4191 replies to this topic

[The Epic]

Wunnerful!   Can you say more about it?

 

Once I make the announcement on facebook tomorrow, I can. Need to haggle on a couple of items first.

[McNulty]

Gotta have that 'errand' boy, eh?

[RShack]

Gotta have that 'errand' boy, eh?

 

Gotta have that 'errand' boy, eh?

 

Company jet yacht car scooter?

[SportsGuy]

Once I make the announcement on facebook tomorrow, I can. Need to haggle on a couple of items first.

Making sure you get off the first 2 days of the Tourney?

[You Play to Win the Game]

Making sure you get off the first 2 days of the Tourney?

My boss gives me a free comp day for my Birthday (March 20th) that I take that Friday every year. It's a small, but very cool arrangement. I usually take the Thursday too, and have an epic 4 day weekend with only 8 hours of leave charged. Not a bad sitch.

 

Also, congrats Antoine - very happy for you man. Very deserving.

[The Epic]

Making sure you get off the first 2 days of the Tourney?

 

Actually, yes. Not kidding.

[Pedro Cerrano]

I'll never work the first two days of the tourney. Ever.

Actually that's a lie. I can work till noon and only take a half day each!

[You Play to Win the Game]

I'll never work the first two days of the tourney. Ever.

Actually that's a lie. I can work till noon and only take a half day each!

I do that for Thursday often, but I'm too hurt Friday to go in to work for a few hours. The mornings are the worst part. Once I'm at work, leaving a half day doesn't do much for me.

[The Epic]

I'll never work the first two days of the tourney. Ever.

Actually that's a lie. I can work till noon and only take a half day each!

 

Ever since I worked my current (former) job, I've taken half days the first two days of the tourney. As long as I have the pull, I always will. That's non-negotiable

[You Play to Win the Game]

This is kind of a rant too. But with my grandfather passing away, I've coped by looking back on all of the great memories. My dad was the only worker in our house, so money was tight. Our vacation every year was spending part of the summer with them on the eastern shore. They lived on the water and we went crabbing every morning. He will do dumb shit like ask me to go grab a line and then push me off the side of the boat with tons of jellyfish In the water. Or put a crab up and latch on to my brothers ass as he was climbing out of the boat one morning. My brother was maybe 5 so of course cried. All the while driving my poor grandmother bonkers. Anyway, he was a marine, and an orphan. His mother passed at age 5 and his dad disappeared. His last thought was a memory he had of his mother teaching him how to ride a bike. Everything he did for my brothers and me was a calculated decision to keep us humble, develop character and work ethic and face a little adversity. I'll always love him for that. Anyway, a ton of good memories.

When you start to think so positively it breeds more positivity and reflection. And what I'm trying to say is I really miss Sammy Birdland. What a great guy. Constantly made me laugh. Genuine too. I wish I hadn't talked politics.

[bnickle]

This is kind of a rant too. But with my grandfather passing away, I've coped by looking back on all of the great memories. My dad was the only worker in our house, so money was tight. Our vacation every year was spending part of the summer with them on the eastern shore. They lived on the water and we went crabbing every morning. He will do dumb shit like ask me to go grab a line and then push me off the side of the boat with tons of jellyfish In the water. Or put a crab up and latch on to my brothers ass as he was climbing out of the boat one morning. My brother was maybe 5 so of course cried. All the while driving my poor grandmother bonkers. Anyway, he was a marine, and an orphan. His mother passed at age 5 and his dad disappeared. His last thought was a memory he had of his mother teaching him how to ride a bike. Everything he did for my brothers and me was a calculated decision to keep us humble, develop character and work ethic and face a little adversity. I'll always love him for that. Anyway, a ton of good memories.

When you start to think so positively it breeds more positivity and reflection. And what I'm trying to say is I really miss Sammy Birdland. What a great guy. Constantly made me laugh. Genuine too. I wish I hadn't talked politics.

Funny you mentioned Sammy. Was thinking about him the other day. Sammy seemed like a real stand up dude. I can't remember the exact quote but I once said something like he contributed nothing to the board but stupid gifs. Probably my biggest regret post on here.

[The Epic]

Did...something happen to Sammy?

 

He helped me with a photoshop picture that I still use today. Seems like a great guy to know, and seriously one of the funnier message board personalities I've witnessed.

[You Play to Win the Game]

Did...something happen to Sammy?
 
He helped me with a photoshop picture that I still use today. Seems like a great guy to know, and seriously one of the funnier message board personalities I've witnessed.

I'm sure he's fine. I quit FB a while so am not friends with him there anymore. But he quit when the politics got nasty. Really don't blame him in hindsight. Just a great guy. They don't make many like him these days.

[The Epic]

I'm sure he's fine. I quit FB a while so am not friends with him there anymore. But he quit when the politics got nasty. Really don't blame him in hindsight. Just a great guy. They don't make many like him these days.

 

I think I lost him when my fb posts a little while back got...let's say a little more combative than my usual innocuousness.

[BSLChrisStoner]

We had the politics section which Sam (and others) did not like.

He imformed me at some point he couldnt continue to post here with that section existing. Believe that was last May. So I closed down the politics section.

To be clear...he did not ask me to do so. I closed it down because:

1) I wanted him to stay. He helped build the site and I considered him vital.

2) I myself wanted this place to be a respite from politics and social discussions.

With the section closed down, he stayed....until I added the links last August on Kaepernick.

At that point he decided to leave for good.

He later told me he had lost passion / interest for Baltimore sports.

I feel bad that he left. It was my fault for enabling the Kaepernick talk...ultimately though, sometimes the interests and passions of people change.

Dont think he is very fond of me at this time...but Ill always be appreciative of everything he did to help improve this site.

[RShack]

We had the politics section which Sam (and others) did not like.

He imformed me at some point he couldnt continue to post here with that section existing. Believe that was last May. So I closed down the politics section.

To be clear...he did not ask me to do so. I closed it down because:

1) I wanted him to stay. He helped build the site and I considered him vital.

2) I myself wanted this place to be a respite from politics and social discussions.

With the section closed down, he stayed....until I added the links last August on Kaepernick.

At that point he decided to leave for good.

He later told me he had lost passion / interest for Baltimore sports.

I feel bad that he left. It was my fault for enabling the Kaepernick talk...ultimately though, sometimes the interests and passions of people change.

Dont think he is very fond of me at this time...but Ill always be appreciative of everything he did to help improve this site.

 

Was there anything about the work he did for you that required him to read the threads he didn't like?  

 

Or did he refuse to tolerate other folks being permitted to discuss things he didn't like, when they were walled off in threads which were distinct from the sports threads, and which he didn't have to read?  It was crucial to him that others were not able to converse about it?

 

I really, really liked the guy... and he was very helpful to me... but if that latter of those 2 is what occurred, well, that kind of intolerance is downright un-American... so, I really, really hope it was the former... because if it's the latter, well, I'd rather not believe that's true of him...

[Mike in STL]

Unbelievable

[The Epic]

Was there anything about the work he did for you that required him to read the threads he didn't like?  

 

Or did he refuse to tolerate other folks being permitted to discuss things he didn't like, when they were walled off in threads which were distinct from the sports threads, and which he didn't have to read?  It was crucial to him that others were not able to converse about it?

 

I really, really liked the guy... and he was very helpful to me... but if that latter of those 2 is what occurred, well, that kind of intolerance is downright un-American... so, I really, really hope it was the former... because if it's the latter, well, I'd rather not believe that's true of him...

 

I would assume that his high involvement in the site would require him to look at posts more so than the average person. I may be wrong.

 

Even if he COULD have avoided the posts, let's be real...there's a kind of "can't turn away from a car wreck" element to these discussions, and maybe it got the better of him. I can't blame him, because I'm the same way about certain things. We're human.

 

I'm not going to dip into my involvement in the Kaep post, because it's really not the time/place, but I do believe that, as a sports-related topic with political and racial tones, it should have been talked about.

[JeremyStrain]

I would assume that his high involvement in the site would require him to look at posts more so than the average person. I may be wrong.

 

Even if he COULD have avoided the posts, let's be real...there's a kind of "can't turn away from a car wreck" element to these discussions, and maybe it got the better of him. I can't blame him, because I'm the same way about certain things. We're human.

 

I'm not going to dip into my involvement in the Kaep post, because it's really not the time/place, but I do believe that, as a sports-related topic with political and racial tones, it should have been talked about.

 

It's tough. I've talked about this a bunch recently, with social media existing now, and the political and racial issues in society today it really makes you look at people. A few years ago stuff would happen and we may be more ignorant of their feelings on certain topics, and stay friends. This day and age of wearing our opinions on our sleeve for all to see makes it much tougher to keep relationships with people over difficult issues like these. Seeing someone's opinion that so drastically differs from our own values (or in our case, how we want our kids to be raised) almost makes you choose to have someone in our lives at all. I guess short version, we know a lot more differences and flaws in people that we may have been blissfully unaware of before.

[The Epic]

It's tough. I've talked about this a bunch recently, with social media existing now, and the political and racial issues in society today it really makes you look at people. A few years ago stuff would happen and we may be more ignorant of their feelings on certain topics, and stay friends. This day and age of wearing our opinions on our sleeve for all to see makes it much tougher to keep relationships with people over difficult issues like these. Seeing someone's opinion that so drastically differs from our own values (or in our case, how we want our kids to be raised) almost makes you choose to have someone in our lives at all. I guess short version, we know a lot more differences and flaws in people that we may have been blissfully unaware of before.

 

It's really hard, I agree. But I think it's a barn door that isn't closing any time soon.

 

I think the good thing about having a foundation of a relationship first (for example, here, our love of Baltimore sports) is that you've already had lengthy discussions about divisive topics before. Just, in the grand scheme of things, they aren't truly important topics. It's an escape. But that said, I would think that it would make both sides a little more eager to listen. I could be totally wrong.

 

For example (and this is a true story), my then-friend-now-wife felt a certain way about a VERY divisive topic that I'm completely on the other side of (that I'm not sharing because you guys don't know her, and I don't want that to be your first impression of her). Before then, literally all we talked about was video games. It was...shocking. But we had the choice of letting it be a dealbreaker or talking it out. We chose the latter, and now she's stuck with me. If it was the first thing I knew about her...well...she wouldn't have gotten all this chocolate thunder, and that wouldn't be good for her.

 

Now there are some dealbreakers where you go from "ok guy" to straight up "IDFWU" status. For some people it's their opinions on race relations, or who they voted for, or whether they like their toast butter-side down. And I don't blame anyone for that. Hell, I do that, too. But I'll just say that there's people that I would have written off a long time ago if I didn't know about our common interests beforehand.

 

That's a long, long rant. And I'm sorry. I'm pretty much saying that yeah, it's a lot tougher, but I think the discussions are necessary, and forums with common interests make it easier.