[His High Holiness]

Wobster;

You may not understand why you have become the lightning rod for so much negativity recently. I will attempt to shed some light on it.

For five years or so, Carl has been in a major flame war with literally dozens of posters. Most of it has to do with his abrasive personality but some are envious of his exalted position as an insider in the arcane world of rules interpretation.

True big dogs recognize that rules interpretations are not where top umpires make their living. Rules minutia is the activity of nerds, little dogs, and wannabe big dogs. Carl is the supreme recognized nerd of rules. All others are usurpers. With is 20 years or so of recognized supremacy, no one is likely to topple Carl until he decides to retire, gets hit by a truck, or Alzheimers sets in. A few posters have implied that Alzheimers may have crept into his brain, but I see little evidence of that.

For a couple of years, I was the chief antagonist of Carl, although unlike most of his detractors, I never engaged in a rules discussion with him. I went after his personality and his out of date ideas with regards to game control, while at the same time giving him credit for being the supreme authority on rules issues.

For the most part, Carl and I leave each other alone now. However, there are many of of his enemies that cannot drop their weapons and make peace. (For the record, I like the current state of affairs. It provides great entertainment.) Anyway, you Wobster, have become the proxy for their war with Carl. By attacking you, they can get to Carl. Carl is the one that you work for and he is the target of their attacks. You are just the one in the crossfire.

Bottom line, the attacks against you are not personal and are not really directed at you. They are directed at Carl. Take my initial advice of a week or so ago. Keep writing and laugh all the way to the bank.

Peter