Hi Folks,
I knew I should have locked this post as soon as I'd written it...
My sincere apologies if my recents posts about deleting posts and banning users has gone overboard. That could well be true. I'm trying to write a book on the history of Roller Hockey International, and my patience has worn very thin trying to deal with the constant interruptions of lawsuit threats and flame wars on IHC's Forums section.
I find it ironic that OldTimer is the one to call me out, as I have not particularly noticed his (her?) posts as problematic. Perhaps I'd better go over the record.
OldTimer, here's my response to your post, point by point:
>1. Richard, you might be a nice enough guy, <
That's your first mistake...
>but you, by far, must run the most censored and threatening board I've ever been a part of.<
At least IHC is number one in something.
>Ban me if you want,<
As I said, I wasn't considering banning you. Why do you have such a guilty conscience?
>but the level of censorship and babysitting on this forum is ridiculous.<
Hmmm... I looked at the list of banned posters yesterday and was surprised at how few people had ever been banned on IHC. "Censorship" is a loaded word. I've explained many times that this is a private site, and censorship doesn't really apply. My first interest is in the survival of this site, and if certain posts or threads by readers are likely to draw lawsuits, I'd rather pull the offending posts than put my livelihood on the line.
It's obvious to me that you don't know who is threatening threatening lawsuits against IHC's readers, and it's not RHA. I have my own issues with some of the people who make up RHA, and they'd be the first to tell you that I'm not all that "nice" a guy. I try to deal with everyone fairly, but when I feel I'm treated unfairly, I let people know it, with emphasis.
> What's the point of this board? <
The point of the Forums section is to have a civil, wide-ranging discussion of issues facing the sport, as well as a place to make jokes, find tournaments to play in, discuss equipment to buy, etc. For the most part, the Forums do that job very well, and have done so since I started IHC in January 1998. What do YOU think is the point?
> Would you rather everyone kiss the RHA's butt in every post? Seriously. Without some arguments and discussion, you don't have a board. <
Hmmm... I think that there has been an extremely wide-ranging discussion of RHA on the IHC Forums section, on both sides of the issue. There have been thousands of posts on IHC over the years, and very few have been deleted or "censored," percentage-wise.
> It's no secret why participation here is so low: <
I'm pretty pleased with reader participation on IHC. What am I missing? Should there be more teenagers bashing each other, as I once saw on another similar site?
Actually, over the years, I've learned that there are far more people who don't post on IHC because of vicious personal attacks and immature posters than people who don't participate because of "censorship."
> 1. Any time you want to discuss something, the "powers to be" jump down your throat. <
Counting the posts on IHC versus those deleted, that's a silly statement.
> 2. There's obvious favoritism. <
Toward whom? Show me a pattern and I'll be astounded, as I dislike everyone in the sport equally.
> 3. You threaten to censor and/or ban anyone who makes a comment you don't like. <
Hardly. There are hundreds and thousands of comments that I don't agree with or dislike, many made by long-time posters and newbies alike. You'll just have to take my word for that, because I don't know how I'd prove that to you, but I think that most IHC readers would agree that I bend over backwards to be fair to all. If you create a poll (one of the many options available to you on this site) as to whether I am biased one way or another, I would be quite surprised if a decent percentage of IHC's readers could determine whom I'm supposedly biased toward.
> Seriously, Richard, lighten up.<
I think that the majority of my posts are friendly and fun and encourage participation. Perhaps you are projecting.
>Like I said, you can ban me if you'd like,<
Again, I think thou dost protest too much.
> but unless you let people -- oh, I don't know -- discuss stuff on here (including controversial stuff), participation here is just going to further diminish. <
Traffic has increased on IHC fairly steadily over the past couple of years.
> Ban the people who cuss and make personal attacks, but stop threatening to censor and ban people who are giving you honest opinions, arguments, and are leading discussions on topics that otherwise will be completely one-sided and little more than "Oh, I think that's wonderful." <
Thanks, I'll take that into consideration...
By the way, I put my name on all of my posts. Why do you remain anonymous? Don't you have the courage of your convictions?
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Originally Posted by OldTimer
) and for over 25 years have travelled extensively thoughout the world (over 43 countries and counting) actually playing, promoting and assisting in the organizing of events and cultural exchanges that are primarily grounded in the sports of ice and inline hockey. I've seen all kinds of INCREDIBLY GOOD, INCREDIBLY BAD and INCREDIBLY CORRUPT federation and sport officials almost everywhere I've played-&-stayed. Generally, the rule has been that anywhere there's a GOOD and FORWARD-thinking individual who's getting things done in their own time and place, there's also inevitably either an NGB or currupt official bureaucracy that they've unfortunately had to work over, around, against or in spite of. THIS is where I get my own personal "need for clarity" about 'how' things get done. I HATE seeing GOOD hard-working people being snowed or taken advantage of by anyone and I'll do my best to "kick the tires" of any new "elixer" salesman's 'vehicle' that rolls into the neighborhood -- as ANY of you would absolutely have the right to "kick the tires" of MY vehicle if I roll into town selling a "cure-all" for what might ail y'all (NOT to be confused with what might AIHL y'all, BTW
) been to or played in. Besides my own player experiences, I've learned a lot about our sport from the considerable marketing research (both published by others and that which was commissioned by my company) and my own day-in/day-out involvement with the game. And yes, I have my own ideas about what might work and what doesn't (or hasn't) worked in our sport. And no-one has the right to say or expect that I have to "prove it" to them by "volunteering" what certain others reading would otherwise profit off of and would otherwise have to pay for. MY business is MY business. MY opinions are just that: MY opinions. And I'll NOT divulge important, expensive and proprietary "business" strategy or plans simply to placate an immature ranter's demands. It's that simple.
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