I'd certainly disagree with the propostion that all MLS owners would or should be given the same benefit of the doubt in any particular situation. They have track records and expecting fans of any team to ignore any owner's track record is wishful thinking at best. If Blank says he'll do something, I believe it. If Precourt or Hauptman says he'll do the same thing, I'll wait until it happens to believe it.
With all due respect, asking Crew fans to put what has transpired over the 14 months 10/2017-12/2018 behind them, is quite a big ask.
I have to say... biased as I might be as a Columbus fan, I don’t think Stanger’s been that out of line. I mean, Austin and Columbus are cats and dogs right now. So if they don’t want him in the Austin forum, that’s reasonable. But in the N&A forum, I have no problem with what he’s said. Discussing Austin’s ownership in an MLS forum is fair game for MLS fans, and last time I checked, Crew fans are MLS fans. We’ve had more experience than anyone dealing with these guys, and sharing what we know is part of the conversation. It’s not our problem if Austin fans don’t want to hear it. I also don’t think his ban from the entire expansion forum is called for. (Although I say that not having seen anything he’s posted anywhere else in there.). But I won’t lose any sleep if he’s shut out of the Austin forum.
You don't seem to understand what you are doing. This is the type of valid post...up until the last line. That is where you go foul, and exactly what you have been doing (as far as I have seen). You know this is a heated issue, but I advised you step back and when posting, do so with less emotion. From what I have read of your posts, that is what those last lines read like - an emotional response rather than a rational debate. In the Crew forum, I think we all understand. But outside the Crew forum is a place to be tempered, and even if it is a big ask, it is an ask from a mod. As I read it, his sardoic-esque quips at the end of multiple posts read as trolling in this heated set of exchanges (and as I noted in this post, above). If those were not to be, he reads very compellingly. As a further note, and something newer members might not understand, Crew fans, in my experience, tend to have a greater knowledge of the happenings of their club than any other set of fans. This goes all the way back to the first season. I've interacted with several Crew fans over the years all the way back to when I first posted, and the continued knowledge is very much the same now as it was then. That, in turn, seems to lead to a greater bond towards the team in comparison with others. And this fiasco reminds me very much of how the Baltimore Colts fans reacted when the Colts moved to Indianapolis. Still, outside of the Crew forum, that reaction needs to have restraint.
So, as a mod, you are saying my forum ban that apparently has no end, is for adding sarcastic opinions at the end of otherwise ok posts. Yes, this has been an emotional issue for me and yes, I have overstepped bounds in response to some posters. I understand and have ratcheted down my responses since opening this insightful thread. If we set up parameters on interaction outside Crew forums that apply to all posters this can be easily overcome. I have no interest in access to any Austin forum, if there even is one. I do have interest in the expansion forum. All I am asking access to expansion threads, or at least a timeframe of when my ban will be over.
You've been around long enough to know that sarcasm can be misinterpreted, and is misinterpreted, particularly when in a heated discussion. As a mod, I appreciate that. I'm sure you know there is no one-size-fits-all. A general rule of thumb is to refrain from sarcasm unless you know the poster/group you are speaking to/with, or you clearly indicate (tag, smilie, etc). Understand you request....at this point, @Sport Billy, do you have anything to add?
Yes: it will remain. To be clear, all Sport Billy can do is request a forum ban. This sort of request gets reviewed by the Super Moderators; we agreed unanimously that the ban was warranted. We were asked by Columbus forum mods to help enforce (via bans) the right of Crew fans to ensure their home boards were a "protected" space for them. We did so. And we insist on the same courtesy elsewhere in the MLS fora. EDIT: I see the last two posts, one which is rational. Keep in mind, you consciously resisted requests to tone it down for months, so it may be weeks or months before access is restored. We'll see.
I resisted because Billy was ambiguous as to the reasoning for the ban and seemed to be targeting me and ignoring obvious trolling, as we saw from the poster that found this thread through a search. When pressed, instead of explaining why it was a forum ban instead of a thread ban, billy got more defensive and refused to respond.
Not really, I've explained to him why he was banned. He went as far as to post info from other websites to try to "prove" Austin wasn't an MLS despite no one's assertion it was. It was textbook trolling. He hung out bait hoping for someone to bite. He was infracted. He continued to go into the Austin forum and trash the potential team and owner. A quick search will reveal the number of reported posts I received regarding his conduct. He was banned. He then wanted to argue the ban. When that didn't work, he then wanted to argue to permanency of the ban. Basically, he was warned in the threads about his conduct. He continued. He was infracted. He continued. He was banned. Then he was shocked as to why. Then he started harassing me by tagging me in other threads and telling other posters that I was going to ban them. He worthless. He is here to troll and harass only. I don't want him in expansion, and if it were my decision, I'd ban him permanently from BS altogether. Harassing a moderator because he took action he warned you numerous times he was going to take if behavior continued. Ridiculous. There's no place for it here.
So we are clear, while stanger was having this thread, he was also complaining about his ban in the Austin hate thread and saying "Maybe you can lobby @Sport Billy to let me back in the Austin forum " in the stadium thread. He want's to act as if he is not trolling, but when the hate thread was started, he stated: "Actually, we should leave this guy in here. It's the only place I am allowed to ask the morons questions" The "morons" was referring to Austin fans.
This all seems rather precious coming from a moderator, I must say. Listen, you have a remarkably short fuse, and a policy that went from zero to WAY beyond USWNT News & Analysis in no time at all. (And for the record, that latter forum is now significantly less touchy, by miles)
By infracted, do you mean carded? I don’t remember being carded. I probably would have left if carded.
My post from a different website was a screen cap from mls.com that did not show Austin as an mls club, refuting Austin being acknowledged by mls at that time. Actually it was fanatics, not mls.com. And the morons I was referring to was the trolls from Austin that didn’t want to hear anything negative about their owner. And I only continued to tag you because you wouldn’t explain why refuting an erroneous claim with actual proof.
Come to think of it, I didn't get carded either. I got a PM linking me to the offending post (which I naturally could not follow, because it was deleted) containing "Inappropriate Language". Some short time later, boom. It's hard to know what's expected when one can't discover what it was that ran afoul (and like most people, I don't memorize or take screenshots of my every post for comparison).
Did you read Ismjte's post? That explains the decision, fully. An "infraction" is a warning with points added. Above a certain number of points over a certain period, you will earn a card. Cards are typically the result of multiple infractions (or severe violations of TOS, such as socks). "Morons" is trolling language. I understand this, and it is a fair point. Did you ask what your deleted post said? We typically can go back and provide you what you said (including a screen cap), but we will not undelete a post.
Yes, I did. I responded to the PM. Then maybe there should be another solution that perhaps doesn't require doing such silly things as a screen cap.
I didn’t call them morons on a thread they had access to. Where do I see if I had points added or deleted? I’ve been posting here 10+ years and had no idea that’s how it works. I guess there wasn’t any reason for me to pay attention until now?
Agreed. It is annoying for us, too. This has me confused. No worries - click on your username and you'll see something like this: You should see "warnings" for your infractions between "information" and "media." (as will everybody who has warnings/infractions).
I called the posters that were trolling the Crew threads morons in the thread they were banned from posting in. I rarely click on my profile. It would have been nice to be told I had received an infraction and pointed in that direction. I remember being told not to troll, which I didn’t think a picture clearly proving Austin not being listed as an official MLS team was. I’m more than a little surprised billy wants me banned from the entire site.