Official Off-Topic RIP Thread

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Posted By: JK

No disrespect intended here, but do we really need a new thread every time some famous or semi-famous non-baseball, non-hobby person dies? If people insist on offering their condolences to others who will never read them, I proposed we instead have a monthly "O/T RIP thread". Sort of like the monthly pickups.

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Posted By: Dave Hornish

It's actually the opposite of a "pickup", perhaps "putdown" is a better term?

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Posted By: Jason L

We could combine the 2 and make it a Monthly Pick-up and Drop-Dead list thread!!!


a fair amount of disrespect meant towards public figures here (none towards hobby friends or acquaintences or family) -you know, just for fun, because they're public figures!

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Posted By: barrysloate

Bobby Fischer was one of the most famous figures in America in the early 1970's. But it is very off topic, I agree with you. It is just someone who had an impact on my life, for better or worse. No offense intended.

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Posted By: JK

Barry,

No offense taken. Its not just the Fisher thread that I am referring to. There's also Ernie Holmes on the front page right now. Bhutto not too long ago (and boy did that one start an off topic political discussion). Edited to add that I almost forgot to include "Poker superstar Chip Reese" he just had his very own RIP thread in December.

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Posted By: leon

There have been a lot of people dieing lately. Maybe we can put a moratorium on it? So far it hasn't bothered me when folks post about it.... but then again not a whole lot really bothers me. Well, maybe cockfighting.....but that's a different story...

edited typo

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Posted By: Jodi Birkholm

I understand your feelings in regards to the political discussion...ughhhh. Other than that, though, anyone who doesn't want to read such threads can simply skip over them. It's not a big deal.

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Posted By: JK

It is a big deal when they clutter up the front page and push on topic discussions down the page. Sorry - its a pet peeve. Im sure there is a chess board somewhere where its topical.

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Posted By: barrysloate

A chess board?...good play on words.

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Posted By: Jodi Birkholm

Fair enough. I guess it's just your personal preference. We all have things that bug us that others would simply shrug off and not waste time worrying about.

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Posted By: Anthony S.

Has there ever been any discussion about adding an official off-topic board to this site? I frequent a Pac-10 football site during the season and at one point a couple years ago (probably during the lead up to the 2004 elections) political discussions became so prevalent that the admin decided to add a political board. The off-topic discussions immediately migrated away from the football board. Not sure if this would add to the costs or Leon's workload, but just tossing it out there.

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Posted By: Brian

<<There have been a lot of people dieing lately. Maybe we can put a moratorium on it? >>

Leon, can you really force people to stop dying? You mod dudes are powerful.

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Posted By: Rob Dewolf

I heard that the cockfighting rooster that played "Little Jerry" on Seinfeld died this week.

Choked on a ham sandwich.

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Posted By: Jodi Birkholm

...while it was being eaten by Mama Cass. Ms. Eliott was quoted as saying, "AAAAHHH....UUUUUUUUUHHHH, AAAAAAAHHHH". Jimmie Foxx could not be reached for comment. It's crazy.

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Posted By: T206Collector

...pop culture issues -- hot topics of the 21st Century -- including deaths of non-baseball related people -- please find another forum.

If you have friends on this board that you want to share your feelings with about things other than pre-war cards, then do it in a private e-mail.

The problem as I see it is people come to Net54 to vent their thoughts or feelings on topics because they feel generally comfortable talking with people in this environment. But OT posts are a waste of time on here and do nothing but deter from the pursuit of relevant hobby knowledge.

I don't feel at all strongly about this issue, but since this thread is about this issue I thought I would share my opinion. Generally I just ignore it if it says OT.





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Visit http://www.t206collector.com for my blog, interviews, articles, card galleries and more!

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Posted By: Jodi Birkholm

As you have said, simply continue to skip over threads that don't serve any purpose for you.

I have to (somewhat) disagree with you on this one, Jeff M. In a recent hobby-related thread that went horribly wrong , the topic of jazz artist Hoagy Carmichael entered into play. OK, I know that many of you may not even be familiar with him. But, as it turned out, FOUR Net54 posters are actually big fans of this man's music. This topic would never have come up in a private email, never mind finding out that four posters share both a love of vintage baseball memorabilia and Hoagy Carmichael. That's pretty odd, but I bet each one of the four (I can only speak for myself) got a kick out of the circumstances. This just goes to prove that, even if such o/t coincidence has yet to happen to you, it inevitably will, and perhaps you will have had a better day as a result. Just my two cents.

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Posted By: T206Collector

There is a big difference between starting an OT thread and talking about tangentially related off topic material in an on topic thread. The former is a waste of time, the latter is sometimes quite fascinating.

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Visit http://www.t206collector.com for my blog, interviews, articles, card galleries and more!

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Posted By: Jodi Birkholm

You do make a good point there. In that spirit, it WOULD be nice to have an o/t section of this board. I'm fairly new here, but can see that many of you have been exchanging messages for some time. And, because of that, I'm sure that several posters would be interested in the o/t opinions and thoughts of our fellow Net54 members. This board can sometimes get a little too serious and negative. Although the heated debates which are certain to ensue in an o/t area could also exhibit such tendencies, I know it would be interesting. Does anyone here (with more computer-related knowledge than yours truly) want to come up with something?

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Posted By: barrysloate

The subject of O/T threads is one we never seem to agree on. Unless they are banned entirely, I guess they will continue to pop up and I really see no reason why anyone should be offended by them. Just read the ones you like and skip the others- or skip them all if you prefer.

Today there were two obituary threads. I barely knew who Ernie Holmes was; on the other hand, as I spent most of my teens and twenties as a chess junkie, Bobby Fischer was an iconic figure to me (let's forget his politics and madness for the sake of this argument). So I participated in one, glanced at the other.

As long as the preponderance of threads are baseball card related, an occasional off topic on a Friday afternoon is a pretty minor transgression.

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Posted By: Fred C

Barry, what about Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday afternoons?

There's room below the ad banners (to the right of the "Network 54 Non-Sports Card Forum" link) where we could add an obituary link. There's room to add a few more links. Why not put an OT link there. Anyone that wants to engage in OT material and conversation could read and respond to their hearts delight without impacting the main page. The only time OT stuff bugs me is when a thread regarding a bonafide forum topic sinks to the bottom of the pile "whilst" (ya'all like that use of "whilst", don't ya ) OT material overflows at the top of the threads.

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Posted By: Steve

You have no right preventing my demise. Married near 25 years now and I've earned it.

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Posted By: Steve Murray

"It is a big deal when they clutter up the front page and push on topic discussions down the page."

This I agree with.

I also agree that the demise of Bobby Fisher, Bhutto, Podres and others are irrelevant to this board. (I make exception to Chip Reese as he was one of my idols).

I do agree that the demise of Larry Frisch, other legends of collecting and especially if (God forbid) any of we Net54 members are to pass prematurely, that such posts would not and should not be OT.

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Posted By: leon

Brian and I can talk about this but one more thought on the OT situation (and I do agree there's probably been slightly too many RIP threads lately...but still not a big deal, imho).....if we start it's own spot then some members will miss some of the really good o/t......Also, I think a little bit of O/T actually helps the main board as it keeps it from being too stale....just a few thoughts...We all should be cognizant of starting o/t's and shouldn't do it too often (where are ya Peter C?), per those darn forum rules that no one reads....best regards

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Posted By: barrysloate

Leon kind of touched on something I feel too...the board isn't always a roller coaster ride. Many times I scroll through the various vintage card threads, and well, they are not so exciting. So maybe a little O/T will get me posting if I find a topic that is interesting.

And I never even heard of Chip Reese until I read the thread, and that one made me want to stand up and ...yawn.

So everyone likes something a little different, what can you do. Yes, there have been too many obituaries on the board lately, but I like Fred's idea of an obituary column.

When my New York Times comes bright and early every morning, you know the first thing I look at? Not sports, not headline news, but... the obituaries! True story. I think maybe I'm checking to see if I'm still alive.

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Posted By: barrysloate

See- there's a thread about Texas Hold Em, and I don't even have a clue about what you're supposed to hold. But I'm not offended. I know others are enjoying it.

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Posted By: paulstratton

I agree with JK that it clogs up the top of the board sometimes and pushes relevant topics down and maybe off the first page never to be seen again. That being said, I do sometimes enjoy reading opinions others may have about topics outside the hobby. On the other hand, the only things I've regretted saying are usually in OT threads.

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Posted By: Rob Dewolf

When my New York Times comes bright and early every morning, you know the first thing I look at? Not sports, not headline news, but... the obituaries! True story. I think maybe I'm checking to see if I'm still alive.

No worries, Barry. All the folks at Del Boca Vista do that.

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Posted By: JK

What Can I Post About?

This forum was established to talk about Pre-WWII Baseball cards. Subjects "related" to Pre-WWII baseball cards can be discussed also. Occasional off topic subjects will be permitted by board participants only. The participants involvement in the board determines the leniency in frequency of off topic posts. In other words the more you participate the more leniency you will receive in discussing off-topic material. This is still a Pre-WWII baseball card chat board and we will always try keep it's focus. Early baseball memorabilia and photographs are some of the permitted off topic's. Others are permitted too as long as you are a frequent board participant and they are only occasional.

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Posted By: JK

"As long as the preponderance of threads are baseball card related, an occasional off topic on a Friday afternoon is a pretty minor transgression."


Barry - that is the problem, its not an occasional off topic post on a Friday afternoon. Its almost never ending. Hell, we now have four RIP threads started today alone (excluding this one).

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Posted By: Jantz

If Mama Cass would have shared half of her ham sandwich with Karen Carpenter would they both be alive today?



Collect what you like,
Jantz

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Posted By: paulstratton

When I feel the need to post about something other than cards I go here:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/#u-s-forums

If you page down you will see that there is virtually nothing that is considered OT and there is actually a lot of good information. Not the same cast of characters, but you can't have it all I guess.

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Posted By: FGN

Sam the Butcher from the Brady Bunch

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Posted By: CN

I think the overuse of an RIP thread is exxagerated. As long as it pertains to Sports let it Post . If not interested don,t read the post. JMO CN

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Posted By: LetsGoBucs

Well I started one of the threads yesterday. I started collecting baseball (and football) cards as a kid because I loved sports!

Collecting baseball cards is a result of enjoying the game of baseball and sports in general. So while this is a vintage baseball card forum, it is also a sports related forum (at least to me it is). I can understand why people that aren't Steeler fans would not want to see the post. But for those few that are Steeler fans I would think that this would bring back some good memories. So I posted it. And it seems to me that collecting vintage baseball cards is partially about bringing back good memories. Hence, its really not all that OT after all

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Posted By: barrysloate

Josh- I do agree that not every death warrants an O/T. I guess this is the time for a ruling from Leon.

And I like the Mama Cass/Karen Carpenter joke. Morbidly funny (and from what I've heard, the story that Mama Cass choked on a sandwich is myth. She simply had a heart attack).

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Posted By: Ed Ivey

Is Captain Kangaroo deceased? If so, I think we need a retroactive RIP thread.

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Posted By: Fred C

Ed, the Captain (Bob Keeshan) passed away almost 4 years ago (23JAN04). I'm sorry to be the bearer of such bad news.

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Posted By: Jodi Birkholm

Mr. Greenjeans was questioned and released shorthly thereafter.

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Posted By: DJ

I got on last night and the first five threads were all in regards to celebrated human beings passing. And in looking over the figures involved that had passed, I realized that this was the first time there was so affection to the recently passed. I was a huge fan of Ernie "Fats" Holmes, but is this the place? And then I realized that the week before, there were no mentions of any deaths and therefore I want to pass my condolensces to the family of the inventor of the Super Ball.

Richard Knerr, who gave the company he and a friend started in a garage the altogether appropriate name Wham-O, then marketed products that for two decades virtually defined frivolity in post-war America — from the Hula Hoop to the Frisbee to the SuperBall — died Monday at his home in Arcadia.



I have no idea either, but I find Mama Cass jokes funny as well.

DJ

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Posted By: Dave S

Doris Keeler passed Thurs night, she was my mother-in-law's roomie at the Alzheimer Center. Watched every baseball game that the TV could find!!

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Posted By: Dan Koteles

there are many who have passed that gave their life being kind to others always that never had recieved the on earth respect. In heaven they rest.

Many atheletes are pieces of chit with ist grade education and never have done anything good at all other then star on the playing fields .....whoop-de-doo.


If M.VIck passed by being eaten by 15 pit bulls ,it belongs here. Other then some baseball heroes that we knew and loved ,I agree with J.K.

toodleloo

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Posted By: JK

sorry CN and Letsgobucs - this is not a sports forum - its a vintage baseball card forum.

as stated in the rules:

"This forum was established to talk about Pre-WWII Baseball cards. Subjects "related" to Pre-WWII baseball cards can be discussed also."

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Posted By: Bill Stone

Trout Fishing in America Shorty --RIP

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Posted By: Jodi Birkholm

Ahh, Brautigan. "Tra-la-la-la-la, spaghetti!".

What ever made you think of that?!

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Posted By: Bill Stone

Slow day and too much wine !!!!

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Posted By: DJ

And don't forget about Sam The Butcher from The Brady Bunch and also old neighbor on Archie Bunker.

I have read every Brautigan book six or seven times and to this day feel "Willard And His Bowling Trophies" is underrated and a masterpiece.

DJ

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Posted By: Dave Hornish

I think an off topic section would be appropriate. It's a feature on many boards and would eliminate one of the more contentious issues around here.

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Posted By: Joel

if the 4 o/t RIP posts were removed the next 4 being bumped up would be a locked thread regarding PSA and 3 posts which received limited posts and were pretty much dead (RIP) and had not recieved a response in 2-3 days.

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Posted By: JK

Great logic as to why we should allow more OT posts.

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Posted By: Joel

just saying even with the 4 rip posts they are not affecting the current threads with active discussion. but thanks, I think it's great logic too.