swordsman

Just to be clear, I don't see new or young posters as dumb. Lord knows I have learned a ton here.

Just for metaphic clarity, the poop on the floor is not necessarily trolls, but rather just unimportant, irrelevant, repetative, pedantic, drivel that tends to fill all mesage boards (not just NSBB). You have to wade through it all to get to a good, interesting, relavant, eye-opening, thoughtful point. It is not just people who are here to do evil, it is the intellectual effluence of everyday life. I put mine out there too, for sure. For the record, I think the mods do an outstanding job of wrangling the trolls and managing the squabbles. Kudos to you all. Incidently, I would contend that while more interesting folks may join with good things to say, the additional volume of intellectual ca-ca may make any of the diamonds harder to find. This is not to say I only want to read things that I agree with, but rather I want to read things that actually mean something.

Me too. And it reminds me of Jerome James' response to Sonics coach Nate McMillan's calling him selfish: "I don't know what he's talking about, cause I just worry about Jerome." Funny, I interpreted Foulke's "It's all about me." quote as meaning that the teams confidence is not relavant. It is his self-confidence that matters to his performance. I'm not sure I disagree.

Given the above points, I feel I should clarify that I am not adocating limiting enrollment or that newer, younger or less frequent posters have any less to offer. Let me be very clear in that point. My point is that the organic nature in which this site evolved, the way that people who have a similar appreciation for intelligent, civil discussion about baseball and other topics came together, support each other and interact in a civil manner has value...unique value. People founded the site as a harbor on the stormy seas of internet dialogue. Others found the site by invitation, legend and search for just such a safe harbor. That fact has value. Encouraging advertisement of the site risks that by encouraging quantity over quality and I want to make sure the community understands that risk. The business model (not implying a profit motive at all) may require that the nature of the site change. Perhaps that is the price of starting a good thing and growth. I certainly don't expect any one person to shoulder the financial burden for sustaining the community. Perhaps the business model could change to preserve the nature of the site rather than the other way around. Regardless, public endorsement and the possible changes that will result is just a concern of mine that I had not seen addressed.

Is anyone else concerned with the downside of the publicity this might generate? Lot's more people coming to the site does not necessarily improve the quality of the site. Len and others coming by and doing Q&A discussions certainly does. Getting more users does not, necessarily. The site has two assets, one is the sites ability to attract people within the Cubs organization (and MLB in general) to give insights into the game that cannot be gotten elsewhere. The other asset is the contributions of the posters themselves. It seems to me that the second asset fuels the first. It also seems to me that the posters on the site that make it valuable are special in the general population of baseball fans. Adding more fans as posters will not necessarily proportionately improve (or even maintain) the civility, insight, or community of the site. Think of it this way, the site is like a horse stall. The floor is covered with a 2 inch layer of horse-hockey with diamonds scattered throughout. You sift throough the poop for the diamonds. The proportion of diamonds to poop is pretty high because of the self-selective nature of how people have heard about and find the site. Getting a shout out from Len will undoubtably result in a influx of new people to the site. My feeling is that it will be the equilevant of dumping a foot and a half of fresh poop in the stall without the previous concentration of diamonds. I look at cable tv the same way. Anyone else concerned? I am happy and honored to have Len here and hope he enjoys his relationship with the posters here. I feel the same way with all the insiders who grace us with their insights. I fear that popularity, however, could kill the golden goose of this site-community's spirit.

How much of an upgrade is enough to make a significant difference? What is the maginal cost of that upgrade?

Forgive me if I am being nieve here but is it possible we are reading more into the choice of words used to describe Kid K's prognosis than pehaps we should? The operating table is still warm from Woody lying on it and we are parsing words to figure out his status 8 months from now? I understand the emotion and the history of not believing what the Cubs brass says about injury recovery but are we really being fair here? Patience, Grasshopper!

Perhaps that is the nature of baseball these days. Aren't the majority of clubs looking for those things every year?

Forgive my ignorance, but, what is LD%?

Your analysis here really resonates with me for some reason. Nice job.

Come on Neifi, justfy Dusty's love. LET'S GO CUBS!!! LET'S GO CUBS!!! LET'S GO CUBS!!!

Alright, that's what we needed. Come on Cubbies, battle. Two runs. Score two runs and you win a bunch of these fans back into your corner. Show 'em what you got. LET'S GO CUBS!!! LET'S GO CUBS!!! LET'S GO CUBS!!!

One down, come on Woody, make short work of these guys, for all our sakes. LET'S GO CUBS!!! LET'S GO CUBS!!! LET'S GO CUBS!!!

Way to go LEE!!! Come on Macias! LET'S GO CUBS!!! LET'S GO CUBS!!! LET'S GO CUBS!!!

LET'S GO CUBS!!! LET'S GO CUBS!!! LET'S GO CUBS!!!

LET'S GO CUBS!!! LET'S GO CUBS!!! LET'S GO CUBS!!!

ladies and gentlemen, I believe we have this game. Book it.

This is greatly helpful. Would you mind adding one feature? If you could add what the standing would look like if the best case scenario pans out, that would be interesting. If not, no biggie. Thanks for the info just the same.

For those of us who don't have the benefit of TV, are you speaking of when he got picked off and are you being serious?

You are wrong, and your father smells of elderberries. ... and BenGay. Ben is gay?!? Does Jerry know? Thank you. I'll be here all week.

I have broken the nose of a guy in TKD, cracked the ribs of a guy in TKD, kocked out a guy who was in TKD, and nearly broke the jaw of a guy who was in TKD. Of course, all of the above incidents happened in class. So I guess it doesnt count. :P Yeah, and all those guys practiced TKD. Not a compelling argument that people who know TKD are good fighters. :wink: Whoops, perhaps that was your point. Never mind.

Curse you for making me think positive! i know. they are sucking me back in again. i cannot kick myself of this habit! May the fleas of a thousand camel infest your armpits for eternity. Thanks, Klinger. I'm assuming that's a "MASH" referece. A little before my time. UGH, I'm surrounded by children. :wink:

Curse you for making me think positive! i know. they are sucking me back in again. i cannot kick myself of this habit! May the fleas of a thousand camel infest your armpits for eternity. Thanks, Klinger.

I second this sentiment.

Yeah, exactly. And now you see why everything we touch does not "turn to gold." Rodriguez was hot for a week...week and a half. Then Major League pitching caught up to him. He cannot hit breaking balls low and inside...you saw Kerry acknowledge that and proceed to own him. I don't like playing the injury card, but I'll say this again: this series would be a whole lot interesting with Rolen, Walker, Sanders and Molina. You guys had injuries last year, too, though. I just don't know why Tony left Marquis in there... Go moan on a Cardinal board. You're probably just here to taunt us anyway. IMHO that was uncalled for. PieOnMyHands has been very civil at least in this game thread (I have not crossed paths with him/her before I don't think). Pie, forgive some of our more...pointed...posters. I'm sure you understand their frustration/anxiety.