Now for an ardent football fan how goes the viewing. Do any of the Bar/resturants have the games on and generally speaking do you see more of one team than another-- 41 Days gang

American football games can be seen on local cable TV if they are broadcast on NBC, CBS, ABC or TNT, local cable does not have ESPN or FOX. However some bars/restaurants and hotels have satellite/dish TV so perhaps you can convince them to find an American football game on the dish....assuming there is not a real football game (soccer) on at the same time!

Hi Jim,Jane
If there were a soccer game on I think I could sneak by everyone that tried to watch the game, to turn on true football, the only thing that might bother me would be the snoring from those who tried to watch THE soccer game--lol

Careful, sir, I would not advise trying to get between Jane and a football (soccer) match! At least during the World Cup

Safe to say that most places frequented by Antilleans and/or Dutch people would not even consider American football over soccer. The resorts might be a different matter.

If it's of any help to know, our CBS affiliate is from Erie, PA and NBC and ABC are from NY. As Jane said, no FOX or (regular) ESPN. ESPN Latin America I believe only shows the Super Bowl.

Billy...I thought you were going to the Galapagos?

Oh, and I can tell you that Bonairians and residents LOVE soccer. Watching the world cup games at the airport was fun...talk about energy! After Italy won, the town and streets were full of fans waving the Italian flag out their windows and honking their horns!

Oh, and another thing, don't get between Jane and an ICE cold beer ;-) Jane, I had one yesterday ;-)

only ONE!!!!!! Careful, I might have to out you!

William, must confess that although I am a TOTAL soccer fanatic (and ICE cold Bright fanatic!) I was born in Cleveland and so am cursed with being a Browns fan for the rest of my life...whether they win or whether they suck...sooo...if there's a Browns game on a network while you are on island you are welcome to come to my house and watch it....not that anyone other than me would even be interested in a Browns game!:}

Jane...PLEASE don't out me! lol! Yes, only ONE...then came the whine you know...heh heh...

Yes Jim I feel your pain,I'm originally from Toledo,so being a fan of the Browns is very painful. and thanks for the invite!!
Grasshopper--I'll leave for the Galapagos on the 20th of September--49 days on wake up--but who is counting--lol- Then I can plan to get back on to paradise.
One good thing is now NBC has sunday night football--

William, you forget that Cleveland GIRLS are football fans....Jane is the Browns nutcase...as well as the one who posts all this nonsense!! You are forgiven in advance!

What about Hockey? Any chance cable has OLN?

We're giving up our season tickets to the Dallas Stars to move to the island. (It's a good thing we're moving to an island - that's the only way I'd give up hockey!!!!)

Sorry to report, no OLN either. But being here does indeed make up for it!

Al...I bet it does ;-)

Have you planned that next trip yet, Grasshopper? Catalina is lovely, but not Bonaire!

Al...shhhhhhh.....big secret...lol...we need to plan a girls day though for sure

oops, sorry

trip, what trip? i never heard about a trip...

i know nothing about a trip...lol...wink wink...

WTF? BonaireTalk needs user moderation. Why in the world do I need to read about people planning a trip on a posting about NFL coverage?

WRT the post claiming that NFL games are available when televised on NBC, tonight, the first night of the NFL season proves yet again why cable monopolies are a terrible thing. FlamingoTV is pathetic... we haven't had NBC on FlamingoTV for a week or more now.

Quita, there is no need for you to read every thread; if the title of the thread does not interest you, just don't read it. Since the thread had NFL in the title, you were warned.

Please also refrain from using initials to express profanity. We do not allow profanity on BT, it is a family friendly board.


Thank You.

Seb,

I don't understand what you're talking about. I wanted to read the thread. I was interested in reading about the experience of others when trying to watch NFL games. Instead, I'm reading posts like "Have you planned that next trip yet, Grasshopper? Catalina is lovely, but not Bonaire!" and "i know nothing about a trip...lol...wink wink...". Unfortunately, just about every thread degrades that way so trying to find the information you're interested in is difficult. In this case, I was particularly interested in TV, NFL, and seeing my Miami Dolphins last night, not a trip to Catalina (lol wink wink).

Ever read Slashdot? User moderation, karma, and filtering allow you to filter out the rubbish.

And to make this post at least somewhat relevant, I'll add that Flamingo TV still doesn't have NBC this morning, so if you're counting on Flamingo TV for your NFL, and if it's really important to you, you might want to investigate other options.

Karma???? rotflmao....

Um, Quita? This isn't MySpace... not that MySpace is particularly well-moderated...

There are rules here (have you read them?) but one of them isn't "no thread drift". Most of the people who post here have been here for quite a while, and many have actually met each other. Newbies are welcomed... but you aren't going to change the way it is here, it is what it is.

thanks for the reminder Susan..
Quita you may read the "rules" HERE

Thanks for the link Freddie... sometimes I forget the rules, too.

I think "thread drift" tends to happen when people get to know each other better on a board, and get chummier. It becomes more conversational, and although the title of the thread may be one thing, by the time 10 posts have happened it's veered crazily off course. Maybe it's because most of my friends are "of a certain age", but that's how my conversations in real life go, too - usually in less than ten sentences.

To bring things back to the NFL: I'll be in Bonaire tomorrow... and couldn't care less if NBC or any other station is available for watching football...

The only time I am interested in watching football while on Bonaire is when the Patriots were or are in the Superbowl... TV is not important while we are there. Even there for 6 weeks, I only turn it on to catch up on what is happening in the US.

To Moderators:

Seb said, "Please also refrain from using initials to express profanity. We do not allow profanity on BT, it is a family friendly board. "

However, I just read the rules as linked to by freddie. at: http://www.oldbonairetalk.com/newsgroup/messages/25/152184.html?1078174978

And I see NO mention of profanity, let alone initials used to express profanity. Is this an unwritten rule?

Also, what constitutes profanity or initials used to express profanity? Does the "a" in "rotflmao" as posted by freddie, count as an initial used to express profanity?

Quita, you are correct, there was thread drift,which you reasonably complained about in a manner I found unacceptable. I suppose your opening acronym simply got my dander up, and my reading comprehension went out the window. BT is primarily a community, and no one is paid to answer questions. If you live on Bonaire, then you are more qualified to answer NFL football on television questions than almost all of our users.

Tim, I concede that our TOS does not inform the user that we are a family friendly board, nor does it bar profanity. So yes, it is an unwritten rule, and ought to be explained in the TOS. We ought to rewrite that, it's a work in progress at the moment.

Most words not allowed are banned by the software, but obviously there are ways around this. However, the f word is always on the list, as is the c word, the m word, the other c word, the t word,the p word and the s word, the other t word, the n word, b word, I think the a word is ok, especially in an acronym in common civil usage like rotflmao... Wikipedia seven words

Being the one that started this thread, I haven't noticed any "Thread drift". What I have noticed is people expressing THEIR varied and diverse interpretation of the question!!!!!

Clearly I struck a nerve, which wasn't my intent, and for the effect of that I'm sorry. If I've noticed anything on BT, indeed it *is* a community. I'm all for communities.

I've never had a page on MySpace and I can count on one hand (perhaps one finger) the number of times I've visited a page there.

Slashdot, on the other hand, is a site that was developed for technical, scientific, and technology business issues ("news for nerds", as they call it). The user moderation there allows everyone to set their preferences to tune into or tune out messages based on a wide variety of criteria. If someone had modded me down as a "troll" or "flamebait", or handn't modded me up as "insightful" or "funny" or whatever, you could even tune me out!

How Susan got to MySpace, I have no idea, and how Seb and Freddie got to throwing the rule book around...well, I understand that, but it was wrong--it was a reaction to my striking a nerve and criticizing the very community that they've worked so hard to develop and maintain. I respect their hard work and I commend them for that.

One thing I wish that "the community" would understand is that there are plenty of readers who aren't in the clique, whether they live here or not. I've seen the "so-and-so's been here longer than you" argument thrown around a few times. It's cheap, easy, but always invalid when left to stand on its own legs. Susan used it to say that I'll never be able to change anything. I've seen Michael Gaynor use it to say that junk sculptures on the east coast must be art because (to paraphrase an old post from memory) he "thinks he knows that they were done by someone living here a long time". That post got me pretty incensed at the time, not because I care about the sculptures, but because I can't stand the idea that one poster would try to invalidate another's opinions using such a cheap argument.

I know I won't change the way moderation is done on BT, even if the "rules" allow for completely arbitrary application. But I would hope that the community" actually reads them before throwing them at the next poster who actually has the gall to question the status quo.

---

quote:

But I would hope that the community" actually reads them before throwing them at the next poster who actually has the gall to question the status quo.

---

Don't try to excuse your behavior that way.

Quita,

Perhaps it would help to try to think of BT as a cocktail party. Some people know one another, others know no one. You and I could be having a conversation about, say, football. Suddenly a friend I haven't seen in a while joins us and I interrupt the conversation to ask how she is. Rude of me to exclude you or interrupt our conversation in the middle? Sure. But is it appropriate for you to respond with the F word? That seems a bit of an overreaction to me, and I believe that is what people are responding to here. BT is a wonderful source of information. It's also supposed to be fun.
Peace, Alex

Quita, first, let me welcome you to Bonaire Talk. Since it seems to be some of the "chit chat" that I was involved in that has irritated you, well, you can choose not to read it and move on. Alex put it quite well, think of BT as a cocktail party, conversations. If you feel like an outsider and not part of the "clique" as you put it, that is your choice. When someone posts for the first time, and is polite, they are welcomed by everyone and encouraged to join in. When a posters first post is negative, accusatory, or using an acronym that is somewhat offensive to some (have never had complaints about lmao)....well, it's like walking into a cocktail party with a chip on your shoulder saying "XTU" (I won't use the acronym) with nothing nice to say to anyone, and pretty much offending everyone. Not the way to make friends IMHO. You have a choice, read a thread, when it begins to offend you, close it and move on.

BT also does a lot of other very wonderful things. Fundraisers for the Hoppner Boys, Animal Shelter, Donkey Sanctuary, buying relatives a new hip, and the list goes on in the array of support this community not only has for Bonaire, but for each other in a kind and very companionate way. If you don't like the way we moderate BT, well, you have a right to your opinion. The moderators have day jobs, paying jobs. We do this and are on the Board of Directors of BTCI (Bonaire Talk Community Inc) because we love the island of Bonaire, and support the island and this BT community.

I'm not sure why you also chose to flame Michael Gaynor on something that he posted long time ago, but it obviously stuck in your head and "to paraphrase an old post from memory." Michael has valuable contributions to Bonaire Talk, and he is part of our community. He has helped a lot of BTers on island who needed assistance that did not involve his business....helping get someone a doctors appointment, and I'm sure a lot of BTers will tell you what he has done for them that was out of compassion and friendship for fellow human kind.

As a good friend once said "Life is too short to dwell on the sucky things in life, especially when they are of a transient nature."

A sense of humor can also go a long way...Have a nice day.

Cynde

Hoo boy...just read this thread. Seb, I had been asking myself: "World Trade Federation? Wilderness Trust Fund?" until I read your admonition. I think I prefer life in my own blonde little world where WTF can stand for Warthog FineArts Theater (I'm hoping Warthog FineArts Theater doesn't offend anyone).

Hey Quita, do you know Jenny and Tim? I'm surprised we haven't heard from Jenny on this topic. Tim, I hope she's OK? Jenny, are you out there?

Hey Seb,

We are both here, we just finished dinner and have our laptops out. We don't know Quita. But it is a small island, we might very well run into her sometime.

P.S. It sure sounds to me like you are implying something. If so; don't beat around the bush, just say it.

Tim, I got it into my head that Quita was Jenny's evil twin. My apologies, she is not. Working soap operas may have damaged my brain into believing people have evil twins. Flimsy excuse, but it's all I got.

I don't know if you've seen our blurb on netiquette here to help explain where our motley collection of moderating rules come from.

Does anyone know which Bonairean bars/restraunts/resorts will be having football parties, in November, on "Thanksgiving Sunday"?

Barbara - thanks for the new ammunition! The next time(s) I lose my serenity and lazily choose to use a vulgar word/expression, I pray I remember your post above. When those times arrive, (and they will) I hope I choose to say "WARTHOG FINEARTS THEATER".

Folks, we don't need more written rules to govern what we say in our post, do we?!?! Please say "No!"? I just found out I won't be receiving monetary compensation as a moderator.

Yo Seb,

I am here, and no, I'm not Quita. I haven't been reading this thread because I find football incredibly boring. If I WERE Quita, I'd be kind of upset about you calling me evil. She's a bit cantankerous maybe, but evil is rather harsh, don't you think? Seems like maybe you should follow your own "netiquette" rules and think twice about insinuating a false accusation & personal attacks. Obviously, you have the ability to check if users are posting from the same IP address, so why didn't you just do that before you decided to defame me on this thread?

Tom, I am happy to add any amount of silliness I can to such a thread (and drag it further off topic), but I really had no clue what the letters stood for until I read Seb's post: I,
with the worst mouth in creation.
I remember being on Bonaire for both Carnival and Superbowl. Eric went to Karels to watch, and ranks it as one of the most fun times of his life. I think we were staying at the Carib Inn that year, so he walked through all the festivities and talked to all manner of folk. I think he said most of the folks at the bar were German, but into American football any way. I passed on it, having endured enough football for the year, but I think I missed a really good time.

Well Jenny, entering a conversation with a few thousand strangers with the abbreviated phrase she used struck me as a rude introduction. Possibly you disagree, but I personally would take those words spoken to me as an attack.

Again my apologies for thinking you were involved. I erred.

As far as the evil twin thing, you have to lighten up. I've worked around soap operas for a couple of decades, and evil twins are pretty common. I'm pretty sure that the essential duality of operating with two brains, and an inner dialogue, gives us all an evil and good twin. It's an archetype. It's Jungian, Freudian, and Taoist. It's ethics, morals, judgement, and politics.

Hey, you guys know that the NFL museum is in NYC?

All that and perfect cheekbones too? Wow, those soaps have high standards!