468 replies to this topic

[JeremyStrain]

Yeah their traffic has been higher with the winning. It's been a lot of lurkers and not a ton of registered people though, which I guess is what inspired him to flush some out of hiding with the free month. I told Chris yesterday, that will all be fleeting because as soon as they start losing a bit, that place will get VERY negative, it's riding a fake high with all the casual fans right now.

[KRL224]

it seems as though...

Tony : OH :: Joe : Joe's Fruit Shop



Joe: Hey, you got a bad peach? That’s an act of God. He makes the peaches. I don’t make the peaches, I sell the peaches. You have a problem? You talk to him.

Kramer: You know this whole place is going vrrrrrrrrrrrrt, downhill. I could have come in here last week with a bad plum but I let it go.

Joe: Well let me put a solution for you: do your business elsewhere, I don’t want your business.

Kramer: Oh now you don’t want my business.

Joe: No, I don’t want your business and from this moment you’re banned from the store, you’re banned!

[McNulty]

Shack, re:#4, I know exactly who you are talking about (his book is fantastic BTW). That was the first time it dawned on me what a jerk Tony was. Neg repping *that* guy to keep him from getting a bird? Jeez.

Does he post here?

[CrimsonTribe]

I think it turned off a fair amount of people, but a lot of people just like it over there and ignore those types of issues. I realized the way Tony is a long time ago, but stayed despite it. It took a good alternative and him and Scottie saying what they did to push me over the edge.

There's no doubt that there are also a lot of people who think Tony does no wrong and some of those have been mentioned. It's understandable to be so biased, though.

This is the basic gist of it. There are plenty of posters over there that I enjoy reading and interacting with. If all I have to do is ignore Tony to do it, then I will. I just don't feel the need to get into some knock-down drag out battle to prove that he is a dick when he's taking care of it himself.

[CrimsonTribe]

Yeah, I knew I wasn't alone in my thinking, but I wasn't sure of the scope of it. I'm still not, but it's clear that at least a fair amount of people thought similarly to us.

I'd say the scope is wider than you think.

[SportsGuy]

I think it turned off a fair amount of people, but a lot of people just like it over there and ignore those types of issues. I realized the way Tony is a long time ago, but stayed despite it. It took a good alternative and him and Scottie saying what they did to push me over the edge.

There's no doubt that there are also a lot of people who think Tony does no wrong and some of those have been mentioned. It's understandable to be so biased, though.

This is the basic gist of it. There are plenty of posters over there that I enjoy reading and interacting with. If all I have to do is ignore Tony to do it, then I will. I just don't feel the need to get into some knock-down drag out battle to prove that he is a dick when he's taking care of it himself.

I agree with this. I do miss interacting with some of the posters over there but when I see some of the guys now dominating the board, its not a place I miss as much as I thought I would.

[Pedro Cerrano]

One guy who I won't name (but whose handle everybody would recognize, who is respected by virtually everybody, who has lots of pips over there for not-many posts, and who doesn't squabble with anybody) mentioned that he was always getting big neg-reps from Tony, along with messages in which Tony said he was neg-repping him because he didn't like him and that the purpose of the neg-rep points was just to *prevent* him from getting a pip-bird.

I have no idea if this is true or not, but if it is, it's one of the more pathetic things I've ever read.

[mweb08]

Three quick points (the antithesis of Shack )

I think Tony likes for people to kiss the ring so to speak.

Regarding Chris' thoughts on this thread, I totally understand where he's coming from, but I agree with Allstar that it's nice to be able to talk about whatever we want (within reason and within board rules).

This thread will die down on its own in the near future and then will probably be reignited when someone gets banned over there and wants to vent over here. Personally, I'm good with that.

[McNulty]

One guy who I won't name (but whose handle everybody would recognize, who is respected by virtually everybody, who has lots of pips over there for not-many posts, and who doesn't squabble with anybody) mentioned that he was always getting big neg-reps from Tony, along with messages in which Tony said he was neg-repping him because he didn't like him and that the purpose of the neg-rep points was just to *prevent* him from getting a pip-bird.

I have no idea if this is true or not, but if it is, it's one of the more pathetic things I've ever read.

Its definitely true. Milligan can corroborate as well. Happened a few years ago.

[CrimsonTribe]

I agree with this. I do miss interacting with some of the posters over there but when I see some of the guys now dominating the board, its not a place I miss as much as I thought I would.

More and more of the quality posters are coming over here. Soon there will be less of a need for the OH.

[mweb08]

I think it turned off a fair amount of people, but a lot of people just like it over there and ignore those types of issues. I realized the way Tony is a long time ago, but stayed despite it. It took a good alternative and him and Scottie saying what they did to push me over the edge.

There's no doubt that there are also a lot of people who think Tony does no wrong and some of those have been mentioned. It's understandable to be so biased, though.

This is the basic gist of it. There are plenty of posters over there that I enjoy reading and interacting with. If all I have to do is ignore Tony to do it, then I will. I just don't feel the need to get into some knock-down drag out battle to prove that he is a dick when he's taking care of it himself.

I certainly understand that as that was largely my attitude for quite some time without doing such a good job at the ignoring part. However, given how he and Scottie attacked Chris and given what Tony said to me, coupled with past experiences, I really can't justify paying him money.

BTW, if I still wanted to post over there, I wouldn't be talking negatively of him over here, because if he reads it, then you may get the same treatment a few of us did during that dust-up. I know Allstar survived it for a while, but eventually decided he didn't care to deal with it and I guess Pedro is still posting over there and I'm not sure how that's going. I just wouldn't want to ruffle any feathers at this point if you were previously in good standing with him.

[SportsGuy]

I have no idea if this is true or not, but if it is, it's one of the more pathetic things I've ever read.

Its definitely true. Milligan can corroborate as well. Happened a few years ago.

I am dying to know who this happened to.

[JeremyStrain]

Yeah, its easier in theory than practice. I talked to a bunch of the people I will really miss, and everyone understood why I was leaving, some were amazed I toughed it out as long as I did. I just don't need to pay a guy money for cheap shots and eye rolling, I get that for free from my wife. The quality overall has really tanked and I don't see it getting better.

[CrimsonTribe]

I certainly understand that as that was largely my attitude for quite some time without doing such a good job at the ignoring part. However, given how he and Scottie attacked Chris and given what Tony said to me, coupled with past experiences, I really can't justify paying him money.

BTW, if I still wanted to post over there, I wouldn't be talking negatively of him over here, because if he reads it, then you may get the same treatment a few of us did during that dust-up. I know Allstar survived it for a while, but eventually decided he didn't care to deal with it and I guess Pedro is still posting over there and I'm not sure how that's going. I just wouldn't want to ruffle any feathers at this point if you were previously in good standing with him.

I'm not too worried about it.

[RShack]

Shack, re:#4, I know exactly who you are talking about (his book is fantastic BTW). That was the first time it dawned on me what a jerk Tony was. Neg repping *that* guy to keep him from getting a bird? Jeez.

Does he post here?

I don't know, but I really doubt it... I don't think he'd do it in a way where we don't know his identity...

[DJ MC]

Thank you for writing all of that RShack. I think most of us did read it, and understand.

I probably have mentioned this before, but one summer I volunteered to write nightly recaps for Tides games when they were desperate to get something to go with the in-person reports from Bowie and Frederick and elsewhere. I did them from home, but I did my best to include stats and some basic research of my own in the short time I would have and with the fairly thin info from the box scores and MILB.com. Since Scottie was the editor at the time, he was the guy I went through, so I didn't even have contact with Tony.

One day I got into an argument with Tony in a thread, don't even remember what it was. The following day I received a PM from him with curt message saying my reports were no longer needed. They starting putting what amounted to the press releases from the Tides as the recaps.

That's my own little experience with his ability to improve the site.

There are quite a few comparisons to be made between him and Nestor Aparicio, who is the subject of so much (deserved) ridicule there and elsewhere. Both saw an opening for a media outlet in Baltimore, and both invested their time and money into building semi-successful businesses (a radio station and a website respectively) and earning respect within the local media. But both have a strong aggressive streak, both hate disagreement, and both grip their grudges like their lived depend on it. So they drive away business, and drive away employees, and so far neither has managed to take what they accomplished to another level. In fact, both have receded over the past few years in the quantity and quality of content provided.

[Chris B]

There are quite a few comparisons to be made between him and Nestor Aparicio, who is the subject of so much (deserved) ridicule there and elsewhere. Both saw an opening for a media outlet in Baltimore, and both invested their time and money into building semi-successful businesses (a radio station and a website respectively) and earning respect within the local media. But both have a strong aggressive streak, both hate disagreement, and both grip their grudges like their lived depend on it. So they drive away business, and drive away employees, and so far neither has managed to take what they accomplished to another level. In fact, both have receded over the past few years in the quantity and quality of content provided.

Wow when you put it like that, they are pretty damn similar.

[SBTarheel]

This literally is almost verbatim of the thoughts that have been in my head about him for the last 10 years..Besides a few conversations with Rob & "Pedro" off the record, I had no idea so many others felt this way.

I don't know the man personally, and certainly respect what he's built over there, and what he's been through in his life, but the bully mentality is just something that I've never been able to accept, especially when his paying customers are the ones he's bullying the most. I haven't cancelled yet, and still read a lot of the threads, but haven't posted since they threw Chris under the bus a few months ago.

[DBean]

I never really had a problem with Tony, although I did find him a little intimidating the few times that I saw him at Orioles games. Then again, I never really posted that much over there, so I never said much that could be disagreed with by Tony. I am curious to know what he had to say about Chris, which I don't think should be done on the website if Chris wasn't over there to defend himself. I've known Chris for over 15 years and I don't really have a negative thing to say about him.

On that note, I do like having the ability to know that I can say what I want, as long as it isn't too offensive, and not have to worry about getting banned for it. Did Tony ever give you guys a warning about it, with reasoning behind it, or did he just out suspend or ban you?

[BSLChrisStoner]

I never really had a problem with Tony, although I did find him a little intimidating the few times that I saw him at Orioles games. Then again, I never really posted that much over there, so I never said much that could be disagreed with by Tony. I am curious to know what he had to say about Chris, which I don't think should be done on the website if Chris wasn't over there to defend himself. I've known Chris for over 15 years and I don't really have a negative thing to say about him.

On that note, I do like having the ability to know that I can say what I want, as long as it isn't too offensive, and not have to worry about getting banned for it. Did Tony ever give you guys a warning about it, with reasoning behind it, or did he just out suspend or ban you?

You can check out the links to OH in this thread, for Tony's comments. Doesn't have to be rehashed further than it has. I don't think you have to worry about Tony ever banning you.