"It was only long after that I recognized sarcasm as the protest of people who are weak." - John Knowles, A Separate Peace
I read that book in 7th grade. I didn't like the sentiment then, and still don't, but it implies a basic reality: Sarcasm is a mask. A great, funny, and effective one.
This place, goEMAW.com, is dripping in Sarcasm. If you picked up a biscuit at the Old Country Buffet in Fayetteville, Arkansas and squeezed, you'd get less disgusting lard drippings than the sarcasm you'd get squeezing out your average goEMAW thread.
So there's that.
From a K-Stater's perspective, I tend to think that Sarcasm is more about comfort than fear. Comfort, and acknowledgement of who we are as a University, poised as a little guy competing with big guys, and very often exceeding expectations. For instance, being picked to finish 8th in the Big 12 and finishing 8th in the country. See where I'm coming from? Let me spell it out a little more... I'm not going to get too inflammatory, because this post is much more likely to offend long-time goEMAWers than you ArKANSANS, but you seem a little slow.... WE LOVE BEING PRICKS.
A popular little e-mail chain comparing Big 12 schools to countries said this for K-State: "K-State is like Ireland - A gritty, feisty, over-achieving little country with a large inferiority complex. What they lack in resources, they make up by determination and people. Others can't find them on a map, but they like them because they are fun, friendly, and like to drink beer." Most K-Staters I know embrace the crap out of that statement.
So on to goEMAW.... I love this place. It is entertainment for me 90% of the time, and although I hardly ever post here, I read the site daily. It's funny, irreverent, informative, and elite. Most importantly it recognizes message boarding (BBSing in the local Lexicon... google the word if you need to) for what it is 90% of the time... total BS. It's kind of like a game to a lot of the people here.
Part of being the perennial underdog, little brother, whatever the F you want to call it... is we're used to having to fight, we're used to getting kicked in the nuts, and we're used to every once in a while winning and being a pain in the Ass. Unless you're Texas, who we just always beat.
We expect the same out of BBSing... except that in the last 24 hours, you Razorbacks have made the game way too easy. Did you honestly think a thread that started with comparing our Football Program's reputation to Notre Dame had any F-ing morsel of seriousness in it? As the 24 hours progressed, just joking and baiting turned nasty as Arkansas fans who refused to catch on made more and more stupid statements and some truly diehard goEMAWers kept fueling the fire.
Listen - I don't always buy into the methods of this place. I can't get on board with making fun of any deaths. But it's like South Park - everything on here is offensive, and a lot of it makes you laugh.
goEMAW has never had as big a victory as you've given the last day. That's why so many big shots are likely to be pissed - if you managed to make it this far, I'm basically ruining all the fun.
Here are a few pointers the be more competitive in the BBS game next time:
- Don't Play
- If you decide to play, don't say stupid things. This is our board, and therefore every Meth joke or stereotype thrown out there is only bait to get you to do this. Responding with recycled "Your mom" jokes or calling people a man of taste and distinction won't get you anywhere.
- Turn on the bullshit detector. I promise, no one on this site thinks that Darren McFadden still plays at Arkansas, that Houston Nutt is your Coach, Georgia Tech is in the SEC, or razorbacks are from Sonic the Hedgehog. By responding, you lose all credibility.
- Use proper grammar. When arguing for the academic superiority of your school, there is no better way to look like a moron than using "your" instead of "you're"
- Break down your text into small, digestible chunks. I recommend this as much for your fan base as ours. But more so yours.
- Don't capitalize everything. I only capitalized one phrase in this whole post. Guess what, for most of the DNR's this will get, if they scan it and find that phrase, they'll know exactly what this was about.
You guys are great. Sorry if you were offended or something, but you really did make this way too easy for all of us. Thanks for providing the entertainment.
As for the game, we won't get Skullfucked. That only happened once this year, and Snyder's too good of a coach to let it happen again. I say we win, 45-42.
Now step up your game and be a quality poster like Ham Malone or gtfo. TIA
