Utezone has become a hell hole

[Kirk Herbstreet]

For some of the worst of our fans. The collective football IQ of those idiots is about the same as a soggy pancake. It is unbearable. You would think we are 0-4.

It’s a shame too because Steve Bartle does great work but that place is toxic.

[Utah]

I agree. I left there last year and haven’t missed it at all. All the twitter people just moved to UteZone.

And that’s not a good thing.

All of our fans that would be on cougarboard if they were BYU fans are on UteZone.

[Tony (admin)]

If you can believe it, I’ve never been to Ute Zone. No idea what it is, what the format is, what it looks like, what features it has… I suppose I’m focused on this joint.

[The Miami Ute]

I’m with you Tony. When I first heard the term “Utezone”, I thought that the OP was talking about the place where you buy Utah merchandise. This is the only place that I frequent for anything Ute related. So glad I found it after the demise of “Block U”.

[UofU Fanatic]

Same Miami, I came over here after BlockU ended. I miss that place still but love this site as well

[D T]

I left there years ago & haven’t ever looked back.

Bartle is inept compared to his predecessors.

[AlohaUte]

Not sure how Tony has done it, but this is easily the best Ute community and no ridiculous users. I so very much appreciate it. We have some awful fans in this fan base, the longer we keep them off here, the better.

[The Miami Ute]

We have some awful fans in this fan base

Yeah, I’ve seen some inebriated doozies at games that made me shudder.

[High Uintas]

UteZone is by far the best forum around for knowledgeable Utah fans. Steve Bartle has raised the bar during his tenure.

[Utah]

I love these types of blanket statement statements.

Define knowledgeable Utah fans. Because if it’s based on insider info, this forum gets info before UteZone most times. Sadly, Whitt shut down the program and UZ doesn’t break news anymore.

So, by your definition, what’s knowledgeable? Even play breakdowns and schemes…as someone outside of Utah, I come across stuff from Hans Olsen a lot more than UZ.

How has Bartle raised the bar? If anything, it’s been lowered. No more injury reports. No more practice reports. No more spring ball reports. No more highlight videos.

Everything is worse than it was 5 years ago. Some of that isn’t Steve’s fault, but it doesn’t change the fact that the bar is much lower than it was 5 years ago.

So, back up your statement with some actual information, please.

[BD]

I am on UteZone and have been for five years. I don’t post there very often – just mostly read. I enjoy Utah football, and I look for any valuable information I can find, whether here or UteZone.

I still think the best insider information is found here with a few posters that are kind enough to share info here.

Although, as has been mentioned in previous comments here, the insider information is becoming more and more rare on UteZone. This is due to Kyle keeping information secret that would make any secret govt. organization jealous. And, the Twitter account “Message Board Geniuses” and lurkers from Cougarboard are just waiting to pounce on anything they can, and share stuff they shouldn’t to social media.

Steve Bartle is in the unenvious position of probably having much more information than we realize, but being able to share almost none of it, due to the tight ship that Kyle runs and the losers who will take any info and share it on public forums.

Also, I am turned off by the mob mentality of treating people there with unpopular opinions. There was a long thread with thousands of posts on conference realignment that went on and on for over a year. A few commenters there shared their unpopular opinions that the Pac-12 might implode and Utah could end up in the Big-XII – which is of course what happened. However, those with these opinions were not treated well at all – which is disappointing. But, I am learning to just ignore the mob mentality and find any useful insider info I can, if there is any.

As of now enough info. is found there that makes it worth it for me to continue to browse there. I’ll stop my subscription when I feel it is no longer worth it to pay for the crumbs of info that are found there, which could happen sooner rather than later.

[The Miami Ute]

Well said. Interesting point about the psychology of mob mentality. I’ve only been here since “Block U” shut down before last season and have seen some posters, myself included, experience a “digital lynching” whenever an unpopular opinion is posted. Most recent was when I and a couple of others questioned the wisdom of not bringing in an experienced QB from the portal prior to the season given the uncertainty behind Rising’s recovery from his injury.

[ProudUte]

I did not agree with you on bringing in a portal QB because I wanted to develop one of our young guys. But, that is just one old guy’s opinion.

I respect your posts and opinions. I would never throw anyone under the bus for a different opinion.

I love UteHub and appreciate what Tony has developed and for the most part, the angry, petty fans have stayed away from here. I only wish more fans would come on here and share their opinions wether it differs from mine or not.

Go Utes!!!

[Tony (admin)]

Consider that most visitors to the site are lurkers. At any given time there can be over 100-200 users browsing the site, but only 5-10 of them are logged in users. Among those, a fraction of those users actually post new topics.

Regarding new users and more new opinions… once again I ask ALL users of the board to engage in word of mouth advertising! There’s no Ute Hub advertising to bring in new users, except what I do on social networks. Make it a point to share Ute hub content with your friends on social networks, via email, or verbally.

[The Miami Ute]

Thanks. Just so you know, I wasn’t specifically talking about you though I do remember our back and forth on the issue. I enjoy reading your posts, actually just about all the posts on here, and don’t have any issue with folks pushing back on my opinions provided there’s logic and a method to the madness associated with it. I just got the feeling on the Rising issue that some folks are so emotionally caught up with him, and I can understand that because he’s been a great player no doubt, that it’s almost like they would put what’s best for him in front of what’s best for the team. That I can’t abide. I’m as big a fan of Rising as any fan but the Utes come first, hence my commentary of bringing in a portal QB to provide real competition and insurance.

[Patrick]

I’ve subscribed to Utezone on and off over the years. The site is nothing like it used to be. I like Bartle and don’t blame him at all and he does his best but a lot of the civility and camaraderie were lost when folks like Dan and James Durant went inactive or mostly inactive IMHO. It’s too bad. It was once a fun site. The asylum is ran by the nuttier and more delusional fans now.

The board doesn’t seem to be moderated all that much so fans can just attack each other and say whatever they want. You see gif bombing and fighting and name calling. The bad and misinformation that folks spread has been off the charts at times. I’ve seen multiple subscribers up and leave due to ridicule and even cyber bullying. If you post something folks don’t want to hear — which I’ve done a bunch — you get called a “BYU fan,” “zoob” or a “Big 12 plant” and worse. A couple of other Utah fans and I who posted that PAC-12 negotiations weren’t going well leading up to the league’s collapse were really targeted for a while. They all ditched the board.

There’s really no standard on how folks are supposed to treat each other. It would go along way improving the site if it was well moderated and had some standards on how folks should interact and if somebody like Dan returned to set a better tone on the board. That’s what Utezone really needs, a better and more positive tone.

[Tony (admin)]

There are some basic rules HERE at Ute Hub and I’m on the board daily. I don’t often have to enforce rules, moderate content or ban users, but will will and do when necessary. For the most part I think most the folks here get it, and we aren’t subjected to hundreds of bitching and whining and name calling posts. That’s just not fun content.

[Patrick]

I’ll start spending time over here. Looking at everything this site has a much better vibe.

[BungalowUte]

That’s because a lot of people from X/Twitter moved over to UteZone. I like Bartle, and think he’s a hard worker. But, UteZone has become toxic like Reddit and Twitter unfortunately. Like others have mentioned, people have left UZ because it’s gotten too toxic. DallasUte left UZ because of the toxicness IIRC. It’s almost like it’s easy to be a keyboard warrior behind a computer/tablet screen.

Also, a lot of pessimists are on that site now…

[Tony (admin)]

I follow certain accounts on X/Twitter and block many keywords for stuff I don’t want to hear about. I get the “toxicity” of it, but I’ve got it setup in such a way that I seldom read or see anything I consider “toxic,” especially byu coeds.

[Rick]

I left Utezone years ago because of the toxicity of it’s members and how they always tried to weave politics into everything. Tony runs a much better board by far.