Personal Attacks Need to Stop

by Tyler Bleszinski on Oct 26, 2004 11:41 AM PDT in News

I'm going to say this once. The personal attacks on people such as, "You're an idiot", etc. need to stop. Now.

If they don't, I'm going to start banning people. I've rarely banned people and I hesitate to do it because you're all A's fans (except the obvious troll here and there), but it looks like I'm going to have to be more attentive to it. Here are the ground rules for banning:

Personal attacks: This means you can refute ideas that people have, but keep the "you're a moron" line out of it. If you don't like what someone is saying about a proposed trade, etc., move onto the next post.
Curse words are allowed: Most of us are adults here, but I don't want to see people cursing at each other. It's just unnecessary. And try and keep the curse words for things like when Giambi fails to slide or for extreme moments of frustration.
No homophobic or racist attacks: This speaks for itself. This will mean an instant ban.

The bottom line is that this is a place for people to talk about our beloved A's. Not everyone is going to have the same perception of a good trade, accept that people have differing opinions.

Ultimately, none of us are Billy Beane, so we're all just speculating. Yes, there is a difference between intelligent speculating and flinging rumors against a wall to see what sticks, but we're all allowed to do both here. Diaries are for the free flow of ideas, both good and bad.

AN is supposed to be a welcoming place for those that bleed green and gold and I think we all want it to stay that way.

I just feel like I needed to lay down some ground rules. Thank you and Go A's!!!

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Thank you, Blez.

Happy thoughts, people!

Like Huston Street. Woohoo!

by Sharon on Oct 26, 2004 11:51 AM PDT reply actions

Rock on

Excellent words, Blez.

I might suggest (and also admit that I myself have been one of the prime violators of this one) that we should also try to avoid the partisan political stuff, too.

As I good-will gesture, I ain't doin' it no mo'.

(Not here, anyway! You can see my bloglink at my user page here on AN.)

by monkeyball on Oct 26, 2004 12:03 PM PDT reply actions

Regulate

Blez the Regulator~!

by ucla kid on Oct 26, 2004 12:24 PM PDT reply actions

well done

this is after all, a site for A's fans, and nobody should feel singled out.

Go Athletics~!

by catfish hunter on Oct 26, 2004 1:57 PM PDT reply actions

Hear hear

I agree. The personal attacks were getting a little crazy. No one here is a real GM, we are all just having a good time and sharing our opinions. Being new to AN I was very turned off by the attacking comments of a few posts.

by oscarwdog on Oct 26, 2004 2:06 PM PDT reply actions

Yay Blez!

I'd been avoiding AN more than I otherwise would because of the attacks. Thanks for noticing Blez. I'll be here more frequently now.

by kent @ Athletics Nation on Oct 26, 2004 2:17 PM PDT reply actions

i agree

i have been avoiding it also because it seems like everytime someone posts, someone automatically attacks it. its dicouraging when evertime a new post is put up it is automatically attacked

by pokie20 on Oct 26, 2004 2:24 PM PDT up reply actions

Hooray for Blez!

Good call, Blez - I'm definitely a green and gold blooded soul and I have definitely been offended by some of the put downs that have been present lately! Do what you have to do to keep us all cheering for the same team! GO A'S!

by Steph20 on Oct 26, 2004 7:06 PM PDT up reply actions

Posting

Put this policy on your menu so all can see.

Jim

by jarforcefatherofforce on Oct 26, 2004 2:19 PM PDT reply actions

amen

by alaska A working hard on Oct 26, 2004 4:45 PM PDT up reply actions

I'm putting it in the FAQ section

tonight.

Thanks, guys.

by Tyler Bleszinski on Oct 26, 2004 4:53 PM PDT up reply actions

bossy blez wrote:

"Curse words are allowed: Most of us are adults here"

i don't know about that, i put a bunch of random baseball cards in front of my baby cousin and he came up with way better trade ideas than any that have been suggested on this site in the last month.

i wonder how much cursing there would be on here in two years if the a's actually traded for sammy sosa...

by xbhaskarx on Oct 26, 2004 5:17 PM PDT reply actions

You know

I admit that the Sammy Sosa idea was a bit out of left... uhmm right field but I thought it a worthwhile plan to consider. Once Mr Hill brought all the contract details to to light (info that wasn't on the site I was using to find contract numbers) I put a stake through the heart of my own proposal. I still believe that the plan would have been less of a gamble than most people think had the contract stuff worked out the way I thought it was going to. But I got some very important financial details completely wrong and for that, and that alone, I'm sorry I ever suggested the idea.

By the way, I'm curious to hear what trade proposals your cousin came up with. I'd be very surprised if they were better than everything you've heard over the last month.

by grover on Oct 26, 2004 6:14 PM PDT up reply actions

JW

how accesible is sammy sosa to us?

Gotta Love the Zito.... :D

by GreenNGoldGirl on Oct 26, 2004 5:45 PM PDT reply actions

Sosa was my idea

And after finding out some of the fine print in his contract I can honestly say there is no chance he can become an Oakland A.

by grover on Oct 26, 2004 6:16 PM PDT up reply actions

Couldn't agree more

Thanks for putting the foot down Blez.

by grover on Oct 26, 2004 7:13 PM PDT reply actions

Mistakes

Should have never gone mainstream, Blez. Increasing the population nearly always decreses the intelligence.

by jmoney on Oct 26, 2004 8:47 PM PDT reply actions

Yeah...

Because people who were here from the beginning are just sooooo much better than everyone else.

</sarcasm>

by Kelly on Oct 27, 2004 8:45 AM PDT up reply actions

Exactly right

Thank you for validating my feelings.

by Tony on Oct 27, 2004 8:54 AM PDT up reply actions

Blez: While we're on the subject,

Would it be possible for all of us to refrain from commenting about politics? Politics is a divisive subject and is prone to incite personal attacks.

And this is a baseball site, after all.

by Checkswing HR on Oct 26, 2004 11:09 PM PDT reply actions

Here here .... thank you Blez

and since we're reinforcing the speech code, might I suggest some changes to grammatical standards as well? For instance, I think it would be appropriate for the words san francisco and giants to be utilized only in lower case letters so as to reinforce their second-class status in the baseball fandom hierarchy. I'd also include the words barry, lamar, bonds, fraud, cheat and steroids in this category. Furthermore, any use of BALCO should, of course, always be capitalized. Just an idea .....

by thenewyorker on Oct 27, 2004 8:17 AM PDT reply actions

the sammy idea

I thought the idea of the A's getting Sammy, while completely crazy, and nonsensical, to have been a worthwhile topic to discuss, and I enjoyed it.

I live in Chicago, and i wouldn't wish Sammy on anyone, let alone my beloved A's, but that still doesn't mean it wasn't a valid point of discussion.

none of you are GM's, so why not allow all sorts of crazy ideas to be floated out there.

by catfish hunter on Oct 27, 2004 9:21 AM PDT reply actions

Well I 'll be a low down Yankee hater

I do have a problem with the cuss words. I'm a 6'5" construction worker and use the words myself, usually when frustrated. But I don't need to see them in print. Especially in an enviroment of supposedly intelligent dialog. I have read an incredible amount of info on the internet and have never ran across such language. I believe it takes away from the exchange of ideas. There are much more descriptive words to use in all cases which make for much more enjoyable reading. Take it for what it's worth.

by A s Avengers Dad on Oct 29, 2004 11:07 PM PDT reply actions