A few words about Facetimer

[Friend of Facetimer]

As a long time friend of Facetimer, I think I should say a few words on his behalf.

Facetimer made his first post to defend Mike Rosenberg, who many of you know and have gotten to know since Facetimer's original post.  For those of you who know Mike, he is clearly a great guy and one of Lynah's most faithful faithful.  Essentially, Facetimer's original post had a positive result.

Throughout the months, Facetimer has also started topics that although many of the faithful may not agree with (e.g. Schafer should be fired, or the pep band shouldn't travel to away games), they were well thought out arguments and his opinion .  The post about firing Schafer listed 5 or 6 reasons why he believed Schafer should be fired.  But rather than just disagreeing with him, you castrated him for his well thought out opinion.  Why have an open forum if some opinions aren't valid.  Facetimer's point throughout his posting tenure was something on the lines of "you are all brainwashed by Age, Berge and the like, and you all follow the leader like a cult.  This forum is truly masturbatory in that you all like to hear yourselves talk, but don't like to listen to dissent."  Again, going back to Facetimer's original post, he was chastising Greg Berge for believing that Mike Rosenberg's chant crossed the line, and as soon as someone disagreed with him, everyone on the forum followed Berge's lead.

You guys are some of the smartest people in the nation.  There are people like Pavlov who will analyze Facetimer's physiology, and the not so smart, but always grammatically correct One of the Guys Who Got Revenge on Volonino who all seem to be intelligent people, but cannot have a mind of their own.  Facetimer was trying to bring out the individualism in each and every one of you.  Facetimer, in a way, is a martyr.

If you look at the posts written by Facetimer, you will notice that there are at least two different e-mail addresses for him.  As some of the more astute posters have noticed, there are strikingly different writing styles of Facetimer.  Further, you may have noticed Facetimer calling Facetimer a facetimer at one point.  You will see that the original Facetimer made it a point never to call out Cowbell Guy until he routed his IP address to homosexual pornography.  It is a shame that an open forum will exclude people based on their opinions and the actions of others.

I hope others on this forum stand up to defend Facetimer, or chose not to read the forum.

[Pete]

As with most situations in life, it's not necessarily what you say, but how you say it.  You can make a lot of great points in your posts, but if you're an asshole about it, well, nobody is going to listen to you.  So, did Facetimer sometimes make some sense? Yeah, sure, not very often, but sometimes.  But if you come on here and insult people, and then expect them to listen to you, you're not going to get very far.

[jeh25]

Bullshit.

Facetimer was trolling, nothing more.

A quick look in the archives will illustrate that dissent is welcome and present on this forum.  Had facetimer posted contrarian opinions in a reasoned and mature manner, we could have debated them on their merits. Instead, our friendly community was subjected to deliberately childish and inflamatory trolling. Personally, I stopped reading and posting to both USCHO and laxpower.com because I don't have the time or patience to deal with such behavior. Thus, said behavior on eLF was entirely unwelcome.  Moreover, I can say with confidence that I am not alone on this.

John

[CowbellGuy]

As a long time friend of Facetimer, I think I should say a few words on his behalf.[/q]
That would make you, what, Factimer's right hand? Or maybe he's a lefty...

[q]Facetimer made his first post to defend Mike Rosenberg, who many of you know and have gotten to know since Facetimer's original post.  For those of you who know Mike, he is clearly a great guy and one of Lynah's most faithful faithful.  Essentially, Facetimer's original post had a positive result.[/q]
Facetimer's first post:
Freddy,
Are you that funny looking kid in A with the cute girlfriend?:-D


[q]you castrated him for his well thought out opinion[/q]
If only...

[q]You guys are some of the smartest people in the nation.  There are people like Pavlov who will analyze Facetimer's physiology, and the not so smart[/q]
Like you, perhaps, who might benefit from looking up words like physiology

[q]Facetimer, in a way, is a martyr.[/q]
Again, if only... (since he'd have to be dead)

[q]As some of the more astute posters have noticed, there are strikingly different writing styles of Facetimer.[/q]
Like the one whose favorite word is masturbatory? (That speaks volumes)

[q]I hope others on this forum stand up to defend Facetimer, or chose not to read the forum.[/q]
Don't hold your breath. Or rather, please hold your breath. Then maybe you'll get your martyr wish.

[atb9]

dude!   ::screwy::

[Will]

Wow, I've been singled out by Facetimer's so-called long time friend.  Does that mean I've truly joined the elite of the Lynah Faithful? :-P

Since I was mentioned by name (well, posting name), I should point out that at one point, I tried to defend what I believed to be Facetimer's intent, though not what I knew to be his execution.  Perhaps I was wrong about his intent.

I'm not sure why I'm necessarily known as "grammatically correct", but thanks.

I'd also like to point out that just because I'm in the majority of people who don't agree with how Facetimer has gone about posting on eLF, that doesn't mean I'm "not so smart".  Maybe I'm "not so smart" for other reasons, but not for that.  If you're going to insult me, do it right next time.

[RedAR]

I love it how Facetimer and his allies all need to cloak themselves in anonymity.  I assure you that Facetimer would not have had the balls to be such an if he knew that he would be traceable.

[gtsully]

That's a few words?!?!?  ::rolleyes::

By the way, that's pretty gutsy the way you posted this anonymously so as not to have to answer to the hundred or so dissenting arguments you're likely to hear.  Personally, I thought some of Facetimer's posts were kinda funny, when taken with an appropriately large grain of salt.  I think most people, correctly, just didn't take him seriously until he started with the personal attacks, and at that point I don't fault Age at all for doing what he did (which was far more hysterical than just banning him altogether, especially when he/she tried all of his other screen names - nice job, Age ::rock:: ).

So basically, lighten up.  Facetimer's gone - get over it.

[RedAR]

Also, anonymous buddy, if you think that Facetimer had any "well thoughtout arguments," well, you're really not too bright.

[dsr11]

Hey, so I'm not gonna defend Mr. FT here, but did post some arguments and back them up with reasons (whether thought out or not, they were valid points to make on an open discussion forum).  However, he/she also attacked people on the board, and the personal attacks are what FT will be most remmebered (and hated) for.  I'm glad to see him and his bs gone.

[canucksfan]

Even if Facetimer did try to back up his (?) points at times, his candor in the rest of his/her/its posts suggest that Facetimer wasn't trying to raise questions and dissent for the sake of discussion...he was trying to be an asshole.

As are you.

[ugarte]

Well, mr. anonymous, I guess some of this should be responded to ...

wrote:As a long time friend of Facetimer[/q]
Which one? You said that there were two.

[q]Throughout the months, Facetimer has also started topics that although many of the faithful may not agree with (e.g. Schafer should be fired, or the pep band shouldn't travel to away games), they were well thought out arguments and his opinion .[/q]
It is not, of course, reasonable to dismiss arguments just because they come from a dubious source, but you have to admit that Facetimer did not build up a lot of good faith before slagging on Schafer and the pep band.  Just because one can articulate a reason doesn't make that reason "well thought out," and Facetimer's opinions certainly weren't.  

He does NOT have a real reason for firing Schafer. When I took him seriously and responded to his post, he chose not to defend his original position.  If he were serious he would have taken the opportunity to defend himself. He did not.  Facetimer does NOT have a remotely reasonable explanation for why the pep band should not go to away games.  It amounts to "when you were sleeping in the back of the bus, your driver drove past my stranded friend."

[q]Again, going back to Facetimer's original post, he was chastising Greg Berge for believing that Mike Rosenberg's chant crossed the line, and as soon as someone disagreed with him, everyone on the forum followed Berge's lead.[/q]Well, either we were following Greg's lead or Mike was out of line.  The two aren't mutually exclusive, you know.  We disagree a lot on this forum; I've had virtual screaming matches with Age, Al D., CULater and (I think) Greg to name four (or maybe three), but it all blows over because we know that the disagreements are sincere - not the bullshit trolling that your pal engaged in.

[q]Facetimer was trying to bring out the individualism in each and every one of you.  Facetimer, in a way, is a martyr.[/q]Now I know you are just joking.  But it isn't a very good joke, even if this line made my laugh out loud.

[q]You will see that the original Facetimer made it a point never to call out Cowbell Guy until he routed his IP address to homosexual pornography.  It is a shame that an open forum will exclude people based on their opinions and the actions of others.[/q]He may not have called out Age, but he called out everyone else.  He deserved to be treated like the baby he is.  The nonsense about Age "stealing" student seats is what deserved to be ignored.  

Take my word for it mr. anonymous, the reason nobody listens to the guy in the tinfoil hat isn't because the CIA has the whole country brainwashed.  I hope, at least, that your tinfoil hat is comfortable.



Post Edited (02-13-04 16:41)

[Jeff Hopkins \'82]

I've tried to stay out of the FT debates, but this one is too much to stay out of.

I think what it comes down to is that there is a level of civility on this board that we expect all of the members to uphold.  When that happens, the members will gang up on that person to either get them to meet the "community standards".   Some posters insist on trying to bring the level of debate down.  The "community" will not allow that to happen.
Some posters who start off on the wrong side of that line (i.e. Hotel Calif.) learn what the standards are and modify their rhetoric to suit.  In that event they are welcome here.

IMO, FT established his reputation as being abusive long before he started trying to make cogent arguments.  I read his posts about Schafer quitting and the Pep Band not travelling and actually felt they put forward some interesting ideas.  However, because he had already established a reputation being irritating and abusive, I judged them as more likely just  trolling and ignored them.

Now that (I hope) he realizes that this is not a game to be won or lost, I for one, would be willing to allow FT one last chance on the board.  If he decides to stay civil, I would welcome him (although I know others wouldn't).  But if he slips back to his old ways, throw him off for good.

JH

[RedAR]

Age, PLEASE keep FT off of here.  If you recall, I had asked if you could implement an ignore function soon after FT reared it's ugly head onto the forum.  I'm glad you've taken measures to keep him off of here, and truly do hope that you keep it this way, even if it keeps his apartmentmates from coming onto the forum.  Of course, that's just my opinion.

Obligatory hockey content:
A good win tonight, though against the bottom feeder.  Combined with the ties and losses of the other top teams, 2nd place is a distinct possibility.  Let's hope we can take care of Yale tomorrow night.