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JohnnyFever

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Let me offer a few things first: I totally understand this site is not a public forum and thus, no freedom of speech protections. Paul runs it and has mods to enforce whatever he wants. That being said, I'm just not sure why the Mitch thread by Beast had to be locked so quickly. It reminds me of Google...yes they are a private company and thus do not allow people to say just anything using their platforms, however they are a defacto monopoly and that changes things. The same can be said of Redmen.com. Yes there's JJ but it's not nearly as active. Yes there's Twitter, but it's a cesspool and many older fans don't use it or some prefer not to. My point is Redmen.com is a defacto monopoly on SJ discussions. If someone is being clearly vile and clearly only looking for trouble without trying to legitimately discuss SJ hoops, I agree it should be locked. But that is often not the case. It's not up to me at all, I know I know. But I know many including myself enjoy spending time on this site and maybe it's just me, but when legitimate and good discussions are ongoing, the sudden locking gets a bit frustrating IMO. This is a very loyal and frustrated fanbase...IMO the least we can do is allow room to vent and discuss...to me that's healthy if done properly. Despite Twitter being a cesspool, this site has not been. At the end of the day we are all a big family (albeit dysfunctional) and we will ramble and argue, but I have not seen anything legitimately vile that warrants censorship on the only real place online to discuss SJ hoops. Are we not all grown men? Is this not the offseason? It's not like there's much going on. Just my thoughts, now rip me a new one lol.
 
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I for one was part of a private message conspiracy (I miss it for allowing me to share things with specific board members that I prefer not be in the public domain) to not have certain discussions. There have been times in my very long career in behavioral health where public criticism of my job performance was warranted even though my performance was reflecting non-job issues. I was entitled to my privacy and most of the time have had bosses who supported me through the rough spots so that I could get back to work. Commentary by people away from my work would have been superfluous at best with the potential to veer toward ignorant malice. Neither would be constructive, To the extent that such distant noise ever created more stress for members of my family having to deal with me and my difficulties, the commenters would have been putting themselves at extreme personal risk. Beast's admonition about leaving stuff alone makes sense to me. Talk about job performance. Time on task is a legit topic, if you know what the expectations were. There is no known correlation between wins, or shooting percentage, or minutes played, AND character.
 
i dont really get on here during the offseason, what was the "Private Message conspiracy"? I logged on the other day to look at my PMs and have a laugh about the time Marillac challenged me to a boxing match but all the PMs are gone
 
You've answered your own question. This site is not a cesspool. That takes effort. It takes judgement calls and it takes hard choices at times where people aren't going to be happy with the call. It also takes a thick skin to weather the inevitable criticisms for making hard calls. I actually haven't read Beast's post yet but I will check it out. But without reading it, I am certain that he knows that I have no agenda against him. Here's what I know and most of this has been said before and most of it in response to criticisms by you in extensive threads that annoyed people for having their time wasted wading through it: 1) The moderators are not my enforcers. I don't, and have never run this site that way. Mostly I just do the technical stuff and when it comes to moderation, I ask for help and guidance from a group of diverse and very accomplished men who have a lot of experience making judgment calls. Several of them are lawyers, one is a judge even and accomplished business leaders a to a man good and decent guys with ZERO AGENDA. 2) redmen.com is by no means a monopoly and I resent any comparison to google. In fact over the years whenever a new site has come around not only have they promoted themselves here but in some cases I have personally made extra efforts to promote them. You in fact promoted yourself extensively here even when you came here posting about your competing forum that was to paraphrase, open to all and your point that it was free from the tyranny and censorship that you find here. 3) An inordinate number of your posts include the term "this board" or variations and backhanded insults and criticisms with a little compliment to go along I suppose to show that you are somehow being fair and reasonable. You are many years into being obsessed with criticizing this site. You have a problem with it. You've stated as much many, many times. You've taxed the moderators for years and yet you've been welcomed back many times under many different aliases. At some point instead of being critical of people who have been gracious to you, you either leave them alone or you develop a sense of self awareness and gratitude like a decent human being. Personally I would never consider going to someone's home and being anything less than gracious. I would never go to someone's home and throw passive aggressive jabs at them or be critical of them. A mutual friend of ours, wrote me apologizing about you. He said you had a troubled childhood. You know I empathize. I spent three years in a Boys' Home and I was a pretty big tool in my youth at times, and have only gotten this far on the luck of escaping bad choices, people who were good to me, and the grace of God. Maybe it is a matter of age but you have been around here so long that I can't imagine you are very young any more. So maybe you can get over whatever it is that compels you to and we can have a clean slate without your ongoing criticisms. I am willing. I am several years worth or willing. Your choice. Your move.
 
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I thought Mkras99 was a bit quick on the trigger, but I guess if he's the one who would have had to clean it later on anyway . . .

My big thing is if I swear I could remember you talking shit about Lavin, I don't want to read you trying to shut down other posters talking shit about Mullin, especially since they spent the same amount of time being lazy and weird about recruiting.
 
I laugh every time I read the quote in Paul's signature line: “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.”

Words to live by... ;)
 
Spot on Paul. Thanks for chiming in.

I won't waste time reiterating what Paul just said, but clearly mkras locked that thread for two well thought out reasons: 1) to keep me from responding to what was perhaps the most inane post/thread of the year/decade, and 2) in order to protect monte's eyesight as my response would most assuredly have made previously "long winded" posts seem like a bumper sticker by comparison.

Excellent moderating on his part if you ask me.
 
Not sure why the post as locked because I was out most of the day. However, on a post dealing with the passing of Mitch's son, the only comments made should be those of Sympathy and Condolences.
 
Paul, at the end of the day it's not like this is life or death, it's a message board on the internet. I appreciate you giving me several chances which you did not need to and understand my past behavior obviously still rubs people the wrong way, however I've been much more fair and reasonable the past few years and many have said it. I'm certain many agree with my points about the other post and how quickly it was locked despite being civil, however many are simply afraid to say it. I'm sure there are plenty afraid to even thank any of my posts out of fear for associating with me. But it's not about me at all. All I'm saying is that at the end of the day this is the premier message board for SJ hoops and nothing comes close. That's a compliment but also the truth. Knowing that, it can be frustrating when you genuinely want to see people's responses and want to engage in discussion only to find that it's locked. At least for me and again others agree but are hesitant or scared to agree publicly. Imagine going to a debate about something on a topic you're passionate about. It's the only one in town that really draws a big audience. Then just when things start getting interesting though still civil, one of the mics is cut off and they're told they must stop talking though many were curious to hear other opinions on the topic. It's really not that big a deal and I don't mean that passive-aggressively. I would argue a sports message board is much different from a person's private house. It's not proper etiquette to debate people in their house, however it is usually encouraged to discuss things on a board meant for discussion. I know some calls by mods must be tough, but all I was suggesting is that maybe we can let things play out a bit more if nothing is over the top before locking. Just a suggestion and you're free to say no. Not intending any passive aggression. Just stating my opinion and waiting for the season to start is all.
 
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[quote="MainMan" post=359787]Came here looking for a question.
Shocked not to fine one.[/quote]

I had some at the end lol...yeah probably could've used a better thread name sorry.
 
[quote="Mike Zaun" post=359785]Paul, at the end of the day it's not like this is life or death, it's a message board on the internet. I appreciate you giving me several chances which you did not need to and understand my past behavior obviously still rubs people the wrong way, however I've been much more fair and reasonable the past few years and many have said it. I'm certain many agree with my points about the other post and how quickly it was locked despite being civil, however many are simply afraid to say it. I'm sure there are plenty afraid to even thank any of my posts out of fear for associating with me. But it's not about me at all. All I'm saying is that at the end of the day this is the premier message board for SJ hoops and nothing comes close. That's a compliment but also the truth. Knowing that, it can be frustrating when you genuinely want to see people's responses and want to engage in discussion only to find that it's locked. At least for me and again others agree but are hesitant or scared to agree publicly. Imagine going to a debate about something on a topic you're passionate about. It's the only one in town that really draws a big audience. Then just when things start getting interesting though still civil, one of the mics is cut off and they're told they must stop talking though many were curious to hear other opinions on the topic. It's really not that big a deal and I don't mean that passive-aggressively. I would argue a sports message board is much different from a person's private house. It's not proper etiquette to debate people in their house, however it is usually encouraged to discuss things on a board meant for discussion. I know some calls by mods must be tough, but all I was suggesting is that maybe we can let things play out a bit more if nothing is over the top before locking. Just a suggestion and you're free to say no. Not intending any passive aggression. Just stating my opinion and waiting for the season to start is all.[/quote]

I'm finding it hard to picture anyone trembling in fear for being associated with you. But again that comes across as some backhanded shot where it makes you sound like you are this major victim of this site monitored by a joint task force of the KGB and Gestapo. I am certain that perhaps with some really extreme variation, everyone here would be happy for you to post and participate short of hijacking threads and going off on some tangent about how you and others have been victimized by this site or some other critique on how it is managed.

And speaking of how things are managed. You DM'd me on Twitter then when I went to reply, I could not because you had blocked me. Judgment call and I respect that even if I never posted anything to or about you on Twitter. And certainly nothing that would warrant a block by you or anyone else. I never called you on it or criticized you for it nor played the victim card in response.
 
[quote="firestorm" post=359776]I laugh every time I read the quote in Paul's signature line: “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.”

Words to live by... ;)[/quote]

Hey, that is mostly self-deprecating! But applicable in many scenarios.
https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon's_razor
 
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[quote="Mike Zaun" post=359789][quote="MainMan" post=359787]Came here looking for a question.
Shocked not to fine one.[/quote]

I had some at the end lol...yeah probably could've used a better thread name sorry.[/quote]

Mike, you could have pm'd Mkras who is a great mod to ask this open question about locking the thread. He had good reason. A thread should never be started to criticize fellow board members using the personal tragedy of a staff member, present or past, as a cover. The Mitch thread contained only sympathy while the locked thread diminished the sincerity of those who offered sympathy. It was a can of worms that needed to be closed.
This is not a criticism of the Beast post as I understand where he is coming from in regards to Lavin and Chris as some very unsympathetic things were said about both coaches.
In my opinion the current staff will not be subjected to the same personal stuff because they are basically unknown to almost all of us and don't have friends, family or fellow staff "leaking" information that ultimately becomes fodder for discussion.
All I know about CMA is his record. I know none of his friends or family members nor have I met him personally. For me that is a relief and a breath of air.
Thus, the locked post had little significance for the new staff since none are known to us save Van Macon who has a very positive image imo.
 
[quote="Paul Massell" post=359790][quote="Mike Zaun" post=359785]Paul, at the end of the day it's not like this is life or death, it's a message board on the internet. I appreciate you giving me several chances which you did not need to and understand my past behavior obviously still rubs people the wrong way, however I've been much more fair and reasonable the past few years and many have said it. I'm certain many agree with my points about the other post and how quickly it was locked despite being civil, however many are simply afraid to say it. I'm sure there are plenty afraid to even thank any of my posts out of fear for associating with me. But it's not about me at all. All I'm saying is that at the end of the day this is the premier message board for SJ hoops and nothing comes close. That's a compliment but also the truth. Knowing that, it can be frustrating when you genuinely want to see people's responses and want to engage in discussion only to find that it's locked. At least for me and again others agree but are hesitant or scared to agree publicly. Imagine going to a debate about something on a topic you're passionate about. It's the only one in town that really draws a big audience. Then just when things start getting interesting though still civil, one of the mics is cut off and they're told they must stop talking though many were curious to hear other opinions on the topic. It's really not that big a deal and I don't mean that passive-aggressively. I would argue a sports message board is much different from a person's private house. It's not proper etiquette to debate people in their house, however it is usually encouraged to discuss things on a board meant for discussion. I know some calls by mods must be tough, but all I was suggesting is that maybe we can let things play out a bit more if nothing is over the top before locking. Just a suggestion and you're free to say no. Not intending any passive aggression. Just stating my opinion and waiting for the season to start is all.[/quote]

I'm finding it hard to picture anyone trembling in fear for being associated with you. But again that comes across as some backhanded shot where it makes you sound like you are this major victim of this site monitored by a joint task force of the KGB and Gestapo. I am certain that perhaps with some really extreme variation, everyone here would be happy for you to post and participate short of hijacking threads and going off on some tangent about how you and others have been victimized by this site or some other critique on how it is managed.

And speaking of how things are managed. You DM'd me on Twitter then when I went to reply, I could not because you had blocked me. Judgment call and I respect that even if I never posted anything to or about you on Twitter. And certainly nothing that would warrant a block by you or anyone else. I never called you on it or criticized you for it nor played the victim card in response.[/quote]

Anyone who knows me knows I'm ardently anti-victim. Were there double-standards that many others noticed being applied to me in the past? Yes. But things have definitely gotten better. I've grown up more and others have given me other chances like yourself. I just don't think it's controversial to simply suggest that maybe the thread locking is a bit much at times. It's the offseason with little to no real news. My heart goes out to Mitch and his family. That's awful news.

Edit: Perhaps I should've PM'd Mkras so apologies if that was the more appropriate route. I guess I felt it would seem like I was challenging one specific person vs. just throwing it out there in general. To be clear, I disagree with Beast but thought the discussion was civil. I think we can separate job results from personal tragedy. Just two totally different things.
 
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If you are anti-victim but continually playing the victim that is unfortunate. Because you definitely play the victim here. physician, heal thyself

If there was a "double standard" as you say it was based upon behavior and abuses. There is no agenda here to single you out or anyone else. A little honesty self reflection and you could realize that you have repaid graciousness with insults and wasting a lot of good people's time. Also considering your multiple aliases that you have posted from perhaps some of those who felt there was a double standard, didn't realize just how much latitude you specifically had been given - FOR YEARS. So When do we move on from you bemoaning your past treatment? When do we move on from you critiquing the way this site is managed? As I offered a clean slate, that works both ways. It means that you knock off all the references to how ill-treated you were in the past, real or imagined, backhanded shots and inferences that the site is run by an evil cabal etc and stop hijacking threads.
 
I’ll be honest I didn’t post on the Mitch thread personally because I’ve definitely knocked him so personally I felt for me while I certainly wish him the best in this tough time for me personally I felt it would be kind of not really a place to just post plus it’s not like I’ve ever met him. I don’t mind others posting their feelings I just know that I knocked him as an assistant for lack of being out recruiting. That being said if a thread gets locked and the actual mod who locked it posts that he locked it just pm him if you have a question. I’m sure he’d pm you back and that way everything stays civil. Now that being said I gave a bet with a poster that this thread gets locked before midnight so argue and debate away and let me win my bet :)
 
[quote="mjmaherjr" post=359796]I’ll be honest I didn’t post on the Mitch thread personally because I’ve definitely knocked him so personally I felt for me while I certainly wish him the best in this tough time for me personally I felt it would be kind of not really a place to just post plus it’s not like I’ve ever met him. I don’t mind others posting their feelings I just know that I knocked him as an assistant for lack of being out recruiting. That being said if a thread gets locked and the actual mod who locked it posts that he locked it just pm him if you have a question. I’m sure he’d pm you back and that way everything stays civil. Now that being said I gave a bet with a poster that this thread gets locked before midnight so argue and debate away and let me win my bet :)[/quote]

What's my cut? (mouse arrow hovering over "lock" button...)
 
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