Ten years aTen years ago the general public convened in a coffee shop, barber shop or bar to talk about their local sports teams.

Conversations usually took place among a small group, and the community didn't witness firsthand what was being said.

My, how times have changed because of the Internet.

Blogs, message boards and the comments section on Web sites have changed "jock talk."

The Internet offers sports fans a way to voice their opinions and talk with other sports nuts. It lets fans cheer for their favorites, from the pros to the sub-varsity.

But sometimes more would rather vent feelings about their least favorites. Athletes and coaches can become targets for for bashing and harassment.

Under attack

Mandan girls basketball coach Greg Amundson and his team have been a favorite topic of discussion on message boards and blogs.

Amundson says generally he stays away from reading message boards and blogs, but some negative comments have gotten back to him. He encourages his athletes not to engage topics of discussion or read nasty remarks.

"There's a lot of hurt feelings that come out of those things," said Amundson, who coached Mandan to its sixth straight Class A state title this past winter. "I told them that most of that stuff is lies. People make it up, put it on there for a joke.

"It's not a joke to the people it's affecting."

Amundson said in the past he has received threatening letters sent to him or Mandan's principal. Nowadays, that type of content usually finds its way online, where it is often in plain sight of the public.

"When you defame someone, belittle them, or take away things they've earned, your pen should be taken away," Amundson said. "There's a lot of inquisitive people who truly love sports. They ask questions and are curious. That's OK.

"But when they go beyond the sport and use accusations to harass, bully and banter … Once a person is a bully, they will always be a bully whether they have a pen or a bat in their hand."

Century volleyball coach Jeni Walsh likes to frequent message boards and blogs. Although Walsh has never read anything negative about her team, she has seen others receive abuse.

"It's easy to go on there and slam somebody," she said. "I have a Hotmail account. It's easy to e-mail things you wouldn't say to somebody's face. A message board is more anonymous. It gives you the power to write mean stuff."

An online roast

Walsh's husband, Brad, who coaches the University of Mary baseball team, doesn't understand the satisfaction of roasting a high school or college athlete online.

Brad Walsh, who says he stays away from blogs and message boards, said he only sees comments that have been forwarded to him. He came across some negative comments written about U-Mary basketball star Eric Erdmann on a Web site dealing with Marauders athletics.

"Eric Erdmann has been attacked, and he's one of the nicest kids around," Brad Walsh said. "Why would anybody do that? Don't you have anything better in your life than to rip a high school athlete, high school coach, college coach or college athlete?"

Erdmann, a second-team All-NSIC selection, has been the leading scorer for the Marauders for the past two years as a freshman and sophomore.

Erdmann has read some unflattering comments about himself on message boards.

"Some things can kind of make me mad sometimes," Erdmann said. "But I know what I do and how I play. What other people think isn't a concern to me. I don't think about it. I don't tell anyone about it. I don't talk to anyone about it. I try not to let it affect me."

Former Bismarck High athlete Luke Senger stays away from message boards unless he's told about a certain post.

Senger, who now plays football for North Dakota State, read comments about himself on the Tribune's Web site when a fan from an opposing school accused him of taking steroids.

"It was kind of a compliment,"Senger said. "Maybe if you go in the weight room … hard work pays off. I just shrug it off. People talking on there aren't reliable sources."

Bismarck High football coach Mark Gibson encourages his athletes to stay away from trash talking online. Gibson was turned off by online comments about four years ago when there was bad blood between his team and another school.

"I've never made a comment on one of those things," Gibson said. "I talked to the kids about it. It's no different than walking up to a person and saying the same thing. I know major universities are having a problem with it and most of that is with the fans."

False information

Harsh opinions are one thing, but often posts contain misinformation. Williston boys basketball coach Mark Slotsve was told by his players about a post regarding Bismarck High standout Luke Martinez.

"They read that Luke Martinez got pushed into a wall at St. Mary's," Slotsve said. "The report said he was out four to six weeks with a broken wrist. He played two nights later."

On most sites, users choose a screen name which doesn't reveal his or her identity. The user's freedom to post inaccurate or abusive content is limited only by the policies of the Web site. And because of the anonymity, the writer isn't held accountable for his comments, unlike a newspaper columnist or a radio talk show host.

"If (a newspaper columnist) blasts me, I don't have a problem with it," Brad Walsh said. "But when somebody on joeschmoelovesbaseball.com blasts me, and I don't know who he is, come on.

"Is it somebody on the bench who's mad at me? Is it a baseball fan? Is it somebody whose knowledge of the sport isn't as high as what they pretend they are writing?"

Accountability

Brad Walsh believes there's no room for trash talking online.

"One of the things we've been taught when we've been brought up is: if you don't want to say it to a person's face, don't say it at all," he said. "… That bothers me. If you can't sign your name, don't attack an 18-year-old kid and a coach who's making a teacher's salary."

Do the same posting rules apply to the professional and college level?

"The professional guys, to me, it's a different thing," Brad Walsh said. "Me watching the Twins and attacking them from Bismarck isn't going to worry those guys.

"Our kids at the college level are there to get an education," Brad Walsh added. "Attacking a 20-year-old college kid for his effort? Maybe he's a pre-med student with a 3.9 (GPA), and he's on the bus for 10 hours or there's things happening in his family.

"They're 19- to 20-year-old kids. A lot of them aren't going to make money playing ball. There aren't as many full rides given as people think."

Fair game?

U-Mary men's basketball coach Juno Pintar and his athletes have been the subject of message board exchanges, especially last year when Pintar signed several of North Dakota's top basketball players.

Pintar avoids message boards and blogs, but some of the comments were forwarded to him. Like Brad Walsh, Pintar believes people should be held accountable for what they say in a public forum.

"If they feel that strongly about their comments, they should put their name on it," Pintar said. "That's what makes the Internet so neat. It gives people a chance to voice their opinion and get it out there. They can conjure up facts and make up stuff, and people don't realize it. It's the responsibility of the reader to figure out what's reliable information."

Erdmann believes fan criticism is a part of athletics.

"A lot of it is opinion-based,"Erdmann said. "Some people have strong opinions. People want to talk about everything. It comes with the territory of playing in athletics."

For Gibson, getting shredded over a coaching decision means more if the criticism comes in person rather than from behind a computer.

"Lots of rumors get started behind those things," Gibson said. "That's the technology of the world we live in, but privacy is slowly going away from the people. The bigger the scale, the less the privacy. At a big university, people know every move of the coaches and players."

A lot of coaches believe Internet posts can be unfair because the average fan isn't involved with the inner-workings of the team.

"They don't see the things they go through as student-athletes," Pintar said. "They forget they have a responsibility in the classroom. A lot of them have a girlfriend, and if they get into a fight, it affects what happens on floor. I appreciate people being interested in our program, but they aren't involved in they day-to-day operations of the program."

Brad Walsh agreed with Pintar.

"Everybody sees a different game," Brad Walsh said. "Fans in the stands don't see practice or commitment or what transpired the week before. People forget that a coach can do a fantastic job, but sometimes the other team is just better."

Keeping it positive

Slotsve has seen message boards and blogs being used in a positive manner, and he would like to see it stay that way. Slotsve used the example when Bismarck girls basketball coach Steve Meier retired from coaching this past winter.

"I did look at that one," Slotsve said. "I had background information on it. A lot of people congratulated him on a fine career. I've seen people go on there and congratulate people on a victory. But I don't know why you would want negative things on it."

Like most people, Amundson believes the Internet can be a useful tool for sports. But he also thinks it can be misused.

"I enjoy the Internet," Amundson said. "It's good to be inquisitive. But when somebody is defaming somebody, it's not good. They're a bully."

Like Amundson, Gibson believes the Internet, message boards and blogs can be used in a positive fashion.

"It gets people talking about your sport, and that's a good thing," Gibson said. "You want people excited about your sport, but sometimes they take it a bit too far."