re: If you're a new ag to the board, read before you post

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I understand the strategy of owning it. I just think we can cross the line with "owning" it.

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In an environment like the Rant, not really.

I get where you're coming from, and on another board (perhaps a more A&M-friendly one), I'd agree with you. But since I've been on this site, the one constant is that the SEC Rant is a giant Thunderdome. We can bitch and moan about it till the cows come home, but at the end of the day, the "low hanging fruit" is what's going to get thrown out there, every single time.

Every fanbase has a "go-to" insult on here. For TAMU, it's the gay thing. For Ole Miss, it's racism. For Bama, is Gumping. For Florida, it's jorts. The list goes on.

The key to surviving on that particular board is simply to take the teeth out of insults before they're even brought up (or just ignore them when they are). There really is no line to cross when it comes to "owning" it. "Owning" isn't even really a good term for the tactic--it's really just beating folks to the punch. 7 times out of 10 it'll lead to some good natured back/forth ribbing and the conversation moves on. Getting defensive about it only encourages folks to press the issue further and then any chance at an actual convo is derailed (in my experience).

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The other SEC fans expect more out of us

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Nah, nobody expects anything out of any other fanbase on the Rant other than the ability to trade paint with the trolls. Like it or not, it's going to be dished out. Gotta be able to take it and give as good as you get. It's not ideal, but that's the way of that board. Stick to the team boards or the OTB for more "real" discussions. Personally, I use the Rant for drive-by trolling more than anything

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Let's just please be a little careful about offering anything that isn't us specifically with regards to the gay porn stuff.

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So basically you feel we are going too far with our attempts?

Guilty as charged I guess. I purposely try to put forth posts that would make an old conservative southern man be uncomfortable. That is the bell I try to ring every time.

There is a reason for that- if they think you will ENJOY their gay dig, and then take it to a place that makes them uncomfortable, they will never call you gay again. So as you start talking ball cupping techniques his brain begins to think "I will never call an Aggie gay again just so I don't have to hear this shite." He is not smart enough to get the deflection, just like he wasn't smart enough to think of a better cut down than "no female cheerleaders equals you are gay." It is a two way street that we have to walk on to play the Rant Game.

You are right though that some of my comments fall short of the nasty mark and are therefore simply graphic. Also sometimes the thread/situation just warrants a good gay joke and we already have an apparatus in place. I will try to show some willpower next time that happens. Its hard though, now that I have trained myself to think that way.

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Please be mindful we are Texas A&M.

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Not really, thank God. Very few fans even on here judge us by what happens on the Rant. They judge us by the polite people in the stadium, or our tame tailgating scene.

Plus Texas A&M normally does a poor job of portraying itself, or at least some prominent members do. Texas A&M is nut squeeze, no women cheerleaders, dog worship, tralala, a pimple-faced block, and a jar filled with jizz. All of that stuff has a more official association with the university and Aggies than anything I can come up with on here because we have put forth the "corps experience is the true Aggie experience" mantra for a century. It's not like other student organizations are cranking out weird shite that gets on a TV camera. The worst the non-regs have produced is list eater.

At least to the smarter people on the Rant my comments get across that we are intelligent people. All the gay shite the corps does only has a "you can't criticise the military" defense that quite frankly lost its punch a decade ago. The best defense is a good offense in this case.

We didn't create the monster, a mix of an inward military culture and the advent of digital and television cameras made the monster. We are just scorching the earth so everyone looks to a new location for Aggies.

Sorry if you don't see it that way, but I love my school too much to allow it to be defenseless and brand-poor for forever. Either you control the message or your enemies do.

On here we control the message.