The Lockerroom
This is a the place to discuss the site, community issues, discuss ideas for opinions, and other things related to the community but not specifically about sports. You can add something to the locker room by clicking the link.
An Armchair Manifesto
This is my attempt at an explanation of things that have been brought to my attention, a response to critics (however anonymous/secretive they may try to be), a debunking of all the horrific explanations for why AGM died, and a proposal for moving forward.
Part the First, or why I banned Manny Stiles (and why he needs to man up and deal with it)
I banned Manny because I was sick of his persistent thread hijacking, his name calling, and his drama-queen attitude. But what really made me decide that he crossed the line was yesterday when he decided to make flippant remarks on what were several decent attempts at providing an opportunity for discussion, as well as posting a link to Rawb's myspace. Why the latter? Because in my opinion, that crossed a major line. I don't claim to speak for Rawb, and it's not even necessarily about what Rawb feels about it. Allow me to elaborate: Between a year and a half and two years ago, Tyrone Briggs posted personal information about Manny and his wife. This was followed by Tyrone being banned for a period of time. Manny was clearly upset, and Dan deleted the relevant posts. I would hope that someone who claims to be as classy as Manny would realize that pulling the exact stunt that Tyrone pulled would be a bad idea, and would show him the respect he demands others show him. Manny will be unblocked on August 9th - just in time for the start of the NFL Preseason. Other admins supported this decision - in fact, one admin (who can disclose their identity if they chose) was the one who brought this whole thing to my attention. We felt it was time for Manny to take a break. Oh, and manny, if you're reading this, please try harder next time to hide that anons/other users are you. It's pretty obvious.
Part the Second, or why <insert task here> hasn't been done
This includes things like updating the polls for the debate section, getting that section added to the navigation bar, etc.
The short answer is that I'm busy, and frankly, this site ain't a high priority for me.
The longer answer is that some of these things are simply going to be more long-term project. This site is being run by a couple people who stop by here a couple times a day in their free time, and I end up having to do a lot of the coding stuff. I'm fine with this, but y'all need to understand that these things take time to get right (and sometimes I don't get it right for a while). Understand that at least for now there are going to be things that aren't even close to perfect. I apologize for this, and if anyone who is somewhat familiar with wiki code and preferably is an admin (because some pages are protected, but this is more of a suggestion than a requirement) is willing to help me out, feel free to contact me and I'll give you the tips that help me (here's a quick summary - I don't know more than half the stuff that I put together. I just tinker with things and lift code from other pages until it works).
Part the Third, or why critics/haters need to stop pointing fingers
I'm aware that some of you are upset with the way I've done things. That's fine. What isn't ok is that these people chose to voice their discontent to others, or in a manner that in no way resembles constructive criticism. It's frankly disgusting that some of you feel that it's in any way productive to point the finger at me behind my back, and have never attempted to contact me with suggestions.
How can you contact me? Either via a private message, or by emailing me. If you don't have my email, then use this page to do so. It's a neat feature that allows you to email any user who provided their email address to the site upon registration or via editing their profile.
I'm happy to listen to criticism. Will I follow your advice? I won't promise that, but I can promise that I'll at least listen to what you have to say and figure out the best way to go from there. Understand that this is not meant to encourage you to complain about mistakes from years past. If you have a problem with the way I'm doing things now, feel free to tell me.
Part the Fourth, or Myth Debunking
There are several reasons that people have mentioned recently as to why AGM is no longer as active as it was. Some of them have merit, and others are simply sour grapes.
MYTH: Rawb/SSR/FP/Justin/Manny/other user ruined AGM
This is silly. one user doesn't kill a site. What has happened is that feuds that have involved at least some of these users (and i'm going to bet no more than half of them are these people's fault) have led to thread-hijacking, which kills discussion.
So then, what did ruin AGM?
Reason 1: The Economy
The economy caused Wikia to fire Dan, Pean, Rob, and Aaron. This meant there was no long a team of devoted users that were improving/maintaining features, and recruiting.
This is a real reason. I know that Dan sent out dozens of recruitment emails a day, and the lack of productive new users is what has really killed this site. Users come and go over time, and they're replaced with newer users. But when there aren't new users that come in and stay, old users leave a gap that isn't filled when they leave.
Reason 2: Discussions suck
Quite frankly, discussions here suck. People no longer are willing to take criticism/debate over what they say. Others can't take a joke, and simply turn what was a good discussion into a thread about why a certain team sucks. This is fine (and natural on a sports site), but if it's going to happen, it has to be either funny or well supported. Making up jibberish is not the proper way to do it. In short, people need to suck it up, and when someone criticizes what they've said (and provides real reasoning for their position), they need to not take it personally. Instead, they should respond to the points the other person made.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again - discussion is what makes blog sites grow. This is more important than the number of articles or the quality of these articles. The reason AGM is supposed to be better than blogger or wordpress is that we have discussions about people's work, and show that we actually read what others have written. People don't want to blog on a site where no one will give a damn about what they have to say.
Part the Fifth, or why I created the "debate" section in case you're too damned lazy to read the post I made about why I did so
The "debate" section was created as a place for users to talk about whatever they wanted so long as it is somewhat related to sports (the threshold for relevance is that it has to be something you might hear at any time of day on one of the ESPN channels, including late weekend nights on ESPN Classic). Users have developed a threshold for what they expect in an article (yes I stole this line from justin - deal with it), and the Lockerroom has never really been a place where sports discussion thrived. The Debate section is meant to be a place where a user can post anywhere from a sentence to a paragraph or two on a subject, and everyone else can talk about the subject.
Now, some of you keep asking me how to find the debate section. It's actually this simple:. If you want to add something to the debate section, go to Create Debate. It's not that hard.
Part the Last, or a possible alternative to the CoC
Before I begin this, I would like to say that the reasoning here is that no one really likes the CoC, and frankly, it was a mediocre attempt by immature admins to provide some guidelines from the site. It's not really working since all that it seems to do is cause people to bitch over who's violating it and who isn't. That being said, here is my solution:
Recognizing that the current Code of Conduct is insufficient and arbitary; and acknowledging that a more situational approach is necessary to ensure fairness; let it be known that from this point forward that AGM should be run as follows:
- Good Faith Clause - When a user whose conduct has been questionable was acting in good faith (ie attempts at humor, getting carried away in a heated discussion, etc), admins should realize this and only warn the user when the behavior continues.
- Don't be a Douche - Users should not use AGM as a site to create drama or to attack other users. If you have a problem with someone, deal with it on your own.
- Conflict of Interest - Admins should not block users for behavior that could have been provoked by said Admin.
- ArmchairGM is a PG-13 site - This means that profanity/questionable content is allowed if used sparingly. Basically, keep it under control and there won't be a problem.
That's it for now, but I'm open to more suggestions.
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I know my credit rating is elite. Don't generalize. It's lame.
Manny knew what he was doing would get him banned. I think he wanted to get banned. KD, you and Manny couldn't take it when people who hadn't "earned" an ego as big as yours dared questioned your opinions.
Arguments are ALWAYS more important than arguers. Remember that.