Anonymity and message boards

Not that I am some expert or on the radar of anyone, but I am and would be open. I have no problem sharing information and ideas. I just wish I had a job right now!

When I read the title of this post, I thought of something else:


The size of a person's balls whenever they can hide behind a computer screen.



I imagine a lot of us are more cordial, and less hardarses than we protray ourselves on this site.



A disconnect exists between what is said, and reprisal for what is said (I cannot see you, hear you get mad, punch me, etc.)


That's why some threads get "testy" (not pun intended)

This is my point as well.

There are many here who know my real name and where i coach at.
That doesn't mean I want it just flat out easy for someone to find out about me.

Hackers and identity stealers are good enough without me making it completely easy for them by posting my name all over the place.

Is it ironic the guy that started this thread didn't list his location?

I'm just another student of the game who may have something intelligent to add occasionally.

Some of the "fan sites" drive me nuts. We have something called "m-live" which is a plethora of idiots bashing each other. Anonymity makes people brave.

AMEN Brother !!!!!! The message boards for HS sports do way more damage than good, IMO.

I go by a handle out of habit. When I started going online that was the way it was done. If somebody cares who I am I tell him. I don't want some rival to just run a search and find out what we do, though.

personally, i keep mu name off the website for a couple of reasons. first, its the whole "identity theft" issue. (it happened to my sister... her identity resurfaced in ISRAEL and accrued $15,000 of debt!!!) so you can imagine my discomfort of putting my name on things. my other reason is that where i work, there are "higher-ups" who i often rip apart on various threads for how they treat our program. in the past, another coach from a school in my district was exposed doing the same thing on another site and was fired and blackballed from coaching. i cerftainly dont want to suffer the same fate... i need my teaching job + benefits - i have 3 kids. so i often find myself making co0mments about where i work that i wouldnt particularly care for my superiors to know about. does that make me a coward? i dont think so. i see this forum as an opportunity to rant and rave to an audience of guys who have all "been there, done that". i get to exchange messages with guys whose wives are ready to kick them out if they watcxh any more game film during sunday dinner, or guys who know what its like to put in 60+hours of preparation per week for a game and get blown off the field. i cant talk about these things with many people.... thats why i value this forum so much. if you REALLY want to know who i am, p.m me and its no problem... ive done it a few times. but in the end, does it really matter WHO each one of us is? to me, its more about the IDEAS we share and support we give each other. besides, i would hate to meet "ohantom" face to face and have my image shatterred!

Man, is that good or bad?

hahahahahahahaha

I've been coaching for 6 years now. One things I've noticed is that when I talk to young coaches from other schools, we sort of hide a lot like we're worried they'll find something out. Then I hear the old dogs, the head coaches of our district, just spilling the secrets of the world.

I keep my name off (well, last name) the website because I can't imagine anyone cares. I was a JV defensive coordinator for two years, we racked up an impressive 3-15 record. Somehow that equated to a promotion to varsity DC. We went 5-5 this year, best we've done since I arrived. Seriously, I'm available for clinics. For $3000, I'll come install my defense at your school. Thats more than my stipend.

I think it also depends on where you are in regards to your program. As a feeder program coach who runs the same basic offense as the varsity, I'm obviously not going to be wide open with what we do on my own without some guidance from above.

I keep my name off my posts because it isn't important WHO I am. I am just a football coach like anyone else on here. I present ideas and opinions and I think those ideas and opinions can stand on their own merit without associating that it was from me. If you like my idea or opinion, use it all you want. If you think i am full of it, then don't believe me. It doesn't matter to me either way.

Some coaches believe the only way to validate your opinion is to present all the success I have had and then and only then what I say is important or worthwhile. Those guys are likely people I wouldn't enjoy talking to in person anyway. I believe the common football coach has enough sense to weigh an opinion or idea and judge its merit for themselves.

Anyone can say anything sitting behind their desk.

What I say can be validated, posted scores, posted video etc. Having your name in place means more accountability. My guess is there are probably a few unscrupulous guys that make things up because no one can validate what they say. No doubt a problem on many Boards where the posters remain anonymous.

The local HS coaches clinics I go to, the best HS coaches freely share much of what they do. On the surface these guys seem to all get along pretty well. Same goes for many of the best College coaches, they seem to be fairly open with what they do.

Because of what I saw at the HS clinics, The last 2 years I did free local clinics for youth coaches. We invited several of our competitors and it really helped build positive relationships with them and hopefully made them better coaches.

Did they run some of our same stuff back against us? A Little.
Did they defend us better? Some, but it made for better games and we still did real well. I had a guy stop me after a game this year, a game we won very handily, He told me had read my book and watched the DVDs but decided against putting my stuff in, but complimented me none the less. So no biggie, my competitors go to my web site all the time and they frequent the youth forum Im a frequent poster at as well, who cares. Its up to us to out execute and out coach em. Every year we make a few tweaks, add/subtract make adjustments, it makes it more fun and challenging at the youth level anyways.

Was not a blanket statement, a few means a few. I know some here have tried to back their claim up with facts of how their team did this to so and so and yet remained anonymous.

Personally, I think its cool guys like airraider let us follow along with his team week by week, I found it a very interesting and compelling story. Brads challenges with his new gig are interesting as well, gald they chose to share that with us.

With 1,000s of members no doubt someone somewhere made a false claim. I doubt any "famous" coach would be part of that small group. If someone is talking schemes, technique etc who cares. If they are making claims with facts backed up with how their team did such and such vs so and so, then maybe it's another story JMHO.