A Word on Comments

Hey all,

So I just checked in on the Princeton comments thread, and I figured it might be good to post about comments generally.

The point of comments is to allow a place for viewpoints better placed than my own (i.e., people who actually get to see most of the games) and broaden the overall discussion by creating a forum for people who similarly care about this program. As a big fan of the marketplace of ideas and someone who isn't a big fan of, say, fascism, I'm not one to delete comments willy nilly. I've done it a couple of times here when the comments clearly added nothing to the discussion and were aimed at hurting people. Short of that, I'm inclined to lay off.

That said, as my seventh grade teacher used to tell me, "Mr. Bell, this isn't a democracy." The tone of some of the Princeton comments concerns me, and I'm not going to put up with comments that are clearly made without the requisite underlying respect for the student athletes and their coaches. Write with that respect, and write accurately. You can question individual coaching decisions--who hasn't?--but please, do so guided by that underlying respect. Questioning the players' and coaches' desire to win is a below the belt hit that we don't have to tolerate here.

I think I might have a bit more to say about the specific Princeton thread issues in the comments, but I think this is worth putting out there for now.