send me an email? I'll have no other way of knowing...

Well, if one is being set upon by a gang of thugs bent on destroying you, then you pick up anything you can find to defend yourself.

But, my posting those stupid images is hardly comparable to using a baseball bat.

Well, you seem to be the only one here who is upset about the three different images I had posted.

OK everybody, here's the deal.

If the board moderators say I should take those images down, or of they edit them out of my previous forum posts, then either way, I will abide by their decision.

Okey Dokey Smokey?

[Earl]

Thank you very much, Fat Man! You get credit for wanting to be cooperative (not to mention making my job, such as it is, easier).

But for right now, everyone, I'm going to going to bed.

No, wait ... I will delete them myself tomorrow when I have time. Hear that, everyone? *yawn*

Good night. Don't let the bedbugs bite.

[Earl]

I've just deleted all the offensive images. That takes care of that.

[HugeFanOfBadReligion]

Well, you seem to be the only one here who is upset about the three different images I had posted.

Not true.

I've just deleted all the offensive images. That takes care of that.

Good. Before I read the posts starting at where RF suggested that the moderators remove the images, I contemplating asking Fat Man himself to consider editing them out of his post, but it's solved now, which is good.

[Agent 47]

I've just deleted all the offensive images. That takes care of that.

OMG. SportsSuck.org has just gone down the pathway of censorship, i.e. book burning.

[HugeFanOfBadReligion]

OMG. SportsSuck.org has just gone down the pathway of censorship, i.e. book burning.

I hardly think that is a fair comparison. The Nazis destroyed massive amounts of information that didn't suit their ideology, but over here, a couple of images that didn't contribute to the site and only offended and gave us a bad image were removed. If an image of myself was manipulated for the purpose of defamation, I would likely be quite offended and would leave this site if no action was taken to remove the images, and I don't consider myself someone who is easily offended.

[i_like_1981]

I'm probably going to get accused of "coddling" Fat Man again for saying this, but I really did not see how those pictures could have caused all this uproar. What is it with the picture of that ugly person that gets an ant's nest up so many people's arses? It's quite clearly a fake picture. It doesn't represent any real person or group of people. It doesn't promote any racist or defamatory rhetoric against a certain group of people. It's just a Photoshop job that somebody's published on the internet to amuse themselves and others who come across it. I personally have seen far worse from Fat Man. And for somebody who claims to be a real brainbox, OMGDudeWhat sure didn't exactly understand the purpose of the "Caps Lock" key. I found certain sentences in his first few posts quite ambiguous.

And how come DrMenJele was banned so quick? Yes, he was an obnoxious moron, but isn't that what we've been wanting for a while? Someone to have a good slanging match with? I've been through this feeling, you know, of wanting something so long and when the opportunity finally comes along, losing interest in it and choosing not to bother with it. But I personally would have enjoyed a few more arguments with that guy. Does no other member of this board agree with me that we could have had some more fun having a tit-for-tat with our latest troll?

Best regards,
i_like_1981

[HugeFanOfBadReligion]

I'm probably going to get accused of "coddling" Fat Man again for saying this, but I really did not see how those pictures could have caused all this uproar. What is it with the picture of that ugly person that gets an ant's nest up so many people's arses? It's quite clearly a fake picture. It doesn't represent any real person or group of people. It doesn't promote any racist or defamatory rhetoric against a certain group of people. It's just a Photoshop job that somebody's published on the internet to amuse themselves and others who come across it. I personally have seen far worse from Fat Man.

It wasn't the fact that he utilized that picture of the ugly person again that I didn't like, I had seen it before and wasn't bothered by it. But it was the fact that an actual person's picture was manipulated for the purpose of defaming that person that bothered me. I felt that this was quite similar to the bullying that can be found in schools which is a major topic of this site.

[Earl]

Oops! I've inadvertently caused a controversy among my fellow forum members by deleting images that Fat Man attached in recent posts of his. Now I need to address specific complaints and objections.

OMG. SportsSuck.org has just gone down the pathway of censorship, i.e. book burning.

Actually, the "censorship" has been going on for some time. You just haven't noticed. I must say that there was no way that you could have noticed. Of course, I've deleted offending items only twice since I started serving as a moderator. I've done so only with reluctance. I chose to delete the images that are the subject of this controversy because recovering_fan said he would not post in the forum again unless they were removed; and Fat Man quite graciously gave me the "go ahead" to do so, saving me the trouble of having to reluctantly decide one way or the other. We are so few in number at this point in time that we need all the members we can get. I appreciate his and everyone else's contribution to this forum.

If an image of myself was manipulated for the purpose of defamation, I would likely be quite offended and would leave this site if no action was taken to remove the images, and I don't consider myself someone who is easily offended.

It wasn't the fact that he utilized that picture of the ugly person again that I didn't like, I had seen it before and wasn't bothered by it. But it was the fact that an actual person's picture was manipulated for the purpose of defaming that person that bothered me. I felt that this was quite similar to the bullying that can be found in schools which is a major topic of this site.

If I understand what you're saying, HugeFan, I don't believe the image of the ugly person was derived from a manipulation of OMGdudeWhat's avatar. But the image always did disturb me from a gut level. Sorry. Perhaps I let my own personal preference override my better judgment as a moderator of this forum.

I'm probably going to get accused of "coddling" Fat Man again for saying this, but I really did not see how those pictures could have caused all this uproar.

I'm certainly not going to accuse you of "coddling" Fat Man. You have every right to voice your disagreement with any action taken by a moderator or the forum Admin, just as you have the right to disagree with any comment made by any other member of this forum. Discussions of this sort give life to the forum. That's what this forum is all about.

What is it with the picture of that ugly person that gets an ant's nest up so many people's arses? It's quite clearly a fake picture. It doesn't represent any real person or group of people. It doesn't promote any racist or defamatory rhetoric against a certain group of people. It's just a Photoshop job that somebody's published on the internet to amuse themselves and others who come across it.

I understand that it's fake, and I respect your comment. But I took it as a swipe at rednecks. (And perhaps I'm out of my mind for making this assumption.) Not meaning to be condescending, I regard rednecks as being "little people." I don't see them as being powerful enough to adversely affect the lives of others. And as far as whatever negative traits are attributed to them as a group, just about all groups of people can be subjected to criticism that is understandable, if not called for.

I personally have seen far worse from Fat Man.

You have a good point there, i_like_1981. There is such a thing as maintaining a sense of proportion.

And for somebody who claims to be a real brainbox, OMGDudeWhat sure didn't exactly understand the purpose of the "Caps Lock" key. I found certain sentences in his first few posts quite ambiguous.

I bent over backwards to be fair to him. But ChrisOH made excellent observations to the contrary. Now I'm quite weary of OMGdudeWhat. He should take lessons in civility from several fellow athletes who previously posted in this forum. More about OMG later ...

And how come DrMenJele was banned so quick? Yes, he was an obnoxious moron, but isn't that what we've been wanting for a while? Someone to have a good slanging match with? I've been through this feeling, you know, of wanting something so long and when the opportunity finally comes along, losing interest in it and choosing not to bother with it. But I personally would have enjoyed a few more arguments with that guy. Does no other member of this board agree with me that we could have had some more fun having a tit-for-tat with our latest troll?

The reason I banned DrMenJele is because he was mocking ChrisOH's trouble finding a job when the economy in this country is not doing so well. I thought that was absolutely despicable. I'm more likely to lose my temper when one of my friends is personally attacked than I am when I'm the target of abuse. I didn't think anyone would mind when I banned that jerk. But I now see that I was mistaken, and for that I apologize. I certainly understand i_like_1981's desire to take pot shots at jerks like this guy. So, from now on, I won't be quick to ban trolls and other abusive posters, unless I'm requested to do so by one or more of my fellow members. Of course, I guess that Skul might choose to ban someone like that without any action on my part. I have no doubt, i_like_1981, that we will get another jerk poster eventually. Just be patient, my friend.

Anyway, everyone has my apologies for this latest controversy. I shall try to do better in the future.