It's a New Year, let's turn the page here at the Hangout!

[Tx Oriole]

I think Tony is pretty patient with the ban hammer. People can be opinionated, and sometimes flat out aggressive in the defense of their opinions, and it isn't until they cross a certain point in that aggression that he bans them.

I would not mind seeing Trea back. His thing was WAR and spending a bazillion dollars on the best FA's. So what. That is his opinion on how to build a team. The thing I liked about Trea is he always stuck to his guns and never really degenerated into name calling no matter how bad folks got on his case. Diversity of opinion is what makes this site great.

I agree with you. I miss some of the folks that don't post here anymore.

[weams]

As long as they really mean it, I'm always man enough to shake someone's "internet" hand and say, "No problem, welcome back and let's start over!"

That's what the New Year is all about. New beginnings and fresh starts. Those that choose to take this for anything other than a nice gesture of friendship are the folks that probably don't belong in our community in the first place. Those are the folks that I'm glad won't take up on my offer.

I am glad that this is the case. Happy New Year Tony.

[Tony-OH]

Lying? So sorry. An infraction instead of a negative rep. Big difference. Amnesty means zilch unless there's less heavy handedness in the first place. As far as being on your case for years, there has been so little interraction between the two of us, that' it's pretty laughable. That's what I meant by the high road. You show very little respect for people who have supported your site for years. You turn on them in a second if they somehow question how you run the board or don't back down from an argument from you when you start to lose it. I've felt your wrath before out of the blue when you just didn't like some position I've taken in some argument. I haven't been on your case for years. I have thanked you for having the board in the first place and for serving our country. I have little to no PM interraction with other posters and don't know anyone outside of the Hangout so I certainly don't badmouth you behind your back. The only interaction we've had over the years is when we interact in a thread (rarely, because I know how sensitive you are) or when I get an infraction or negative rep from you (also rarely). So the "on your case" for years just shows how sensitive you are and one of the reasons SOME posters have been banned in the first place. You have a great place. You deserve a ton of credit for starting it and maintaining it. It could be better with a little better leadership.

Feel better now? You are welcome to have any opinion you like of my leadership or of me. Your character is on full display in this thread. I'll that speak for itself. BTW, that heavy-handiness you speak of, it's a big part of the reason why the discourse on this site is so civil and why so many people call this their internet home. If that makes me the bad guy, then so be it. Very, very few people were ever banned from this site because of a disagreement with me and almost always it was because the other poster let it dissolve into something personal and broke board rules or were extremely nasty in a personal exchange. In case you haven't noticed, I'm not as active on the boards or in moderating as much as I used to be, so you should be thankful.

[Roll Tide]

Feel better now? You are welcome to have any opinion you like of my leadership or of me. Your character is on full display in this thread. I'll that speak for itself. BTW, that heavy-handiness you speak of, it's a big part of the reason why the discourse on this site is so civil and why so many people call this their internet home. If that makes me the bad guy, then so be it.

Just amazed how such a gesture of goodwill can't be greeted with so much negativity.

[Tony-OH]

BTW, I'm asking everyone for their help in this endeavor as well. Some of the people who have contacted me have asked for new usernames in order to have a "fresher" start. I've decided to allow this so please, even if you recognize one of the posters from the past, please give them a chance to show they are ready for a new beginning of talking O's baseball and everything else in our community as well. Thank you.

[Tony-OH]

I guess I must have been behind the door when all this took place. Great poster. I'm glad to hear he's following his muse and I hope he takes a break every now and then to come visit.

Lucky Jim is one of the reasons I decided to try this. He took a year-long ban and came back a different poster. In fact, he even admitted he needed to change some things about himself and I always thought that was brave of anyone to publicly admit. When I was thinking about doing this, I thought of the pros and cons and in the end, I felt if a guy as smart as LJ could change, then others can as well and maybe they just needed a chance. LJ showed me that people can change if given the opportunity.

I knew some people would take the gesture the wrong way and I knew a few posters and ex-posters would use this as an opportunity to take shots at my leadership of moderation or try to say this is some desperate attempt to get people back. But as always, my skin has grown thick over the years and I'm able to take the criticism because in the end, I do what I think is best for this community, even I have to come off as the bad guy to some.

[BRobinsonfan]

It could be better with a little better leadership.

Good God man! Don't you know that in the south you're supposed to add "Bless your heart" after you insult someone? That way it really doesn't count.

Just give it a rest.

[eb45]

I would not mind seeing Trea back. His thing was WAR and spending a bazillion dollars on the best FA's. So what. That is his opinion on how to build a team. The thing I liked about Trea is he always stuck to his guns and never really degenerated into name calling no matter how bad folks got on his case. Diversity of opinion is what makes this site great.

I'll never understand this viewpoint, I guess. To me, what makes this site great is the posters with open minds and flexible viewpoints who are willing to learn and adjust their stances even if that means admitting they were wrong at one point. Yeah, diversity of opinion is nice, but only when it's accompanied by an acceptance that one's opinion is not the incontrovertible truth. Message board discussion is pointless when you can go 14 pages of with two or three people throwing the same opinions at each other. And I mean, if we want JTrea's opinion, we should all be familiar with it, we don't exactly need him here to express it.

[notfast]

[srock]

I do miss RShack, was he actualy banned? Thought he just kind of wondered off one day.

[waroriole]

I do miss RShack, was he actualy banned? Thought he just kind of wondered off one day.

I'm pretty sure he was banned. Then Tony had the Amnesty Week, he came back and kept mouthing off, so he got banned again.

[LookinUp]

I took a long time typing a PM to Tony but the site hung up on me and I lost it. Dang. In a nutshell, I appreciate this thread for what it's for (LJ type posters). LJ himself is a wonderful baseball mind and I wish he'd come back, but he has to live his own life.

I think I'm a polyanna, but I also wish the posters (banned or on voluntary leave) who apparently had a big falling out with Tony or others here would come back. I think it's silly that internet personalities end up fracturing parts of this wonderful baseball community and I think Orioles message board land is the worse for it. Can't everyone admit they suck and just move on? Hell, I suck. It's really liberating, actually. Admitting you suck is the first step to breaking down a wall. If you think I'm talking to you, don't worry, all the rest of them suck too whether or not they're able to admit it.

I say this all tongue in cheek, but I really don't think we lost some posters here because of rules. I think it's because of personalities and we'll never have a united Orioles message board land again until 1) we reach out to each other in an honest attempt to let bygones be bygones and 2) those personalities learn to get out of they way (not the people, just the part of those people who got caught up in whatever it is that happened). That means people need to look in the mirror, but they'll only do that if they truly want each other back. All I can do is speak for myself, and I really miss a lot of those guys.

I want unity, but I'm the third party here who isn't mad at anyone, so I can't make it happen. You all want a mediator? I'm not one of those either (another reason I suck), but I did drive by a Holiday Inn Express last night. I'd be happy to give it a shot.

[Guest rochester]

I dunno, I would have enjoyed reading what folks like JTrea would have written when the O's made the playoffs. He was passionate to a fault and, I felt, fairly harmless.

[isestrex]

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[OsLuvrInKy]

Could someone post a link to the forum rules. I have never really read them and would like to.