Forgive my rhetorical bomb-throwing, but has Cecil, like God in some folks’ estimation, become, um, irrelevant? Aren’t the answers of the collective more astute, more witty, more interesting? Doesn’t the real power of SD reside in the lumpen proletariat and Cecil represent dead wood creaking in the winds of change?
Just wondering.
Love,
tsunamisurfer
Bomb throwing I could care less about. Just do it in the correct forum.
I’m moving this to Great Debates.
Nah, I don’t think so. For one thing, Cecil gives (or tries to give) definitive answers to the questions posed to him. On the boards, you often get all kinds of conjecture and flat-out incorrect information before receiving the truth (if you do in fact receive it). And he seems to have much more resources at his disposal than the internet, which is where many of the answers on the boards come from. He obviously doesn’t get lazy on his research (or not too often, anyway), but exhausts his sources before delivering a final verdict. He also has connections with experts in a variety of fields; I’m pretty sure if I called up NASA asking about sex in space, or Jan Brunvard on matters of Urban Legends, etc., that I’d receive a curt “they’ll get back to you” type of response and never hear from them again. Besides all that, his experience in the field and accumulation of general knowledge should count for something. He’s proven himself over the years.Sure, there are posters here who are informed and even experts on certain subjects, but he’s more a rennaisance man, able to expound upon virtually any topic. And he’s earned our respect; no offense, but if another poster here claims something to be true I’m less apt to just accept it as gospel than I would with Cecil. Not to kiss his ass too much or anything.
Besides, if Unca Cecil were irrelevant, then we’d no longer have the stylish renderings of Slug with each week’s column! Horrors! :eek:
There are many places one can find answers on the web and Usenet.
Cecil has provided the focus and template for this one, however.
He is our inspiration, and holds the site together. 
We are the Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile. Cecil is irrelevant.
Wait a minute. Don’t say that. He’s my hero.
I only wish he would post more often.
It’s often a long gap between posts.
Sure, the TM answer more questions than Cecil. But which is better: 100 right answers, or 10,000 answers, 1000 of which are correct?
I started reading Cecil Adams through the first books, and thought the writing and information research was great, right along with the humour. I was thrilled to find that The Straight Dope had a site on the Internet, and that I was still able to read what has entertained me now for more than two decades.
I think that there are several thousand reasons why Cecil Adams isn’t irrelevant – and each and every one of them is a kind-hearted, witty, knowledgeable part of the Teeming Millions, the prolific posters on these boards.
Cecil Adams, whoever he is, is a hero of mine. Long may he, and his staff, write!
I guess there’s your answer (IceWolf’s post).
I love the teeming millions and have flooded my poor, weak little brain with knowledge that you have provided. That said, I must insist that I would have nothing to do with the SDMB if it were not for the concept of Cecil that has shaped and continues to shape the attitude towards knowledge and the presentation of ideas here. Cecil Adams is the standard by which I judge the value of all others here. While there are many brilliant minds at work and at play here, you are all still lacking in comparison. Cecil will be irrelevant in my mind when one or more among the teeming millions acquires the skill and grace necessary to set a new standard beyond what has been established by Cecil and the Chicago Reader’s continued work.
I used to go into the archives, but now the only thing I use on this is the forums. They’re great. All the rest is irrelevent.