Separate forums - strictly running / everything else. Everyone will have free speech and users can select which forum they wish to browse. People get to air their views, LRC still gets the clicks and site traffic, and users don't have to wade through the swamp to find relevant threads.
If you do this, then the penalty for starting a non-running thread or posting non-running content in the designated running forum is a lifetime ban. Most of us favor free speech but hardly any of us like to see good threads hijacked or ruined by trolls.
Can you ban the word "woke" like the way you banned mentions of Rupp and "gay" a long time ago? It just makes me cringe and anyone who takes a quick glance at the message boards will think this place is really backwards and self-congratulatory in this obtuse queasy way when really there is a lot of good running info and inside knowledge and nowhere else can you refer to a pro or collegian by their first name and have everyone else know what you're talking about.
While we are doing that, let's also ban the word "woman" from the boards.
Half the traffic on this site would be gone if you couldn't bash women.
Allow registered users to tag each other (@handle) to draw their attention to a comment, as done in social media platforms. Of course this would require a strict set of guidelines to prevent abuse (and a permanent ban for any violations) but it could be fun.
More in-depth pieces on our favorite US athletes and teams as well as pieces on interesting characters. The Chris Zablocki piece from 2016 is still one of my favorites and I’m sure there’s more interesting athletes like him that could use exposure. Getting long form pieces on someone like Grant Fisher post BTC would be fun too.
Ditto this, and I’ll add that quick updates on how athletes are doing would be great too. I hate that we always have to ask “Is ____ update?” questions on the board. Every other major sport’s media regularly gives us updates on athletes.
On a more positive note, lots of Olympic and pre-Olympic coverage, of course. Maybe vignettes in Paris and Eugene, like film at the IHOP—maybe you'd run into athletes (does BTC hate IHOP?)—and then later go have crepes on the street in Paris. Compare & contrast.
I like the political and current event threads mixed in with the running. If I don't see a running thread I'm interested in, I'll stick around to read what all the kiddos are thinking and writing regarding whats going on in our society and the world.
Splitting the message board would probably reduce the amount of time I spend on this site. The running board would be too slow and the politics/current events board would be just too much and there are other places I can go if I just want that kind of content.
For each registered user, it would be cool if their “profile” contained their lifetime comments ratings. So you could click on any registered user’s handle and see a running count of how many upvotes and downvotes they’ve gotten along with their favorability score. For example, if someone has received a total of 3,000 upvotes and 1,000 downvotes in all their years of posting, their favorability score would be 75.0%.
There need to be new well selected diverse group of new mods.
I would hope you meant ideologically diverse but it's far more likely you just mean people who agree with you on everything in colors, genders, and orientations that check as many boxes as possible.
For each registered user, it would be cool if their “profile” contained their lifetime comments ratings. So you could click on any registered user’s handle and see a running count of how many upvotes and downvotes they’ve gotten along with their favorability score. For example, if someone has received a total of 3,000 upvotes and 1,000 downvotes in all their years of posting, their favorability score would be 75.0%.
This would only be useful if there was a way to quantify the objectivity of the voters. Hamas would get more up votes than down votes on most college campuses. That doesn't mean Hamas is worth listening to.
I'd like to see rojo study up on writing and grammar, perhaps with some formal instruction.
For some extra credibility he should follow through with periodic updates towards either a 5 minute mile, or a 3 hour marathon. We'd all enjoy the ups and downs along the way.
More than half the arguments start here because of comments that are added within controversial topics, especially involving athletes and doping, relationships and social media. This is also true with political questions.
As a result, I'd like to see more of a poll format without a comment section so that people can vote but not have the screaming or pejoratives from either side.
The people who create the poll would create the choices and those would be the only choices:
Is doping a problem for you in track and field?
Your choices could be:
No, dude where's my dope?
Maybe, it depends on the athlete.
Maybe, it depends on the substance.
Yes, to a certain extent
Hay-ell yes it is a problem
It could make this place a more fun way to interact with responsible limits (and no comments on pure polls).
Personally I like to keep censorship to a minimum, whether that means individuals, topics, or entire threads. Maybe I have a high tolerance for insanity but I think it’s safer to keep the crazy out in the open where people can respond and react publicly.
More than half the arguments start here because of comments that are added within controversial topics, especially involving athletes and doping, relationships and social media. This is also true with political questions.
As a result, I'd like to see more of a poll format without a comment section so that people can vote but not have the screaming or pejoratives from either side.
The people who create the poll would create the choices and those would be the only choices:
Is doping a problem for you in track and field?
Your choices could be:
No, dude where's my dope?
Maybe, it depends on the athlete.
Maybe, it depends on the substance.
Yes, to a certain extent
Hay-ell yes it is a problem
It could make this place a more fun way to interact with responsible limits (and no comments on pure polls).
While we are making a wish list, it would be nice to know who the team is that is legislating the site and what their role is. It's very strange to have an online business that has no written address, even a P.O. Box for written correspondence. This is important especially if an athlete or poster is defamed and there's no place to send a cease-and-desist order. I can look up Nissin Foods, the producer of my favorite ramen noodles and find out who the executives are and their roles. We're literally floundering on this site for real resolution or real solutions to problems that might arise because we have what is touted as a complete source but with no real answers:
Where is letsrun.com operated?
Where is its business license?
Where do people go if they have a BBB complaint against letsrun.com
Is there a board?
If so, who is on the board?
Most businesses disclose this.
I may be the squeaky wheel but good... I'm a strong wheel and I'll ask for answers for others who would not.
For each registered user, it would be cool if their “profile” contained their lifetime comments ratings. So you could click on any registered user’s handle and see a running count of how many upvotes and downvotes they’ve gotten along with their favorability score. For example, if someone has received a total of 3,000 upvotes and 1,000 downvotes in all their years of posting, their favorability score would be 75.0%.
That's just a popularity/likeability quotient.
A lot of people hate me here. Ok. I think Kombucha is beneficial. But if you discredited all of my information on your percentages, you are basically saying that Mike's information on Kombucha is worse than Tom's (even if it is the same) because people like Tom.
I graduated from high school 31 and a half years ago.