From: archer@hsi.com (Garry Archer)
Subject: Re: WE NEED A NEW newsgroup 
Summary: **** LONG ****
Organization: 3M Health Information Systems, Wallingford CT
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 18:01:05 GMT

This discussion keeps coming up every time we start to see new readers
posting their views.

I and several others who have been reading this newsgroup for several
years --- way back, way, way, way back in rec.sport.misc days (the Golden
Years!) have thoroughly enjoyed the international community that has
_shared_ this newsgroup.

Again, I'd like to thank Hans Huttel for his hard work and dedication to
the formation of rec.sport.soccer almost exactly three years ago.  Back
then we were sharing news with wrestling, golf, tennis, jogging and
various others, all who may have formed their own newsgroups by now.  How
happy we were to be free of all of that other clutter!

But I and others have solidly agreed over the past three years that we
do not need to split this group much further.  There is a movement to
form a referee subgroup and there has always been discussions about
forming a scores subgroup.  The most debatable and hotly disputed
discussions are about forming an england or british subgroup.

With the referee subgroup I may bend my conservative attitude and agree 
with that one divide.  I may vote against a scores subgroup simply because
I envisage it being abused and ending up with the same mess we have now.
Quite simply no-one wants to volunteer their time and resources to
moderate such groups.  I would normally volunteer, but I just don't have
the time.  I really don't have the time to post lengthy articles such as
this one anymore.  Gone are those Golden Years too...

I am vehemently against regional/geographical subgroups, such as rec.sport.-
soccer.england or rec.sport.soccer.south-america, etc.  I like to see
football articles posted from around the world all under one group.  Football
has one language.  Football.  Why break us all up into niches?

The number of requests to splinter rec.sport.soccer always seem to come
because of the large percentage of articles posted from the U.K. that
have little or nothing to do about _real_football_news_.  The quality
of articles posted in recent years from the U.K., and some other places
without blame, has been falling below the standard of reasonable,
intellectual discussion.  If folks could only realise that they are
representing something far broader than themselves when they post to
an international medium such as rec.sport.soccer.  How poorly they
write and the subject they choose reflects poorly on their nation too.
The rest of the world begging for rec.sport.soccer.england or rec.sport.-
soccer.british, merely so they don't have to subscribe to it, is pretty
hard evidence of what the rest of the world think of our U.K. participants.

This disturbs me greatly since I am British and living away from home one 
finds what the rest of the world really thinks of your country and you can 
no longer take a "The Hell with them" attitude as one might when safe at 
home on friendly shores.  You prefer to remedy the situation instead.

I have become increasingly disappointed in the declining quality and
content of postings made in the recent years.  Not just from the U.K..
I once used to pride myself in saying that I read every article.  Not
anymore.  So much _JUNK_ has infiltrated rec.sport.soccer that I have
had to skip past scores of articles of a thread going nowhere except
up the arsehole of someone's own ego.

In summary, and I've said this before when this new newsgroup creation
subject comes up:  I wish that we stay as one newsgroup, rec.sport.soccer
and remain the international community that we are.  If everyone thought
things through before they post we might see less rubbish.  If you really
have to slag off one another's team.  Do it in e-mail!  Most of
rec.sport.soccer readers are just plain not interested in how much you
hate one set of fans or teams or your clever little regional innuendos 
that only a small percentage of readers understand anyway.

My apologies for spouting off and the length of this article.  But now
I've said my bit until the subject comes up again in 12 months time...

	Vote NO to fragmentation.


-- 
Garry Archer Esq.	archer@hsi.com
3M Health Information Systems,	Wallingford, Connecticut, U.S.A.

"An Englishman never enjoys himself, except for a noble purpose." - A.P.Herbert
Newsgroups: rec.sport.soccer