During the Sacramento/Seattle back and forth I took a lot of crap for not allowing Sacramento posters in this forum. Everybody assumed that I was angry or didn't want the input of Sacramento posters but that was never the sole issue.
Things were hot and OUR PEOPLE as much as theirs were worked up. In tension every single poster on this board, no matter which side they were on was at risk of just popping off with something incendiary at any given moment.
Profanity was way, way up and as the father of 13 and 10 year old kids I just don't want to be involved in a site that I would not feel comfortable having my own kids visit.
Name calling (including the word "Troll" , which is name calling) was also way, way up.
The repetitive engagement of provocative posters was through the roof with members of our forums waging 200 comment dialogues talking about how they didn't want to talk about Sacramento posters.
I really value an open forum but life is too short and those just aren't things I want to be a part of. When they happen on my site they represent me and my friends and all the Sonics fans who kind of stand next to me in this. I wind up having to take time to consider the merits of the open conversation versus the idea that I should not be a part of something that does not reflect my values.
I can't say I'm immune from this. I sometimes say things I shouldn't, set a really bad tone or get engaged in a conversation that I know damn well I shouldn't be having. Apparently people all around the web thought that my "Playing Tough" headline was some type of defiant encouragement of yesterday's action. We all slip up.
Please try to show restraint when you disagree with a poster. If you want them to go away the absolute LAST thing you should do is swear at them, tell them to get the F out or call them a troll. They stay if you reply to them, go away if ignored. We aren't a street gang, this isn't our territory and there is no need to protect our turf. I want it to be as much as possible a welcoming and family friendly place where everybody can enjoy good conversation about hopes, dreams and imaginary teams.
Bravado is a reality on the internet and I have no desire to try to enforce some type of rules around its use. I do want everybody to know that in my opinion it never helps. At this moment it feels particularly inappropriate, reflecting poorly on all of us to be name calling the other team at a time when our leader has set a tone of humility and accountability.
GO HAWKS!