Agree with most of the sentiments expressed. However, the best part about the old 360 board was that you felt like you were in on a bit of a secret. It didn't seem so public, although it certainly was. Plus, the interaction of fans from other schools was much greater than what you find on the team-specific sites like this one and Texags. The flamers were pretty much allowed to go unchecked and the posters did the moderating through their replies. There was something kind of pure about that. Of course, the format was ******* brutal and it took forever to pull up threads. Oh the horror of the 28.8 dial up.
Sure would like to see some posts from some of the guys like PhxHorn. Speed Goat (Is he doing OK?), and many of the others who use to post more often.
I remember the 360 days and how much discussion and argument over Mackovic there was. That is what got me started. I even remember posting that I wasn't sure we would ever return to any type of football prominence after route 66. When I found Hornfans it was like new life was breathed into the discussion about the Horns and it was about the same time we finally began to make the long road back to where we belong. Serendipity I suppose. Nice stroll down memory lane.
I initially started reading Horn BBS's for recruiting information. I remember the Simms defection and all other subsequent recruiting announcements that would totally shut this site down (at that point I would resort to LFZ, but don't hold that against me). As an aside, how nice is this site now that it runs smoothly and can handle the hits.... Thanks Katy.
Who can forget Billy Bob's headline? "Cyberspace Shocker!" That's the moment I first (before the meltdown) registered here and left Austin360
To respond to the question above, the original aggiecutter was the single most annoying poster in the history of the Internet. There is no one else that even compares. AC would jump into every single thread and spout insanities just to start flamefests. AC was one of the big reasons I stopped going to the 360 boards.
I used to go to the chat room and boards on 360. I think I started in 1996 when I was in law school. I remember getting in the chat room after Texas beat NU for the first Big 12 title. I remember people openly begging David Warren to commit to Texas, only to be shafted. I remember people trying to get excited about our commits. I remember Bobby Jack getting plastered by the posters for his ineptness. Then I started getting laid again on a consistent basis, so I disappeared for "greener" pastures. I have no idea how I found this board. Word of mouth I guess. I remember the day I learned of the true powers of the internet - the day Chris Simms committed to Texas. The day things really changed at the University. The day Mack Brown showed the whole country he was for ******* real. He pulled the highest profile recruit of the last 20 years out of New Jersey and brought him to Austin. It's been on ever since. I stayed away from this boards for a month after we lost to Colorado. I didn't want to see what people were saying. But like any junkie, I'm back. It's recruiting season, where some people shine. texlarry is the man. MagicLoogie is one of my all time favorites. won derer, Giant Baba, all the rest. Well, time to bill some hours. Thanks for the trip down memory lane, horndfl.
In addition to the posters dfl mentioned, two more posters to add are ThePeoplesElbow and realtexmex. ThePeoplesElbow for his eloquence, and realtexmex for his in-your-face recruiting opinions and scouting reports. hursthorn and Steg also do a good job of writing scouting reports.
The "good ol' days" had way too many site meltdowns, but it was worth it for all those informative tidbits and insights I've read here. I've lived in Los Angeles since '87 and this site has helped keep from going nuts. I found this site in 97 or 98? It was before Simms pledged. Before that I was perusing various fan sites for recruiting updates. Most of which are no longer around. I send my thanks to all of you who've contributed.
CrazyJoeDavola is still around. He's been seen discussing what dogs he'd play WR and spouting ads for malt liquor brands.
I spent most of 96 through 99 downloading porn, so I don't have any wistful memories like you guys. I found this site through a link from Billy Bob's of all places and it was about the time of the legendary Swole Ag/Another R. Ellison Joke fiasco. I haven't seen anything top that yet (jj's cousin's very existence came close), but I keep checking in just in case. Besides, you can find group pictures of partially clad sorority girls here if your timing is right.
I just got the warm fuzzies because I haven't seen my name mentioned so many times in one post before. Believe it or not, I still post on 360, but don't ask me why. I guess I don't want to completely leave anything to the brockos of the world.
I got hooked in the spring of 1999. I was in Germany and insane for Longhorn football news since I was almost the only one for miles who knew such a thing existed. I found the austin360 boards and quickly got hooked. I stuck with them until January of 2000. I had a great feeling about the baseball team that year so I logged on here to post on the baseball board. I have been an addict ever since. P.S. dfl, thanks for the kind words to a guy you know full well couldnt analyze the broad side of a big red barn. Much appreciated.
Good topic dfl. i first started posting at the 360 BBS right before the Simms activity. My first real significant posting memory was challenging S Halliburton the day of the Simms announcement on the MSG network. I was convinced we'd get him, based on the things I had heard, and she was convinced we'd lose him, based on the fact that CS had apparently let the coaches know that day he was announcing for Tennessee. But what I remember was hearing that he also told Brewster, "Do not stop calling me". Based on that statement, combined with the absolute home run visit he had, I kinda always felt like we'd get him. As one plugged-in alum put it before he committed, "We'd have to triple bogey 18 to lose him." I guess Phil took care of that....too many clubs in the bag attitude. I can't remember what my handle was then...maybe HornFletch, as it remained here for a while. Then came Loogie and some other temporary handles as my posting diminished. we'll see how long "nipple" lasts. by the way, spenser is alive and well.
I've been around around year now, long enough to see this board get about 100 times faster, and long enough to remember all the classic posters. I can honestly say, that if there was no hornfans.com I would have .5 better on my gpa every semester. oh well. football more important.
Good post dfl. Nice synopsis. I guess today isn't a good day for jumping. I'll send my thanks to the rooftop hotties you must have been ogling before you typed this warm and fuzzy pile of disney channel feel good horsehit {grin}. You know you're right though, about the nostalgia. . It's skewed and foolish, but it's still present. There's a helluva lot more discussion here than there used to be, yet something in me still misses the old posters who don't frequent as much. I lurked here for a long time before posting, the only reason I started was to get a personal message to Williams after he'd left for the NFL, and after the response I got from both the posters here and his family in private, I was hooked as well. I never got past the architecture on 360- I lurked there often but never got into the fray because of it. The biggest hook for me over here was Phx's lies, damned lies, and statistics. It ocurred to me that there are many ways to dissect a game other than knee jerk takes and hand waving like I was accustomed to, even in a sport as unpredictable and full of human error as football, and from then on I started watching with an entirely different approach to viewing the games and practices. He's still around btw- he just posts around 3 am in little known threads these days, more elusive than ever. I think the black helicopters finally got him. I'd say the current crop of guys like Augie, DIMYH, Sharpe, Earpe, cutter, CarKev, Trips Left, XOVER, TexasFootball, bat, lam horn, Chris Applewhite and many others, including yourself of course, who still post frequently have more than shouldered the load. I don't always agree with the opinions, but I always appreciate the discussion and the chance to view things from a another perspective. In that respect, both on sheer numbers and the quality of discussion, especially in the offseason, I think the board is stronger than ever. Here's to hoping for some good analysis and conversation heading into the dreaded long dark tea time of the soul between signing day and Spring practice. BTW- What has really surprised me is the impact having access to this community has had on my appreciation of the game. I learn more in one post from TexasFootball than from listening to 2 days of talking heads on television or some slack jawed jabbering radio show. I've also noticed that I really can't appreciate a college football event these days without seeing the reaction from some of the guys here whose opinions I value. These days when a position battle heats up or a head coach resigns and rumors start flying, my first thought is to check out the boards and see what the upshot of the situation is and what takes the longhorn cognoscenti that I value have on the situation, sometimes even before I form a solid opinion on it myself. It's almost to the point in some instances that until I read about it over here it hasn't really happened yet. Wierd. I'm self adjusting my medication now, so I'll probably get over that. Doperbo.
I've got to say that Doperbo's feelings re: not being able to enjoy a football-related event without jumping on these boards and observing others' reactions is one with which I sympathize. This board kicks ***.
I remember discovering the Austin360 boards during the '96 Big 12 title game. For some reason that I can't remember I had to work that afternoon. I caught the first quarter of the game at home but then had to go to work. I worked for an ISP doing tech support and Saturday afternoons were slow so I was basically free on the 'Net all day. I was searching for score updates and that's when I found the Austin360 board. I was amazed. People were actually posting score updates and describing plays. I was going ******* crazy when people started posting that the game was over and we had won! I've been hooked since then. I discovered recruiting the next month and followed it on that board. I remember Mackovic signing several future Longhorn stars that Feburary: Quentin Jammer, Shaun Rogers, Leonard Davis, D.D. Lewis, and some kid from Baton Rouge named Major Applewhite. I don't quite remember when I first came upon Hornfans. I believe I found a link to it on Billy Bob's site, a man who is quite looked down upon these days due to his takes on Mack Brown and Chris Simms. I lurked here for quite a while and remember January '99 and '00 in particular with all the recruit press conferences going on. This board pretty much gound to a halt when Cory, BJ, and Roy committed. Then there was the day Chris Simms changed his committment to UT. I never even had a handle here until the 2000 season. I wanted to participate in the prediction contest. Last offseason and over the summer I began to post a little more. This fall I began to post even more. Amazingly I now have 500+ posts. There are hundreds of college football message boards out there. I've been to a lot of them. There are even other UT boards (which will rename nameless) but there are none that compare to this one. There is a definite sense of community here that I have not seen on any other board. I think the longtime posters and LHG and Orangeblood are to be commended for building a site like this. I probably spend a good chunk of my online time here.
Thanks for posting that, horndfl. I've lurked here for several years, and have enjoyed reading the posts of many of the folks you mentioned. I was never interested in posting, but I was finally driven to post by all the negativity and fallout of the championship game.
I remember being on the net in '98ish and thinking that there had to be a longhorn sports board somewhere. My search led me to the 360 bbs and then to here before the split. The most amusing thing I remember is trying to come up with a witty username(after posting with my first name I realized that I had to get something else). I really wanted to post on a thread, and finally just kinda randomly chose this handle. It seems worthless now, but I'm too lazy to change it and I don't really post that often anymore. Good thread.
I definitely came across this board in a much more non-conventional manner. I began my Longhorn internet browsing on a boring day at work in the summer of '99. The first website I came across was HornsIllustrated.com which was run by Jason Schucomel at the time. I remember I was inundated with all the recruiting information available there (the day I stumbled upon the boards was right around the time of the Albert Hollis fiasco) and began posting daily while I was at work. A link from that board took me to Longhornlink which was run by (gulp) David Garvin at the time. I started perusing that board much more frequently and became a regular there all the way through the Rivals buyout of the website. After Ketchum took over Garvin's website, I started looking for other sites to explore. Not because Ketchum runs a bad site, but because I was looking for more continuity. Three websites and about a million posts later, I was looking for somewhere fresh to start. I had seen a few links on other boards to Hornfans.com, but each time I had traveled here I had always been discouraged by the extremely slow connectivity. This past summer, I decided "the hell with the connectivity - I'm going to give it a shot." I was tired of dealing with the inane flamers on most other boards and was intrigued by the Horn to moron (read aggie/sooner) ratio that Hornfans.com boasted. Consequently, I started visiting Ketchum's and this site both simultaneously (this was my version of multi-tasking). After a two-pronged attack for most of the football season, I settled on Hornfans. The posting quality is unmatched here and the traffic is fantastic. To top it all off, the servers got upgraded and the connectivity is fantastic now! It has been a long and winding road en route to my 300+ posts here at Hornfans.com, but as the saying goes, it was the journey that has made the reward so sweet.
LadyLonghorn, I get made fun of for being a woman all the time. So what's my point? Well, 1) I have much bigger problems than you do. 2) You should post to your heart's content. It can't be any more inane than anything HenryJames or red_zepplin post.
I was never around for the Austin 360 days but have been on Hornfans for what seems like the past 500 years. Originally I came just for recruiting updates but slowly got sucked in. I knew I was in bad company when a thread went wildly off tangent with posters trading off "Ice Ice Baby" lines. I still get a chuckle about that to this day. What I've also enjoyed is the gradual growth among posters: horndfl--Finally mellowing out in his old age. Now more content to let his argument speak for itself than earlier days where he wasted energy sparring directly with dissenters. Same keen analytical eye but smoothed out with a much wiser wordship. TPE--Progressed to the point that he only uses the word "f**k" every other sentence. Chris Applewhite--I've watched him transform from a shy, quiet lad to the strapping smartass you see today. Crimson & Cream Dean--Turned over a new leaf and is not such a blowhard anymore. Still an idoit though. SpiderAg--*sniff* lost his virginity. Way to take one for the team Nikki. Also taught me the very cool word "allsome". Scally--Finally more comfortable with his *lifestyle* decision. Scipio Tex--Though no longer posting his presence is felt. He went on to bigger things, finally achieving nirvanna by becoming one with the Recruitocosm. And of course plenty of others but this all I will namedrop at this time. Props to Katy and Robert for putting together this cyperspace playground for all us little kids. PS---The single wierdest thread EVER has to be the one where someone(s?) posted a 100+ discussion about various Hawaiian Dole factory workers chatting with each other. Beyond surreal.
