partner froze at the sight of this coach

[26 Year Gap]

[Mark Padgett]

Hey - I tossed that guy twice last year!

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Mark Padgett

Hey. I tossed that guy twice last year!

I bet your partner was Perseus. Did he look at the reflection of the coach in his shiny, patent leather shoes?

[Scrapper1]

I'm torn between a witty remark (like, Happy Belated Halloween?) and chastising you severely for daring to post an image in a thread that is not clearly marked as off-topic, thus offending moderator(s) and esteemed member(s) alike!

You're simply not allowed to do this anymore. Haven't you figured that out yet?

[26 Year Gap]

Originally Posted by Scrapper1

I'm torn between a witty remark (like, Happy Belated Halloween?) and chastising you severely for daring to post an image in a thread that is not clearly marked as off-topic, thus offending moderator(s) and esteemed member(s) alike!

You're simply not allowed to do this anymore. Haven't you figured that out yet?

Did something happen over the summer? Why is everyone so stonefaced?

[Back In The Saddle]

Originally Posted by 26 Year Gap

Did something happen over the summer? Why is everyone so stonefaced?

Things got a little heated. Turned into something of a clash of the Titans.

[Scrapper1]

Originally Posted by 26 Year Gap

Did something happen over the summer? Why is everyone so stonefaced?

This thread happened:

Moderators

Immediately after that thread, came some (IMHO) over-zealous moderating -- beginning with this thread, Jurassic Referee -- along with two months of people walking on eggshells because they were worried about getting moderated.

In the "Moderators" thread above, Mick wrote,

Lame jokes have a place in a forum. They give a forum a sort of personality.
Users have greatly reduced the number of pictures they have posted.
Crap is nearly everywhere, but it's existence is totally dependent on how it smells to whomever smells it.

This forum needs the Cowboys. Without them the rustlers rustle, or the herds wander away.

I cannot, in good conscience, delete every post that seems silly to me, because I do not want to impose, expose, dispose or transpose a specific character on an open forum.

For my old eyes, the line between facisim and negligence is very wide and kinda blurry.

While some may have felt that the Moderators were negligent over the summer, it is apparent to me that the pendulum has swung too far toward Mick's other option.

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by Scrapper1

While some may have felt that the Moderators were negligent over the summer, it is apparent to me that the pendulum has swung too far toward Mick's other option.

I completely disagree. The tone of this board has, since that incident, become much more respectful and civil. I'm enjoying it far more now. Some amount of jabbing and fun-making is certainly good and appreciated but there were poisonous, condescending attitudes that were just running people away and killing the comraderie that used to be here. Enough rookie posters had stated that (and left) often enough that it should have been obvious. But for some, it took a stronger message to let them know that some of their actions were not beneficial to the board (and I'm not talking about the occassional comical image). This board is at its best when it is largely helpful and constructivley critical, when it builds friendships and when it is a community. It had become too hateful, elitist, and focused on putdowns and criticism instead of basketball with a healthy dose of good-natured humor.

[26 Year Gap]

Thanks. I guess I was out golfing too much. [Well, not really.]

[Scrapper1]

Originally Posted by Camron Rust

Some amount of jabbing and fun-making is certainly good and appreciated but there were poisonous, condescending attitudes

I agree with this, but that is not the moderating that I'm talking about. In fact, I don't think there has been any moderating of that type since the "Moderators" thread. Everyone is in favor of a moderator removing insulting or inflaming posts. That's what a moderator is for.

I'm talking about deleting posts because there were "too many" movie quotes. Or locking a thread because there were 3 pictures posted, which related to the post, by the way. There is absolutely no sense of guys/gals getting together and having fun here anymore. I think people are afraid to make "fun" posts that will be squashed. And that was one of the things that I frankly LOVED about this site.

There are plenty of very experienced, knowledgeable, reliable officials where I live to whom I can go with a basketball-related question. But there are very few places I can go anytime I want to have fun with a bunch of refs, who I know and like, and also talk basketball at the same time. And it feels to me like that has been taken away from me on this site.

And I'm not trying to bash Bob, either. Bob and I have communicated via email in the past and I respect the hell out of him. I just think that in this one area (jokes, pictures, FUN), the pendulum has wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy over-compensated.

[SmokeEater]

Originally Posted by Scrapper1

And I'm not trying to bash Bob, ..... I respect the hell out of him.

If you take the Hell out of Bob then whats left for him to share with the rest of us?