WHY I BLOG?

I started bloggin here because after a few days of coming here and reading what others were saying I figured, "Why not?" So I slowly got involved with this concept and started commenting here and there and eventually posted one of my own. I comment more than I write blogs but that is part of what makes the experience. I have, for the most part, thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I enjoy that back and forth with other bloggers. I enjoy the fact that we can agree or disagree and are adult enough to respect each other and our differing opinions. I started out slowly here by being somewhat cautious because I didn't want to step on too many toes. I think I got more involved with the Duke lacrosse scandal and opened up a bit more when SocalSportsFan starting blogging about it. Socal, I enjoyed the back and forth and the fact that you had your viewpoint and I had mine and that we often disagreed on certain aspects. However, we do agree that this case has been horribly handled by both sides virtually from the beginning. But that is a part of this. Agreeing and disagreeing and sharing opinions.

WHY DO OTHERS BLOG?

 I don't know why others blog. I can only assume that it is for the same reasons I am here. When I started here it was shortly after the first NGS contest. There was a handful of bloggers here and if you entered intelligently and had something to say in response to someone's post you were easily accepted. That is another part of being here. And then they had the second NGS and people came out of the woodwork. A job as a sportswriter and $5,000 will do that. So people were blogging for the back and forth, the agreeing and disagreeing and the opportunity to become Fox's Next Great Sportswriter. Perfect!

BUT IT CHANGED THE COMMUNITY.

Prior to this contest the community of bloggers that were here could agree or disagree or agree to disagree and it was somewhat cordial. Some of them had competed in the first NGS contest and some, such as myself, were just people who liked to share opinions and viewpoints. It was great. Socal and I could agree or disagree. Bafongu could chime in with a dissenting opinion and all was good. UltraMega could be controversial and still have a readership. Wesley Powell could do whatever it is that Wesley Powell does and not be taken so seriously. You could read the Sports Intellectual's stuff without having to navigate through a lot of worthless posts that said nothing but were simply attempts to get people stirred up. If you posted something it was likely to be around for at least a short time and not be wedged out by something that didn't make sense. This contest opened up the doors for some very good writers and some very poor ones.  MeanDovine was a stud and I for one am sorry to see that he has gone. I didn't enter the contest but I continued to blog. This community was cool because virtually everyone could share an opinion, one could agree or disagree, and no one ran from dissenting comments. No one was childish enough to delete a comment because it was important in the back and forth to respond and defend your position. You aways had that option but it was rarely, if ever, used. 

WHY SOME OTHERS SHOULD NOT BLOG!

This community was changed by people who came here to spew forth their ideas and comments who were not able to deal with an opposing viewpoint. This community was changed by people who either comment without reading posts or who don't comprehend the original posts intent. This community was changed by people who could post something and not activate the comments portion of their site, thereby not having to deal with comments that would be differing from theirs. This community was changed by people who have no skills in conferring their ideas or comments without being condescending and when you respond in kind they wither like the class bully who gets his butt kicked by the class nerds big buddy. Example: Yes, I have an example. I wouldn't normally do this but he challenged me to do it so I am.

The following is a series of comments made on a post by Sportsnutzz titled, "714...ARE YOU IMPRESSED."

As you can infer from the title a response was asked for.

Gcoach responded - I've been impressed with Bonds and his ability to crush baseballs since I started watching him play. 714 homeruns is impressive. I smiled. I will smile when he hits 715. I will smile when he hits 716 and so on and so on. To me Bonds is just an adult playing a kids game. It is too bad that is lost on everyone. He is just a man and MLB is just a game. I'm impressed with his ability to play it successfully at the MLB level.

 Sportsnutzz responded - gcoach- I think alot of people have the same opinion as you. To me though he is a man cheating at a kid's game. I don't know if that bothers me as much as his bad attitude though. Sammy Sosa so far is the only juiced homer hitter that was always smiling. He was cheating playing a kids game but at least he was still acting like a kid. He always had fun I wish he had the good roids and was still around.
Glad you can enjoy his homers though gcoach. One last question? Who do you think is stronger Stone Cold or Bonds?

Very intelligent response. Then it got interesting.

RapidRoy responded - UltraMeg and gcoach, you better do your research before you go running off at the mouth. Babe Ruth didn't hit to right field as often as folks would like to think and when he did, they were usually barnburner shots, not bleepers over the fenceline. Bonds is a disgrace to baseball. He is everything that is wrong with baseball and if your biased butts can't see that, then I suggest you hit the libraries and start citing your references for the statements you claim as gospel. because if you can't, then your throwing out the same kind of trash that ESPN is trying to sell.

 Gcoach responded - RapidRoy - Read my comment again. Where did I ever mention Babe Ruth? Where did I ever quote a statistic? I stated my opinion on Barry Bonds. Maybe you ought to take a reading comprehension course before you go telling people to check things out before "running off at the mouth." I don't get into the comparison game between Bonds and Ruth. It is a moot point to me. And Bonds being everything that is wrong with baseball? Yea, Bud Selig has done a great job as the owner/commissioner/conflict of interest leader of MLB. Keep me out of your disagreement with Ultra and learn to read. He's a big boy and will take care of himself. Leave me alone unless you have something intelligent to say. To this point you haven't proven you are capable of that.

Then RapidRoy went about deleting my comments from his post and wrote one about retaliating and derogatory comments that included some of the following quotes.

Hey folks! I respect those with dissenting opinions from mine, just as long as they are not profane, or mean-spirited.

But, don't come here to my blog and start writing crap about me and my thoughts and opinions and that, "I suck", etc., so forth, and so on. That kind of crap is akin to two 5-year olds facing off and calling each other "doo-doo head". "No, you doo-doo head!" "Uh, uh, you doo-doo head!"

I ripped into a couple of people recently for their slanted, misguided and mis-informed opinions concerning Barry Bonds; I told them that if they are going to report facts, they need to be prepared to cite their references. Well, at least one of those folks has decided to call me a "doo-doo head". Dude, I am not going to stoop to your level. If you've got a beef, then put it on your own blog, but make sure you cite facts before you do. Until then, if I come across your blog and you're spewing unsubstantiated venom at people, then be prepared for what you get in return.

RapidRoy

Roy - I'm doing what you suggested I do. Here be the facts.

Your response to my initial comment on SportsNutzz post = mean spirited. "Running off at the mouth." Another example of mean spirited on your part = "I ripped into a couple of people recently for their slanted, misguided and mis-informed opinions concerning Barry Bonds; I told them that if they are going to report facts, they need to be prepared to cite their references."

Nowhere in my responses to you was I profane. But you deleted them.

I responded on another post you wrote, basically, that my opinion hadn't changed. Nowhere did I say that "you suck." But you deleted them.

Another comment you made was that if you go to my site and post a comment that I don't like I can delete. I could do so if this was my site and not someone elses.

But you know what RapidRoy, I wouldn't do it even then. Even though you obviously don't respect dissenting opinions from your own I still would deal with whatever you had to say unless you were profane. No one called you a, what did you call it, doo-do head! I just said when you could respond intelligently then go ahead. As of yet you STILL haven't responded intelligently. You have over-reacted to a comment on a blog post that you incited. You are deleting comments because the opinions in those comments are different than yours. You wrote a post full of lies and misdirection. You challenged me to cite the facts in a post of my own. Here they are. 

One of the things that has changed since I started here is that I will stand up for myself. When challenged I will rebutt if I think I am right. If I am wrong, I will concede the point. I am an intelligent human being. I am not the best blogger here but I respect those who take a stand and won't run from a differing perspective or from their own actions. This contest brought a lot of people into this community who are different than the community was when I started. I have been told by others that when the contest is over a lot of these people will go away. I hope those who told me that are right.

I rambled here for a bit and will understand if some of you are offended by me using this venue as a forum. I hope you will understand.  As I said before, I normally would not do this but I was challenged. In the past I have tried to be discreet if I mention things from this site in a post. I will continue with that policy if I am challenged by someone who does not post lies and misinformation. This contest brought out the best in some and it brought out the worst in others.

SportsNutzz - Stone Cold in more ways than the physical.