The place seems more civil today, no?

OK, BYH called his last post on the subject. This is mine.

I'm not going to say I'm stunned and appalled at the turn this thread has taken, because it's the nature of the board, and journalists in general. Somebody's going to take up battle for the minority position. So be it.

But to say there's a little revisionist history going on here would be understating the case. Frank, you know (I hope) that I greatly respect you, but your memory is really, really faulty here. Just speaking for myself, there were periods of time in which I tried to befriend DyePack, agree with him whenever possible. To which, without fail, every time, he'd return a smart-ass, snide reply.

If this was just about "newspaper design," hell, that's small stuff. We just disagree. But the man was consistently combative and rude. His method of debate was to find out how many different ways he could call you a fucktard. (Columbo, wherever you are, learn from his mistakes...)

Did DyePack get banned because he was unpopular? I don't know. I'm as much in the dark as anyone about the straw that broke the camel's back. (Incidentally, I'd never out anybody, but some of you take your fear of that to a scary degree on a site where some choose to actually use their real names.)

I DO know that it doesn't matter as much as the fact that we have a better chance of a thread not breaking down because he throws his special brand of venom into the middle of it.

Those of you who believe that I brought it on myself, that's your opinion, and I doubt I'm going to change your mind. And pallister, maybe your skin is thicker than mine. I hope you don't have it tested on a daily basis.

So, yeah, the place DOES seem more civil today. Sorry, BYH. It does. And I'll be damned if I'll apologize for feeling that way.

 

Goddammit, I missed it all. I hate missing something big and the ensuing secrecy that follows for fear of being banned as well. Dammit.

 

Can anyone safely enlighten the ignorant as to why SportsJournalists.com's most prolific instigator was banned?

 

Sure, Shot, I know he could be an ass. But there are more malevolent assholes here than DyePack. I mean, I do not recall him starting multiple threads for the sole purpose of attacking one person's real-world work. That is more cruel than attacking designers in general and our online personas.

Some of us value our anonymity not so we can write mean things with impunity, but so we can praise people without looking like we're sucking up or angling for a job somewhere. (Although a lot of good it will do either of us for praising the Philly Inky, huh? We'll be neighbors in Del Boca Vista before that one pays off.) So, yeah, I think outing or attempt at it should mean banishment, no exceptions.

 

Tested on a daily basis? Little dramatic, aren't we?

DP could be as annoying and mean-spirited as anyone around here. But he was not that hard to handle. He didn't want to be befriended. He wanted to mix it up. He struck me as the type of person who wanted others to dish it out as well as take it. If he sensed a weakness in that regard, it was like blood in the water. Coming from a family in which I am the youngest of six (including four older brothers), dealing with DP was nothing. And to what extent his banishment had to do with some of SportsJournalists.com's cool kids labeling him a troll, I do not know. But there's no denying it was a factor. Dyepack's attitude is no worse than others who appear regularly on this board, but his beliefs (political and otherwise) made him an easy target.

On the other hand, I don't know much of the board history with DP and others. From a general standpoint, I think he was treated unfairly in the context of the hypocrisy raised by BYH and others. But as for his specific relationships with certain members, I'll leave that alone.

 

Pallister, you obviously don't remember his incarnations as sauronseye, poloponies and pressboxbingo, identities under which he did nothing but viciously attack people and added nothing. As dyepack, he contributed decently for a long stretch, but he started to revert and forced numerous threads to be locked. Y''know, I ain't sure if he should have been banned, but I am sure that he didn't bring himself any leeway and doesn't deserve to be cried over..

 

I just said that I don't know all the history. And I can't argue he didn't make himself a target as well.

 

Who are the SportsJournalists.com cool kids so many speak of? Can we get, like, a definitive list? Because every time I see someone throw that phrase around, I wonder what the hell they're talking about. We don't agree on anything here, except that Albom is a douche. The people I think are cool are loathed by about 50 percent of the posters. Some of the people I can't stand are loved by 50 percent.

Lastly, what I don't care for is the secrecy these things sometimes go down with. When Sandy was banned, it was because he was threatening Webby. We knew that because we got an explanation. If you're going to ban someone like DP, I think it's fair that we know why. Otherwise, we can all just start living in fear, wondering if we're going to be banned for arbitrary reasons.

I'm not particularly comfortable with some of heyabbott's views on race, but he's still one of the more entertaining posters in my opinion. What happens tomorrow if someone decides we're going to ban him? Or Wingman? Or FB? At least make it clear why DP had to go so the rest of us aren't left guessing.

 

I used "cool kids" as a catch-all term for those who are quick to label people trolls over relatively innocuous disagreements (which tends to have a piling-on effect). Of course, they don't all fall into the same clique. Some of them I like, some of them I don't mind and some of them I hope I never meet. I know that doesn't clear anything up, but I don't want to out anyone.

 

he was pressboxbingo also?

didn't know that, though it makes sense.

the artist formerly known as poloponies and sauronseye was in need of a skull fucking.

 

The last site got shut down for less than this.