I had originally started posting this in the thread, but I decided to post it here as the way things were going I’d probably have got a warning for something procedural.
For me that is simply proof that a moderator should never moderate a discussion he or she is part of.
A moderator getting a in a tiz because someone says that the convention (that American sports teams declare themselves “World Champions” in competitions where no foreigners - or maybe only a Canadian team or two - can actually challenge them at) is “just arrogance and frankly makes you a bit of a laughing stock”? Seriously? Seriously?
This wouldn’t have anything to do with the fact that I was replying to the moderator that got in a tiz, would it?
And to accuse me of trolling and throwing around nationalistic insults? Pretty sure that’s against the rules, especially the trolling bit. And as someone else pointed out, where was the moderating for this?
And will this person get moderated for accusing me of having a history of trolling?
My opinion? The “rest of the world doesn’t matter” doesn’t single out any one specific nation as being inferior, and so isn’t insulting anyone specifically. Whereas the “laughingstock” comment clearly and specifically refers to America.
That’s the only aspect I’m commenting on. I don’t know enough about everyone’s posting history to have an opinion regarding the “trolling” allegation.
Well, maybe, but I think the big difference is that the average reader, and average mod, would take silenus’s post as an attempt at humor, and amanset’s as serious, hence the different treatment.
FWIW, though, I didn’t see amanset’s post as the kind of thing that usually warrants a comment, but I think mods tend to crack down a little harder on that kind of thing in the Game Room than in, say, GD.
I think we’d have a hard time making this happen. Our moderators often participate in threads. I suspect moderators are on forums they are interested in. If they can’t moderate threads they’ve been discussing, then they would have to stay out of all the threads. After all, they don’t know what’s going to happen after their post.
-D/a
I agree and I personally believe the reason why can be seen in the fact that the moderator commenting was the person I had been addressing in my comment.
I mean seriously, saying something is arrogant is now worthy of moderation? Is that what we’ve become?
OK. How about we narrow it down? A moderator should never moderate a post that is a direct reply to a post made by the moderator.
Seriously. Can someone explain to me why this, in a discussion about why American sports teams are often described as “World Champions” when it was not an international competition:
Warranted a moderator coming wading in? Does anyone really think a moderator would have come down on it if the person I was replying to didn’t happened to be the moderator in question?
First of all, you were not given a formal warning, so let’s ensure there’s no misunderstanding there. The purpose of the mod note was to direct the discussion appropriately. There’s no warning against your account.
Secondly, as has already been pointed out,
Your comment was quite obviously different from silenus’s in that his comment was both generic and obviously a joke. In fact, I interpret silenus’s post as being just as much a joke at the expense of his own country as much as it is about the rest of the world.
You have been involved before in nationalist pissing matches, and people on both sides of that particular issue have been told to back off before. In this case I just jumped in a post or two earlier to head this nonsense off at the pass.
Thirdly, this statement:
… is simply not an accurate representation of the facts. The comment for which I stepped in with a moderator note was obviously not aimed at me personally, but was blanket statement that suggested Americans (a set of people I am not a part of) were a “laughingstock.” I absolutely would not take moderator action for an insult directed at me unless it was part of an existing conversation; I would ask another moderator to act on it.
I would furthermore point out that in post #40 of that thread you seem to be claiming awareness of my not being American… so how could your comment, which was about Americans, have been directed at me in the first place?
As I clearly stated in the thread, the moderator note was a reminder to stay away from nationalistic trolling and insults. It was not a warning to avoid stating an opinion on the subject (as you mistakenly imply in post #47 of that thread.)
You are welcome to continue discussing the issue as vehemently as you wish. Neither you nor anyone else will use nationalist insults or trollery in doing so.
The discussion was going appropriately. You and your size twelves changed that. It was a needless bit of moderating that simply inflamed the situation.
That’s one way of viewing it. Of course you can’t actually be sure can you?
By the way, have you acted on the two people that accused me of trolling, which I believe is banned outside of the pit? By the way, one of those was you so maybe you should get a different moderator to look into that.
Or maybe you misread humour? And again, by wading in where it wasn’t needed you have merely inflamed the situation, so rather than heading it off at the pass you’ve stuck a firecracker up its bum.
Just out of interest, I’m sure you are right and all, but any examples of my nationalistic pissing match posts? Just so I can know what my past record is.
Actually it was directed at people that use “World Champions” to describe the winner of a North American sporting championship. Not all people from the US or Canada do, hell I am friends with enough Americans to know this. Hell, I’ve got a fair bit of experience on Canada too. My Parents (both British) met and married out there. I was apparently even conceived out there. Almost makes me one of you
So I guess you got that wrong.
Not directed at you, disagreeing with you. There’s a difference. My reading is that as I disagreed with you you took it rather badly and decided to moderate me rather than, you know, respond.
But whilst we are on it, aren’t Canadian teams involved in MLB? You’ll certainly see the World Series Champions referred to as World Champions. Hell, someone even said so in the thread. NHL, which I believe Canadians do also get involved with, fairs a lot better as there are regular World Championships. Two of them in fact, one seen as a bit more “official” than the other and thus NHL players get involved.
And again you accuse me of trolling. I would respectfully request you stop doing that (this is now the second time in two different threads). Nothing I have done fits the description of trolling. I am also waiting for moderation in the other thread for the other non-moderator that accused me of being a troll. I trust you’ll be doing that promptly. An apology for twice inaccurately describing me as a troll would go down well also.
With due respect, it is rather obvious that a moderator may accuse someone of trolling in any forum if they’re acting in their capacity as moderator to warn someone that they’re trolling, or beginning to step over the line into trolling. (I have not described you as a “troll.”) How else would you do anything about trolling? Is a moderator supposed to say “Poster X, don’t do, um, that thing that’s against the rules but I can’t say what it is”?
If you wish to continue complaining you are of course welcome to do so but I believe the issue has been adequately addressed. I obviously owe you no apology.
That’s not how people actually use that word. The primary definition of “American” in English does not include people and things from outside of the United States.
To answer this question, yes. The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian MLB team. There used to be the Montreal Expos, but they moved to Washington DC several years back. But baseball has players from the Dominican, the Pacific Rim, many Latin American countries (by which I mean Central AND South America), and has had players from Europe, also. While not comprised of players from every nation, there ARE many nationalities represented. One could make a case that, due to the backgrounds of the players involved, it qualifies as a “World Champion.”
I have no dog in that fight, nor do I have an opinion. Just stating a fact.
Oh, so fucking typical of you people. World Champions at irony? That’s what you think you are, you big self-loathing hot shots?! Well, we can totally play that game too. And curse ourselves into oblivion, if that’s what we chose to do.
There’s a big world to hate itself out there, you know?
I’m having a hard time understanding what you’re problem is with it, amanset.
It seems fairly well in line with “don’t be a jerk.” A lot of people in that thread were discussing that issue without the need to start insulting each others’ countries, and then you come in their and start posting in a manner that’s needlessly offensive. You can’t say that other countries don’t take it seriously or that you think it doesn’t make sense. You have to go in there and in post how you are arrogant and you are a laughingstock. Writing the post in such a way as to be offensive rather informative , and composing it so that the comment appears to be directed at readers.
You’re response to the rule stated above seems to be - I want to be able to call other posters’ countries a laughing stock, and you’re ruining my fun
Amanset is right about one thing. Its now two or three times times that people have said/implied that he is trolling, even if they haven’t had the balls to come right out and state it directly.
If** Rickjay** thinks Amanset is trolling then he should warn him for trolling, otherwise he should shut the hell up about it.
It is standard practice on the SDMB to avoid issuing formal warnings if a problem can be fixed with a simple reminder of the rules. This is an approach that has worked extremely well for years, and we’re certainly not going to stop now.
Straight to the warning there. And wow, look at what it was for, Nationalistic insults and trolling. Sound familiar.
I say it again, its very passive aggressive to repeatedly imply that Amanset is trolling. Either you think he is and you warn him, or you admit you don’t know and stop trying to tar him with the implication.
