I, for one am totally p!ssed off with Mackems coming on here with repetitive and boring accusations of us posting on RTG. Just to bury the issue, who has actually posted on RTG and when was the last time (and were you there just to hurl abuse)?

Me - Never!

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

Answers

I dont even know what RTG is

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

I don't even know what the URL is! Anyway I have a firewall setup on PC to stop anything Sunlung related from running.

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

I've actually been on there about 3 times....many many moons ago (and I mean many months ago!)...posted under my real names...can't remember the exact content of my postings but it was slight wind up stuff....like is phillips leaving (or the like)....

They can't seem to get over the fact that some people went on there to wind them up....I've seen the stuff that MacB, Ken and Buff used to post and it was never as bad as they make out, just wind ups rather than out and out abuse....

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

i've been there and thought it was really bad

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

Hee hee.....I know the site.....quite well :)

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

So now we know who to blame LR! :o))

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

Amost the same as Gav. So long ago, it was in the last century ;-)

Soon got tired of it. Not my cup of tea at all.

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

And by the way most of our email addresses are real!

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

Sorry Pilgrim what are you saying?

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

Gav, I'm saying that most of our neighbours who visit on here don't have the grace to supply valid email addresses - like our sniggering Vicar :o))

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

Never been, never wanted to, never will. (:o)

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

I do, using my own name and have never given or recieved any abuse. just friendly banter

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

I've looked at it twice - never posted. Utterly appalling. A shame their decent fans can't put together something better. It's a cesspit of vileness (from my limited experience). I suspect that this week it's worse than ever but I have no intention of confirming that assumption. We've had some particularly vile posts on here (with reference to the death of YBR) which Macbeth kindly removes before many of you have seen them.

Someone on here referred to it recently as "Ready To Go back to the Nationwide". LOL!

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

RTG is an excellent board for SAFC supporters. You should not be so sanctimonious as to think that NUFC should not be a topic of "discussion"... you being our most fierce rivals as we see it... although you I believe feel that Man U and Barcelona are your rivals.... we make no apologies for the references to FTM and taking the piss out of all things Mag and JORDY.... some do go over the top but RTg is rarely sensored and for those that do go over the top there are two choices:

1) Ignore the posting

2) Give them grief...

RTG hardly proclaims itself to be cerebral and is a hotbed of views bothe literate and illiterate.... the same unpolitocally correct would be found in the Stawberry or the Terminus on matchdays.... most posters are professionals and are in well paid highly regarded jobs with a lot of resposibility.... RTG allows them to be buffoonish and unintelligent but without the need to post their real name.... I for one minute do not believe that anyone on there wants Robson to die or that Shearer has aids..... Jonno if you beleive that then you are thicker than I previously thought you were...

Jonno you called for censorship on here the other day and had a go at me personally even though I had aplogised for what was a minor indiscretion which revolved around bad wording as opposed to heart felt vitriole....

RTG is a fantastic board the same as this one is for very different reasons and its great to see some of the old regulars posting there again....

Some of you need to have a sanctimonious byepass or a reality check or perhaps just learn to chill a bit more.....

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

Roly - it just goes too far. Stuff about people dying etc is just uncalled for. I know some NUFC supporters are just as bad, but not on here. I have given up on TOTT due to the inane so called banter of Mag v makem and I have never even been on RTG.

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

"They can't seem to get over the fact that some people went on there to wind them up....I've seen the stuff that MacB, Ken and Buff used to post and it was never as bad as they make out, just wind ups rather than out and out abuse...."

You have always treated me with respect on this board (god knows why ;o)) but you only have to look at the hue whenever occmacklurk, soops and (occasionally) Roly posts to see the irony of this statement.

Like Roly says, it's a good board, but for different reasons. If Greenspun merged with TOTT you'd have something very similar to RTG.

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

hey, ml, there's going to be some fresh work coming up soon...more of it so mucho dinero :-)

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

Good try Roly, don't hold your breath !!!!

I first looked at the RTG board the day they announced they were selling Clark/Bridges/Johnston back in summer 99. i was interested to see what the average Sunderland fan thought (oxymoron I know !!) about it.

I got a yellow-card one-month ban from RTG when I enquired whether the Palace away match that was rained off at the last moment couldn't have bother many Sunderland fans as it was a cup match and they didn't do cup matches. Second bookable offence, and permanent ban came last January when I copied a news item one of them had posted and changed the names.

I tried to have debates with a few of them, in much the way they do on here, which may well be why I have more time for them than most. The things in life that we all know to be true and factual as Newcastle supporters, they somehow see in a different light, which means we can often end up with "can", can't", "is/isn't" type arguments.

I may well have gone on to wind them upI don't think I ever went on and swore as I don't generally in life. One of my long time sparring partners was a guy called Herts who I decided was just like me really, except he had a red stripe defect rather than a black one. He always signed off the end of his messages to me with "Fuck off", which eventually grew to "Fuck off, 2-1" which came to represent the level of their debate.

When Ken died I chatted to a couple of admin people from their site to ask them to put a note up saying Ken had passed away, they were very good about it, as you'd hope. An offer was made to allow me back on if I wished but I said no, as I'm not sure it would serve any useful purpose.

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

Jonno if you beleive that then you are thicker than I previously thought you were...

Personal abuse again. Can't you rise above it Roly? BTW if you call someone "thick" it undermines your argument when you do so with a spelling mistake! :-) "i" before "e" except after "c" remember? (Wouldn't normally mention it but it stands out like a sore thumb if you're questioning my intelligence!)

Jonno you called for censorship on here the other day

Where? Lies. Read the thread Roly. Very clearly it says BTW I have not asked for "bans"

You are clearly unable to conduct yourself properly in these debates.

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

well done Jonno..... rise above it

hahaha

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

I can not understand why I would even want to go over to RTG...I reckon it's like going to a concert where you know the artist but hate the music. Never have been, never will go, but Roly, as I said to the "Barbarian" on another thread, you come here trying to fly your flag, well, son...that dog won't hunt. Maybe you should look for a more tolerable crowd...try 'boro fans for example....they've just lost their first two games, they'd be ripe pickin for someone of your nature.

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

RTG is very different from here. I suppose both sites have their merits. RTG mixes some canny discussion about the lads with fun and abuse. Most of the time the mixture is about right. This site sticks for the most part to pretty straight discsussion. Not my cup of tea but I can see the benefits. The RTG site would be a lot flatter without our mags. Some are just too moronic to bother with but a lot are good for a bit of cross-culture abuse and banter.

I don't know when mackems started coming on here. I, like quite a few other mackems I know, always monitored this site but never felt inclined to join in. The last few months seem to have seen the appearance of mackem postings on a more regular basis. It's livened things up a bit but doesn't really fit into the general way the site is run. I would hazard a guess (and it is only that) that Macbeth taking over the admin may have altered some people's views. Macbeth, you put a nice spin on your banning but your behaviour on RTG could be pretty poor at times - e.g. using mulitple names, using the names of mackem regulars. There are not many things banned on RTG but those sort of things are clearly there in the rules. Those who remember your behaviour may be more inclined to attempt similar stunts on here now that you are administrator (although wisely you now use your real name at the front so it is not so apparent to mackems attempting to come in). You are also associated with the now sadly departed Ken. As I said when he died while he could be great fun and I admired his pro- NUFC and anti-SAFC enthusiasm, he was responsible for some of the most vile postings I have seen on a message board anywhere. Some people will feel this is an appropriate place to react to that.

There is also the chance as well of course that some of you who claim not to be responsible for disruptive postings on RTG could be lieing!

Macbeth, as for the "fuck off". Absolutely. I can't remember when I first used it with you but I do remember that it had such a wonderful effect in the reaction it provoked from you that I committed to using it with you consistently. Never failed to give me a chuckle that such an intelligent articulate, chap found it so hard to deal with the most basic and simple piece of abuse.

Cheers and FTM (and, of course, Macbeth - fuck off)

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

What flag is this then Sparxx..... I am most often just a different view and occasionally when someone like Jonno is unreasonable and dishes it out I am happy to give it back. I very rarely post about SAFC on this board although my comments/views may have a mackem bias.... I accept.... I come here for a wider debate than RTG which as I have inferred before is more of a saloon than the lounge that is here...!!!

If all you fine fellas and gals want me to disappear then I will but if I stay you may not like what I post sometimes although I do believe that I don't like also what is posted on here all the time....

Roll on Sunday....

Oh and Jonno.... BTW the inability to type should not be confused with the inability to speell (sic).... I manage to hold down a well paid job with lots of international travel (not just a researcher you see but I have ten of those fine researchers working for me) and I am reasonably well qualified, PhD, MBA, FCIM, Dip M, etc..... so lets not start a pissing match there dear chap...

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

It's the way those Wearside wags post their answers in the header- space and leave the body blank that tickles me. Better still the hilarity that ensues when they choose a screename that finishes off a sentence.

Cracks me up every time, that does.

I'm slapping my thigh as I type this.

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

Many moons ago before it became the victim of its own popularity. It used to be a highly entertaining (though clearly misguided) forum with a particularly amusing set of regulars. Big, Alien and Roly used to make sure something worthwhile always threaded through the fluff while Ali Baba (and his unfeasibly large number of adjectives for his thieves) had an inventive wit you couldn't help but warm to. Sadly there was also the likes of Krist and other pond life who were incapable of thinking without their trousers falling down, but on the whole it was a worthwhile half hour at lunchtime after you'd read through Communicata.

It had the big disadvantage, to my mind, of being one of those limited message boards where stuff falls off the bottom and you have to go searching back to find any responses. I always preferred the communicata approach and the one here so that you can hold meaningful discussions with folk in different time-zones without one of you having to get up at an unGodly hour or go to some chat-zone which just isn't the same. The other problem was that the more posters they attracted, the less room there was for the decent posts. Stuff like the hugely enjoyable caption competitions which had been a hoot to begin with gradually came to be a total pain in the arse since there was no room for discussion.

They had the same clique problem caused by different folk meeting up that we do, and also suffered a bit from "regular" posse and "newbies". For instance, it was pants-wettingly funny reading the poisonous abuse Roly used to get for working with serious money - he was accused by many of being a Mag windup merchant and was reviled for going to SJP as a corporate guest. When it gradually transpired that he was the only poster on there who actually went to the water polo match at SJP it subsided into petulant muttering from the pseudo- hooligans who had been on his case.

I also enjoyed their visits to some San Francisco highways message board where they were debating what to do with Bridges etc and getting some very puzzled repsonses from US highway engineers. Perhaps you had to be there, but it certainly got the thumbs-up from me. The only time I ever posted was when Alien went off on a "military history ramble alert" and I chatted to him about panzers (I signed on as Michael Wittman).

I really don't think that the RTG message board is able to cope with the traffic it receives. The quality of postings certainly degenerated in inverse proportion to the number of posters. Roly says that they are rediscovering some of that old cameraderie that certainly used to be in evidence (great input from Darlo and Ipswich fans) and I sincerely hope they do, because it went so badly down hill that I stopped visiting altogether. Come to think of it, it was only after promotion that they turned into a fight-factory: I think I see a way to save them :-)

Always welcome on here if they do as the Romans do when in Rome (pinch girls' bottoms and ride wanky mopeds).

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

Well I have to say I agree with Roly to a large extent !!!!

I obviously used to post as a regular on the Strawberry and will again when we have it back up and running soon. RTG and the Strawberry are open forums with very little censorship and are therefore open to vile abusive posts and sometimes personal attack .I tend to ignore those postings and stick with the ones I'm interested in. How ever I believe each boards format has it's merits. People dismiss RTG and The Strawberry as being moronic and maybe light weight but my experiences are different to that.

With the BBS I agree the content tends to be more "high brow" and football relevant but that in itself can be intimidating, I am not a thick woman but being a scientist I often can't find the eloquent words to mirror my sentiment. It is only having the more confidence to post the rubbish I do ;-)

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

Oh Softie I remember the US highway board invasion that was great !

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

UhOh thick woman syndrome coming into play !

What I meant to have said was it is only after having met some of the very nice and approachable BBS regulars that I have had the confidence to post the rubbish I do ! Bet you all wish I hadn't now don't you ;-)

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

That was about as good as these places get, wasn't it? :-D

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

Hello Herts, great to hear from you again !!

I had forgotten about posting using your name, apolgies for not saying that. It began when we had the debate about whether it was better to have password access, as Communicata had rather than it is now, and all Sunderland people said it was better to not have passwords, and all the Mags said passwords were better. It was another one of these can/can't is/isn't arguments we so enjoy. I was told it was better to be able to put any name against a posting than have a fixed name. I picked Herts as a name. Never mind.

Good to see you still around, shame Lee Clark's injuredd tonight, looks like it's up to Saha !!

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

I post under my real name accept for TPFKAG I haven't had a problem.

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

Fine post, "The Decline and Fall of the RTG Empire" by S.Softie esq. Almost brings a tear to my eye.

For my fine pennorth, the turning point was when certain individuals came on the board and openly challenged the oldbie/newbie order. Roly was one of the first to engage in sh*t-stirring behaviour and he was shortly followed by the openly-abusive TPFKAG and a spate of mag raids, the resulting effect being something akin to tossing a 10 megaton nuke on top of Dresden 1945.

The RTG that has risen from the ashes is something entirely different.

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

Might do some lurking again: definitely not a good time to start posting though, eh? ;-)

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

Beware Softie, when they ban you they do it by changing something in your Windows System Registry, don't know when/how as I'm not up to it (or the technology) but they do :0)

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

I am reasonably well qualified, PhD, MBA, FCIM, Dip M, etc.....

Oooooooooooooh! I can see why you've had no time to learn any manners then.

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

Jay, Kats, Quiz, JackCarter, wonkey, Quiz etc post on RTG and get treated with respect by the regulars and have certainly never been banned.

Mac is being a bit coy about exactly what he did on RTG (I know a bit more than he is letting on ;)). Let by-gones be by-gones eh, but don't de-humanize us for being abusive when you overstep the mark yourselves.

ml

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

I didn't have a problem with the makems on here until last night. When one came on here and started to post saying that we'd scored when we hadn't. For those of us not at home and not having access to a site in which we can monitor a game we rely on the postings of others. then this twat comes on posts the haha when were losing then posts that we've scored when we hadn't. This pushed everything beyond the limits of banter. I'd like for this type of cave dweller to be identified and/or banned.

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

PhD, MBA, FCIM, Dip M.

Prehensile Housebreakers Diploma, Mugging Battery and Assault, F*ck Cultured Intellectual Mags, Don't Insult Philips Mind?

Now I'm only joking Roly, Honest! :o))

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

I've got an MSc. Mag Suffering Cuplessness.

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

Hey, pilgrim do know how hard an MBA is to get??

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

Any offers for DPhil?

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

By the way I started this thread to try to show that we don't all run over to RTG every couple of days to start stupid rumours (Contrary to Vicars idiotic ramblings) - Unless someone actually wants to own up! (If it's you LR, then for Christ's sake use your own monicker :o))

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

I was wondering this as well....Was it this barbarian bloke who was accusing Dougal of going on there for a wind up a couple of days ago? well Dougs? what have you got to say for yourself?

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

I visited RTG a few years back (always used my real name) and popped in last year to see if it was still the same. It was a lot worse in that it now seems full of obnoxious foul mouth kids. Not typical makems like Roly, ML3 and the other lurkers that come on here. I think most of the reasonable makems have deserted it and left it to the scum.

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

oh don't forget the "O" level in home studies..... and MBA is "Must be Arrogant".... and its quite easy to get..... if youve got time (a sponsor with deep pockets) and you are prepared to work hard....

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

Roly, do you have an MBA? Didn't think so. Sponsor? I am paying for this myself. Tell you what you try working full time and going to school full time...........really easy. Sometimes you astound me with the level of your idiotic posts.

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

Suppose I better reply seeing that my name , has been bracketed with Mac, Ken and others. Yes I did peruse the one liners that makes RTG what it is, what is it btw?. Yes I did post occasionally, non innofensive,no ham sandwich . Folks you are getting the cream of the RTG on here now, Roly , Herts , Alien , just needs Big and you have four of a kind, take this as a compliment although I can more readily identify with super-kev , any letters after your name Graham ?

I took a new years resolution, not to post , lurk on the RTG ever again for one simple reason , it followed a posting from a certain mackem who lurks on here that took my eye as it was about Sunderland,/ Football, which is a rarity, it read something like this -: Thome is a world class footballer, pity he cannot pass a ball, I replied how can you consider Thome to be a WCF if by your own admission he cannot pass a ball, using as always my own handle and email . With only one person agreeing with me, they teemed out of the woodwork, from a wee innocious post the vitriol was something else . I for the first time felt like cyber violence and twatting some of these wise guys at a meet, mulled it over , thought Hey Buff your best days are behind you, why get involved , so I give up on RTG thank Kr--st.

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

Sorry Buff mate, I wasn't trying to get you into trouble :))

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

Thats nothing as to how dumb, idiotic and stupid I can be... no really trust me....

MBA, Durham University Business School, Class of 97.... paid for by Lloyds TSB Group Plc.....

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

I could make a jibe about it being "another free hand out" however that would bring me down to your level. The english version is I am sure a very different one from the American one.

Of course Iam sure you'll have some witty remark about the American version being easier and you'll cite to all your american co-workers that have one and how easy they found it. prove me wrong roly.

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

Why are you getting so uptight Syme man?

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

I have so much in common with Roly, cos embarrassingly I too have an MBA, and worse than being a poor English one, it is a poor Scottish one, sponsored by Philips in the early 90s.

And it was bloody hard work too, my two kids under 2 years old didn't seem to drift off to sleep no matter how much Michael Porter strategy they were read at 3 o'clock in the morning. But see in ten years time they'll wonder how it all seems so obvious to them !

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

Nowt, I just don't appreciate this makem coming on here saying how easy it is to get an MBA when Iam busting me nuts night and day to get one. Plus I am stilled pissed at that other makem that tried his best to spoil it for everyone last night, by posting false scores. And we got beat.

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

I actually did mine part time Syme so an additional 25 hours of study a week as well as one weekend in three away for three years was what was required.

With a four year old and a six year old son at the time I never actually got to see them (hardly) and that is the real sacrifice.

RE USA versus UK well the argument doesnt run like that as the culture is very different. In the USA it is common for people to go straight from their first degree into Grad school and get qualified with the MBA at very young ages with no experience of life/work. Over here the typical MBA student/graduate is older and more mature either on a full time or part time basis.

Sure, there is the rich Daddy syndrome regarding how to get into the best schools but many UK/European schools are on a par with USA schools the FT has a good article re MBA's on their FT.Com website.....

I went to Durham because I work with small companies (up to £100 Million in sales) and Durham has the best reputation for Small business Research and "entrepreneurship/intrapreunership"....

Schools tend not to be ranked by geographical location but by excellence .... the top 10 "could" be, Harvard, INSEAD, Cranfield, LBS, Manchester, Kellog, Duke, Columbia, Manchester and eerrrr Durham (joke) .... and they are usually the most expensive (depending upon FT vs PT)......

anywaysup......

hope thats helped

FT.Com link is.....

http://ftcareerpoint.ft.com/BusinessEducation

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

Syme.... read what I posted.... and the errr bits about hard work....!!!! (up the board)

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

Might have guessed Roly. bliddy Lloyds , sailing away merrily up here in Caledonia on HMB TSB (toytown but we liked it, village , sponsorship. bank manager not averse to a sesh with the lads , I was the only punter to be invited into the TSB Corp Box at Pittodrie who had an overdraft , when asked by the top man "Was I in OIL" and replied, "Only when I service the car" , that was it , and then Lloyds moved in and the world ceased to exist as we know it , say no more Roly , work for Lloyds and support Sunlun , life`s a bitch and you die

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

Thanks Roly, appreciate the post, I retract my earlier idiot post. I am an older student with all the baggage that goes along with having been out of school for a while. Currently attending DePaul in chicago, one of the better evening programs in the usa. Me sister went to Durham, so I cant get ye on that score. '-)

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

After the acquisition of TSB I left (it was actually TSB that acquired Lloyds for technical legal reasons in the end as TSB could not be acquired as it was formed under and act of parliament and was protected)... anywaysup......

Joined "Bank of America" in June 1998 and started globe to and froing across the pond again having previously worked for the Bank of New York and Security Pacific (bought by my current employers).....

good fun....

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

All you clever people on here, make me feel inadequ thick.

Actually I'm probably the thickest on here. Although I went to Grammar School I only got two 'o' levels.

Does that make me the thickest contributor on the BBS, or are you officialy thicker than Rik?

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

I'm sure that a couple of the guys and gals are also at DePaul from our Chicago office.... I was over there a couple of months ago and was asked to be a programme mentor but it wasn't feasible....

A good school with a good reputation I understand..... I'm glad mines over with though...!!! it was tough work!!

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

Enough already! Dunno if I could cope with you being a program mentor at Depaul, it would do me head in.

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

I've started a new thread on this topic under the heading "Mags and Makems".

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

Back in 92, (when we were just about to avoid drop into Division 3, under Keegan) when i was doing my MBA we had a guest speaker S&N, their corporate finance director who was there to talk about thier defence when Fosters (?) tried to buy them out. Very interesting and all that. At the end he opened the floor to questions.

I let the serious quesions be asked and then I asked how a company like his assessed whether they had a good return on sports/football sponsorship. This being Scotland and S&N at that time sponsoring Rangers he 'knew' I meant Rangers when I asked. He went on about being associated with winners, getting your product marketed in key areas, but emphasised that being associated with winners was the most important.

His chin hit the floor when I said I supported Newcastle.

...............

I also tried to use NUFC in a dissertation. So this was when we were bottom of Division 2. I wrote and then phoned the club, having had no reply to the letters. I was put through to Freddie Fletcher who said "look sonny I haven't got time for the likes of you, we run this club for the shareholders not for the fucking likes of you". I suggested it was a shame he'd made such a mess of the share issue (mark I) otherwise he'd be running the club for me !!

......

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

thats sounds exciting....

My final published dissertation (80,000 wrds) was on Activity Based Costing Theory and Techniques..... !!!!!! yawn

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001

Have you sold the film rights yet Roly?

-- Anonymous, August 22, 2001