Cougar athletes - there has been an unofficial request from some cougarboard members that we keep most (if not all) athletes and their families off Cougarboard. (I speak from a unique perspective having had both family and very close friends play for a variety of BYU sports during my time as a CB member)

The GREAT news is that BYU fandom is growing and so is CB as it has an unprecedented number of users that want to discuss sports. Mods and El Jefe appropriately ask for discretion in making posts and have a strict set of rules that are vigorously and fairly enforced among the ever-growing set of members.

The BAD news (from your perspective) is that, in our "fanaticism" we can, actually act like fans, and sometimes rumors and some fair critiques on CB make it back to players' families and their current teams IF, and only if, they follow CB. Rest assured that any over-the-top posts including and especially those regarding unconfirmed transfers are ALREADY against the rules and get deleted and the user banned for a short (or long) period of time, depending on the severity of the infraction.

you also should remember a very important fact...we are fans of BYU first, not you or your child. as brutal as that sounds we root for laundry over people. this should not be a foreign concept to any athlete or sports fan. while we don't hold any animosity toward any player or coach if we feel like a given person is hurting the team we might say things that you would interpret as "negative" or bad. they are neither from a fan perspective. we understand that for you it is the reverse...you cheer for the person first, then school. your properly place your own child/friend/self in higher priority. if they were to transfer to, say, UU or UCLA or wherever you would happily don the new laundry with your last name on it. for you the NAME on the back of the jersey is what matters most...for us it's the name on the FRONT.

please don't forget this while you are here, if you still choose to stay. this does NOT mean we are enemies, we just hold different perspectives and it most certainly doesn't mean that we shouldn't be able to fulfill the mission of CB which is to provide an "online sports community" to "discuss" a variety of topics, including "mostly sports related posts".

Let's celebrate BOTH points of view and allow us, as fans, to use the ONLY medium we have to get together and talk about the school and sports we love and not request that we "keep our mouths shut" but that we continue to respectfully (and fanatically) show our passion and fandom in many different ways, including discussion on this board. if it were me i would advise my child/friend/self to stay off CB because (not surprisingly) we can act like "fanatics" sometimes and our passion for BYU (the name of the front) will feel like to you a knock on your name on the back. it's best to just avoid it and play ball.

Thanks. Go Cougars!