|
||
|
Title: the Gridiron... "A Few 'Good Men'" Post by StegRock on Jun 1st, 2003, 5:43pm I am starting to realize how great what has been happening the past couple days and weeks here, particularly with the FFLA, actually is! It has made me think and is going to give me the opportunity to further define things around here. What I want on "the Gridiron" are a "few 'good' men", at least relative to other sites, who are willing to accept and abide by the rules, guidelines and precedents I have deemed necessary to achieve the unique results I want, and this whole aspect is a BIG part of "the mission" here. Rather predictably, these "few 'good' men" that have already arrived and stuck it out here REALLY like it here, which means I am doing my job fairly well. This does not mean, though, that I do not want to be open-armed to anyone who wants to be part of things here and contribute. I will give anybody the chance! What it does mean, though, is that I want to, actually have to, weed people out, somehow. That's just the hard reality here! I give AMPLE opportunity to my members to give input and affect things here and contribute, BUT I'm not going to get where I want to go if I let the roosters rule the roost, to any degree. "Recklessness," "boisterousness" and "cockiness," and let me add, "thoughtlessness," "heartlessness" and "asininity," do not have a middle ground to be met at in the general forum here, "the Red Zone", "between the 20's" and "the Sidelines". Those are not attributes conducive to a high-quality forum environment. (NOTE: This does not apply to the FFLA league boards. There you do what you want.) An important and defining characteristic of "the few 'good' men'" around here that separates us from the rest, I hope, is a special attention paid to reading, paying attention to others and detail so as to achieve courteous, consistent, organized and substantive discussion and not force fellow members and visitors to have to wade through tons of minutiae to find valuable insight and pith. In any event, if you want to make my job easier and weed yourself out, by all means go for it. But, no pomp and circumstance, no departure announcement, is necessary. Rather, put "substance" to your words and delete your account, so as to free up your member # so all those behind you can get a boost. And, please, I know some of you really love this place and will feel the urge to "smooth over" what I state above. PLEASE DON'T! This is the way it is here. This is "my home" and part of a bigger picture and though all people are welcome, not all behavior is welcomed, and, trust me, in the end "the few 'good' men" that stay here will be thankful for my sticking to my guns. [smiley=rifle.gif] Here, members are part of something "greater" and I want you to know that. If you just want to be "whatever" member #20,000 somewhere, this place is NOT for you! |
||
|
Title: Re: the Gridiron... "A Few 'Good Men'" Post by StegRock on Jun 3rd, 2003, 8:56am UPDATE BUMP: I am just giving this thread a little bumpski as I slightly amended the VERY IMPORTANT post above. The third section in bold is additional content, providing further definition. I hope this all helps everyone come to a better understanding of what things are about around here. ... In my message-board experience, I have found that though many people say they want one thing, absolute freedom to speak about whatever they want however they want wherever they want, they WAY all too often end up complaining about the residual effects of that, namely a disorganized environment loaded with drivel that sometimes cannot even be deciphered by onlookers not "in the know" and oftentimes degenerating into outright mean-spiritedness. I have seen this cycle apparent on SO MANY "good" boards and I do NOT just want to repeat it here. Heretofore, as would be expected since the vast majority of us are Americans on these on-line fantasy football message-board forums, the focus has typically been on "acquiescing" to the former of what I present above, the absolute freedom of speech, rather than "trying to achieve" the latter, the freedom of responsible speech. WE, IN THIS PRIVATELY-RUN FORUM, ARE TRYING TO ACHIEVE THE LATTER HERE, NOT JUST RESIGN OURSELVES TO THE FORMER AND ALL OF ITS RESIDUAL EFFECTS, at least as they manifest in an on-line environment where it is SO easy to miscommunicate! It actually takes a lot more effort to communicate substantively and amicably in an on-line environment than it does when speaking although discussing things by way of writing can lend itself to REALLY pithy discussion and insight and the exchange of profound ideas, things we often do not do when speaking. Frankly speaking, for those interested in getting inside my head [smiley=frank.gif] here, understanding why in God's name I would want to take on such a masochistic undertaking, and just what is up with all this bullshit, my desire for taking this path is probably inextricably connected to the world-view I have acquired from living over in a far-east Asian country and culture for almost eight years, a place where "freedom of speech" is not God, a virtue I came to appreciate and see the merit of eventually. Look, make no mistakes, I am NOT one of these multicultural, anthropological (typically liberally-predisposed) pundits, who tend to naysay the American (hegemonic) role in globalization. I saw that the Koreans that I was around that were spewing out their anti-American jeers were doing so after having a Big-Mac for lunch. I'm not blind! But, that is not to say they have no point, and ironically, given the political predisposition of those who typically espouse anti-Americanish views here domestically and try to cater to the world, which seems to incessantly (yet in many cases self-contradictorily) complain about American hegemony, but also flaunt their "freedom of speech," the people I was around in Korea generally look upon the American brand of "absolute freedom of speech, reckless or otherwise" with MUCH disdain. And, you know what... somewhat rightfully so! (Please remember that the point of my writing this is to give those of you who REALLY care some context as to why I have chosen to run things the way I do, not to incite a political debate! I am talking about the aspects of my psychology [smiley=skull.gif] that are relevant to my choice of how to run things here and why I am such a [smiley=dick.bmp] . That's all!) A [smiley=bow.gif] to all of you that "hear" me and can, at least, "appreciate" whence I am coming! And, now I will [smiley=bow.gif] out! I really got to get my "real" life together today. This place has drained me over the last few days, and I have a big day coming up for which I accomplished very little yesterday! Anyway, send me some good energy on Thursday if you wouldn't mind, fellas, please! If I don't get the rest of my life together here soon, there won't be a Gridiron for me to not allow you to post on. [smiley=rollinwithlaughter.gif] ;) |
||
|
Title: Re: the Gridiron... "A Few 'Good Men'" Post by mattman on Jun 3rd, 2003, 3:33pm Steve, Agreed you've (Supposedly) had a few tough days but to be honest, I wouldn't let any of this get to you. This is "FANTASY" football... your REAL life is more IMPORTANT !! Best of luck on Thursday. Matt |
||
|
Title: Re: the Gridiron... "A Few 'Good Men'" Post by StegRock on Jun 29th, 2007, 6:57pm I am bumping this old thread back up as it seems a fitting place to post what I want to post here today as "the Gridiron" is about to celebrate its fifth birthday and we are on the cusp of entering our sixth season. It was a thread that I started a long time ago after a VERY rough run for me here, [smiley=stars.gif] which, notwithstanding the donations streak we had goin' there during the good days of summer fantasy football anticipation, I would liken to life here for me in 2006. Sandwiching "the streak" was the KKS horseshit early in the year and the GBRFL2/[smiley=dog.gif]/WB bullshit late in the year. [smiley=no.gif] For those of you old-timers [smiley=wiseman.gif] here, understand that the SBFFL, the main culprits in that nightmare for me back then, don't even exist anymore; dissension from within (who'd a thunk?) was the cause. Furthermore, their fearless leader (P.A. Outlaws), who was someone I had built a fairly good relationship with, crept his way back onto "the Gridiron" last year under a different pseudonym and was a decent member (although, however well-intentioned, he had an m.o.). Anyway, moving right along,... I am writing this in part in response to a long-overdue phone [smiley=phone.gif] conversation I had as of late with one of my right-hand men here on "the Gridiron". While almost all of what we discussed was done so agreeably, I wish to expound on one seemingly small, but fundamental point of disagreement, which was not expressed during the conversation, but which I thought about long and hard afterwards. I want to exemplify whence I am coming with one of those (sad) tales from last year that damn near (yous doN'T know how close) broke my spirit as regards this place. Again, those of you in the know around here will know what I am referring to. Those of you not, consider yourselves spared of the gory details. Word-of-mouth is the primary way "good word" about "the Gridiron" gets out. One of our once enthusiastic Gridironers talked up the site to his fantasy-footballing office mates. One of those office mates copped an attitude about the site, saying that the site was stupid and that he wasn't going to join. You know... the kind of "cool guy" (as if ::)) high school mentality most of us dropped at the gate leading out of teenagerville. All the while, though, he was visiting the site on the sly as was witnessed during cubicle walk-bys. He finally grudgingly joined. He, then, found himself in the CBFL. Nevertheless, while his office friend continued to hype up the site and the guy running it ([smiley=awwgee.gif]) and where this guy ([smiley=awwgee.gif]) was intending on going with his site, this chap continued on with his naysaying rhetoric, going as far as to call this place a joke (whatever that means). This was just who this guy was. The guy barely survives his year in the CBFL (for those who know the set-up), and in his second year (last year) drafts an atrocious team and, moreover, makes one of the single worst picks ever [let's put it this way: if he made the pick he should have made, he probably would have made it out of the bottom quarter of the league and been in a position to return (thank God that didn't happen).] He is called out on the pick by everyone, including, but not necessarily most so, me. He gets VERY defensive and now has (re)acquired a chip... or, perhaps, just starts to show his true colors. Meanwhile, that office mate of his, an old-timer on the site and someone I thought I had become quite close with, steps up to the plate and takes on a writer position on the site, becoming a team correspondent. This was a step about which he was very excited, passing on word to family and friends. Moving right along, said correspondent takes a semi-controversial, but definitely reasonable position on the starting quarterback situation of the team he was covering, the Bears. This office "friend" of his chastises him for the position he has taken. The paradox, however, ?.?.? is that the player he is now taking up the argument for is the same guy he passed up on in the CBFL, the guy who could have saved his team from elimination. I, not liking seeing my rookie [smiley=newbie.gif] writer get raked over the coals right out of the gate, being privy to what's going on "personally" and "attitude"-wise and knowing that there are "circumstances" in place for this constant chastisement to continue, knowing the kind of "character" we're dealing with, and, most of all, seeing how droll and tendentious he's being vis-a-vis his "relevant" history here, namely that CBFL pick (in a way, he was chastising his "friend" for a position he himself had taken just a little while earlier and gotten VERY defensive about), I decided to get my rookie writer's [and (believed-to-be) long-time friend's] back. I saw an egregious wrong and I was compelled to act. As the season progressed and it became clearer and clearer that our CBFL participant was dead in the water and, thus, had less and less to lose, he sharpened his knife and cut off his nose and got the flame-thrower [smiley=flamewar.gif] out to torch some bridges, and his negativity and "true" throughts about the site bubbled up. And, he was not going to back down. This guy was totally incapable of objectivity. He could dish it out, but couldn't take it. In the meantime, a couple of other unfortunate "situations" were developing/festering. One involved the aforementioned writer, and the other involved me. The two worlds regretably collided, and the writer and I had a falling out. Really, it was all blown out of proportion and he, as I see it objectively, OVERreacted. He wrote something as regards what I was dealing with in my defense, but that I was not entirely pleased with in light of what I was enduring, and I responded, ALL things considered, probably inadvisably, in a way that he was not happy with. He, unbelievable, though, decided to take a page from his "friend's" notebook and chop off his nose and torch bridges and TOTALLY walk away from the site mid-season, dropping all the duties he was fulfilling (in my lap, while school was gearing up for me) as well as, shockingly, relinquishing his spot in the GBRFL2. His (now totally) miserable office "buddy" was loving this. Ignorant, by choice/out of ignorance (i.e. ignorance begets ignorants), of the proverbial "bigger picture", he mean-spiritedly blames me for running his cubicle buddy off "the Gridiron", but, when pressed, claims to have said to him that he would be back. You can just imagine the smirk (of victory) he had on his face, though. In any event, I had already apologized numerous times to the fella for the role I played in this debacle (that was my very first move) and extended the olive branch, but, also, not being/acting ignorant about the whole picture, had perspective on what (really) went down here. I presented the straw that broke the camel's back, but was by no means the whole bale of hay, not even close. But, this was this miserable, naysaying clown's moment of victory and he wasn't letting go of it, incessantly representing that my actions were the sole cause for the guy's departure. His inability to respond maturely and reasonably and just browbeat me with the same thing, apparently getting some sort of warped sense of satisfaction out of it, was harrowing for me. I really felt like I was dealing with a demon [smiley=possessed.gif] and not a person. Now, I digress... None of this let's the writer guy, who jet, off the hook. He screwed himself with me. I'm not a closed-door type of guy, but it would require an EXTRAordinary effort and a TON of time to get back even quarter of the way to where he had stood with me. Mind you, I'm not oblivious to the fact that everybody who he ever brought to the site from day one was a thorn in my or the site's side, an ingrate or, at best, a nipple-suckling non-factor. [smiley=rollinwithlaughter.gif] But, my writing this is not about him. It's about his "friend". His "friend" shouldn't have just smirkily told him, "You'll go back." What a "bigger man" would have done would have been to say, "Look, man! I may not like this Steg jerk, and I may not think his site is going anywhere. But, to the degree that it has had an impact on you, don't let what's transpired with me ruin everything for you. Hell, I told you I didn't want to join from the beginning. You've been with these guys for like five years. You've worked hard developing this relationship with Steg. You've worked hard, period. I heard how highly you spoke of it all, and I saw him get your back, albeit at my expense. At least, don't go giving up your spot in that cool GBRFL2 league." His saying that, I'm sure, would have made a difference. He decided not to make a difference (what's new, right?) and relish in his "friend's" self-destruction, instead. The point here and now being, vis-a-vis that recent phone conversation I had, is that, while I am going to make some modifications to my m.o., I am NOT going to back off my strategy of keeping bad apples out. Misery loves company, and I did not build this site for it to be (over)run by naysayers, ingrates, and people who are going to harbor deep-seated, ill-will toward me (when they can just go ahead and disappear without any hullabaloo). The rottenness of bad apples spreads quickly (especially when good men do nothing, a dynamic that I see here that I'm having a hard time processing, all things considered) and the aforetold tale is testimony of that. Okay,... whew,... step down... :P |
||
|
Title: Re: the Gridiron... "A Few 'Good Men'" Post by cwhams on Jun 30th, 2007, 10:06am on 06/29/07 at 18:57:16, StegRock wrote:
The entire section is well stated Steg. Having a "Type A" personality sometimes gets a guy like me in trouble, but the fact is no one really knows the time, effort, and history put into a site like this except you...perhaps your bride. I respect your efforts to protect your vision. It can be a bit difficult for us newbies to see the bigger picture when an incident like last year occurs. I do think it is important for you to know that the silent majority and even those of us who occassionaly pop off about something...support and respect what you have done and plan on doing. Thank you. |
||
|
Fantasyfootballer.com's Gridiron » Powered by YaBB 1 Gold - SP 1.1! YaBB © 2000-2002, Xnull. All Rights Reserved. |