The long nightmare is ove... The new nightmare begins

[jgray]

So... I come back every two years or so to explore these dusty rooms and cracked windows and I hear the faint echoes of Foamy's rants or DB's takes or random trolls--looks like Andy's still here, and somehow the Baker name shows up as well.

Wish Usenet was still a thing--I can't bear to read the Canucks forum; Benning could literally crash the team plane on purpose and they'd still blame media bias for saying anything bad about him. I think most of the accounts are either the Aquilinis or people paid by them or maybe 8 year olds.

Can we still start new groups in this post-apocalyptic usenet? I'm thinking we could have some fun with a Kraken one, perhaps?

-John (who pines for the good old days of about 15 years ago or more here)

[Nyssa]

Sure, new alt groups are easier to start than the Big 8
ones as long as you know the right people to send out
the notification.

But why would you think that a new newsgroup would be
any more active than these that have been around for
years...some for decades?

I've managed to get a few people to come to Usenet for
various newsgroups, but it's a difficult task. Mostly
it's because of the setup of a newsreader and hooking
up with a news server. The payoff is worth it, but
if it isn't "push one button and done" many won't bother.

I've got a 30+ year history with Usenet and shun the
web forums. I prefer the un-moderated Usenet and the
clean, clutter free plain text. Unfortunately, most
folks now prefer the shiny stuff even with the nannies
monitoring group-think.

If you do get a Kraken group started, I'd visit it,
but only to do a bit of dusting of the cobwebs that
will eventually form therein.

Heck, if even the rabid Maple Leaf fans have deserted
*that* newsgroup, I don't hold out much hope for a
newer group to become a thriving discussion center.

Nyssa, who only sees any activity in the Habs group
these days

[Spiral]

Greets, Nyssa and John.
Yes, the Habs, but I'm a Habs not. I say why not rebuild this group, even
if at first it's mostly off-topic, just to keep its heart beating. If
people are too lazy to TRY and install USENET software, they can visit
here with google groups <gag> or mouse to their "shiny" web pages.
In sum, "We don't need no stinkin' html." (believed to be the original
edited quote from The Treasure of Sierra Madre)

Cheers all

[Nyssa]

Okay, I'm game.

Let's see....

Is it a plus or minus in your opinion that the Canucks
re-signed the coach for another two years?

I'm on the plus side of that one for the continuity of
the rebuild which has shown promise.

Next?

Nyssa, who also thinks that us Habs fans will see
a goalie change in Game 3

[Spiral]

I think last year's season is a throw-away, so otherwise, he improves
every year. So, a two-year contract makes sense to me. If the team record
slides again next year, with no Covid or environmental influences or
injuries, buy out the last year of the contract and replace.
I'll paraphrase Brian Burke's take on this: A coach is like living at the
airport--after a few years, no one hears anything.
It's up to management to decide when that happens.

[Visiblink]

It's very rare that a coach can compensate for the shortcomings of
players. But they can bring out your best, change a room, or ruin
your life (a la Marc Crawford). I hope Green is the kind of person who
can build the group up rather than tearing people down, but after the
whole Crawford imbroglio, I don't trust my outsider's perspective. I
liked Crow as a player and a coach from the outside. So I'm now a lot
more certain of how much I don't know.

In any case, it's time for the young players to take the next step
together as a group. If they don't, then the rebuild is never going to
be successful.

The roster looks like Swiss cheese right now: solid in places but with
holes everywhere, and especially on defence.

At least we've lost one of our Lou(i) payments -- and the other expires
at the end of this season. So some of the anchors are slipping away.

[Dutch]

They made a point in the news conference that the leash is off with
buyouts so we could see more dead weight removed that way.<cough> Erickson