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Thanks Leonidas


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just read the closed thread. i was expecting a lot more from Leonidas given the fact that another thread was made just to call him out. maybe im missing something, were his posts deleted? or was it just those couple of posts on the last 2 pages?

 

seems like a pretty small and insignificant interaction, especially on the internet.

 

i appreciate Tim posting on the board with us "common folk", but it's not like he was attacked personally (or even professionally for that matter). although, i can understand wanting to leave a conversation that is ripping on his employer, especially when that conversation is on the internet and anyone at ESPN can find it by googling "Tim Graham". probably a good idea to not be a part of it.

 

I was calling him out just because he was the straw that broke the camel's back. Maybe I should have titled the thread Thanks all you @$$&0!3$, but that would be a little hypocritical wouldn't it?

 

Obviously it was a significant interaction since it caused Tim Graham to leave, and since generated 10 pages of replies.

 

Hopefully, this will serve as a wake-up call to use the board a little more responsibly, for those that don't.

 

I think it's reasonable for Tim (and SDS) to set simple guidelines for threads like Tim's, and how hard is it to abide by those guidelines? I mean Leonidas posted something that wasn't all that inflammatory on it's own, but it didn't belong there. Furthermore, once Tim replied to it, Leonidas couldn't take a hint, and lo and behold, here we are now.

 

There are plenty of places to b*tch and moan about ESPN and the state of sports media, but come on, in an ask Tim Graham thread, you're going to ask him to tell his friend/coworker to STFU? I seriously would have no problem with a thread titled "Someone should tell Mike Reiss to STFU," but you're going to "ask TG" to do it? What did you think was going to happen- TG would say, "You're right Leonidas, I'm sick of him!"

 

Let me just reiterate that I don't mean to pile on just Leonidas, but he sure made himself an easy target by representing the posters who lack respect for one another.

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First off, Tim owes you nothing.

 

Second, of course 150 clicks is inaccurate. But it shows the scale of importance. 150 to 1,500,000 means that 10,000 times more people read his stuff from a source other than TBD. Who cares if even ten times more people read his stuff than the 150 clicks that show up directly. It's not relevant to the overall number.

 

Third - 150 'clicks' a month is a flat out lie. There you have it...

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I guess it's inevitable that people find a way to screw anything up. Every hero gets turned on eventually. Me personally I stopped reading Tim's thread for this very reason. Let's not go after Wawrow now.

 

PTR

i've debated over whether to add my two cents on this thread, because i don't want to pretend to speak for Tim -- who is a very respected colleague of mine -- or address what went down. that's not my place.

speaking only for myself, it's not a matter of a poster "going after me." it's a matter of crossing certain boundaries. and that shouldn't apply solely to us media types, but to everyone, and that's noted in the terms posted on this board.

 

what nearly drove me away last September was the constant hounding and questioning that occured over the course of a couple of threads. what frustrates me today is a certain element that's crept into this community that thinks it's ok to call other posters "morons" "retards" "clowns" and "dummies." that won't drive me away, but it certainly doesn't make this board a place open to respectful and open discussion.

 

i have no reason or right to ask for special privileges, nor do i think there should be a rule that squelches free speech. i'm not in the politically correct business. i do enjoy a good give and take. i am more careful in drawing my own line when it comes to some, and what i will and won't respond to.

 

and i too, hope, Tim returns to this board if and when he feels the time is right.

 

jw

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I honestly think almost all of you who are arguing about this as being IMMATURE. But what do you expect from Bills Fans

 

Right....nothing more childish than arguing about the role of decorum and respect in an anonymous/public forum. Clearly this thread is not nearly as intelligent as the Wang=name for penis thread

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childish to argue about childishness? Tom, you just blew my mind :w00t:

 

:w00t:

 

You want childishness? No one's even brought up the role of the apology in all this. :w00t:

 

The bottom line is that in any community most of the members will occasionally have moments of pure, idiotic, boorish behavior. And a small set of the members (say on the order of 5%) will simply be idiotic, boorish !@#$wits. That's just life. Having such behavior inflicted on oneself is, unfortunately, unavoidable. The solution isn't to discuss decorum, it's to forgive the momentary lapses and beat the living hell (figuratively speaking) out of the !@#$wits until they learn better. But it helps, quite a bit, when the people who momentary lapse actually step up to the plate and say "sorry, my bad".

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Wow. Where do I begin? There are so many people I have to thank. No, but in all seriousness...

 

Now Tim, after someone asked you to out your source, you said you were done here. A few weeks (months?) later, you were back. Then after my last comment in your thread which you've taken personal offense to (which I'll get to in a minute), you said you were done again, but yet, here you are. Don't jump to conclusions and think I'm insulting you or that I want you to go. Quite the oppposite, actually; I prefer you stay. From a purely utilitarian perspective you contribute well more positive than negative. That can't be said for many people here. In the eyes of many, it probably can't even be said for me, despite my thoughts/wishes to the contrary.

 

To address these issues about Mortensen, Sullivan, et al. Do you recognize that you're grouping all TSW posters in together on this issue? I've never said a thing about Mortensen or Sullivan or any sports writer having some sort of anti-Buffalo bias. I've never gone after John Wawrow (to be perfectly honest - and no offense intended here - I don't know who he is beyond being a sports writer from Buffalo. I'm not from Buffalo.). In fact, I think - and I've said so much - that it's an inferiority complex in its infant stages, akin to Boston in the 80's/early 90's when all their teams were getting beaten up on. It's unhealthy, and for many, it's unbecoming. The Mike Reiss issue is a different one. I'm stunned that you didn't understand the STFU comment was toungue-in-cheek. Really. You seem smarter than that. I understand that tone is tough to convey in a chat room, but still. Did you think I really wanted you to walk down the halls of ESPN (let's pretend for a minute you all work in the same building), go into his office (cubicle?) and say "hey Mike, this 'Leonidas' guy from some Buffalo Bills chat room wanted me to tell you to STFU, so...yeah. Do you mind shutting the !@#$ up?" That being said, it's a legitimate complaint. The Patriots having their own reporter is a little insulting to the rest of us. Having to read all the mundane transactions by their organization once you go to ESPN's NFL site (thanks for clarifying, Dan) is maddening. You say to click away from it, yet you can't choose to "click away" from my comments regarding how infuriating it is. I'll skip the pot/kettle argument here. Lori comes to your defense (per usual) and says to register it with ESPN, which of course I did. Your overreaction from there seems a bit unwarranted, but hey, it's your call.

 

All this being said, there is a little unnecessary melodrama here. Not just in response to me, but in response to others. Someone recently asked you if an ESPN analyst could look at film on our three QB's - a far-fetched request, but a great one if somehow it could happen - and you seemed to take offense to it that we didn't ask you. I don't know if you were being sarcastic or you have a dry sense of humor or if you really thought that a sports writer was as qualified as a former player/coach to dissect film, but obviously the OP wasn't trying to offend you, yet it seems that he did. That's just the most recent of instances.

 

It's quite amusing to me the reaction that you elicit here, Tim. You are just short of deified by some and completely **** on by others. Neither of which, I can explain, yet both viewpoints amuse me. As I said Tim, I think you're a net positive. There are other net positives on this board, and I treat you as such. The net negatives (DarthICE comes to mind), perhaps I don't treat as well. I understand you're a national sports writer and you don't have to be here, so I appreciate you being here. I'd prefer if you stayed. The board would continue, of course, if you didn't. Do what you must. But if you choose to be personally offended by a statement that clearly wasn't a personal attack, well, then I can't help that. You've got to 'roll with the punches' like anyone else. You have access to the "ignore" feature just like the rest of us. And if this is really what set you off, you might not want to be around when people have an axe to grind with you personally.

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:w00t:

 

This is a great place for Bills' fans to talk about our team but sadly the extreme level of immaturity that streams from some postings really leaves the question open to whether this is the graffitti wall for some local junior high school kids or if some adults love the thought of being junior high school bullies.

 

The insults, the obscenities, the racist undertones, and the attacks on other posters make this a place unfit for young fans to visit, which is sad because young fans might want to write about their team too.

 

And, of course there are the so-called fans who apparently hate the Bills with such gusto that they have to diminish the talents of every player in the lockerroom.

 

I am not sure what anyone can do about all of this ... and I am sure that there will be attacks on those of us who understand why Tim would abandon this wall.

 

Would be nice if some intelligence and sense of community existed here but then again it no longer exists anywhere.

 

GO BILLS ... and come back Tim!

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