HawgSports.com Code of Conduct

Purpose of The Razor's Edge and The Hill Forums

The Razor's Edge is to only be used for discussion of UA sports and recruiting, as well as other sports discussion. It is a great place to ask questions for the HawgSports.com staff and other 'in-the-know' posters, as well as to post your thoughts on Arkansas' teams, recruiting efforts, high school teams and UA opponents and other news from the world of sports.

The Hill is a message board for UA fans to discuss a wide range of sports topics, including UA sports, high school and other topics in the world of sports. It is a free message board, not intended for discussion of premium information on the Rivals.com Network.

The Razor's Edge and The Hill are independent message boards and are not affiliated with the University of Arkansas or the Southeastern Conference in any way.

The Razor's Edge and The Hill Rules for Posting

If a poster violates these rules, do not respond on the message board and instead email the staff a link to the offending post. E-Mail: trey@hawgsports.com

1. No excessive profanity: The use of profane words is prohibited. You know the words I mean. This includes the use of language that is racist, hateful, sexual, or obscene in nature in a public area.

2. No pornography: Posting of or linking to pornographic materials or websites is strictly prohibited. Pictures in user signatures shall contain no nudity including see through tops, wet t-shirts, etc.

3. No personal attacks: Calling a fellow poster out, calling him or her names or referring to him in a demeaning manner is prohibited. Disagreements or controversial subjects are common on SEC message boards, but keep your comments and responses on the subject and not on the poster.

4. No flame-baiting: Do not make posts for the sole purpose of starting a fight with a fellow poster or inflaming a large portion of the board. Posts on The Razor's Edge should be made to inform or generate or continue a discussion, not to anger a large portion of the forum.

5. No excessive player, coach, administration or staff bashing - and absolutely no bashing of recruits: Saying a player "sucks," needs to get "the heck out of town," or personal attacks on their physical characteristics etc., is not acceptable. You can voice frustrations over coaches, but lobbying or trying to gather support for their firing is prohibited. A healthy debate, discussion and criticism is allowed, but such criticism should be handled in a constructive and non flame-baiting manner. Do not headline threads 'fire so-and-so,' and do not start polls or try to gather signatures on these forums.

6. No posting of premium material: The copy and pasting, or linking of stories or posts from another pay web site is prohibited. Please follow our copyright and DO NOT take information off The Razor's Edge or out of the premium articles and post the information on other message boards. This rule also applies to pictures. tCopyright Information

7. No posting of personal information: Posting of any personal information of fellow posters including names, addresses, phone numbers, email address, IP address, etc., is prohibited.

8. No political discussions on The Razor's Edge or The Hill: Discussions of local, state and national politics, and political candidates is not allowed.

9. No discussions of religion on either board: The same as No. 8, except it goes for discussion of religion, religious figures, and other religious topics.

10. Be respectful of the moderators: If you have a problem with a story, post, post removal, issue, rule, etc., send us an email. Don't trash or challenge us on our forums, call us out, or complain or ask about a post being deleted or other issue. We'll be happy to answer it off the board. Nobody else cares to read that stuff, and it only takes up space. We have to serve a large membership and can't please everyone. If you have an issue with one of the moderators or their actions, please contact Trey Biddy at trey@hawgsports.com

Violation of the above rules will result in your post being removed. Repeated violations of the rules will result in blacklisting (you can read but may not post) or banning (you can't read or post). Some are temporary, and some are permanent. What constitutes profanity, flame-baiting, coach bashing, etc., is at the sole discretion of the forum moderators. Posters can also be banned without warning if the post is deemed highly inappropriate or lewd in nature, also at the discretion of the forum moderators.

Other helpful bulletin board tips

These are a list of suggestions that help to keep the bulletin boards on HawgSports.com more habitable and peaceful for all posters. Repeated violations of the code of conduct could result in a warning or eventual blacklist. These suggestions, however, are here to help new users to understand some of the posting norms and to remind veteran posters how to behave themselves.

1. Don't beat a dead horse: A message board dominated by a few posters drives stating the same case over and over drives off other posters. If you have an opinion, state it in a constructive way, and move on. There is no need for one poster to post the same message or opinion an excessive number of times during a day or over a week, month, etc.

2. Do not post excessive one-liners: Sometimes a post with just a message in the subject is appropriate but can often be overused. Excessive one-line posts from the same user are often a distraction.

3. Please use [** or (nm)] with one-liners: If your post has no message in the subject, please put a ** or (nm) - meaning no message - at the end of the subject line. It irritates fellow posters when they click on a post only to find there is nothing in the body of the message.

4. Be careful when using sarcasm: The Razor's Edge and The Hill are sarcastic boards, but sometimes it's tough to tell the difference between a post meant in jest and one meant to attack a fellow poster. The use of a ;-), an emoticon or an acronym such as LOL (laughing out loud) can help to differentiate between the two. But don't try to hide flames by posting LOL at the end; we're not that stupid.

5. Limit personal discussions: If you want to have a personal discussion with a fellow poster, send him an email or give him a call on the phone. There is no need to fill up the message boards with a bunch of personal messages. At times it is warranted, but it usually is not.

6. On-going disagreements: If you and a fellow poster have an ongoing disagreement, the best solution is not to reply to any posts from that user and vice versa. It is a major distraction to other posters when the same posters are always arguing - usually over the same subjects over and over.

7. Labeling is not productive: For example, calling a poster or a group of posters a "darksider" or "sunshine pumper" takes away from the discussion and is really a subtle type of personal attack. The only label needed on The Razor's Edge or The Hill is "Hog fan," and most every poster falls into that category. Members of this site can be very complex and have differing opinions on many subjects. Let's explore those opinions and not stifle discussion with labels.

8. Treat new members with respect: HawgSports.com is adding new members every day, and it takes a while for some to catch on to the scheme of things. Instead of attacking a new member that makes an honest mistake, be a good samaritan and post some useful tips or hints.

9. Don't make the same post: If a post has already recently been started on the topic you want to discuss, instead of starting your own thread, simply reply to the one that has already been started. Multiple posts on the same recent topic ruins the flow of discussion, and a popular topic may result in multiple posts between each thread with the same content.

10. Don't be discouraged: These rules are meant to put an end to the in-fighting, player and coach bashing and ugliness that occasionally crops up on HawgSports.com forums.

Totally ignoring or 'flying back in the face' of these suggestions may also result in removal of a post and/or eventual blacklisting

Questions or Comments

If you have questions or comments regarding The Razor's Edge and The Hill Rules and Code of Conduct, please contact Trey Biddy at trey@hawgsports.com