Source of Problems for Vol Football and Major Sports Programs Since 2003: UTAD

#1
junder13

junder13

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#1
For the TL;DR crowd, I apologize in advance. I don't have a shorter way to write this opinion/theory/hypothesis, because it's quite a big one. Thus, it requires I provide as much as I can to justify my stance. Given the length of this series of posts, I'll start with my hypothesis and then follow-up with my thoughts. Read as little or as much as you please.


I'll begin with my list of the UTAD stooges I suspect. In the second post, I'll include the list again for editing purposes, in case there are other VN posters that agree with this theory and want to keep a list of offenders. The posts after that are intended to explain my opinion/stance.

Let me start with Butch Jones hire date, as it turns out to be helpful context in recognizing suspected UTAD stooges on VN: CBJ was announced as the head coach at UT on December 7, 2012.

UTAD Stooges on Volnation
butchna – joined Jan 2013; 30k posts in 3 years at a 22.5 posts per day rate; his signature states “winning hearts by dominating minds” and his occupation shows as “internet security”; I believe he is the leader of the UTAD group of stooges
glitchenwalter – joined Feb 2013; 9k posts at a 6.8 posts a day rate
#1Volfaninmo – joined Dec 2012
VolFreakJosh – joined Feb 2013 (this is probably the poster I dislike the most on this site, although I've never interacted with him myself -- thankfully)
WilliamDuVol – joined Apr 2014
Orangedogsrule – joined Jan 2013
ReaderVol – joined Aug 2015
Volfan102455 – joined Nov 2015
JohnD13 – joined Oct 2013
inVOLuntary – joined Nov 2012
Vol sanity – joined Feb 2013

It’s much more than just the suspicious joining date of these individuals. Look at their post history. One of the posts from these individuals often serves two primary purposes: to promote the coaching staff (rather than the program in general) and/or to rebuke any opinion expressed that's negative towards the coaching staff. Often posts from these individuals are uninformative and do not contribute to discussions in a constructive or educational manner. Also, the further you go back in these individual’s post history, the more you’ll realize they have always supported Butch -- seemingly ahead of the football program itself. He did not “earn” their devotion over the past three seasons. A rational fan may be extremely positive to a new coaching staff as a civic duty as a fan and due to the excitement and enthusiasm a new coaching regime should bring following the down years that lead to a coaching change. But that initial devotion comes with limitations and also must be reinforced over time. That was not the case with the posters above. Additionally, many of these posters make the usual oleaginous comments towards CBJ after something positive happens, instead of the program in general (credit for a commitment -- whether the recruit is highly sought by other top programs or not -- is always lavishly heaped on Jones). Most rational fans have a balance of positivity towards the program and, when due, positivity towards the coaching staff. The UTAD stooges almost always direct their flattery to the coaching staff like the obsequious covert agents they are. Additionally, they defend the staffs at just about all costs, rarely expressing any dissatisfaction or negativity. This occurred in the basketball forum too during the Martin years (but with different posters, not the ones above -- to my knowledge) but I am focusing on football for this effort.

These personas use different methods to “police” the site and promote uniform and unquestioned positivity towards the staff's philosophies and decisions. Butchna is the enforcer type and he will berate with words and one-sided logic any opposing view, while glitchenwalter uses humorous GIFS to belittle opposing views. Both use internet forum techniques to attempt to sway the masses – such as butchna always including emojis and glitchenwalter’s frequent use of GIFS. Both are widely recognized ways of increasing someone’s likeability on an internet forum consisting of anonymous posters expressing opinions (humorous GIFS and emojis are the easy basics of getting peer E-approval). Less likeable personas like VolFreakJosh simply bash and dismiss all opinions counter to his own. Despite the different approach, all will argue away any perceived negative against the staff as ultimately not be the fault of the staff, using misdirection, unrelated points of contention, out-of-context statistics, and other team's inadequacies to minimize our own staff's faults. The basic giveaway for a UTAD stooge is this: all positives are overly applauded to the staff while all negatives are not held accountable to the staff, and are justified by just about any means necessary.

There were several other posters I originally suspected beyond the 11 listed above, but over time I began to realize are more likely part of the “sheep” crowd than covert stooges for the athletic department. Other suspects I’ve realized just have a nature of attacking opinions they disagree with but likely are just fans with a limited ability to have a balanced view.

On a somewhat related note, Ron Swanson is the VN persona that represents VQ. He most likely is employed by VQ or works as a third party contractor. Some of the other posters in the past who copy/pasted paysite information and were universally adored on VN likely also had ties to the paid sites, which is what gave them an implicit pass to “leek” the paysite information to VN. I am fine with this arrangement, as it provides non-subscribers a peek at the intel that normally requires a subscription. However, what I don’t like about Ron Swanson (compared to the others in the past like Lord Vader and PassedOutAwake) is his role in attempting to create an online persona for Butch Jones – one that, in hindsight, now appears quite ironic. The whole “Butch Stones” and gay innuendo of CBJ having big balls and other examples of excessive fawning over the staff and homo-erotic comments related to recruiting (likening “booming” when a recruit commits to climax/orgasm) goes back to Swanson and the other UTAD stooges, in large part. I find the “big balls butch” comments by these UTAD sycophants to be particularly hilarious, given how CBJ coaches a tight game more like a p**** than any major D1 school I’ve watched in recent memory. CBJ more closely resembles the coaching version of a castrato than a baritone. Big Balls Butch. Hahaha, yeah. No one outside of the biggest orange koolaid drinkers would ever associate masculinity with CBJ as a coach, based on his coaching personality.
 
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#2
#2
Here is the list in the second post, which I may go back and edit as needed (I plan not to edit the original post).

UTAD Stooges on Volnation
butchna – joined Jan 2013; 30k posts in 3 years at a 22.5 posts per day rate; his signature states “winning hearts by dominating minds” and his occupation shows as “internet security”; I believe he is the leader of the UTAD group of stooges
glitchenwalter – joined Feb 2013; 9k posts at a 6.8 posts a day rate
#1Volfaninmo – joined Dec 2012
VolFreakJosh – joined Feb 2013 (this is probably the poster I dislike the most on this site, although I've never interacted with him myself -- thankfully)
WilliamDuVol – joined Apr 2014
Orangedogsrule – joined Jan 2013
ReaderVol – joined Aug 2015
Volfan102455 – joined Nov 2015
JohnD13 – joined Oct 2013
inVOLuntary – joined Nov 2012
Vol sanity – joined Feb 2013
 
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#3
#3
Mike Hamilton ushered in an era for the UTAD that, despite his departure, continues today. This era can best be described as running UT athletics like a for-profit business. I don't see this approach at all changing under Hart and, my best guess is it will continue with Blackburn. So will immediately laugh this notion off by pointing out that the UTAD was flat broke at the end of the Hamilton reign. Yes, that is quite the irony, but it does not change the likelihood that the UTAD Fundraiser of the Year (Hamilton won this national award in 1998) approached decision-making from the corporate perspective of maximizing profits.

Since 2003, the UTAD has shown a continual pattern with coaching hires and fires. A hired coach in every sport I keep track of is made from a mid-tier conference at a middle-of-the-pack price tag. The coach is then supported until fan support/ticket sales/sentiment deteriorates beyond the point of salvaging. The lesser followed the sport is, the more likely mediocrity (or even out-right incompetence, such as w/ the men's baseball program) is tolerated. Same could be said for sports that do not generate much in revenue (i.e., track, which has deteriorated from one of the best programs in the country to one of the worst in the conference).

In short, the UTAD will happily keep any coach of any sport as long as the on-field results are not impacting the department's revenue or perception, assuming no cheating or "incidents" are brought to light (and, for the record, I assume all programs are run in a clean manner, which I am thankful for, if true -- that can't be said of many SEC schools IMO).

Give this some thought:
What other major sports program with the revenues that UT enjoys has a lower combined sports record of the major women's and men's sports than Tennessee over the last 10-15 years? What other major sports program has such a dearth of championships (national and conference) in the 21st century?

Obviously, the UTAD's approach to managing its major sports programs is not working relative to peers. I believe it is due to this profit maximizing philosophy that Hamilton ushered in.

Simply put, as a fanbase, we have not been getting value relative to our fervent fanship, money spent, devotion, and energy.

Further, I believe the UTAD has also been attempting to "social engineer" fan sentiment with its major sports. The only two sports I follow on VN are football and men's basketball, but I haven't kept up w/ bball lately. It's also done to a much lower degree (most obvious at the tail-end of the Cuonzo Martin days) in the basketball forum, so I'll just focus on the football/recruiting forum.
 
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#4
#4
I'll try to explain how social engineering works on the internet and why it’s a threat. For those of you who think "Who cares, it's a UT sports fan forum?!?"....I think that's a valid point. I would respond by saying that governments and multinational corporations are involved in social engineering on the internet as well. Internet propaganda is an early step in a move towards outright internet censorship ala China (I, personally, believe censorship of the internet is inevitable as the westernized "free world" becomes increasingly discontent with globalism, cronyism, and the push towards a one-world governing body – these types of people use the internet in an attempt to educate a broader citizenship on their freedoms being taken, spreading "conspiracies" which undermine the government’s efforts). In other words, while the UTAD attempting to steer the sentiment of vol fans on the main websites they express their thoughts on (VN being arguably the most prominent, although I bet it’s happening on VQ too) may not be a great example of a societal injustice, but it is a microcosm for what is done on a larger scale by a much more life-impacting entity (major influencing governments intent on keeping the world's power structure as is). With that said, let me attempt to explain myself.

"Social engineering" is in many ways synonymous with propaganda. It's been done by many governments in the modern age of communication (starting with the typewriter). It's probably been carried out most infamously by the Nazi party, which was extremely successful in swaying angry German sentiment during the Weimer Republic into a dangerous brand of nationalism and ethnic-based superiority.

Ironically, social engineering in reference to the internet today is thought to be manipulation in order to gain confidential information (like credit card numbers, etc.), mainly attributed to hackers. If you attempt to look up "social engineering" in terms of social media and the internet in general, you'll only find internet security references. This is probably because the true "social engineering" that occurs on the internet is intended to be kept quiet by the power structure in place. There is plenty of evidence of social engineering by the US government, US military, and even corporations, if you look for it.

Fake forum comments are 'eroding' trust in the web - BBC News
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/mar/17/us-spy-operation-social-networks

The two links above are from reputable media sources but the rabbit hole gets deeper if you're open to reading non-MSM (mainstream media) sites. The MSM is corporate-owned, so there's not much you'll find on such sites.

Anyway, here's how it works:
Operant conditioning is a form of classical conditioning and it suggest that behavior that is reinforced positively tends to be repeated (i.e., strengthened). Likewise, behavior which is not reinforced tends to die out or be extinguished (i.e., weakened). When discussing social conditioning, Freud once said that “opposition to the herd is as good as separation from it, and is therefore anxiously avoided”.

The US military refers to its fake accounts used by "online persona management" as sock puppets. I doubt the VN stooges are as sophisticated and one individual utilizes multiple personalities/account but the same principles apply. The objective is to crowd out unwelcome opinions and smother commentaries that do not correspond with the intended message, influencing internet conversations and spreading pro-(fill-in-the-blank) propaganda. In the US military’s case, it’s pro-America and various government objectives. I think it goes much deeper than just the military at the secret government level (SS-type social engineering of moral relativism, pro-capitalism, multi-culturalism/racial mixing, gender/role dysphoria, religious and cultural collectivism, etc.).

Turning away from the national picture here and back to VN.... In the internet forum world, as it relates to VolNation, this is exemplified by three types of “stooge” or “fake” online personas (sock puppets, as termed by the military): neutral operants (promote a desired opinion but usually in a casual, passive manner), reinforcers (reinforce desired opinion, often less passively), and punishers (aggressively rebuke others who hold an opposing view). Real fans take up the typical personas that reflect the diversity of human personalities: overly negative, overly positive, objective, subjective, open-minded, close-minded, etc. The key difference to noticing a bogus personality on VN (I call them stooges) is whether those common personality traits play out in fanship to the team first-and-foremost, or to the coaching staff. That is the key difference, as the UTAD is intending on keeping sentiment towards coaching staffs as positive as possible unless/until the flood of opinion becomes overly negative and revenue drops considerably (i.e., the last year of Dooley). That is why the UTAD stooges are constantly promoting the coaching staff. Some examples, when a UT recruit commits, a UTAD stooge may say “Butch is a magician”, or “Butch Stones”, compared to a normal Vol fan booming or saying something positive about the program. Does this mean single instances of praising a coach are suspect? Of course not. Fans should (and will, when justified and earned) praise a successful coaching staff. It’s when you see a pattern of praising a coach incessantly. It’s also when you see a pattern of standing up for a coach beyond a reasonable level.

The key is to ask yourself, “What would a rational agent (using a psychology term) say in this instance?” A rational Vol fan would praise Jones for quite a bit of positive things that have happened over the last several years. But a rational agent would not be pro-Jones above the program before he’s earned the right. Granted, there is a segment of society that is sheep-like, and possibly would support CBJ unfailingly all the way up until his forced resignation (there were quite a few of these with even Dooley, although public opinion turned dramatically that last year). That said, the number of individuals like this should not be enough to completely dominate a site of literally thousands of Vol fans around the world. No, this was the work of something much more than “rational agents” expressing their opinions and thoughts on something we’re all fervent fans of (UT sports). What has happened the past few years on VN is an example of an outside party manipulating online conversations in order to influence opinion.

Before I put out my list of expected UTAD trolls, keep in mind, I am not calling these individuals “sock puppets”, as I believe each persona is a single individual (not one guy operating multiple accounts for example). These UTAD stooges are real people and express real experiences in their life and history as a vol fan. Although their fanship is real (not a technology-driven persona management service like the US government employs) these are still individuals who express their opinion on the program in a staged manner. They may (and probably do) believe CBJ is a great coach and will return UT to prominence. But it doesn’t matter because their purpose is spread that opinion and suppress opposing opinions. In that regard, it is wrong and every bit manipulation and propaganda, stemming from a larger, decision-making authority (UTAD). Thus, I am adamantly opposed to this effort from the higher-ups within the athletic department to utilized “covert agent” fans in an attempt to create a false consensus. No matter how justified it may be in the UTAD’s minds (the whole, “the end justifies the means” philosophy), it’s deplorable, conniving, immoral, and treacherous.
 
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#7
#7
Good lord man. This is conspiracy theory at it's finest. I didn't read the whole thing, but I skimmed. I'm gonna go out on a limb and just say they're huge Vols fans that just have a glimmer of hope that this coaching staff will succeed considering what we've been through the last 10 years.
 
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#13
#13
Very interesting! This actually wouldn't surprise me in the least!

I appreciate you putting this together. Definitely something to consider.
 
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#14
#14
sheepdogconspiracy.jpg
 
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#19
#19
hmmmmmmmmm, all I will say is I do find it odd how we now seem to berate someone's opinion if we do not agree with it on here, and that does seem to spread out on all internet thingys :)

Now, I need to call in this morning so I can find time to read all of this.
 
#20
#20
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#25
#25
junder13 said:
I'll try to explain how social engineering works on the internet and why it’s a threat. For those of you who think "Who cares, it's a UT sports fan forum?!?"....I think that's a valid point. I would respond by saying that governments and multinational corporations are involved in social engineering on the internet as well. Internet propaganda is an early step in a move towards outright internet censorship ala China (I, personally, believe censorship of the internet is inevitable as the westernized "free world" becomes increasingly discontent with globalism, cronyism, and the push towards a one-world governing body – these types of people use the internet in an attempt to educate a broader citizenship on their freedoms being taken, spreading "conspiracies" which undermine the government’s efforts). In other words, while the UTAD attempting to steer the sentiment of vol fans on the main websites they express their thoughts on (VN being arguably the most prominent, although I bet it’s happening on VQ too) may not be a great example of a societal injustice, but it is a microcosm for what is done on a larger scale by a much more life-impacting entity (major influencing governments intent on keeping the world's power structure as is). With that said, let me attempt to explain myself.

"Social engineering" is in many ways synonymous with propaganda. It's been done by many governments in the modern age of communication (starting with the typewriter). It's probably been carried out most infamously by the Nazi party, which was extremely successful in swaying angry German sentiment during the Weimer Republic into a dangerous brand of nationalism and ethnic-based superiority.

Ironically, social engineering in reference to the internet today is thought to be manipulation in order to gain confidential information (like credit card numbers, etc.), mainly attributed to hackers. If you attempt to look up "social engineering" in terms of social media and the internet in general, you'll only find internet security references. This is probably because the true "social engineering" that occurs on the internet is intended to be kept quiet by the power structure in place. There is plenty of evidence of social engineering by the US government, US military, and even corporations, if you look for it.

Fake forum comments are 'eroding' trust in the web - BBC News
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/mar/17/us-spy-operation-social-networks

The two links above are from reputable media sources but the rabbit hole gets deeper if you're open to reading non-MSM (mainstream media) sites. The MSM is corporate-owned, so there's not much you'll find on such sites.

Anyway, here's how it works:
Operant conditioning is a form of classical conditioning and it suggest that behavior that is reinforced positively tends to be repeated (i.e., strengthened). Likewise, behavior which is not reinforced tends to die out or be extinguished (i.e., weakened). When discussing social conditioning, Freud once said that “opposition to the herd is as good as separation from it, and is therefore anxiously avoided”.

The US military refers to its fake accounts used by "online persona management" as sock puppets. I doubt the VN stooges are as sophisticated and one individual utilizes multiple personalities/account but the same principles apply. The objective is to crowd out unwelcome opinions and smother commentaries that do not correspond with the intended message, influencing internet conversations and spreading pro-(fill-in-the-blank) propaganda. In the US military’s case, it’s pro-America and various government objectives. I think it goes much deeper than just the military at the secret government level (SS-type social engineering of moral relativism, pro-capitalism, multi-culturalism/racial mixing, gender/role dysphoria, religious and cultural collectivism, etc.).

Turning away from the national picture here and back to VN.... In the internet forum world, as it relates to VolNation, this is exemplified by three types of “stooge” or “fake” online personas (sock puppets, as termed by the military): neutral operants (promote a desired opinion but usually in a casual, passive manner), reinforcers (reinforce desired opinion, often less passively), and punishers (aggressively rebuke others who hold an opposing view). Real fans take up the typical personas that reflect the diversity of human personalities: overly negative, overly positive, objective, subjective, open-minded, close-minded, etc. The key difference to noticing a bogus personality on VN (I call them stooges) is whether those common personality traits play out in fanship to the team first-and-foremost, or to the coaching staff. That is the key difference, as the UTAD is intending on keeping sentiment towards coaching staffs as positive as possible unless/until the flood of opinion becomes overly negative and revenue drops considerably (i.e., the last year of Dooley). That is why the UTAD stooges are constantly promoting the coaching staff. Some examples, when a UT recruit commits, a UTAD stooge may say “Butch is a magician”, or “Butch Stones”, compared to a normal Vol fan booming or saying something positive about the program. Does this mean single instances of praising a coach are suspect? Of course not. Fans should (and will, when justified and earned) praise a successful coaching staff. It’s when you see a pattern of praising a coach incessantly. It’s also when you see a pattern of standing up for a coach beyond a reasonable level.

The key is to ask yourself, “What would a rational agent (using a psychology term) say in this instance?” A rational Vol fan would praise Jones for quite a bit of positive things that have happened over the last several years. But a rational agent would not be pro-Jones above the program before he’s earned the right. Granted, there is a segment of society that is sheep-like, and possibly would support CBJ unfailingly all the way up until his forced resignation (there were quite a few of these with even Dooley, although public opinion turned dramatically that last year). That said, the number of individuals like this should not be enough to completely dominate a site of literally thousands of Vol fans around the world. No, this was the work of something much more than “rational agents” expressing their opinions and thoughts on something we’re all fervent fans of (UT sports). What has happened the past few years on VN is an example of an outside party manipulating online conversations in order to influence opinion.

Before I put out my list of expected UTAD trolls, keep in mind, I am not calling these individuals “sock puppets”, as I believe each persona is a single individual (not one guy operating multiple accounts for example). These UTAD stooges are real people and express real experiences in their life and history as a vol fan. Although their fanship is real (not a technology-driven persona management service like the US government employs) these are still individuals who express their opinion on the program in a staged manner. They may (and probably do) believe CBJ is a great coach and will return UT to prominence. But it doesn’t matter because their purpose is spread that opinion and suppress opposing opinions. In that regard, it is wrong and every bit manipulation and propaganda, stemming from a larger, decision-making authority (UTAD). Thus, I am adamantly opposed to this effort from the higher-ups within the athletic department to utilized “covert agent” fans in an attempt to create a false consensus. No matter how justified it may be in the UTAD’s minds (the whole, “the end justifies the means” philosophy), it’s deplorable, conniving, immoral, and treacherous.
Click to expand...

Woke AF!!!
 
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