Saturday 3 October 2009

Are The Org's Days Numbered?


With the introduction of the improved chat / comments facilty at West Ham Til I Die, it appears as if the days of the Org may, sadly, be numbered. So many of the old characters have gone on the missing list and a number of others are, at best, sporadic with their contributions. Their replacements are a pale shadow of the old guard, lacking the wit, knowledge, invective and intelligence of their predecessors.

Why is this happening? Well if you allow a Klan to dictate what anybody is allowed to say, then a forum loses its purpose. How much fun can you have when everybody has to agree with each other and when, if anybody steps out of line, there is a ganging up mentality with allegations that the dissident is a Fanno alter ego. Del is trying hard to prop the whole thing up but I sense his shoulders are cracking beneath the weight of apathy and banality.

I genuinely do not want to see the site die. I had a great time there when it was buzzing. So, if you look in here and fancy debating on all subjects West Ham, why not look in on www.westhamfans.org. Who knows, Fanno might stir the pot soon to try to get the bees buzzing!

29 comments:

Anonymous said...

So when was the last game you went to?

Anonymous said...

Its not a trick question! I know you believe you have 1000's of followers, so tell us all, what was the last game you attended! Not the last game you could have gone to?

Anonymous said...

I assume with tickets on general sale for the fulham game, as they were vs tottenham and liverpool you'll go? Oh, actually you didnt before though! Hahahahahahaha.

Anonymous said...

Oh wait, i must be a 'twat', thats your usual argument! Hahahahahaha! Lets see what you say once you watch motd2? Hahahahahahahahahahahaha.

Anonymous said...

Bring Back corinthiansman!!
Where is he?
Great support near relegation season 2007

Hammersfan said...

It is this sort of informed comment that is killing the org. Actually, I was offered a free ticket for today's game courtesy of a season ticket holder who visits this site. I would love to be there but it really is impossible. Some things are more important in life than football despite what Mr Shankley said.

Hammersfan said...

Joe pardew I take it based on the timings? No mates on the org when you were logged on? No mates there all day looking at the number of replies. The difference between this site and the Org is that this is a blog, not a forum before you make the counter point. This is Fanno mouthing off, not Fanno debating.

Anonymous said...

How can a season ticket holder “who visits this site” offer you a ticket they’re ALL you and you don’t go to games never did you’ve just piles of statistics books in the bedsit ha ha ha ha Bring back a few of the Aussie’s they were great ha ha ha ha

Hammersfan said...

If you like. But remember, I also exploit poor people who cannot pay their mortgages by buying up their homes on repossession - all plotted from my bedsit! Mind you, I wouldn't touch anything in Dagenham.

Anonymous said...

Regrets, fanno? Surely even you can see the irony of this situation? If there was one person who did more than most to bring about the demise of the Org. then it was you. Your numerous personas meant that no newcomer was trusted and most posts were either treated with suspicion or ignored.
I fell foul of this climate of mistrust and it soon became obvious to me that DFK, Spain and Del thought I was one of your alter-egos. After an initial welcoming by OSP, Aycliffe, Wrighty, Ashes and Flappers (all of whom I have a lot of time for) I soon found my posts being ignored or incurring the wrath of the ‘Big Three’. There became little point in continuing to contribute and I just ceased to post. I continue to look in periodically but, and here I must agree with you, there is little reason to rejoin the debates, most are sterile, hackneyed or just plain boring.
I’d even bet now that anyone looking at this post of mine will assume that this is you ‘debating’ with yourself for the sake of it. This is the monster that you have created. Happy with it?
I don’t doubt that you genuinely would prefer to see an active, vibrant, stimulating Org. but, unfortunately, you’ve been driving the nails into the coffin lid at a prodigious rate.

Deane said...

having read the purile comments on here I think I'll give it a miss Nice to know what this 'org' you keep bleating about is though

Anonymous said...

Obviously you are banned so you won't know how hard it has been posting on there lately. There are ongoing server problems, nothing to do with you I trust!! There have been a number of ups/downs with the org but there are still some good contributors and some of the old guard are slowly returning. It may be a bit quiet at times but don't start writing your Eulogy just yet!

Hammersfan said...

Genuinely 1227, Fanno did not create that monster, the Klan did. I have said, and will keep confirming, that Fanno did not have multiple personnas, he was only ever on the Org as Hammersfanno1 until that handle was banned. Then he became lbmisgod, then another name suggested by Nev, then a series of other names as Nev continued to issues bans. That wasn't Fanno playing silly buggers, that was just getting around the ban. Why was the ban invoked? Becuase the Klan objected to Fanno's "negative" views. Either you post what the Klan want to hear or, as you discovered yourself, they gang up on you. Very sad. And before the orgsters correct me, yes stopatthecurbs made a jokey contribution as a naive 14 year old but everybody got the joke back then and Alan Pardew made a fleeting humourous appearance, with trousers round his ankles.

I have no regrets except that Fanno and El Martillo (not me!) were banned and lots of intelligent posters left soon afterwards, which has killed the site. You agree that the debate is now sterile and boring. It wouldn't be if Fanno was there, as himself, but Grumpy, the Nazi Golfer and the AA member didn't want that did they? They killed the goose but they can't see that. poor Del must give up soon - he really is flogging a dead horse.

Anonymous said...

It takes two to tango, as they say. You can’t lay all the blame at the door of the’ Klan’ (your word not mine) for the pervading stench of a rotting carcass emanating from the Org. You’ve played your part in killing it off just as much as those you point the finger at.
I’ll accept your numerous personas were necessary to stay one step ahead of being silenced by the moderator but, none the less, you exploited the situation and clearly had a lot of fun making mischief under differing guises. But by doing so you have created a climate whereby me, and many others, were treated circumspectly.
As for you denying that you have any regrets I think you are fooling no one but yourself. You find it difficult to leave it alone and I suspect, that were you to be honest with yourself, you recognise the part you have, perhaps inadvertently, played in bringing it to its current state. If the patient can be saved it will be the likes of OSP, Aycliffe and Wrighty that will breathe life into the corpse.

Hammersfan said...

Wrighty is a big part of the problem - or was until he went walkabout. I know he got up the nose of a few of the regulars and as he assumed a more prominent role due to the silencing of others, so the site nosedived. Then along came / returned roberto and nolegs and North Bank - and all sense of a witty forum disappeared.

You really can't blame Fanno for the demise. Fanno hasn't been identified for six months or so on the site, it is just stifled in banalities. That wouldn't be the case if Fanno was still there or Hotshot for that matter.

I say in the article that I don't want the site to die and have tried to promote it here. I have no personal regrets because whilst Fanno was contributing, the site was vibrant. Fanno was forced out and the site has gone into decline subsequently. That's Grumpy's and Nev's fault!

Anonymous said...

Yes, the site has declined recently and, I’ll take your word for it, it has been declining ever since you were banned but this is because of the sense of paranoia that pervades. Every poster is now viewed with suspicion. Every post is now treated circumspectly in case it turns out to be your work. But this is a direct result of your input. (Interestingly, why do you refer to fanno in the third person? I wonder what a psychiatrist would make of it? Sorry, I digress.)
Personally, I think that rather than distrust every new poster it would be better to treat every post at face value. After all, the world will hardly stop turning if someone finds themselves in a debate with you.
Don’t agree with you about Wrighty. I enjoyed his contribution and always found him forthright but receptive to differing opinions.
However, I do agree wholeheartedly with you about the lack of wit, as you put it. Humour has well and truly been put to the sword on the site and I find that thoroughly depressing.

Anonymous said...

what is this all about? oh, wait, i don't care. is this the state of our fans these days, a petty public squabble all tangled up in claret and blue? don't make my club look silly you mug, it grates.

Hammersfan said...

1742, put five West Ham fans is a bar and they will have different opinions on most things football. That's what makes talking football fun isn't it?

Hammersfan said...

1655, so I am to blame for the paranoia of others am I? Check out a dictionary definition: paranoia is an extreme and unreasonable feeling that other people do not like you or are going to harm or criticize you. Who needs the shrink? This is the internet for pity's sake, why is anybody paranoid about debate?

As for referring to Fanno in the thrird person, that is because he isn't me, he is an internet personna. I can't argue like Fanno in my place of work or my home. He is a creation and he served the Org well until the Klan ran scared because he won all the debates and so erected the claret and blue crosses.

Wrighty's approach to debate is to lose the argument and then yell "Big nose!". I don't know for sure but I think he was a factor in OSP withdrawing into the shadows.

At the end of the day, to flourish the org needs personalities. Grumpy fulfils a purpose as does Del. Fanno was the big bad wolf, the one everybody loved to hate and 99% enjoyed the tussles, especially when watching from the sidelines. However the big fish in the pond lost one or two arguments too many and so resorted to calling for a ban. That was sad, especially when paranoia, as you rightly term it, led to El Martillo being shown the door and anybody else with a view being accused of being a Fanno. When I joined, the exiled "Hotshot" was the antichrist and early doors, I was accused of being him. Doesn't the need to ban both Hotshot and Fanno tell you something? Hotshot returned and we chipped at each other but he was great fun - what's the big deal? Why are people so weak and pathetic that they can't exchange views on the internet without getting precious about it. Look at the abuse I receive from others and post on here!

The Reverend said...

Yes the site has declined lately Straighty, am I right? You are spot on re your reasons as well. I have put up that argument that you shouldn't worry who has posted just concentrate on the content. I'm a stubborn old git and will hang around trying to help it back to full health. Jump back in mate as your contributions were always worth a read, if I am wrong reveal yourself as I think it is clear who I am. Fanno, if you care about the org then drop all your digs and move on. There is a big enough audience for everyone and when you stick to what you are good at like your latest piece then you can be quite amusing, blimey did I pay you a compliment!!

Hammersfan said...

Aycliffe mate, this isn't a dig, I am encouraging people to visit the site using News Now as a platform. The digs are coming in the opposite direction.

Things are pretty desperate aren't they? I read your posts and Del's and feel for you as you try to squeeze intelligent and witty debate out of the present crowd. It isn't about the volume of responses but the quality of those responses. Dave Bull was a welcome returner but that looks as if it was short lived doesn't it? OSP is vary badly missed and so is El Martillo - how comes you couldn't persuade Nev that Marty wasn't me? Banning him really was a case of "shooting yourself in the foot" because he was witty and informed. Where is Bill? Has he resigned because he didn't receive backing for his tirade against this site?

Look back at the good old days of OSP, davefking, Mrs Lucas Neill, Bully, yourself, Marty, Fanno, westham66, Irons, WHTID etcetera and the site was always buzzing, always vibrant. I always said that forums thrive on friction and so it is proving. You can't sustain debate by backslapping alone. The site needs another Hotshot or Fanno to stir things up doesn't it? dave is just depressing (even more than I am!), you are too damn nice and del, bless him, is too pompous - the rest just haven't got what it takes to mark the sparks fly sadly.

I think these are genuinely dangerous times for the site. If people aren't posting at the moment, whilst the club is in crisis, when will they feel motivated to speak out? Now we move into an international fortnight so the boards are likely to be quieter still. Without a big effort from the backbone boys, mordant could become as dead as a Python parrot!

The Reverend said...

I do see that you have actually put up a link to the site now. What's with all the moderation on here, very hard to get into a debate with it on.

Hammersfan said...

There was so much foul abuse from certain friends on the org that I had no choice. Death threats, threats to rape my daughter, links to hard core pornographic sites - some of the people over there - as I have warned before - are very, very unpleasant. From what I have learned from somebody known to you, a certain German golfer is one of the least pleasant. (I speak as somebody who would never dream of raising a hand against a woman.)

Yep the link is up. Hopefully some traffic might be generated to relieve the burden a bit mate.

Anonymous said...

Yes, The Reverend you're right in your assumption. Didn't realise that you looked in here as well. Good job I was complimentary about you in earlier postings! LOL.
Fanno won't accept it but he's done a great deal of damage to the Org. None so blind as those that will not see, eh?
Don't know if I'll return or not, kind of had the enthusiasm knocked out of me. Getting a bit long in the tooth for some of the childish stuff that goes on. Time is a great healer, though.
Best wishes to you and yours (Lil Aycliffe).
Once an Iron, always an Iron - that'll never waiver.

The Reverend said...

I look in here from time to time to make sure he is behaving himself, its not just the org that I watch over you know!! Like I said mate you should definitely jump back in as it is intelligent writers like yourself that we need more of. Most of the regulars have had a break at some point so no one will think anything of it. Plenty of the "oldies" are still looking in. I tend to go on in my lunch break and OSP is often on, he even contributed today. Certain people will always have suspicions but there are reasons for it as you have mentioned to Fanno. Probably plenty who can take their share of the blame but if you enjoyed contributing before then do so again. If not mate look after yourself and maybe catch up with you at a game in the future, I'm the bald bloke, mind that doesn't narrow it down much LOL

Hammersfan said...

Straightforward, are you telling me the Org is a better place without Fanno, Hotshot, OSP, El Martillo etcetera? Fanno served a purpose, he was a poke in the eye merchant who people reacted to. That reaction generated sparks which ignited gunpowder and caused an explosion of views. Posts used to have 100 + responses as people piled in on one side or another. Fanno boxed with gloves on until somebody threw the first bare knuckle punch, then retailated in kind. As I kept maintaining, Fanno responded in kind and that is a fact.

Why have OSP, WHTID and IG gone into semi retirement from the site AFTER Fanno left. Why were you still active WHILST Fanno was alive and kicking, only to defect subsequently? Why do you look in here? The point is, Fanno was a personna and he was both provocative and entertaining - which is why in 18 months on the site Fanno was voted "best debater", "most informed" and "most entertaining" in the polls of the members. Yet Fanno was banned! That was like Roeder dropping Di Canio!

We all know why Fanno was banned, it was because he upset the Klan - and the site has suffered. I am promoting the site on here which, I think, shows that I am not the antichrist the orgsters would have you believe. The problem is, so many myths were built up around Fanno that nobody really knows the truth any more.

Anonymous said...

Oh my God, I’ve stirred up a hornets’ nest. Actually, thinking about it, you should be called Hornet, not fanno. Far more appropriate. Anyway, to return to matters in hand - - -
No one doubts your unrivalled ability to provoke, whether it is always entertaining is another issue. Clearly some are anything but entertained. Now that may be them misreading your character or misunderstanding your reasons for posting. Personally, I treat everything you post as having been written tongue in cheek with the clear intention of winding people up because that is your raison d’etre.
Unfortunately, some people take your words quite literally; swallow the bait, hook, line and sinker. They don’t enjoy the debate. They end up hurt, respond angrily, which is meat and drink to you, and become embroiled in a slanging match that they are destined to lose because they don’t understand the rules by which you play.
You, for your part, are unprepared to accept that your provocative style is not to everyone’s taste. Some people have been put off from posting. You would dismiss them as ‘weak’ but, none the less, they now no longer contribute and newcomers, like me, were thought by the older hands to be you in one of different personas and our contributions were largely ignored. No doubt it wasn’t your intention but the effect has been to shrink the membership. This is why I feel you have been partly responsible for the demise of The Org.
Yes, you’re right when you say The Org. is a duller place with many of its characters missing and, for my part, I miss those characters but, perhaps, the rump that’s left are happier with the current state of affairs.

Anonymous said...

Yeah I’ve just seen OSP’s pathetic attempt to get back in the saddle Terry Dixon for fluck sake and Aycliffe’s benign I love everybody comments yuck. “Has Low Morale Set In?” yeah Del your right well it has on the mordant org anyways. Yaaawwwwnnnn. Are these 3 supposed to be the spearhead of the big renaissance then? Where’s a good klan when you need them hang on are they the klan?

Hammersfan said...

LOL Is OSP back? I must look in for a chat. He is a good guy, though he is a friend of the Klan. Aycliffe is Mr Nice Guy. Del is part of the management of the site with "special rights" to edit posts.