# No, this is not an inappropriate comment **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [October 13, 2019, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-this-is-not-an-inappropriate-comment/841717 "2019-10-13T15:11:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2019, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-this-is-not-an-inappropriate-comment/841717/1 "2019-10-13T15:11:09Z")
From the October NHL thread: > [@NHL 103 - October 2019 - Let's Do That Hockey!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-103-october-2019-lets-do-that-hockey/841114/48): > > **[Moderating]** > > Taking this in order: > **wolfman** , unless some aspect of a player’s physical appearance has an effect on the way they play, it’s not really relevant to the thread. I don’t think it really rises to the level of a rules violation, but please try to stay on topic. No, IMO; comments about a player’s appearance are fine. They are on-topic as the topic is hockey. Not playing hockey, not shooting the puck, not goaltending: just hockey. All things NHL hockey. And players have appearances, images and likenesses. The comment wasn’t objectifying the player (i.e. “he sure is hot”) and it wasn’t denigrating something the player has no control over like height or the spacing between his eyes. Here is the comment that ignited the whole exchange culminating in **Chronos** ’s moderation: > [@NHL 103 - October 2019 - Let's Do That Hockey!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-103-october-2019-lets-do-that-hockey/841114/40): > > Why does Austin Mathews choose to look like an understudy in a porn video? > > Bwahaha. Saying this is out of bounds is ridiculous, IMO. If a player shows up for a game with a new purple afro mohawk, people are gonna comment about it and they should be able to without repercussions as long as those comments don’t stray into racist or otherwise abusive territory, IMO. If a player with long hair shows up with a clean bald pate, people should be able to comment on it without repercussions, again, as long as the comments don’t stray to racist or otherwise abusive remarks. In this case, the remarks made no value judgements of any kind except for the personal dislike of **wolfman** for Mr. Matthews’ new look. I think the note was ridiculous and would like it publicly acknowledged that commentary about the appearance of NHL players and related public figures is NOT out-of-bounds for the thread, so long as said commentary isn’t racist or otherwise abusive. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2019, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-this-is-not-an-inappropriate-comment/841717/2 "2019-10-13T15:18:11Z")
I missed the edit window and I realized for completeness I should have included the second comment about Mr. Matthews’ appearance: > [@NHL 103 - October 2019 - Let's Do That Hockey!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-103-october-2019-lets-do-that-hockey/841114/43): > > I wish there were. He has always had a cheesy 'stache ,but today it is really an amazing reproduction of a 50 year old porn actor dying his sad caterpillar to try to look 20 years younger. There should be some by morning I assume. Still not out-of-bounds, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2019, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-this-is-not-an-inappropriate-comment/841717/3 "2019-10-13T15:32:00Z")
Some people stay so goddamned bored, they have to invent things to bitch about. I’ll leave it up to the powers that be to decide if I’m talking about the thread you referenced - or if I’m talking about you. Either way, it was an innocuous comment, but one that didn’t really contribute to the thread in any meaningful way. I’m ambivalent about it. It’s no big deal, but it also doesn’t really was immaterial to the thread. But why are you more upset about it than the guy who made it? There’s no need to be a white knight over it. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2019, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-this-is-not-an-inappropriate-comment/841717/4 "2019-10-13T16:12:15Z")
If the comment derailed the entire thread to talk about mustaches and it was no longer a thread about the NHL then that would be bad. I’m sure that’s what Chronos was trying to prevent. Not that the comment itself was objectionable. He even made sure to include that the comment itself wasn’t a “rules violation”. Was it a bit heavy-handed? Maybe. I can think of plenty of times when such superficial comments were made in a sports thread without derailing the entire thing. And I’d dislike if a precedent was set here. As an example, in the recent Week 5 NFL thread people commented on the “radioactive vomit” color of the Seattle jerseys in the TNF game. Was that a hijack? It could have led to one maybe, if we spent pages talking about our favorite colors. But we didn’t. Usually light tangents are common in sports threads and it’s just sports fans having fun, making jokes, and so on. It’s not like someone came in and talked about how Trump likes the team and suddenly it’s a thread bashing the president. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2019, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-this-is-not-an-inappropriate-comment/841717/5 "2019-10-13T16:17:49Z")
[This seems to be the thread in question.](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=882960) I don’t think threads in the game room have to stick strictly to scores and stats and technical details. The enjoyment of sports is much broader that. It’s a good idea to get this question resolved. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2019, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-this-is-not-an-inappropriate-comment/841717/6 "2019-10-13T16:44:09Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > If the comment derailed the entire thread to talk about mustaches and it was no longer a thread about the NHL then that would be bad. I’m sure that’s what Chronos was trying to prevent. Not that the comment itself was objectionable. He even made sure to include that the comment itself wasn’t a “rules violation”. > > Was it a bit heavy-handed? Maybe. I can think of plenty of times when such superficial comments were made in a sports thread without derailing the entire thing. And I’d dislike if a precedent was set here. > > As an example, in the recent Week 5 NFL thread people commented on the “radioactive vomit” color of the Seattle jerseys in the TNF game. Was that a hijack? It could have led to one maybe, if we spent pages talking about our favorite colors. But we didn’t. > > Usually light tangents are common in sports threads and it’s just sports fans having fun, making jokes, and so on. It’s not like someone came in and talked about how Trump likes the team and suddenly it’s a thread bashing the president. Well said. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2019, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-this-is-not-an-inappropriate-comment/841717/7 "2019-10-13T18:20:24Z")
**Bo** it would have helped if you included the entire comment from **Chronos**. > [@NHL 103 - October 2019 - Let's Do That Hockey!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-103-october-2019-lets-do-that-hockey/841114/48): > > **[Moderating]** > > Taking this in order: > **wolfman** , unless some aspect of a player’s physical appearance has an effect on the way they play, it’s not really relevant to the thread. I don’t think it really rises to the level of a rules violation, but please try to stay on topic. > > **Leaffan** , if you think that something deserves a warning, the appropriate course of action is not to say anything at all about it in the thread, but simply to report it. Which I note that you did do, but not until over two hours after you made that post. > > And finally, **wolfman** , your post #45 there _does_ warrant a Warning, for personal insults. You also failed to mention this comment from **wolfman** , after several additional comments in the thread. Yes, the moderation was appropriate. Yes, **wolfman** earned that warning. > [@NHL 103 - October 2019 - Let's Do That Hockey!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nhl-103-october-2019-lets-do-that-hockey/841114/45): > > If you are talking to me, then grows some balls and report whatever the fuck you think the problem is and , otherwise put some Novocaine on your fundament abrasion; > > ie butthurt. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2019, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-this-is-not-an-inappropriate-comment/841717/8 "2019-10-13T19:06:38Z")
Plus, it’s not uncommon for the announcers themselves to make comments on player’s facial hair. Playoff beards are always a commentator’s small talk. When the Geico commercials were everywhere, I definitely remember at least one announcer saying, ‘So easy a caveman can do it!’ when a player with a particularly wild playoff beard scored. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2019, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-this-is-not-an-inappropriate-comment/841717/9 "2019-10-13T19:22:54Z")
**Sunny Daze** is correct that the warning was for the “butthurt” comment, which was warnable as an insult, IMO. But, Are we really not allowed to comment on athlete’s appearance? Why the hell is that a thing? If I note that Sean Doolittle’s beard and glasses make him look like he should be working in a coffee shop discussing bands you’ve never heard of, is that really something that should get a mod note? For God’s sake why? Not everything in a sports thread needs to be about the technical details of the game. Half the fun of sports talk is making snarky comments about players. I get that there was a movement to curtail gross sexual objectification of women, and I support that, but this takes things way too far. If an actress gets a new hairstyle and I say I preferred the old one, surely that’s in a different universe from making sleazy sexual comments? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2019, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-this-is-not-an-inappropriate-comment/841717/10 "2019-10-13T19:23:00Z")
I am curious. If spoken of a female golfer or tennis pro: “Why does _Mary Mohawkhair_ choose to look like an understudy in a porn video?” Would you find that comment unremarkable in a thread on the game? An easy way to “defend” behavior that attacks one group is to simply make it normal when directed against a more privileged group, even when it fails to bring the same ridicule. We are moving away from the habit of making irrelevant comments against female appearance and removing all such comments would seem to be the best way to eliminate claims that “we do it to males” even when male comments do not carry the same judgment or potential ridicule as similar comments toward females. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2019, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-this-is-not-an-inappropriate-comment/841717/11 "2019-10-13T19:31:41Z")
Mowhawks make you think of porn? I’d be more likely to think “She looks like she should be fronting an all female punk band in 1978.” Pornstache’s are a thing, porn-mohawks aren’t. ETA: def of pornstache: > **[pornstache Meaning & Origin | Slang by Dictionary.com](https://www.dictionary.com/e/slang/pornstache/)** > > A pornstache is a mustache that makes the wearer look sleazy, predatory, or cheaply groomed. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2019, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-this-is-not-an-inappropriate-comment/841717/12 "2019-10-13T19:38:06Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > I am curious. > > If spoken of a female golfer or tennis pro: “Why does _Mary Mohawkhair_ choose to look like an understudy in a porn video?” > > Would you find that comment unremarkable in a thread on the game? > An easy way to “defend” behavior that attacks one group is to simply make it normal when directed against a more privileged group, even when it fails to bring the same ridicule. We are moving away from the habit of making irrelevant comments against female appearance and removing all such comments would seem to be the best way to eliminate claims that “we do it to males” even when male comments do not carry the same judgment or potential ridicule as similar comments toward females. Saying someone has a porn star mustache is not the same thing as saying someone looks like they are a pornstar. Taking away some of the fun banter in threads make people less likely to want to come to such forums. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2019, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-this-is-not-an-inappropriate-comment/841717/13 "2019-10-13T19:51:55Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > Pornstache’s are a thing, porn-mohawks aren’t. **YET.** Someone needs to work on that. ---
**Author:** ![Personal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Personal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Personal)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2019, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-this-is-not-an-inappropriate-comment/841717/14 "2019-10-13T20:04:21Z")
All-time pornstaches would make a great Bakers Dozen topic. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2019, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-this-is-not-an-inappropriate-comment/841717/15 "2019-10-13T20:24:29Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > **YET.** > > Someone needs to work on that. You forget rule #34. Google “porn mohawk” at your own peril. I did. Let’s just say that it doesn’t seem to be a niche genre. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2019, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-this-is-not-an-inappropriate-comment/841717/16 "2019-10-13T20:50:45Z")
> [@Charlie\_Tan](#): > > You forget rule #34. Google “porn mohawk” at your own peril. > I did. Let’s just say that it doesn’t seem to be a niche genre. Another angle is to try to make “lip mohawk” a thing. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2019, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-this-is-not-an-inappropriate-comment/841717/17 "2019-10-13T21:08:19Z")
I have it on good authority that there are some hot, Mohawk-sporting porn stars. Or so I’ve been told. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2019, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-this-is-not-an-inappropriate-comment/841717/18 "2019-10-13T21:19:19Z")
To be clear: I got a report on that thread (multiple reports, actually), I checked and saw that there was indeed a problem, and I dug down to the root of the problem. If the post about the moustache were the entirety of it, I probably wouldn’t have even posted any note at all (because it did not, as I said, violate any rules). Given that I was commenting on other aspects of the situation, however, I felt it necessary to comment on that post as well, and to acknowledge that it was, in fact, a hijack. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2019, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-this-is-not-an-inappropriate-comment/841717/19 "2019-10-13T21:25:35Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > Mowhawks make you think of porn? No. For the purpose of this discussion, hange “mohawk” to “DA” or “emo” or “pixie” or any other hairstyle (head or facial or whatever). Comments on appearance that are irrelevant to the topic have long been made on women in the same sort of articles/threads/discussions where such comments have not targeted men. Applying such comments to men does not make them less insulting when applied to women; it only gives a fig leaf cover to continuing to do it to women. Getting observations about appearance out of all such discussions improves the nature of such discussions. ---
**Author:** ![LC\_Strawhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@LC\_Strawhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LC_Strawhouse)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2019, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-this-is-not-an-inappropriate-comment/841717/20 "2019-10-13T21:29:21Z")
Believe it or not, it’s a board rule that we can’t make fun of the Toronto Maple Leafs specifically. NO JOKE. It’s all because of me - I’m sorry that my rude behavior in 2012 spoiled it for everyone else. :o Quote from the past: > [@Weird Al: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame potential?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame-potential/693326/19): > > In case anyone is wondering, this spam is a reference to my hometown. It has nothing to do with the thread, and it’s not the first time LC Strawhouse has followed me around the boards and stalked me, making snide references to the performance of the Toronto Maple Leafs and their star player Phil Kessel. > > See [here.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15770964&postcount=22) > > I don’t know what your issue is with me LC Strawhouse, but I feel sorry for you. And I hope you get banned eventually. > [@The Oddest Things Blocked By My Office Internet Filter](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oddest-things-blocked-by-my-office-internet-filter/643204/24): > > **LC Strawhouse** , you seem to have a problem with this team, and with **Leaffan**. > > Knock it off. > > Consider this an official instruction – which I am about to apprise my fellow moderators of. > > Next time it will be a warning. > > **twickster** , MPSIMS moderator [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-this-is-not-an-inappropriate-comment/841717.md?page=2)