Fandom and InterWebz

I should be in bed and not just because I'm getting a cold. Getting some sleep might help me write this fucking chapter I'm working on that's been kicking my ass and figure out what the hell the plot is about. Beyond "Mommy was drunk and fucked up my life" because, seriously, that shit gets boring fast.

Meanwhile, here I am thinking about how painfully stupid I'm finding most of my online interactions lately. Although interactions is probably the wrong word because we're talking my onesided response to things I read or see. Like on messageboards, which I can't seem to stop myself from reading but have totally given up commenting on because, seriously, Internet message boards are the cyber equivalent of the mob. Between blog rules of conduct and e-bullying stories of late, I'm hardly breaking new ground when I say that as soon as a show or a book or even a site gets any sort of significant InterWebz following, the quality of commentary and general conduct of the related communites plunges.

If e-anonymity makes people bold, it also seems to encourage a groupthink at the level of the lowest common demoninator that tends to drive away those who don't share the same hive-mind mentality. Veronica Mars being a case in point where a minority of rabid romance fans basically hijacked online fandom and created a huge backlash when the show's storylines stopped featuring their favourite couple the likes of which I've never seen before in all the years I've participated in fandom. The degree of bile directed at the show by posters who are supposedly fans made me think about all the years of truly bad hockey Torontonians endured during the 70s and 80s when Harold Ballard drove our beloved Leafs into a slump from which they have still not truly recovered. Everyone slammed the Leafs growing up but underneath that there was a granitic current of loyalty and affection that never wavered. It's not merely that I find VM fans fickle in comparison to Leafs fans (hell, I think only Sox and Cubs fans are more devoted to their teams) but there's something unpleasant in the selfcongratulatory tone among posters who, annoyed because person A is no longer swabbing spit with person B, seem to be taking so much delight in the show's current cancellation difficulties. And that makes me wonder if these folks ever really like the show at all (as opposed to aforementioned sharing of bodily fluids) and if it's the experience of being a fan or the term that is degraded in regard to the InterWebz?

Then again, I'm not sure how far I want to go with the idea that sports fans are better fans than media fans or the idea that loyalty is somehow an integral part of being a true "fan". At the same time, I don't think it can be wholly divorced from it either...

Dear Hockey Gods, Will the Wrong Team Stop Losing?

You have no idea how unpleasant it will be for me if the Sens make the playoffs. Not to mention that we already have two teams from south of the snow line in the conference semis and you're making me choose between a third and rooting for Vancouver. That's is just cruel, guys. At least the Sabres squeaked through, even if the hockey was less than brilliant. Now, about the Calgary/Detroit series... You know how I love Jarome Iginla - enought to root for Calgary - but I love the Wings, too. We've been together 10 years and while nothing will ever been quite the same as those awesome Cup years of the 90s, I thought we had a real future together. But you took on Bertuzzi, guys, Bertuzzi.

And, y'know, I still love you, Detroit. I'm still hoping we can get together at the Joe Louis and have a few beers sometime in the future but not while you're with him - it's a line I just won't cross. So, please, Hockey Gods, if you could - Calgary over Detroit tonight, please?

No, Just, No

American hockey coverage actually hurts me. Not quite as much as the score (3-0 Detroit - hello, were you listening to me Hockey Gods? Huh, I thought not) but still. Gah.

Ron Maclean, I miss you.

eta: OMGWTF, I just saw a recruiting ad for the Marines that featured a little arabic child giving a flower to a US marine in full battle-rattle. I thought it had to be a joke until I turned the volume on. The "no, they like us, they really like us" moment was followed by scenes that went on to link Iraq (and I suppose, Afghanistan) with World War II and all that 'Greatest Generation' claptrap.

I think it was one of the most calculated and cynical things I've ever seen.

OMGWTF!!!?

Why are you showing a clip from Slap Shot?!

*howls*

How can you comment on a hockey game when you know nothing about the sport, you stupid fuckwit! And who is the stupid man standing between the two boxes?

Repeat after me: hockey is a sport. Hockey does not equal wrestling. I will not broadcast a hockey game like I'm giving colour commentary on an episode of Dynasty.



OMG, did that add just mention a 'decrease in semen,' OMG, I *hate* American sports broadcasting. You suck so much and so do your adds.

"It's Our Game"

Oh, thank you God: CBC is streaming the game.

Calgary - you're playing stupid, stop it. And what the hell was that with the goalie?

Detroit - well played, damn you. Well played.

Turn off the TV

Jennifer Lopez a better movie cop than Michelle Rodriguez?

Are you on crack, TV? What the hell?!

And when did Nicole Kidman ever play a "woman in uniform" - seriously, I'm trying to remember and coming up blank.