Ban Me. Eh, you don't even need to waste your time...

I've been here with you almost as long as any other regular contributor (I think Davis and Justin have me beat, and KD i think has me beat when he's actually around). We've had our fights, our shared battles, and you put up with me during the ego trip that was my freshman year (when Tyrone et al arrived). We've had some relatively interesting conversations about things over the past few years, and we've been on opposite sides of flame wars.

The difference, imo, between rivalry banter/fun and being obnoxious is a fine line, but a distinguishable one nonetheless. If in the Paul O'Neill article, you were to have been like "Brady's past his peak, pats have no running game and no D, and Moss isn't going to work as hard anymore so the pats are done. Cardinals are the future of the NFL blahblahblah" that would have been great. I would have done a bit of research to make sure i knew what i was talking about when i talked about the cardinals, and I would have written back "The cards have no QB and play in the shitfest that is the NFC West - Pats were 11-5 last year without arguably their best player in a harder division and in a harder conference. The pats are still the team to beat blahblahblah" and it could have gone from there. That's how discussion works.

The difference between what you did and the situation I described is that you decided to spew bullshit (which you knew was bullshit at the time) and simply insist that everyone who likes the pats is a bandwagon fan without any reason to it whatsoever.

Originality, production, etc. come from discussion. I remember some of the earliest articles I wrote were absolutely terrible, and everyone (yourself included) told me so. I took the criticism to heart, and made sure next time that my article was slightly less shitty. This process repeated itself over and over again. Sites like this thrive because of actual discussion. Articles are good, but without comments, it's as if you're posting it to some random site on blogger.

People (myself included) have enjoyed Heywood Jablowme's comments because this user has been willing to say "you are dumb for xyz reasons - here's why". They're not merely throwing names around, they're actually defending their shit.

Manny, the problem we have with you is that you spew such utter bullshit, and then you throw a hissy fit (like this) when we call you out on it. The solution isn't to leave, it's to actually put some damn effort into being funny/trash talk. Stating "the pats haven't been a playoff team in 2 calendar years therefore they suck" is A) extremely misleading; B) A non-sequitor; and C) there's no attempt in it to encourage discussion. You used to be funny when you would talk smack about other teams, but not only has that passed, you've become hypocritical by disowning the suns now that they're no longer competitive.

Manny, I've defended you time after time, just as you've done for me. Hell, I've even been willing to give your ideas a chance when i've vehemently opposed them (ie Tyrone, which was a great call on your part). Try and meet us half way, and we'll do our best to return the favor.

• Drama queen
• Who has ever cared about minuses? And why does it matter so damned much what people on this dying website think of you?
• I actually thought HeywoodJablome was one of your aliases this whole time
• You're right, you probably have done more for the site than anybody else
• I don't know why you start flamewars and bail like this when they don't go your way
• If you leave, it's nothing the founders and 90% of the users haven't already done
• You make like the quality of the site will decline without you, but is there really any room left for decline without it becoming a 404 error?
• Nobody wants to face the fact that AGM peaked 2 and a half years ago and will never be back there again
• Part of that is my fault, for letting the initial Jay the Joke incident sour me on the site, and then for moving on to other sites. And I'm sorry
• AGM existed in some before you or even me, and it can continue to exist in some form without us. Wikia paid for it, anyway, and they'll at least do something with it. No single user is bigger than the site

We're not going to ban you Manny. Not at all. I think so far the community reaction is perfect for enlightening you.

You must be expecting that every article you write, every comment you post, and every joke you make is supposed to get laughs, praise, and pats on the back. That's the way is used to be 2 1/2 years ago. It's 2009. I'm going to use your phrase "STOP LIVING IN THE PAST". It's 2009 and there are users that will disagree with you and call you out on your BS. Instead of defending your statement and leaving it at that, you have to make it into a name-calling assault in which you question whether or not that person knows which sport they're talking about. We can think for ourselves and therefore can have a completely different opinion than yours.

You are not the be all and end all of ArmchairGM like you pretend to be. You never shaped this site into what it is today. That would belong to the founders. You going into your typical Brett Favre retirement is not going to make us cry or beg for you to return. No way.

This isn't your playground. For the longest while you've been spewing rigmarole down our throats and eventually many of us got tired of it. What you call "fun", we call "obnoxiousness", and frankly, I'm tired of it. And judging by the above comments, so are others.

Get off your high horse and stop thinking you're better than us. If you want to be accepted again then please don't turn into Joe Morgan or John Madden and treat us as if we've never seen the game before. Because Manny, that's what I'm interpreting that this entire locker room post is about. That without you, we would die. Who else would do this time and time again, comeback, then repeat the process?

I'll make it simpler for you: Your schtick is getting old and not everyone is willing to play your games.

If you want to leave then fine. We'll move on. If not, then change your attitude towards others and quit your flaming. It's teetering to being more irritating than when Jamel was here.

A year passed. And it was none other than Manny who petitioned for my return. The community by and large agreed and allowed me back into the fold. Sure, a few out there were skeptical. I took no offense. I understood the deal. And I continue to do so. I have not posted either comments or articles as much as the past. Times have changed and free time has dwindled for such projects. But when time does permit, I do enjoy contributing here and there. And I have greatly appreciated the warm welcome back. Thank you to all for that.

Times are tough on all of us. Sometimes situations escalate beyond our original and best intentions. These message boards can become awfully personal as we get to know each other beyond anonymous "user names". We learn what makes each other tick. We are humans after all. Relationships build up over time and we learn the good, the bad and ugly of everyone.

As of late, I have been a source of irritation elsewhere. That is not the problem of this community. And it is in the process of being handled as I type. It is a good community as well. Just like this one. I see parallels in some ways between that situation and this one.

It is my hope that cooler heads here will prevail. Despite the struggles of AGM, the site has endured. The remaining admins here have held this site together with MacGyverism-like duct tape and chewing gum. They should be commended. Thanks FP and Cheezer and the others for your hard work. Just as importantly, other contributors of all walks of life have wandered here and made it a home of sorts. We are roommates so to speak. And it will not always be happy communal crowd.

This week, my work led me to helping a family deal with a serious health situation. Ultimately, it resulted in a young lady (not old enough to drive) to have a 2 lb tumor removed from her abdomen. The cost and ordeal of the matter was staggering. In a heart beat, her family was turned into turmoil. Life can throw a huge curveball to anyone.

Why do I share this? I don't know for sure. But sometimes we take the rather trivial and trite far too serious. Certainly, I do. And the bigger picture gets lost in the shuffle.

When it is all said and done, all we have to remember is our relationships with each other. Those events can be either positive or negative. Certainly life brings about enough negativity. It is a dark place to fester. And I have been there myself for far too long. It is lonely and isolating.

I can only speak for myself. But I need to learn to actively choose making a positive connection versus a negative ordeal.

Maybe this is just a prolonged self-indulgent ramble. But I consider everyone here a friend despite moments of conflicting opinion. And if I truly "hated" AGM as stated many moons ago, why would I return? We have all read similar type posts here in the Locker Room before. I have done the same as Manny. And many of us have done likewise. And yet for the most part, we all return. And by and large, the community always accepts such members of self-pronounced exile back into the fold.

I am not absolutely certain what brought on this recent spat. And for me, it really does not matter. But AGM is a better place with Manny Stiles. It is a better place when we are all making a positive contribution. It is easy to tear someone day. Sadly, I am very skilled at doing such. We all have our demons. We all have our moments of shame. Time can heal all wounds. And hopefully this too will pass and we can move forward. Restoring this site to higher participation is what should matter most. In sports, we say the "name on the front is more important than the name on the back". I think we all acknowledge that must apply here as well.

So if this truly Manny's last moment here, I want to thank him again for helping generate "my return" to AGM. And I want to thank everyone else for the second chance.

I hope everyone has a nice Memorial Weekend. Remember life is short. Don't forget to smell the flowers while along for the journey. And above all else, remember that sites such as AGM are supposed to be fun. I forgotten about that myself. And I thank a particular dude out there for reminding me.

Davis' comment pretty much nailed it for me, so I won't waste anyone's time with my opinion on this, however, something needs to be said nonetheless.

I was a full time (and exclusive) Armchair member/devotee from December of 2006 until October 2008. My reason for leaving was not because of the deterioration of the site, but because someone else offered to pay me. Simple enough decision to make, right?

There were times when this site was the best sports blog out there, bar none. There were also times when JaytheJoke and FireJoeMorgan were actually credible compared to the 'Chair. Just like sports themselves, it's all cyclical. Armchair is just in a down cycle now, the founders have left, the new members now writing here couldn't pass a fourth grade writing test.

But that's understandable. My problem with this site in general has been with the people already here. (Not calling anyone out here, just making my point). False Prophet, SSReporters, Rawbee....look at the "leader boards", it's easy to see who contributes by writing articles and who is a commenter. The best sports blogs/sites are driven by the articles, not the comments. (And please don't give the "I have school, I found a job" excuses, if you have time to comment, you have time to write).

I've met Manny. Yes, he is different. So what. He's a good dude. And his writing style, based on actually being a professional writer is, quite frankly, over the heads of most everyone here. You all take offense to what he says half the time because you don't understand what he is saying. Half the time your collective problems with Manny are in your mirror.

Tyrone's comment pretty much says the same thing. Their differences stemmed not from personality conficts (how can you have a personal conflict from someone you've never met?), but from misunderstanding a statement or point.

Let me ask you all a question. If you and Manny were sitting next to each other at a bar (OK, juice bar, since the majority of Armchair users can't get into a real bar) and he said to you exactly what he said in a comment, would you feel the same?

If you said yes, then Manny isn't the problem, you are. Without facial expressions, without voice tone, without enviornment, it isn't possible to read content into anything. And it's one thing to READ a comment, it's something entirely different to COMPREHEND it.

Is Manny wrong in this? Sure, but not intentionally. Is everyone else? Yes, and I do believe intentionally. Manny said so himself, and I had similar issues here too, people will comment to the WRITER more than the article or comment. As soon as someone sees "Manny Stiles" they go into attack mode.

It's a two way street kids, each coming with their own right of way. Manny doesn't own Armchair (yet), and neither do any of you.

No you don't, because you partake in it here every day. The whole site is drama, which is kind of Manny's point, (and Tyrone's and Davis').

On a personal level, my reason for contributing less has been unrelated to the lack of activity or down cycle or whatever you have to call it. And it's not because I don't like the contributors here. Like I said, I like everybody. I'm weird that way.

I'm not sure why I'm saying this here, but I felt like it needed to be said.

Bla bla bla whine whine whine whah whah whaaa! Someone call the Whaaaaambulance. How many times have I told You just aren't cut out for the internet - plus you're far too damn ugly for TV and for that matter; radio, hearsay or even telegraph.

Sad. Just sad. AGM deserves a better fate than to be turned into a three moron comment snorefest.

And yeah, I am comparing you to Brett Favre. Someone who was once great, now sucks, and doesn't realize he's no longer got "it." This is the 3rd or 4th time that you've retired (always with a dramatic speech) only to troll around and return. Nobody banned you, not even for a second. But some Boston fan upset you, so you threw a tantrum, took your ball and went home. But nobody was at home to help you convince yourself that you're awesome. And nobody here was that upset that you were gone. So you came back and plussed your own comments.

I tried to help you too many times. You treat positive contributors like enemies. You treat original concepts like it's a disease. You shun and degrade people who would probably CONTRIBUTE more if it weren't for your meaningless "holier than thou" semantics and worn prejudgements. You don't do it just to me. You have sucked the life out of this site with your infantile jealousies instead of CONTRIBUTING positively.

Do you guys even read what you post?

I feel sincerely ashamed for people like Cheezer and Romiezzo that bust their asses to keep this site organized, useful and functional only to have dipshits like you lame morons that jackoff to site scout because you have no other FUNCTION than to criticize talented writers and thoughtful commentors into dust. Romi and Cheez deserve a real award for putting up with it...

Call me drama, call me a troll, go into a tizzy everytime you see my name, call me whatever you need to to make yourselves feel better about your own lame lives. I did more publicity for this site and gave more positive contributions and added REAL sports knowledge to more conversations than all of you combined ever will.

I don't need to say I think "I'm better than you" because I know exactly what my motives are - to GIVE, not take. I produce, not consume. Call me what you will, say what you gotta... but it just proves EXACTLY why this site now sucks as much as it does.

Tell you what? Go recruit some users that can kiss your ass 24/7 and give you pats on the back whilst nodding their heads in agreement to everything you say like brainwashed animals and then you can come back.

We'll buy AGM from Wikia, give you fell ownership and then redesign the entire site to be revolved around YOU, so you can be guaranteed to be fed attention like the narcissistic ass you've been for months.

Every Friday at a fixed time, all of the users will meet in the locker room section for the "Bow Down to My Sheer Awesomeness" thread, and give you compliments about how much you've done and how important you are to the world.

Minuses would be allowed to everyone except you, because you don't care about minuses REGARDLESS of the countless times you bring up the fact that you've been minused.

Anyone who DARE criticize or question anything you say or do will be banned for a lifetime and shall be crowned "A know-nothing loser" by you.

BTW- What have you done in the last three months besides help push me out of here??

You never left, you're never leaving by yourself, and you know that.

The world doesn't revolve around you, and neither does AGM. Back in the winter, AGM was on life support. You were on some sort of absence, and somehow AGM revived itself. Without you. It's back on life support, but whether you're here or not isn't the lone deciding factor in AGM's survival.

At times, you're a very good contributor. You write articles that people like, you start debates, and so on. But you also try to end debates by calling people "gay" or by dismissing opinions that don't jive with your own. You're drama.

How did this latest tantrum start? Some new user made fun of you and you lost your cool. You tried turning all of AGM against him (including a weird "defense" of one of my posts), but when nobody rallied to your support, you turned into Drama Stiles.

Nobody's trying to ban you. Nobody's conspiring against you. But nobody's going to beg you to stay. You keep mentioning Cheezer and Romi. Maybe they want to avoid this drama? Ever thought of that? And instead of blaiming people like me, SSR, FP, and JuT for this drama, maybe you should see who posted this particular Lockerroom topic.