Here's the post I was talking about, I hope you don't mind me copying it here Jmad...
We need to have a talk.
Why? Because we all hate trolls and idiots. Both of our sides have them.
I'd like to see some genuine discussion here, no insulting, flaming, or other childish cr*p, because I am about to lay out my major beef with most of my interactions with Braves fans on these message boards.
I'd like the Braves Fans, the ones with sense, to lay out their grievances. we will respond to them, politely, intelligently and with tact. if you cannot speak this way, please leave this thread without saying a word. that goes for Nationals fans as well.
A rivalrly is good and fun, and that's what I'd like...but at this moment we don't quite have a rivalry. it's more like a couple stupid people yelling at each other. that's not a rivalry.
the goal here is to try and rid both our forums of some of the stupidity that floats around.
at this point in time, I really have to say that I LOATHE Braves Fans. I respect their TEAM utterly, and I never discount them out of anything. they are the 13-time defending Division Champs, and in the immortal words of Ric Flair, To Be The Man, You Gotta Beat the Man. I give that team all the respect in the world, and I always see them as a prime opponent. The road to the Pennant runs through Atlanta, and even though the Nationals are in first, we will still have to fight off the Braves if we want to stay there.
however the Braves fans don't respect anything. at least that's the impression I get. that's my big issue with them. We give their team all the respect a 13-time Division Champion deserves.
However, if anyone ELSE in the division plays good Baseball, they discount it as luck, or a fluke, or they blame it on their injuries, or the Umpires, or something.
They simply refuse to give credit where credit is due. We have played EXCELLENT baseball the entire first half of the season. would it kill a Braves fan to say "Hey, you guys are playing great baseball, congrats."?? Would it kill them to acknowledge that the Division is gonna be a fight to the finish, and that we aren't just going to lay down and job to them? if Braves Fans could do this, I'd hate them a LOT less.
they insult our fans, claim that we don't know anything about baseball, that we are idiots, that we are "snotty", "bandwagoners" and things like that because we are cheering our team, and enjoying their first place run. they insult our stadium, insult our city. why? because our team is in First Place ahead of them, and they don't want to give credit to the team for playing good baseball. who are the "snotty ones" here? If we were in last place, then they would not insult our fans and our city they way they do now. Are we NOT supposed to support the team that is dropped into our backyard? Is that team NOT supposed to have fans? that seems to be the popular theory around most of these boards, but especially so on the Braves board. Contrary to popular belief, the vast majority of us were NOT Orioles fans. and the vast majority of us are NOT baseball-challenged idiots, and we DO know very much about the game. personally I've been involved somehow in Baseball since I was 9. The Braves Fans seem to not believe that you are allowed to root for a team until it has been there 40 years.
this is my primary beef with them. and again, this is based primarily on my own interactions with Braves Fans.
