i somewhat feel like we can't openly criticize or critique certain members. for example, if I call out fish for making what I see as an awful post, nothing bad happens, but if I call someone else out, it feels like it leads to warnings and suspensions. i feel that the community can't grow if we can't criticize each other. as for threads like random thoughts or the us soccer thread, i'm fine with those since it is news and random shit being posted in there and not having a million threads that it seems not many people care about. there are quite a few guys that have posted in soccer threads in the past though when active. activity for the sake of activity is never good. i don't have the bft-level knowledge of the game, so I tend not to respond to his posts a lot, mainly because i feel like i'll look like an idiot. however when posting an article, it is probably good to leave your thoughts in there too if you have any, rather than just posting random stories for the hell of it. if it is big news, like say lebron out for season with injury, then yeah, you really don't need to add much to it because everyone knows what that would mean. if it is something like backup PG out for a month, then post what you feel will happen to the team in that span. if you are making a thread to poll a community on a topic, don't do something very obscure without providing much insight, unless you are asking a general question, and then why include a poll or ask a very vague question in the first place? furthermore, i don't see the point in responding to a post saying agreed, +1, etc. if you have nothing to add, why post? the rep button is there, hit that. this especially becomes frustrating when someone like bft will post a 5 page essay on a topic, someone will quote it, and say "yep, i agree with that, took the words from my mouth". ok, first of all, you were never going to write, and are probably not capable of writing prose like BFT. second, what does that add? if you agree with him and have nothing else to add, rep him, or quote him and expand or question some of his ideas. but if he says something that is common knowledge or backups up his reasoning, don't ask a dumb question, because then that becomes frustrating for the person that posted it in the first place. finally, everyone needs to stop the goddamn bickering. just be open to criticism. we all can obviously get along, and have been doing so for years. i see no reason to constantly bring up stupid shit ecn has said in the past in every thread. there is a time and place for some of it, but keep it out of every damn thread. random notes: we don't need two fantasy basketball leagues when we can't fill up one as it is the fantasy football debacle was stupid, and both sides need to quit being assholes why join a pickem league or fantasy league for a sport you know nothing about, it just ruins it for the rest of the competitors don't go into a board/thread about a sport you don't understand and start making posts, unless you seriously want to understand. i see no reason for brandon to go into the maple leafs general thread and start talking about how player xy is going to make a huge impact when he doesn't know what icing is. there are also certain members i'd like to publicly call out for having the balls to put up with shit: flash srv any other heat fan you guys put up with more shit posting than any other fanbase at the moment, and you don't hold grudges.