Brock Beauchamp

What is that? A theme?

I'm kind of leaning toward me (or someone else who volunteers but that seems unlikely) to just start every game thread in the morning. I don't want to work up a bunch of strife over this. Again, we're in this for the long haul. Things can and will change but I'm kinda leaning toward me just doing this every day.

Give it like 20 years like the rest of us So, you. Are you in the TC?

I mean, I've cut down on dead baby jokes since I've adopted kids but I haven't stopped.

No, only moved. There is a really robust activity tool that you can customize to your liking. It wasn't even a thing I really cared about until a bunch of people on Brewer Fanatic talked about how much they liked it, so I put a little effort into making it better.

Funny, this is the best I've felt yet about the transition. If Battle Your Tail Off was still live on the internet, I'd show you but you'd reel in horror at the content. Not because it was MAGA but because it was like a cage fight between a dozen toddlers holding fish knives. I was born for this.

Thanks. I'm just getting a grasp on what losing Fred meant to this forum and this is an enormous help. Do you have suggestions how to make this work better in 2023?

After we do the transition to the new software, please touch base with me and let me know how you feel about the new interface and how to best use it.

To bring this back to moderation a bit, as part of our core mission of community we try to keep moderators interested and active. We encourage moderators to "roll out and take a break" for a year or two if they lose interest and are welcome back at any time. No harm, no foul. Go live your life, we all need to. As incentive to stay on and be active, we offer yearly gifts to all of our moderators across all sites. Frankly, I've never heard of other forums doing this regularly but at the behest of me personally, we've done it the past two years. Last year, our moderator gifts over two sites tallied a bill of about $2,000. I'm not trying to blow my own horn here, just pointing out that I REALLY believe in community and taking care of it. A bunch of Brewer Fanatic mods, many of which tried to decline saying "they didn't deserve it" or whatever, were just thrilled to finally get something for all the work they've done over the past two decades. It's a trifling when you get right down to it but it speaks to how truly important I personally feel legacy communities are to the world and the people they impact on a daily basis. I'm a snarky, irreverent bastard but also deadly serious about things I feel are important: I do not believe in exploiting free labor and I really try to do right by people who make a community great. Every moderator got one of these last year (obviously, not this team...) and we will continue to do this going forward because it's important to remind people that you notice the labor they commit to something, even if they expect nothing in return: [attachment=0]cubsmug.jpg[/attachment]

Oh lord, I'm here for all of 30 hours and you're bringing the absolute worst out in me.

Second compromise: so how about all of that with twice as much traffic? What are you thinking, internet porn? do you even webcam bro

Oh, see this is why I wanted to get up to speed. It appears they posted an offer for Chelea FC? Seriously? And they were doing that to the Cubs at the same time? I believe the term you all appear to use in this situation is HORSEFEATHERS

Compromise: we'll create a site no one likes. We already have that Second compromise: so how about all of that with twice as much traffic?

As an outsider, let's just say that I'm... not a fan... of the Ricketts. I kinda assume the sentiment here doesn't disagree with that take. Given the size of the Cubs market and the sheer weight of their revenue, what they've been doing in the past couple of years seems pretty hard to swallow. Sure, the Ricketts aren't Bob Nutting but they also don't have the last name "Nutting" so we should expect better from them. So what are Cubs fans vibes about the Ricketts and how much they're spending right now? Adding Swanson is obviously a pretty big get but it feels like they've passed on several players they could have paid... like pretty much anyone from 2016?

Compromise: we'll create a site no one likes. This guy gets it Your avatar is an inspiration.

And seriously, if you ever see me doing something you don't like, PM me and I will *always* respond. This is a group effort. Sometimes our goals will align, sometimes they won't. But I'll listen every single time and give my own reasoning for any decision. Obvi, that applies to everyone reading this.

Compromise: we'll create a site no one likes.

Your new avatar. Okay, I like this crowd. You're brutal. I see you and appreciate you. Honestly though, this board reminds me a bit of my first site, Battle Your Tail Off, which was absolute chaos in the most entertaining way imaginable. And I love that vibe. Seriously. If put in meme form, this is the vibe I get from all of you and it's wonderful. [attachment=0]cover4.jpg[/attachment]

Counterpoint: great time to get a glimpse at some of the organizations "rising stars" and lesser-knowns. Oh, absolutely, I'm just so scattershot as a human being that I end up flipping between games because it's frustrating to watch four NRIs bat in hopes of seeing one legit prospect so I miss pretty much everything interesting. But the upside is that I know a fair amount about every team!

Luck of the draw. It was incredible watching Mauer play 100% of his career in Minnesota but my lord were locals unfairly critical of him. And it's not as if Prior was a bust, he was just... a pitcher. With an arm. Those players tend to die horrible, violent career deaths. Even as an outsider, it was kind of a bummer to watch because he was just so good when he could, you know, throw a baseball hard.

Given that our proclaimed goal is more interactivity and traffic, I'd like to address game threads. First, I'll get it out of the way that they're ALWAYS a pain in the ass in pretty much every possible way. If things are going badly in the season, people are negative. If things are going well in the season but badly in a game, people are negative. If it's a day of the week ending in Y, people are negative. But game threads are also an important part of a baseball community, one I'd like to revive here. What have past problems been? How are game threads created here? What would you like to see?

My excitement for baseball is always abated by actually watching spring training games. At some point I'll start tuning in but the first couple of weeks with regulars being rotated out after two innings is particularly painful to watch.

I'm pretty into the Away Games podcast. Listened to a few episodes, I like their banter and style. Anybody familiar with the guys who do that pod?

But I've never even met your mother.

Yer all a bunch of masochists over here.