Free at last!!! Richie Fired

[Ex-hippie]

I think it's a nice pickup for the Yankees. He can still produce as a situational hitter against lefties, and he'll be helped by the more favorable park. I can't help thinking he'll benefit from escaping the negativity as well.

[jenn_gp]

Good points, Hippie.

BTW..since Larbrd doesn't appear to come in here I have to ask..what the F is going on in our Sonics forum? Sweez (or any other mods), if you can read this please address the issue of the poster by the name of "altonstevens." He has been banned three times and is previously known as "Larbrd33," "Kane2111," and "MattTorgenrud." How is this person able to create so many accounts? How many e-mails can one person have?

This is getting old.

[Ex-hippie]

I guess you can keep signing up for e-mail accounts on Yahoo or Hotmail or Gmail all day.

I see he has added the "sock puppet" strategy to his arsenal. Just lovely.

Seems to me, the Sonics board is dying, and Lar/Kane/Matt/alton is doing his best to hasten it, with help from not-quite-trolls like Urban Zealot. Just sad all around.

[jenn_gp]

^Completely agree. It's really unfortunate.

If we are going to let people like LarBrd ruin our board, we might as well let go of it all together. Close it down. Don't give him the satisfaction of making it worse. No one has been going there lately.

It's kind of hard to tell if the forum is dying or if it's just cause of the off-season. The board always seems somewhat quiet during the summer.

[Sweezo]

Sexson actually addresses a need for the Yankees. How about that...constructing a bench using players suited to a role where you have a weakness, and doing so with other teams on the hook for paying the majority of the contract. Far better tactic than have a bunch of catchers and middle infielders clogging up the roster, right?

BTW..since Larbrd doesn't appear to come in here I have to ask..what the F is going on in our Sonics forum? Sweez (or any other mods), if you can read this please address the issue of the poster by the name of "altonstevens." He has been banned three times and is previously known as "Larbrd33," "Kane2111," and "MattTorgenrud." How is this person able to create so many accounts? How many e-mails can one person have?

Trust me when I say I'm doing everything I can as quickly as I can. Everyone knows what's going on...

And I understand the frustration about him basically trying to kill it off. Just wait him out...I'm not ready to give up on that board just because of a troll.

[jenn_gp]

Do you recommend we not post in there for a little while? What can I do to help?

I dont want to see our forum die. But honestly, if this is going to continue, I'd rather put everyone out of their misery.

It appears lately as if you, Hippie, and I are the only regulars who are posting. Maybe if we not frequent that forum for a few days, he will quit. Or am I just being niave?

What a f'n turd.

[Ex-hippie]

It appears lately as if you, Hippie, and I are the only regulars who are posting.

Which is ironic because I believe you and I are the ones who have most explicitly sworn off the NBA for good. (Although it's hardly an NBA forum anymore... it's devolved into a "who are you, Kane?" forum.)

No idea what to do. If an interesting topic comes up, I'll try to add my two cents. Otherwise I got nothin' for the board. For now, it doesn't make sense to give Kane the attention he craves. Unfortunately that's the only thing happening on the board these days.

[jenn_gp]

Which is ironic because I believe you and I are the ones who have most explicitly sworn off the NBA for good.

Yeah. I'll admit, I've only been going into our forum because I miss chatting with you guys. That's the only reason why I've hung around. I have no desire to follow the OKC team and SL games. I've always said over the past couple of months that it's this Sonic team or nothing, and I have sort of changed my mind a bit given the end result.

I will miss NBA basketball, no doubt about it. I hate Stern and everything Clay Bennett stands for. Neither were supportive of the Seattle fan base throughout this whole ordeal. Why should I continue to follow a league that doesn't support me? Over the past few weeks, I can't find the answer to that question, but I still end up making my way here to chat.

I will no doubt follow a new team, IF they are named the Sonics. I'd prefer expansion, but that doesn't seem possible. If we get another city's franchise, I hate to say this, but I will support them. Having NO team has really changed my perspective. The phrase "you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone" has really hit home for me.

And yes, I am mad at myself for that. It's just a weird feeling though, not having the Sonics around.

EDIT: I apologize for hijacking the Richie thread. You may now resume the discussion.

PS...Thanks Sweez for booting altonstevens!

[Basketball Jesus]

Obviously not being from the Seattle area and having never felt the pang of losing a sports team (although I did get a bit misty-eyed over the loss of the hated Whalers), I can’t imagine how you guys must feel. As a fan of basketball, however, it angers me to no end what happened to the Sonics. With all this posturing by Congress over the evils of steroids, to allow something as devious as that to happen without some sort of intervention or even chastisement…we live in such a (Please Use More Appropriate Word) society.

[bennith13]

I have been gone for the last week so I missed all of the fun with the OKC poster known as Kane. I really would hope that the Sonics forum would stay active. I think that is important for us to keep posting about issues, maybe about what we can/should do to get a new team. Plus it would be sad if I couldn't talk to all of you guys about basketball anymore.

[Sweezo]

Yeah, really, I've just hung around because of the people. I've also been one of those who swore off the NBA (and so far so good...only reason I know anything NBA related is when someone posts it on the Sonics board). I hope people stay around as long as possible.

P.S. Today is a Kane-free day over on the Sonics board...

[Ex-hippie]

While we're on the subject of who posts how much, and where -- and since we have a boatload of mods in this thred -- I'd like to point out that the realgm site is painfully slow on Explorer, which is what I have to use at the office. It makes me a lot less inclined to come here. Like 30 seconds just to load a page; seriously, it feels like an effort just to check out a forum and read a few threads. At home with Firefox it's faster, though still kind of slow. It has gotten worse since the format change, I believe. This is part of why I don't post as often as I used to.

I know there's a separate forum for suggestions... maybe I'll take this over there. (I did poke around to see if it's been asked, and didn't find anything.) Meantime, is anyone else having the same experience as I am?

[Basketball Jesus]

While we're on the subject of who posts how much, and where -- and since we have a boatload of mods in this thred -- I'd like to point out that the realgm site is painfully slow on Explorer, which is what I have to use at the office. It makes me a lot less inclined to come here. Like 30 seconds just to load a page; seriously, it feels like an effort just to check out a forum and read a few threads. At home with Firefox it's faster, though still kind of slow. It has gotten worse since the format change, I believe. This is part of why I don't post as often as I used to.

I know there's a separate forum for suggestions... maybe I'll take this over there. (I did poke around to see if it's been asked, and didn't find anything.) Meantime, is anyone else having the same experience as I am?

I have and, sadly, it has also affected my desire to post on the boards as frequently as I used to. I just can't wait the minute it takes for a single page to load on Explorer. And navigation's been a bitch, too.

[sunshinekids99]

While I'm no Mariners fan I'm really happy that Sexson is gone now. That means my buddy LaHair finally gets a chance to play with the big club.

[Ex-hippie]

Yeah I saw that Lahair was called up. I think they should make him the 1B the rest of the season. He's a marginal prospect, but he can't be any worse than Miguel Cairo, so they should give him a chance to show something.

[Basketball Jesus]

Free Dennis Raben!

[Ex-hippie]

Free Dennis Raben!

Wow, that's quick.

[Basketball Jesus]

I'd rather start the wagon than jump on it as it rolls past.

[PhilipNelsonFan]

But Raben's only hitting .500 in low-A ball. The Mariners need to completely overhaul his swing before he can even think about the big leagues.