I need a big, stiff drink. Excuse me for a few minutes!!
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif)
THERE, I FEEL MUCH BETTER!!
Plain and simple, Tom and I have been working all day to run charges on credit cards, test the new online draft room, appear on SiriusXM, finish up the NFFC site and many other items we need to check off. It's been one of the most productive days of the off-season. But these message boards have become toxic, poisonous, cancerous and even worse. We don't have the time to police these boards day and night and yet a couple of owners have taken it upon themselves to just dominate them and ridicule everyone in the way.
We'd had it. We tried to ban those who were killing the boards and possibly our contest. They certainly were taking the life out of me, I'll admit that. And just to prove that we've never, ever banned anyone from our boards before, we banned one person and it linked everyone to that ban. We panicked. I hollered. I swore. I blamed my side-kick. I kicked everything near my side. I swore like never before, and believe me when I say LIKE NEVER BEFORE. I thought we had killed our lifeblood.
As luck would have it, the guys in IT looked into the situation, saw what had happened and restored our lifeblood. We know how to ban someone now if needed and we are going to do it. No one or two people are bigger than our contest or bigger than anyone else. Play the games then, but learn how to post. Or better yet, read the boards. We have no place for this crap.
So we apologize to everyone for having emails go out to all our Message Board users that you were Permanently Banned from the Boards. We weren't trying to ban everyone, just one or two. And we almost killed everything.
I feel like a dad running pre-school at times. No, that would be more fun. We have a SNAKE on our hands and I'll be damned if we'll go down that path again. These boards are our promotional vehicle and our connection to our players and potential new players. We own them and we can decide who has the PRIVILEGE of using them. And if we don't thing you deserve that privilege then we'll ban you. Easy as that (well, not so easy as I take another drink from my STIFF mix). If you can't behave, you can't play. So be warned.
So that's our story. We apologize for what happened. We cost ourselves an hour of signups, but we're alive to talk about it. I'll be damned if we ever reach these depths again. I have no time to delete dozens of posts anymore, so deleting one account will have to suffice. Sorry for the blackout of the boards for 75 minutes, but life has been restored. Thankfully.
Now back to the signups. Pitchers & Catchers have reported today. Isn't that what we should be talking about? YES!! LET THE GAMES BEGIN.
Thanks all. You really are a community of competitors and a community of friends. We have something special here. Don't ever let me forget it...even in those dark (blackout) days.