It's the moment you've all been waiting for. I feel confident saying that because there was a surprising reaction to me stepping down as mod, which I thought was a good thing, but many of you seemed taken aback, and it was even called "a travesty" at one point.
But it's not a travesty. Quite frankly, I asked Sly to step down a few months ago, but he talked me into staying. At that point I had noticed I hadn't really been doing much of anything on the modding front apart from banning countless Sully, Jackiz, and Macios alts, which a trained monkey can do (that was a left-handed endorsement for Dagger), and I didn't want to be looked at as a useless moderator, so I wanted to step down. I won't go into the specifics of what Sly said to me to get me back on board, but basically he told me I was doing a fine job.
Fast forward a couple months, and we've got ourselves an election. Two of my forum e-buds are serious contenders as well as some guys I think are very deserving of a mod spot, such as Joe, Harthan, and Merkley. Most of the people running shouldn't be allowed anywhere near the board room, like J4L, ZRise, or Ba-Bomb. Dagger Dias is just barely on that list. He's made a name for himself... quite frankly, I don't know how, I guess by being polite. Nothing I said in the campaign was said just to smear him or hurt his feelings, he's just not a good choice, especially compared to guys like Harthan or Crock. Truthfully, his homophobia has nothing to do with him becoming a mod, but that was just one of the many things that made the election turn into a personal battle for me.
That's right, I got into the election, and more emotionally involved than I ever planned on being. I detested the desire to win that guys like Dagger and Habs had, but instead of letting it go and doing the opposite, I ironically got the desire to see them lose. Why? Because when I see something people love, I feel the need to see it destroyed. I know, that's terrible, but it's true, especially in competition like sports, contests, or elections. It's something I need to sort out in my brain, but I let my passion for crushing dreams get the better of me, and I decided that I needed to ensure a loss for Dagger and Habs.
I still maintain that we made the wrong choice for mod, and despite voting for Coco, he was also the wrong choice. Crock was the best choice, but he was left behind for a variety of reasons. He didn't go out of his way to recruit fresh meat like Dagger, he didn't attempt to stand out like Coco, and he really didn't have anyone blaring the trumpet for him like Habs and friends did for Dagger or like the many Coco supporters did for Coco. Crock isn't a magnificent poster, but he's a hell of a lot better than Dagger. Crock's biggest weakness is that he doesn't have a lot of charm in his posts, he just sort of writes ideas and explains why they'd be good or why they'd work, but he never says something that just WOWs you. He doesn't take risks in his writing, and that makes his writing less exciting. Then again, Dagger writes so plainly and so simply that it wouldn't surprise me if he hasn't taken a writing class above the 9th grade level. I find it hilarious that a guy like Salv came out to support Dagger when Salv talks about loving intelligent essays, and Dagger makes posts like this:
So this election taught us all many things. It taught us how stubborn people are, and though there were a few defectors from each side (shout out to Mike Killiam, Hamler, and Killjoy), it seemed like the majority were content to defend their candidates until the end of the earth. We also realized how quickly people would turn on each other when it comes to electing someone to power.
But I learned something more valuable from the election: modding doesn't fucking matter. Anyone can do it, and if you don't like doing it, you shouldn't feel obligated to.
The fact that Sly and KB put the ability to choose the next moderator in the hands of the people is proof of that. They didn't care who won, because whoever won would go the normal way of a moderator: it'd take a week of two (or in LSN's case, seven
) to get the hang of it, and then they'd be on their merry way.
Furthermore, the prestige that I once thought came with modding was a theory that had long been debunked. You've got some high quality posters in there like Sly, Tasty, Brain, and jmt... but those are the only posters in there that I feel are must reads. D-Man and KB both have great wrestling IQs, and while I never skip a post of theirs, they're just not as enjoyable as the first group I mentioned. In no way do I think I'm a better wrestling poster than they are–quite frankly it never ceases to amaze me that people think I'm anywhere above average when it comes to wrestling posting–but they don't tickle me in the way Sly or Tasty do. Hell, there's some mods whose posts I flat out skip almost every time, like Jack-Hammer or IDR. It's probably more me than them, but I just have no interest in what they have to say anymore.
So of that poll I made, the correct answer was that I just don't care about modding anymore. It's not a heavy burden, but it's enough of a burden that I'd rather just not have to carry it anymore. I'd rather somebody who cares have my job, even if it's someone I don't think will do a great job, like Dagger. In fact, I strongly encourage Sly and KB to give Dagger the WrestleMania section. It's where I got my start, and I quickly learned how to be a good mod there. It'll be a nice sink or swim experiment for Dagger.
However, I don't recommend they give Dagger the Hall of Fame section. He's not a good enough writer. I gave three names to Sly when I left for that section: Brain, Crock, and FunKay. Brain would be a home run candidate, he knows more about old school wrestling than most, and he's a good writer. We talked about Crock's shortcomings as a writer, but he'd definitely know more about the wrestlers he'd be writing about than I do, and that would give him some extra room for creativity. FunKay is closer to me than Crock in terms of writing style: probably not as informed on old school wrestling as some, but has the flash and entertainment value to make up for it. I doubt Brain wants the job, and if that's the case, I hope FunKay or Crock get the job.
The last thing I want to talk about is the overall quality of the forums. I was going to say that they've been going downhill, that they don't pack the excitement that they used to, and that many of the posters worth reading are gone. That might be true, but I think it more has to do with growing up. I think I'm getting to a point in my life right now where discussing wrestling with strangers is just not appealing to me. I have people in real life I can talk to about it, many of whom I first met on here, and some have become great friends in real life. There are still guys who can make a damn fine wrestling post, but the best wrestling posts I've ever read? The makers are gone, for better or for worse. There might come a day when I have the desire to write structured paragraphs about wrestling... but I doubt it.
Still, I can't help but feel that this will be a trend of the forums in general. The more I learn about professional wrestling, the less I feel the need to discuss it. I like talking to my e-friends about it, and I enjoy a live discussion every now and again, but when it comes to the WWE, my taste has been developed, and I know what I like. I might pop into the TNA section as my taste for that product is just beginning, but why do that when I have guys like Tiger, Charlie, Joe, Coco, and even Gelgarin to help me navigate my way through the waters of Impact Wrestling?
When I came here, I was hungry for wrestling knowledge. Now that I have it, I'm exclusive about who I share it with. Whether that's fair or not is not my problem, it's just the way it is. And I think that's probably true of many posters, and I see it being true of Doc, a guy who is very much like me.
So that's the story of why I don't give a fuck about most of the stuff that comes along with being a mod. Apathy is never a good quality, but I think it fits me alright.
You're probably bored or reading that word fort of a resignation by now, if you even read all of it, I know I stopped paying attention about halfway through. So here are some quick hits...
Sly as a boss: He'll kill me for saying this, but he's a pretty decent guy behind the scenes. He cares about his staff, and while he's not afraid to remind you that your place is below him, he's also not hesitant to remind you that you're in the board room because he thinks you're a superior poster.
KB as a boss: KB definitely plays second fiddle to Sly, but I think that's mostly because Sly has the bigger personality, and he knows all the computer stuff that comes with the forums. But if their admin team was a marriage, Sly would definitely be the husband.
Gatorade: You have no idea how many times that joke is made in the board room. It's not funny, and I'm pretty sure everyone except KB, Sly, and maybe XFear and D-Man know what the fuck it's about.
Dave: Dave is a miserable, ugly, Scottish (oh wait, I already said miserable and ugly) cunt that I will see in hell. Of course, I'm just kidding. In his absence we've grown apart, but Dave and I were pretty alright friends when he was around more often. I'm even friends with him on Facebook. He has a pretty decent taste in film, so that's always a winning quality.
Nick's transformation under his modship: Remember when it seemed like cared? I resigned because not only did I not care, but I wasn't needed. I don't want to say Nick doesn't care, and the rate that he warns and infracts people would say otherwise, but he definitely seems apathetic these days. I dig it. Unfortunately, he's probably the most essential moderator on staff. Seriously, he or D-Man should have won mod of the year, not LSN. LSN's a fine mod, probably right behind D-Man or Nick in importance, but Nick is a fucking machine.
LSN and me: We have a brotastic thing going on behind the scenes. I don't think we appear distant or anything on the forums, but things get quite mushy behind the scenes. I just feel like I can talk to him, like he's a therapist or something. I feel bad about what happened in the election, but I'm sure he knows I harbor no ill feelings. I had a few small arguments with him, but I think he's just as willing as I am to forget all about them.
Rattlesnake: While we're on the topic of people I argued with during the elections... you never cease to amaze me with your brazen stupidity. You don't know anything about me, and it makes me want to punch babies when you think you do. You are easily the most obnoxious poster on this forum.
Hatehabs: You won the election. Congratulations, and I commend you on a game well played. I'd say you reap what you sow, but like I said before, a trained monkey can mod, so there's really nothing to reap. Though I reckon you'll forever be labeled as the guy that took the cheap way out of the election.
JGKY: I value his opinion on TNA more than just about anyone else's because he cuts straight through the bullshit and says what he liked and didn't like. His tastes are simple, kind of like my own, and I see where he comes from with each one of his posts. Gelgarin can explain to me exactly why this match was fantastic or this wrestler is great, but he's more cerebral in his wrestling fandom than I am. Coco and I have similar tastes and we're both marky, but Coco marks for different guys than I do much of the time, and that puts us on different pages on those occasions. We'll always have Rey Mysterio and Pierce Brosnan, though. If Joe wants the TNA mod spot, I think it's his to lose after IDR steps down. Well, him of Killjoy.
Killjoy: I came around on you, though you really do need to work on your sarcasm detection. Watch any sitcom written by a Jewish person or Tina Fey, you'll pick it up eventually.
Meeting people on the forum in real life: I say go for it. Everyone I've met has been awesome, and I consider every person I've met to be a pretty close friend. Except Theo, but only because we met once. I still consider him to be a friend though, he's just so big and bearded, how can't you love him?
NorCal: NorCal is one of my personal heroes. He should be yours too. I shit you not, there are many situations I'm in where I think, "What would NorCal do?" And then I do it, and it always yields a good outcome.
IC and Coco's mentorship: IC taught me how to post interestingly, Coco taught me how to have fun posting. Those are the only two things you need to do to be successful on this site. Be interesting, and have fun. You don't even need to know that much about wrestling. When I first started posting on here, I had a little more than a year of experience as a wrestling fan, and I somehow became a moderator and a respected poster.
So yeah... that's a lot, and I think that's it. I'll still be around just as much as I was as a moderator, but now I don't have to do anything. Seriously, I'm quite excited about not having to deal with banning alts anymore.
But it's not a travesty. Quite frankly, I asked Sly to step down a few months ago, but he talked me into staying. At that point I had noticed I hadn't really been doing much of anything on the modding front apart from banning countless Sully, Jackiz, and Macios alts, which a trained monkey can do (that was a left-handed endorsement for Dagger), and I didn't want to be looked at as a useless moderator, so I wanted to step down. I won't go into the specifics of what Sly said to me to get me back on board, but basically he told me I was doing a fine job.
Fast forward a couple months, and we've got ourselves an election. Two of my forum e-buds are serious contenders as well as some guys I think are very deserving of a mod spot, such as Joe, Harthan, and Merkley. Most of the people running shouldn't be allowed anywhere near the board room, like J4L, ZRise, or Ba-Bomb. Dagger Dias is just barely on that list. He's made a name for himself... quite frankly, I don't know how, I guess by being polite. Nothing I said in the campaign was said just to smear him or hurt his feelings, he's just not a good choice, especially compared to guys like Harthan or Crock. Truthfully, his homophobia has nothing to do with him becoming a mod, but that was just one of the many things that made the election turn into a personal battle for me.
That's right, I got into the election, and more emotionally involved than I ever planned on being. I detested the desire to win that guys like Dagger and Habs had, but instead of letting it go and doing the opposite, I ironically got the desire to see them lose. Why? Because when I see something people love, I feel the need to see it destroyed. I know, that's terrible, but it's true, especially in competition like sports, contests, or elections. It's something I need to sort out in my brain, but I let my passion for crushing dreams get the better of me, and I decided that I needed to ensure a loss for Dagger and Habs.
I still maintain that we made the wrong choice for mod, and despite voting for Coco, he was also the wrong choice. Crock was the best choice, but he was left behind for a variety of reasons. He didn't go out of his way to recruit fresh meat like Dagger, he didn't attempt to stand out like Coco, and he really didn't have anyone blaring the trumpet for him like Habs and friends did for Dagger or like the many Coco supporters did for Coco. Crock isn't a magnificent poster, but he's a hell of a lot better than Dagger. Crock's biggest weakness is that he doesn't have a lot of charm in his posts, he just sort of writes ideas and explains why they'd be good or why they'd work, but he never says something that just WOWs you. He doesn't take risks in his writing, and that makes his writing less exciting. Then again, Dagger writes so plainly and so simply that it wouldn't surprise me if he hasn't taken a writing class above the 9th grade level. I find it hilarious that a guy like Salv came out to support Dagger when Salv talks about loving intelligent essays, and Dagger makes posts like this:
So this election taught us all many things. It taught us how stubborn people are, and though there were a few defectors from each side (shout out to Mike Killiam, Hamler, and Killjoy), it seemed like the majority were content to defend their candidates until the end of the earth. We also realized how quickly people would turn on each other when it comes to electing someone to power.
But I learned something more valuable from the election: modding doesn't fucking matter. Anyone can do it, and if you don't like doing it, you shouldn't feel obligated to.
The fact that Sly and KB put the ability to choose the next moderator in the hands of the people is proof of that. They didn't care who won, because whoever won would go the normal way of a moderator: it'd take a week of two (or in LSN's case, seven
) to get the hang of it, and then they'd be on their merry way.Furthermore, the prestige that I once thought came with modding was a theory that had long been debunked. You've got some high quality posters in there like Sly, Tasty, Brain, and jmt... but those are the only posters in there that I feel are must reads. D-Man and KB both have great wrestling IQs, and while I never skip a post of theirs, they're just not as enjoyable as the first group I mentioned. In no way do I think I'm a better wrestling poster than they are–quite frankly it never ceases to amaze me that people think I'm anywhere above average when it comes to wrestling posting–but they don't tickle me in the way Sly or Tasty do. Hell, there's some mods whose posts I flat out skip almost every time, like Jack-Hammer or IDR. It's probably more me than them, but I just have no interest in what they have to say anymore.
So of that poll I made, the correct answer was that I just don't care about modding anymore. It's not a heavy burden, but it's enough of a burden that I'd rather just not have to carry it anymore. I'd rather somebody who cares have my job, even if it's someone I don't think will do a great job, like Dagger. In fact, I strongly encourage Sly and KB to give Dagger the WrestleMania section. It's where I got my start, and I quickly learned how to be a good mod there. It'll be a nice sink or swim experiment for Dagger.
However, I don't recommend they give Dagger the Hall of Fame section. He's not a good enough writer. I gave three names to Sly when I left for that section: Brain, Crock, and FunKay. Brain would be a home run candidate, he knows more about old school wrestling than most, and he's a good writer. We talked about Crock's shortcomings as a writer, but he'd definitely know more about the wrestlers he'd be writing about than I do, and that would give him some extra room for creativity. FunKay is closer to me than Crock in terms of writing style: probably not as informed on old school wrestling as some, but has the flash and entertainment value to make up for it. I doubt Brain wants the job, and if that's the case, I hope FunKay or Crock get the job.
The last thing I want to talk about is the overall quality of the forums. I was going to say that they've been going downhill, that they don't pack the excitement that they used to, and that many of the posters worth reading are gone. That might be true, but I think it more has to do with growing up. I think I'm getting to a point in my life right now where discussing wrestling with strangers is just not appealing to me. I have people in real life I can talk to about it, many of whom I first met on here, and some have become great friends in real life. There are still guys who can make a damn fine wrestling post, but the best wrestling posts I've ever read? The makers are gone, for better or for worse. There might come a day when I have the desire to write structured paragraphs about wrestling... but I doubt it.
Still, I can't help but feel that this will be a trend of the forums in general. The more I learn about professional wrestling, the less I feel the need to discuss it. I like talking to my e-friends about it, and I enjoy a live discussion every now and again, but when it comes to the WWE, my taste has been developed, and I know what I like. I might pop into the TNA section as my taste for that product is just beginning, but why do that when I have guys like Tiger, Charlie, Joe, Coco, and even Gelgarin to help me navigate my way through the waters of Impact Wrestling?
When I came here, I was hungry for wrestling knowledge. Now that I have it, I'm exclusive about who I share it with. Whether that's fair or not is not my problem, it's just the way it is. And I think that's probably true of many posters, and I see it being true of Doc, a guy who is very much like me.
So that's the story of why I don't give a fuck about most of the stuff that comes along with being a mod. Apathy is never a good quality, but I think it fits me alright.
You're probably bored or reading that word fort of a resignation by now, if you even read all of it, I know I stopped paying attention about halfway through. So here are some quick hits...
Sly as a boss: He'll kill me for saying this, but he's a pretty decent guy behind the scenes. He cares about his staff, and while he's not afraid to remind you that your place is below him, he's also not hesitant to remind you that you're in the board room because he thinks you're a superior poster.
KB as a boss: KB definitely plays second fiddle to Sly, but I think that's mostly because Sly has the bigger personality, and he knows all the computer stuff that comes with the forums. But if their admin team was a marriage, Sly would definitely be the husband.
Gatorade: You have no idea how many times that joke is made in the board room. It's not funny, and I'm pretty sure everyone except KB, Sly, and maybe XFear and D-Man know what the fuck it's about.
Dave: Dave is a miserable, ugly, Scottish (oh wait, I already said miserable and ugly) cunt that I will see in hell. Of course, I'm just kidding. In his absence we've grown apart, but Dave and I were pretty alright friends when he was around more often. I'm even friends with him on Facebook. He has a pretty decent taste in film, so that's always a winning quality.
Nick's transformation under his modship: Remember when it seemed like cared? I resigned because not only did I not care, but I wasn't needed. I don't want to say Nick doesn't care, and the rate that he warns and infracts people would say otherwise, but he definitely seems apathetic these days. I dig it. Unfortunately, he's probably the most essential moderator on staff. Seriously, he or D-Man should have won mod of the year, not LSN. LSN's a fine mod, probably right behind D-Man or Nick in importance, but Nick is a fucking machine.
LSN and me: We have a brotastic thing going on behind the scenes. I don't think we appear distant or anything on the forums, but things get quite mushy behind the scenes. I just feel like I can talk to him, like he's a therapist or something. I feel bad about what happened in the election, but I'm sure he knows I harbor no ill feelings. I had a few small arguments with him, but I think he's just as willing as I am to forget all about them.
Rattlesnake: While we're on the topic of people I argued with during the elections... you never cease to amaze me with your brazen stupidity. You don't know anything about me, and it makes me want to punch babies when you think you do. You are easily the most obnoxious poster on this forum.
Hatehabs: You won the election. Congratulations, and I commend you on a game well played. I'd say you reap what you sow, but like I said before, a trained monkey can mod, so there's really nothing to reap. Though I reckon you'll forever be labeled as the guy that took the cheap way out of the election.
JGKY: I value his opinion on TNA more than just about anyone else's because he cuts straight through the bullshit and says what he liked and didn't like. His tastes are simple, kind of like my own, and I see where he comes from with each one of his posts. Gelgarin can explain to me exactly why this match was fantastic or this wrestler is great, but he's more cerebral in his wrestling fandom than I am. Coco and I have similar tastes and we're both marky, but Coco marks for different guys than I do much of the time, and that puts us on different pages on those occasions. We'll always have Rey Mysterio and Pierce Brosnan, though. If Joe wants the TNA mod spot, I think it's his to lose after IDR steps down. Well, him of Killjoy.
Killjoy: I came around on you, though you really do need to work on your sarcasm detection. Watch any sitcom written by a Jewish person or Tina Fey, you'll pick it up eventually.
Meeting people on the forum in real life: I say go for it. Everyone I've met has been awesome, and I consider every person I've met to be a pretty close friend. Except Theo, but only because we met once. I still consider him to be a friend though, he's just so big and bearded, how can't you love him?
NorCal: NorCal is one of my personal heroes. He should be yours too. I shit you not, there are many situations I'm in where I think, "What would NorCal do?" And then I do it, and it always yields a good outcome.
IC and Coco's mentorship: IC taught me how to post interestingly, Coco taught me how to have fun posting. Those are the only two things you need to do to be successful on this site. Be interesting, and have fun. You don't even need to know that much about wrestling. When I first started posting on here, I had a little more than a year of experience as a wrestling fan, and I somehow became a moderator and a respected poster.
So yeah... that's a lot, and I think that's it. I'll still be around just as much as I was as a moderator, but now I don't have to do anything. Seriously, I'm quite excited about not having to deal with banning alts anymore.
