Thanks for visiting Hornfans.com. We truly appreciate the well-informed posters and interesting discourse that make this site so enjoyable.

What is HornFans for?
Primarily for fun. HornFans is a place for the Longhorn community to come together and discuss the topics that interest us and express our support for the Longhorn team.

Stay positive...
With respect to the team, particularly individual players, we expect all of our posters to remain positive and supportive. This does not mean that you can't express some constructive criticism that explores the weaknesses as well as strengths of our team. There is a big difference between "Player X sucks and is as slow as molasses" and "Player X needs some improvement particularly with his speed, but his strength and agility are outstanding". And there are a hundred shades of gray in-between.

Why should I? The players don't read this stuff...
You are wrong there. I've talked to several players and their families and many of them do read this and other internet sites. The rule of thumb to use is don't post anything that you wouldn't say if the player and his mother were standing right next to you, because in a very real sense, they are.

But the coaches should know better than to read the internet...
You're right. And they do know better than to take anything said on the internet to heart. They are also professionals and adults, so you can be a bit harder on them. Their personal lives, whether that is our coaches or the coaches of other teams, should be left out of it though.

What about my First Amendment right to free speech?
This is a business privately owned by LonghornGirlie and Orangeblood. We have every right to limit what is said on our website as we see fit. The Web is a very big place. If you have any opinion that you feel you must express, you are welcome to build your own website and say whatever you like. You are not entitled to use HornFans for your own purposes just so that you can reach a larger audience.

I'm with you LonghornGirlie...
Thanks. We can use all the help we can get monitoring the boards and making sure the conversation stays on track. If you see something that you believe is out of the boundaries of these guidelines, email the moderators and/or myself. Please don't take it upon yourself to say what is or isn't appropriate for posting on the BBS. You are welcome to disagree with a poster's position all you like, but leave the appropriateness determination to the moderators or myself.

What about the moderators?
The moderators are overworked and grossly underpaid. They were chosen because they are passionate and intelligent, but most of all because they are pretty good at keeping their sense of humor. It is their responsibility to enforce these guidelines as best they can. That does not mean that they are limited beyond these guidelines in expressing their opinion. Sometimes they disagree with a poster, and they choose to express that opinion just like anyone else. So far none of the moderators has ever abused their administrative powers just because they didn't agree with someone. If you ever feel like they are, you are welcome to bring it up to me and I'll review the situation.

What is it that the moderators do?
They enforce these guidelines. Some of the guidelines are political (like the Staying Positive thing) and some are just managerial (like Staying on Topic - see below). A moderator is able to do five things, within the board that they moderate:

• Lock Threads
  
• Delete Threads
  
• Edit Individual Posts
  
• Delete Individual Posts
  
• Move Threads
  
• Ban Posters
  

Appropriate action for a violation of these guidelines is at the moderator's discretion. Disagreements with the moderator's decisions should be emailed to me for my review.

What is the difference between a Moderator and an Administrator?
An administrator has the above privileges on all boards as well as a bunch of mundane managerial stuff.

But I'm an Aggie/Sooner/Husker/Raider/Hog/...
Welcome. Consider yourself a guest on our board. The guidelines are very likely to be more strictly enforced with you than with a Longhorn poster. It is, after all, a Longhorn BBS. We welcome diverse and interesting discussion, but if you are just here to spout off "tu sux" or "we kicked your butt in the Cotton Bowl... Soooie", then we aren't interested. If you have something to add about your team or questions about ours, please feel free to join in.

Heh, I'll show her. I'll just go incognito...
You've hit upon a pet peeve of mine. Those posters who pretend to be something other than what they are. This sort of thing will be treated with pretty close to a zero-tolerance policy. If you are a Horn, be a Horn. If you are an Ag, for God's sake, be an Ag. I don't have time for petty mind games.

Time for the nitty gritty...

General Policies:
1. Stay Positive. (See above)

2. Stay on topic. This is particularly important during Football season, and we will likely be more relaxed about this guideline in the off-season and tighten up during the season. This is simply a management issue and used to keep the primary board on the topic that it is supposed to be. The most likely result of posting an off-topic thread is that the moderator will move it to the appropriate board. This will result in the original thread being locked, and an open version of the thread appearing on the appropriate board. Threads locked for this reason should not be considered punishment or some sort of reprimand. We're simply trying to keep the BBS running smoothly. Speaking of which, the boards are:

• Football
  
• Recruiting (this applies to all sports, but primarily Football. You may get more response to recruiting topics in other sports on their primary board)
  
• Basketball
  
• Baseball
  
• Other Sports
  
• Cactus Cafe - for fun and jokes and general merriment
  
• West Mall - for political discussion of all kinds
  
• Horn Network - Network with other Longhorn alums. Post job listings and resumes.
  
• Austin 3:16 - Wrestling, Nintendo, SEGA, and flames -- all the crap that I'm too old for...
  
• Ticket Swap - to buy/sell tickets to just about anything
  

HornFans does not have a Trash Talk/War Zone type board dedicated to flames. I'd just as soon not see that kind of thing anywhere on HornFans. There are other websites that cater to that kind of crowd and if you like that sort of thing, you should check them out.

3. Racial slurs of any kind will not be tolerated. Use of any such terms may result in immediate and permanent banishment.

4. Profanity. Allowed, but not encouraged. This is always a judgement call on the part of the moderators and administrators. Particularly vulgar usernames will have their access blocked and will be requested to change. Profanity in the titles of threads will likely be edited. Vulgarity within posts is at the discretion of the moderator. Oftentimes a user can be incredibly offensive without using even one "four-letter" word, while another can use them profusely in good-natured and humorous way.

But what about children? HornFans is not intended for children, and parents should make the determination if the content of HornFans, as well as all sites that their children may frequent, is appropriate for them.

5. Personal Attacks. Avoid attacking other posters personally. Namecalling is strongly discouraged. You can disagree with another without calling them a jerk or worse. Violent outbursts will be reason enough for immediate banishment.

6. Do not start a new thread in order to "call out" a poster. This generally leads to flaming responses from numerous posters. If you have a message for a certain poster, feel free to e-mail him, or post a reply to a thread about which the subject of your message pertains. Threads like this will probably be locked, with a reply from a moderator on the thread.

7. Do not start a new thread to reply to posts on a different thread. Such threads will likely be locked by a moderator. Although threads sometimes can get long and cumbersome, please keep any replies to the subject matter of a thread to that particular thread. If a thread is old, and has slipped below the first page of the a forum, you can find it (and post a reply on it, sending it back to the top of the BBS) by either: (a) scrolling down page-by-page to look for it; or (b) using the handy "search" feature, the link for which is located at the top of the page.

8. Do not post copyrighted information on this BBS. A BRIEF paraphrasing of such information is permitted, ONLY if a corresponding link is provided to the site from which the information originated. With that said, go ahead and link to stuff that you think would be of interest to the HornFans users.

9. Do not post advertisements for other sites or services on the BBS. Link to stuff that is of interest, but don't use HornFans as a way of advertising your site or to drum up business.

Policies regarding players/recruits:

1. Once again, stay positive.

2. There will be no posting allowed reporting implications of NCAA violations or criminal activity by Longhorn or any other player/coach/program unless such violation or activity has been reported by a credible news source. Credible news sources include major newspapers (ESPN, CNNSI, The Sporting News, Austin American Statesman, San Antonio Express News, Dallas Morning News, etc.), Inside Texas, True Orange, David Garvin, Bobby Burton, Geoff Ketchum, etc. Any poster on any BBS is not a credible source.

Although discussions may arise regarding depth at a particular position on a college football team that may be effected by the suspension of a player, such discussions should be limited to the effects of the loss of that player (not the effect of the allegations or subjects of the suspensions themselves).

3. There will be no posting of academic information regarding any player/recruit (no grade or test information). The one exception to this policy is if a recruit has publicly stated such information, and then a link to that information is preferable to the actual posting of the information. It is acceptable to say that a recruit MAY (no one knows for sure) have "clearlinghouse issues," but even this should be done sparingly, and in such a way not to belittle a recruit's academic ability.

Special Guidelines Regarding the Recruiting Board

1. There will be no baseless posting of information expected to significantly effect a recruit's decisions (e.g., do not post on the Recruiting BBS a "rumor" Coach X is leaving and taking his entire staff with him). Note that substantiated posts (e.g., "Coach X has himself now said that he has taken the Buffalo Bills head coaching position, which could effect recruit Y") is acceptable. As a general rule, this refers only to large events that significantly effect an entire program (like a coaching change).

CONCLUSION
Note that the moderators and administrators DO NOT have the time or inclination to be "thought police." In fact, rich factual discussions representing a variety of viewpoints is what makes this BBS an enjoyable places to visit. Note, however, that the best judgment of the moderators may be required in certain circumstances in interpreting and enforcing both the policies and the guidelines. As well, situations outside the policies and guidelines may arise from time to time, and the moderators will handle those in their best judgment.

If you have questions or comments on these guidelines, feel free to email me and I will be happy to address them.

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