Forum Fun -- Bans and Suspensions

Hi everybody,

First let me apologize for being away from my computer for a while today. Thank you to all of you who let me know that our (unfortunately) ongoing Cape Central Jungle vs. Sikeston Bums vs. The World discussion had reached a completely inappropriate meltdown stage.

I like to think I usually delete the ridiculous and inappropriate stuff before most users have a chance to see it, but in this instance that was probably not the case. Again, I apologize. For those of you who know me, now you can understand why I constantly check the site (hello, iPhone) and start to get the shakes if I don't have internet access for a few hours.

The username "Sikeston B****" has been banned from future posts on semoball. And yes, I'll know if he or she makes a new account.

JungleStud, inspectorgadget and ctjungle2010 have all been suspended for a week. You all have have demonstrated the ability to make valuable, reasonable and entertaining posts, but this childish back-and-forth and name-calling must stop. You have all had several comments deleted over the course of the school year, and the pattern is only getting worse and can no longer be ignored.

I'm rooting for you all to avoid the temptation to make a new account (again, I'll know) and to come back in a week with your trademark snarkiness and none of the inappropriateness. Feel free to e-mail me if you want to chat about it.

Other comments have been deleted, and, as always, I'll be watching for users whose comments I have to delete regularly. I don't typically post when I ban or suspend a user, but this is obviously not the first time I've done it.

I know internet forums get a bad name -- and with good reason most of the time, but I genuinely think we have a good core community on semoball and that it is growing all the time with educated, interested fans looking for intelligent discussion.

Of course, there will be some people who try to ruin that and use the forums as a way to air grievances and toss around insults, but I promise you they'll go and that the rest of us will stay. Please don't let a few Negative Nancies (OK, jerks) keep you away. Just hit the yellow exclamation point beside the comment to alert me to something you feel doesn't belong on the site. As several people can attest, I often and typically respond within minutes.

Thanks again to all of you who contribute so much. The semoball crowd continues to grow bigger and bigger, and I know that I owe much of that to those of you who have been willing to share your knowledge and time with the rest of us.