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Pittsburgh, PA • United States • 48 Years Old • Male

Trolling and Assault

Posted 8:42 AM ET | Comments 42
A TROLL...the online definition looks like this:

In Internet slang, a troll is someone who posts inflammatory,[2] extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response[3] or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.[4]

In my time on HockeyBuzz, I have now been banned twice for posting comments.

Once, a few years ago, during the Penguins Senators series, when I told the Senators blogger (who is no longer here) that I thought his remarks about his own player were out of line...and yesterday.

Yesterday, I posted ONE comment to a Flyers blog, by Tim Panaccio. Tim asserted, in his blog:

Arron Asham punching a defenseless player in the back of the head as he lies face down on the ice?

That's not hockey. That's assault.



My response in the comments section was:

Assault is two Flyer Fans beating up a Rangers fan in the streets after the Winter Classic.

What Asham did was bad...but it wasn't assault.

You would have said the same thing 4 years ago if Asham had done it to a Penguin.



Granted, if we agree on the definition of trolling, this could fall under the 'provoking readers into an emotional response[3]' part of the definition...but other than that...it is not trolling.

The Flyers ARE playing the Penguins...and mopping up the ice with them I might add...so my interest in Tim's blog is clearly a reasonable one. I wasn't there simply to disrupt.

My comments are certainly not off topic or extraneous...Tim mentioned assault in his article. Are we not allowed to question or comment on that?

And although my comments might have prompted an emotional response, they were clearly within the context of the blog that was posted. I didn't go in there spouting f'bombs and calling people names.

Seriously...what Asham did was disgraceful in the eyes of many Penguin fans too.

But assault?


If you go to the police and claim you have been assaulted, the first thing they will do is look at you for physical evidence.

I don't know what type of bruises Schenn has from that game, but I can almost guarantee you he had nothing from that punch Asham threw when he was laying on the ice. And obviously, he quickly returned to game action, so nothing Asham did caused any serious harm to Schenn.

Sure it looked bad...and in bad taste...but you don't get charged for assault because you look like an idiot...do you?

I mean if that's the case...and that kind of hit deserves to be labeled assault, then the league had better review about 1,000 other incidents in the past year alone.

As much as I don't like how Brad Marchand falls to the ice every time he gets touched...he got a stick in the groin yesterday that clearly would be assault under the guidelines Mr. Panaccio is proposing.

For that matter, if that's assault, I have seen hundreds of cases of assault in men's senior league ice hockey.


I guess my biggest problem with it is this:

If you post a blog and call something assault...and know that the other team's fan base is probably going to read it...aren't you LOOKING for a response in the first place?

I mean, when the Penguins gooned it up on Sunday, don't you think they were looking for a response?

Doesn't the initial blog, fall under this defintion:
with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response

And when a reader does respond...with an answer you might not like...but none the less on topic...you should ban them?

That's silly...and bad for business.


In closing...

I understand that people hate the Penguins...our secret agreement with Gary Bettman...Mario 'the Hypocrite' Lemieux...Cindy Crysbaby...etc...and they are happy to see the implosion that happened the other day in Philly.

Believe me, the Penguin fans everywhere (and here on Hockeybuzz) feel the brunt of that display because now we have every TROLL that doesn't like the Penguins (for one or more of the reasons above) slamming the team left and right.

For the most part...we just have to take it...and our moderators have been pretty fair with the people who are or would be trolls...allowing a good deal more interaction and heated discussion than anything I posted in ONE reply to the Flyer's blog.

While I can understand how the incident that occurred after the classic is a touchy subject with Flyer fans, it can't be ignored or forgotten about, can it?

I mean, if we all play by the SAME rules, and if what Sidney Crosby did when he was 19 can't be forgotten, how can we forget what happened this past January?

And if a Flyer's blogger is going to call what Asham did assault, then they should at least allow a valid response to that claim in the comments section, shouldn't they?

Apparently not. Apparently it gets a person a site wide ban from commenting to blogs.


Thanks for reading!!!




III
Filed Under:   pens   flyers   assault   asham   schenn   panaccio   troll  
April 17, 2012 9:31 AM ET | Delete
I don't know if your comment was banworthy, but poeple making far worse posts every day go unbanned.
April 17, 2012 9:34 AM ET | Delete
I think I recall you and plenty more "Penguin fans" trolling on our blog frequently, loving this series! GO FLYERS!
April 17, 2012 9:46 AM ET | Delete
Actually, that was my first...and only...reply during this series to anything written by Tim.
April 17, 2012 9:47 AM ET | Delete
My team isn't even in the playoffs, I'm an Islander fan. lmao. GO FLYERS!
April 17, 2012 9:56 AM ET | Delete
Your avatar doesn't show up in the comments...like mine doesn't show up in the blog...so I just figured you were speaking of the Flyers blog. Discussing is not trolling...that's why I provided the definition. The comments section is created for the fans of the teams involved to have a say...right? There were some decent interactions on the Islanders blog.
April 17, 2012 9:57 AM ET | Delete
there was very little "decent interactions" from what I remember honestly
April 17, 2012 9:59 AM ET | Delete
I was speaking of my interactions...not sure about what others have said. I should have said...I had some decent interactions.
April 17, 2012 10:03 AM ET | Delete
Thank you for another Flyer comparision. So, if you mean assault, would you throw in how two Pens Fans beat up a pregnant lady?
April 17, 2012 10:08 AM ET | Delete
Phi1671 - sure...when was this? Man, you are touchy. It is a Pens/Flyers playoff series, right? I did get banned for making a comment that was...maybe questionable...but not dishonest...did it not raise a valid question? We have to live with our demons...so do the Flyers, right? Or does that only work one way?
April 17, 2012 10:15 AM ET | Delete
I think you are referring to this story...involving Penguin fans fighting with one another...disgusting...not sure if assault charges were filed or not...http://www.thepensblog.com/tpb/jan2012/fan-at-consol-becoming-unglued.html
April 17, 2012 10:28 AM ET | Delete
Personally I do not understand why you don't just sit there and shut up like most fairweather Sabre fans.
April 17, 2012 10:31 AM ET | Delete
Dwight K. Schrute - Thanks for reading!
April 17, 2012 11:29 AM ET | Delete
It appears the title of the blog provoked you into an emotional and not logical response big problem players and fans of Pittsburgh are having right now
April 17, 2012 12:19 PM ET | Delete
Havic03 - Ok then...let's be logical. How many incidents in a normal hockey game would...on the streets outside of hockey...be considered assault? I am guessing, quite a few. To try and describe something that Asham did as assault invites the real world comparison, does it not? Is this emotional or logical?
April 17, 2012 12:23 PM ET | Delete
Your response was a quick jab...intended to promote a further (so called) emotional response...was it not? I don't see how anything you said could be described as otherwise. Nice try. Come back again with a better comment.
April 17, 2012 1:17 PM ET | Delete
The point of my comment is to show that being more logical usually ends up in W's pens should let flyers be trolls be logical and beat them specially because bryz is playing weak... you should let philly fans troll be the better writer and since ive read a lot of your stuff...continue writing good stuff
April 17, 2012 1:27 PM ET | Delete
Havic03 - thank you. Actually, that's part of the reason for my comments today. I really don't shut people off or out. I have a theory that once people get the BS out of the way, they will find a common ground...but getting there requires both sides to see that their views aren't always a clear as they think. Plus...Tim's blog was meant to get responses...silly that they banned me...a delete and a warning would have worked just fine.
April 17, 2012 1:34 PM ET | Delete
Your welcome and agreed... This is a hockey forum after all and hockey can be and typically is an emotional sport, id honestly say one of the more emotional games out there. And as fans emotions run high always... fair to say punishment here is at times shannahan-ish
April 17, 2012 2:24 PM ET | Delete
I wish I had time or the brain power to care this much about hockeybuzz! lol
April 17, 2012 2:41 PM ET | Delete
Online classes can be kind of boring if you already know 50% of what you are supposed to be learning.
April 17, 2012 3:04 PM ET | Delete
it was actually some meat-head from Jersey.. not a Philly person, who did the beating. get your facts straight, jackwagon!
April 17, 2012 3:16 PM ET | Delete
Oh...my mistake...no, actually I said 'Flyer Fans'...turns out that's your mistake. Facts are tricky...and sometimes so tough to stick to.
April 17, 2012 5:30 PM ET | Delete
April 17, 2012 5:38 PM ET | Delete
Sounds like you made a reasonable comment on Tim's blog, certainly much less inflammatory than a lot of the stuff I have seen (and possibly posted myself -- pretty ticked off about the Lucic/Marchand antics last night).
April 17, 2012 7:09 PM ET | Delete
LJF
April 17, 2012 7:47 PM ET | Delete
April 17, 2012 8:28 PM ET | Delete
I take offense to you claiming to be 44 yrs old, when based on your whinning you are clearly still in your teens.
April 17, 2012 9:06 PM ET | Delete
Flyers mods are the biggest pussy's on this forum....I bet if you just posted one laughie alone....you'd get a ban over there.
April 17, 2012 9:23 PM ET | Delete
jtb3rd - 45 actually...for some reason the site never updates automatically. Of course, any opinion that isn't yours, is whining....right?
April 17, 2012 9:28 PM ET | Delete
jtb3rd - Look, one of your posts...opinion or whining??...hmmmm......"He jumped a player from behind, threw punches to the back of the players head, then when Hartnell got away and they squared off he reverted to pulling his hair. Cheap, cheap, cheap."
April 17, 2012 9:32 PM ET | Delete
iLive4theLeafs - It is...um...hypocritical?...They don't tolerate anything on the Flyer's blog, but the Flyer fans come to the Pens blog and do all the things their moderators ban others for...and the whining I have seen from fans of a team that is up 3-0 in a series is laughable.
April 17, 2012 10:04 PM ET | Delete
no one likes the penguins
April 17, 2012 10:10 PM ET | Delete
Well, at least 1 person does.
April 17, 2012 11:17 PM ET | Delete
April 17, 2012 11:26 PM ET | Delete
Shorten comments so they will appear...3-4 normal length sentences..
April 18, 2012 12:05 AM ET | Delete
shitsburg losers. whiney bitch captain. 1st round swept. /cryface
April 18, 2012 7:30 AM ET | Delete
Biggles - You can do better than that, right? Funny thing is my ban explanation included: "The Ban came because we are attempting to stay clear of City generalities". Should I delete your comment? Nah. I'm not THAT sensitive. Especially considering the source.
April 18, 2012 8:06 AM ET | Delete
good times
April 18, 2012 9:49 AM ET | Delete
The problem is there are way too many Philly mods...and they all seem to be bitches on the rag who can't tolerate the simplest perceived slight towards the team or the fan base.
April 18, 2012 12:49 PM ET | Delete
The mods here suck. Completely arbitrary in there actions. The more pressing question is, why do we still congregate on this (broken) website to talk hockey and give this weird guy money?
April 19, 2012 7:59 AM ET | Delete
Perhaps because it's still the best place to chat hockey
April 19, 2012 6:55 PM ET | Delete
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