FanPost

The Case for HornsChamps

I’m glad PB isn’t going to ban HornsChamps.  There, I said it.  I know he can be a curmudgeonly type who talks down to everyone else and has an irrational hatred for everything and everyone associated with Mack Brown, but... this is America, and everyone is entitled to a defense, and I think HornsChamps has a good one.

There have only been two non-spammers banned from this blog - both for good reason.  Dhab was banned because he made racist and derogatory comments and created an atmosphere on the blog that was detrimental to the community.  As far as I know, HornsChamps has only been derogatory towards the young and those who do not hold season tickets. That’s fundamentally different from inciting a riot because you hate minorities or gay people. HornChamps may be disagreeable, but he’s not offensive. Big difference.

Moreover, if you find his positions unpalatable, just ignore his argument and don’t reply to him. I don’t get the impression that he’s actively seeking to attack people.

Brazos was banned because he also was inclined to make derogatory statements and because he intentionally tried to bring down the community by attacking everyone with inane arguments just to provoke a fight.  By contrast, HornsChamps seems to truly believe that Mack is a bad coach and our scheduling is the worst thing to happen to Texas football since Mackovic’s post-concussion season.  HornsChamps is not trying to hurt the blog - he just wants to get his point across.

I know that most of you are growing weary of HornsChamps demeaning nature, but like the comic book guy in The Simpsons, that’s just who he is, and although I’m pleased to see he’s trying to tone it down, it’s also just something that we are going to have to accept.  

I know that most of you are probably sick of seeing the same list of Mack’s scheduling at NC and what appears to most of us to be an irrational hatred and negativity towards UT football, but the great thing about this blog is that you don’t have to read every comment.  Just skip over his comments.

In the end, we can choose to sit in our ivory tower and only let in the thinkers who we get along with in, or we can have this blog community represent the entire UT fan base.  HornsChamps is like the old guy who was sitting behind you at the OU game last year at half time when we were down 10 to 7, bitching about how horrible our offense is, how Mack and GD should be fired before the game is over because he could call a better game, and how the season was a failure already.  Yeah, he pissed you off, but you know when Shipley caught the TD from Colt in the third quarter you still gave him a high five, even if you had that told you so grin when you did it.  HornsChamps is the voice of a fan we may not always agree with, and if we want to represent the Longhorn community as a whole, then he should stay.

In the end, I want voices of dissent to be a part of the conversation on this blog. I’m glad that PB is urging HornChamps to frame his arguments in a more tactful manner, and if he can’t find a way to make counter-points without being condescending, then maybe it’s time to rethink things. But I say HornChamps gets every opportunity to play the devil’s advocate on the points he’s passionate about. So long as he can do it respectfully and without cutting and pasting the same points for every thread, then he can be a positive addition to this community.

Besides, it is not like he dismissed one of our most rational, prolific and insightful commenter and contributor’s playoff idea with an off the cuff remark with out even listening to the idea, or told the funniest commenter and contributor, who is probably main reason that people come back to this blog (beside PB and AW’s posts) that he was just not funny anymore.

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