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GiantsFan2010
06-24-2010, 04:02 AM
Good morning everyone (roughly 2:39am here).

It seems rather odd for someone to be up and posting a thread here, especially one being new such as I am. However, I could not possible wait any longer and opted to introduce myself to all of you lovely folks.

Though I like to keep things short, I think a little longer this time around would paint a better picture for fellow members and Giants lovers, (hopefully!).

Well, to begin with I am not a native son from the soil I am residing in. In actuality I was born in a far away place and then moved to Germany when still a baby. Baseball was a strange and exotic game for me while growing up in Germany. My first real contact with baseball occurred when I entered my freshman year at high school, having been only in the states for a good week.

I fondly recall how I used to watch several games on TBS, Fox and ESPN during my first years in my new adopted home. Though I understood little, which must have been contributed by the fact my English skills were abyssal. Additionally, baseball seemed like an odd sport compared to soccer (Fussball). I was not much into baseball as I would consider myself being now. But out of all US sports (North American sports) baseball appealed the most to me. It seemed to calm me down alot and make me think deeply.

Fast forward to the post season of 2009. I stopped paying attention to baseball for a few years, ever since I entered college and focused my entire attention to my studies. As I had my buddy over (who happens to be a huge Dodgers fan), we watched a game together. From the moment the first pitch was thrown I was hooked into the sport. I finally began to understand why I was so charmed by the game. Baseball ceased to be a game of randomness and began to be much more about strategies, tactics and counts.

As I figured out that in baseball most actions are calculated and precisely timed, I fell in love with the game.

I really did not have a team, really did not support a team. One element was obvious to me however from the very beginning. I could not stand the Dodgers. Being from around L.A. it would seem heretic, but I just could never find myself rooting for this L.A. team. Whatever the reason, and I am not trying to flame things up here, I feel this great disconnect to that team.

I feel a small connection to the Cubs, as I find their tale and story to be historic and part of the baseball canon itself. But, being quite away, I noticed that what I feel for the Cubs is more an attraction and respect, than ardent love.

As I watched a Giants game a few weeks ago on the MLB Network I found myself mysteriously rooting for the Giants quite unlike any other team I watched on TV. I would swear at the TV if the ump made a call I found to be disadvantageous for the Giants, worry when the Giants would be down and cheer whole heartily when the Giants scored, or made a wonderful play. As I was watching the game I remembered how back in 02 I was the only kid in my English class, next to the teacher herself, that hoped the Giants to win the series against the Angels.

It was quite fantastic and I felt an emotion which I have not experienced for a very long time. I felt love.

I do not know much of the Giants history (though I have been researching like a mad person all there is to know, which is infinite in itself) and try to research each and every player. I am still a newbie to baseball and would be embarrassed to call myself a hardcore lover of baseball by any stretch or means. But I have developed a healthy obsession with the game and a bond to the Giants. Heck, this post should be palpable proof of this (now it being 2:56am).

I even bought myself yesterday an authentic Giants cap by New Era to show my love for this team (in a city 30 minutes away from L.A.). I am rather reticent and furtive about entities I enjoy and love, but some strange force convinced me to do otherwise. I am not sure what will happen, but I am glad I have stumbled across this fantastic Giants fan forum. :)

SF Kid
06-24-2010, 06:16 AM
Welcome to the forum and t\hanks for the introduction. Very interesting. :toast:

Stick around and we look forward to talking Giants baseball with you!

Bear
06-24-2010, 08:43 AM
You are most welcome to this forum. Most for the people on the board are knowledgeable and if you have questions feel free to ask. I look forward to talking baseball with you and share the love for the Giants. Again welcome. :toast:

McCovey
06-24-2010, 12:10 PM
Welcome to the board, GF2010! WE have fun around. Just jump in and post often. We talk Giants baseball 24/7 here. :beerbang:

jandajuice
06-24-2010, 12:41 PM
Welcome to the board and a very interesting introduction .

GiantsFan2010
06-25-2010, 03:34 PM
Thank you all for your warm reception of me.
I am very pleasantly surprised with your cordial welcoming.
I will definitely stick around (hopefully!).

I was wondering are there any good books you folks could recommend to me?
Since I want to expand my knowledge I would definitely like to familiarize myself with as many diverse sources as possible.

Thank you!

WillTheThrill
06-25-2010, 03:45 PM
Welcome to the board, GiantsFan2010! :beerbang:

If you have any questions at all about baseball, or the current Giants, or Giant history, please feel free to ask. I'm sure everyone on the board will do their best to answer.

Some of us like to joke around from time to time, and The Kid and Bear get a little carried away sometimes... :D ... but we do all take the game of baseball and the Giants very seriously.

Have fun, and post away!!!

.

Bear
06-25-2010, 03:58 PM
Thank you all for your warm reception of me.
I am very pleasantly surprised with your cordial welcoming.
I will definitely stick around (hopefully!).

I was wondering are there any good books you folks could recommend to me?
Since I want to expand my knowledge I would definitely like to familiarize myself with as many diverse sources as possible.

Thank you!


Check out this threat:

http://sfgiants-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1032

You may find it helpful.

GiantsFan2010
06-27-2010, 05:30 PM
Thank you Will and Bear.
Now, I have to order a few books.
BTW, is there an internet archive full of facts about the Giants. The closest thing I found was Wikipedia and I want more.

Lastly, seems like not too many people post here. I am going to stay here though. It already feels like a family to me.

Bear
06-27-2010, 10:06 PM
Thank you Will and Bear.
Now, I have to order a few books.
BTW, is there an internet archive full of facts about the Giants. The closest thing I found was Wikipedia and I want more.

Lastly, seems like not too many people post here. I am going to stay here though. It already feels like a family to me.

We would like more members, but we stress quality over quality. If you know anyone with true interest please spread the word.:)

GiantsFan2010
06-28-2010, 11:49 AM
I do not know too many people that like baseball. And none that love the Giants. :(

SF Kid
06-28-2010, 04:20 PM
I do not know too many people that like baseball. And none that love the Giants. :(There is the problem. Giants fans don't seem to want to discuss the Giants as much as we do. :o

Bear
06-28-2010, 05:14 PM
There is the problem. Giants fans don't seem to want to discuss the Giants as much as we do. :o

And just between us the Bear grows tired of this problem!:eek:

WillTheThrill
06-28-2010, 06:10 PM
There is the problem. Giants fans don't seem to want to discuss the Giants as much as we do. :o

There are PLENTY of Giants fans who want to talk about the Giants. But maybe we just don't know enough of them, personally. Look at the talkback/comment sections after every single blog, article, column or website devoted to the Giants online. There is LOTS of debate and comments out there.

I'd say the problem is that not enough of them are finding this forum. We just need to figure out how to "advertise" or get some of these die-hards to try out our forum. And I'm sure if we start "spamming" these discussions with links to our site, it will just piss them off. Not sure how to get people to find us. :) :shrug:

I've asked other friends, my dad, my sister, etc. to take a look at it. But I just don't know enough people, personally, who are Giants fans. (Kind of tough, living in basketball Portland Trailblazer territory, to even find baseball fans at all!) And I'm sure the rest of you guys have invited other Giants' fans you know to check out the forum and join it.

I'm trying. I'm sure other guys on the board are. Does anyone have any suggestions for getting the word out to die-hards that we are here????

.

WillTheThrill
06-28-2010, 06:14 PM
P.S. I've said this before, but I think it's POSSIBLE that people who do check out the board see that there are hardly any active threads... and maybe assume that the board is inactive.

I think it is hurting us to have almost ALL of our discussions in one catch-all "Regular Season" thread. Breaking it up into one per month might help, but if people want to talk about Bumgarner, start a Bumgarner thread. If people want to talk about something as specific as Lincecum's pitching woes, start a "Lincecum's pitching woes" thread, etc., etc., etc.

When I mentioned this before, a bunch of you seemed to agree with me, and we seemed to try it for a little while, then these separate threads seemed to die out a bit.

Oh well, just an idea.

.

GiantsFan2010
06-28-2010, 08:10 PM
What is standing out for me personally is that during my short duration here so far, I have only communicated with a few members. Other than that the remainder of the members seem to be absent, or maybe some other reason.

Is there a way to maybe advertise? I visited the official Giants web forum and that place is very active and engaging.

But as Bear stated, quality over quantity.

WillTheThrill
06-28-2010, 09:58 PM
What is standing out for me personally is that during my short duration here so far, I have only communicated with a few members...

Yeah, there's about 4 or 5 of us who post constantly, about a half dozen others who are semi-regulars, and several dozen more who registered on the board and posted maybe 3-4 messages, then dissapeared.

... But as Bear stated, quality over quantity.

We'd love to have a more active board, but I agree with you that the guys who are here so far are definitely "quality". :beerbang:

.

GiantsFan2010
06-28-2010, 11:42 PM
Will, you know what I just remembered? Mlb.tv now runs on the PS3 as well.
I am going to try the demo and see how it runs. It is kinda neat being able to run it on that system.

SF Kid
06-29-2010, 07:04 AM
The ge old problem with message boards.

Bear and I did a thing a few years ago on several different forums to determine the percentages of registered members/active posters. The numbers were scary similar. The majority of registered members on ALL forums, no matter the subject, who never post even once is overwhelming. It's just a message board thing I'm afraid.

Maybe Will is right about the catch all thread. Only trouble is, if we do away with that, we'll end up with lots of threads with 2-3 posts in it until it dies. We can try it though . whatever works.

Again, we've been down this road before as Mxc can attest to. We have no money for "advertising?" or "search engine optimization". that shit cost lots of money. We're a bunch of Giants fans wanting to talk about our team. I'm always amazed why people don't want ot participate in a forum that is dedicated to the Giants. :wtf:

Bear
06-29-2010, 08:26 AM
The ge old problem with message boards.

Bear and I did a thing a few years ago on several different forums to determine the percentages of registered members/active posters. The numbers were scary similar. The majority of registered members on ALL forums, no matter the subject, who never post even once is overwhelming. It's just a message board thing I'm afraid.

Maybe Will is right about the catch all thread. Only trouble is, if we do away with that, we'll end up with lots of threads with 2-3 posts in it until it dies. We can try it though . whatever works.

Again, we've been down this road before as Mxc can attest to. We have no money for "advertising?" or "search engine optimization". that shit cost lots of money. We're a bunch of Giants fans wanting to talk about our team. I'm always amazed why people don't want ot participate in a forum that is dedicated to the Giants. :wtf:

I use to be but not anymore.:nono::eek::^^

GiantsFan2010
07-02-2010, 12:42 AM
Well, at least there are three more members here.
Maybe, just maybe this is a good indication of a positive trend. :)

Bear
07-02-2010, 09:53 AM
Well, at least there are three more members here.
Maybe, just maybe this is a good indication of a positive trend. :)

Let's hope so. We can always do that.:beerbang: