Staff Changes.

[UnderDogX]

actually, the site is the ball and nobody's taking it anywhere....thankfully.

well with that i actually meant the ball as in people's contributions to the site but you knew where i was going with it

[Derek21]

I really agree with M. about things. This is a message board. Bottom line: DM (Brad) decided to make changes. He runs the site. I know those decisions were not easy for him to make. Not everyone is going to agree. But it should be respected.

I enjoyed the contributions of all the former mods. They all brought something to the table and made this place more interesting. That's why I am hopeful that Hasan, RoughDraft and Rock all return and make posts.

I have noticed Red still making posts. I'm glad to see that cause he is a solid contributor to this site.

I love ya Sheeps. You have always been one of my favorite posters. So I am not going to kill ya for what you said. If that's how you feel, you're entitled to it. I wish you would stay. I think it's like sundstrom said. There might be some posters who stir the pot and can get underneath people's skin. No regular poster is being forced to read their posts. I think the ultimate dilemma with what happened was the mods had to read every thread and posts that were made. So, they became directly involved, which is kind of tough. I have heard there were warnings and such to respective posters. I am not sure if the people involved ever got suspended. Maybe they should have.

A few years ago, I got suspended for going too far and learned a valuable lesson. I remember some posters coming to my aid about it and actually got the suspension reduced. Either way, I was intent on serving it out. Eventually a couple of you convinced me to return a little early. In any event, I think that is a perfect example of why I like this place so much. Because you can earn people's respect and also respect their opinions.

Maybe that's what didn't happen here. Either way, I wish there could be some kind of closure. This place is too good for this to continue. I still enjoy coming here. I bet there are still many other posters who feel the same way.

[Nature's Minister]

this thread went from moderately interesting to really interesting to something that kind of makes you feel queasy if you think too much about it all in the span of like three pages

[Jerrydevil]

Where's Kyydax? I miss that guy.

[sheeps]

First of all, I apologize for the manner in which I presented my case. For the record, RD never told me she was specifically asked to leave by DM.

My reasoning that she was asked to leave is thus: each admin stripped of their title outside of RD was let go without a given reason. RD, on the other hand, was given reasons why her title was stripped. These reasons come down to fundamental differences of opinion, differences of opinion I don't think could be easily resolved with RD on the board period.

This forum was presented with a choice of taking the path of most resistance - by disciplining or banning posters even for small amounts of rule-breaking - or taking the path of least resistance - by relieving certain more hands-on admins of their titles. RD, as well as some other admins, always took the path of most resistance. She would correct problems as soon as they showed up. And I didn't see any favoritism; wouldn't she have ignored me when I said something wrong or did something wrong in the past? Well, she didn't. A case of rule-breaking was a case of rule-breaking, period.

RD was, by far, the most prevalent admin. She would handle more problems than any other admin - and this is not to say that the other admins did nothing, far from it. Each of them contributed greatly, of course, it's just RD was the one who contributed the most. Did DM explicitly ask RD to leave? No. I apologize if it came off like that. But there's something to say for the fact she was the only one given reasons on why she was stripped of her title. For the other admins, it was more being relieved - just as Rock worded it - of a title than being stripped of a title. If I were in her shoes and I were given a list of reasons why I was being stripped of a title, I would take it as being asked to leave the forum period. That's just me. I apologize if you disagree, I apologize with the wording, I apologize for any miscommunication or semantics.

However, I firmly believe DM didn't even think there was a 1% chance of RD returning after he stripped her of her title. I think it was clear to DM before he did what he did that, if he did what he did, RD would never come back. And that's what happened. I think the cases with the other admins were completely different - Rowdy's still here, for instance. I think there's a chance that one or more of them will come back. But with RD, I'd doubt it. And that sucks.

[sheeps]

To respond to a bunch of other things:

1 - Leeds

I'm going to leave. I'm not going to post outside this thread. I know you're in a rush to see me gone, but don't worry, I'll be gone soon.

2 - Fickle posters

Throughout the years, the majority of posters thanked RD endlessly for what she did. The trade tickers, the avatars, the double-post deletions, the game threads, all the behind-the-scenes work, everything. When you think about what she has done for this site, it is ENORMOUS. And yet, when she leaves, the majority of people shrug their shoulders. And to those who don't, such as I, they accuse of taking it all too seriously.

For the record, I'm not trying to win an argument. If I was, why would I be leaving? I firmly believe a more hands-on approach to this board is what it needs, but that's not what's happening, so I'm leaving.

The fact is it shows a great amount of disrespect and apathy when you just shrug your shoulders to RD leaving. To pat RD on the back one minute and then shrug your shoulders when she leaves is despicable, as if she did nothing for this board and didn't matter. What a crock of sh!t. Everyone who has been at this board for a good amount of time (specifically a year or more) would know how important RD was to NJDevs.

How amazingly fickle some of you are is disgusting.

3 - Real life vs. internet

Guess what folks? Real people created the internet, real people power the internet, and when you're talking to people online, you're talking to real people. It is true that there are tremendous differences between one's online self and one's real self, but one's online self stems from one's real self.

Am I treating this like the end of the world? No. It's no big deal. As I said before, the reasons that precipitated this "incident" had me post less and less. I cared about NJDevs less and less as it deteriorated. This is nothing more than the final thing that gets me out of the door. I see the path NJDevs is heading in and I don't like it. Some will like it more, some will like it less. Some will like it enough to post more, some will dislike it to the point of leaving - and I am by no means the only one.

But please, please drop the "you're taking it too seriously" thing. I am taking this seriously because RD took this board seriously. She put so much time and effort into it, completely thanklessly, and now everybody is just up and moving on as if it didn't matter at all.

All I'm asking is to give credit where credit is due. RD has earned A LOT of credit over the years. She's not getting it here. Unfortunately a lot of the posters who would speak up and say something have already left, whether before or after the incident. I'll say it again if no one else is willing to: THANK YOU RD

[sundstrom]

sheeps...i don't think people are shrugging their shoulders as you put it. i can only speak for myself, but i didn't want RD to leave and i'd love to have her back. but i'm also one of the people saying that people should not take it so personally and seriously. in this thread, you've had me, triumph, derek, M. just to name a few all say that we'll miss RD and wish that she would come back to post, but all also agree that taking these things too personally/seriously isn't necessary. even Don who was just as incensed as you with RD's leaving has said that personal attacks, while having no place on the board, wouldn't chase him away.

also, after brief emails with brad (as well as knowing him through the internet back to the NJO days), i'm SURE that his intention was not to have RD leave and never come back.

and it also seems like you're letting leeds push you out the door and saying "it's his fault." but if you're leaving against your will, then DON'T. battle him in PM's and if he brings it into a public forum, ignore it. nobody would pay attention to a 10 post thread with just one guy yelling at nobody.

[squishyx]

I

[sundstrom]

and for the record, RD got 21 individual thank you's for the great job she did on trade day. several donations were made to the site based on that day alone.

i went back and checked it and many of the thank you's she got were from the same people who want her to stay and sang her praises in this thread. but they also have said that "taking things personally" (not necessarily the same as seriously) was unnecessary. the funny thing is that DM was one of those thank you's.

also, as an aside, it sounds like a political forum (which i didn't even know existed to tell you the truth) caused a lot of problems. i would ask two things:

why have a political forum on a hockey site?

how can you not expect to be angered by someone occasionally when discussing politics? why not have a religion forum where we can find out what's better Christianity or Judaism?

[DevilMinder]

OK everyone, PM me for further complaints. You are taking it out on each other now.