Wednesday, March 21, 2012

MKM Open Thread (Mar. 21, 2012)

Welcome to your MKM Blog open thread for March 21, 2012, the day you were reminded that not all drug dealers can be as clever as Brien Taylor.

Yo, what's happening, ladies and gentlemen?  How about that COTF piece yesterday?  Good stuff from the Ninjas.  As someone who was approved for a non-funny comment, and then starred for a non-funny comment, I am glad that (a) thoughtful, intelligent commentary is now officially welcomed (although I think it always was, albeit in non-manifesto fashion), and (b) unintelligent, meaningless, unfunny blather is still neck-snap-worthy.  A well-deserved +1 to all of the ... recognizees.

Why don't you throw yourself into contention for the next one today?  I'll even toss in a Youtube clip to get you all started.


43 comments:

  1. Bedridden with a fever-induced delirium. Expect a big day from me. Detractors welcome.

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  2. Crap, well there goes Bullet Tooth Tony's big party weekend.

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  3. I understand that I'm still the new guy, and this may seem like a dumb question to some of you vets, but what exactly did MaverickIsAirborne do wrong here that warranted the thread being moved and his unstarring?

    I can see where the "throwing it down" line could be perceived as having a double-meaning, but all he did on the surface was make a joke about her unimpressive vertical leap and massive forehead. Were the contextual undertones really enough to warrant that kind of a punishment? Maybe I'm just being naive, but I didn't understand this at all.

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    1. You can't make fun of the way a woman looks. If she had a young son who died in a horribly tragic way, well, then we could use that for years as the starting point for tons of jokes! We can only hope!

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    2. The moving is arguable, but I'll allow it. The destarring is bullshit because it should be based on a commenter's overall body of work, not one comment. Maverick regularly brings the funny, so one gaffe doesn't warrant a destarring.
      For example, if I throw out a sexist, marginally funny comment, then yes, I deserve a destarring. A guy like Bevraj on the other hand should get no more than a "tsk tsk" from the ninjas.

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    3. Looks like his mistake was that the story was cross-posted to Jezebel, and that their readers complained. Childs Deaths is right...gotta play it safe and stick to children dying in horrible / funny ways.

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    4. I don't see what the controversy is. They've made clear for literally YEARS that comments to the effect that DERP DERP THAT BROAD SURE IS UGLY DERP had better be knockouts to be welcome on Deadspin. Maybe the Mav thing is because he's been around long enough to have figured it out by now.

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    5. @ 2nd Anon

      At best, that charitable interpretation flies in the face of "The One Rule" (Just be funny), since there is apparently a corollary that jokes about a woman's appearance are held to an even higher standard: Be Super-Funny. Whatever you think about Maverick's joke, it wasn't close to being offensive enough to warrant the unstarring, and neither is his comment history.

      At worst, it's evidence of a writer having an agenda and taking it out on the commenters. My opinion is not representative of anyone else's, but it looks like Scocca either didn't like the response to one of his previous pieces, and/or was overly sensitive about this issue in particular, to the detriment of the post in general.

      I think the comments are in a bit of a lull lately, and it's largely because of junk like this. Inconsistent discipline and unclear rules make it hard to figure out what is acceptable (what's the difference between moving a thread, banning for a week or forever, and unstarring?), especially on a site like Deadspin that pushes the envelope with its own journalism. And, of course, the incredibly uneven handling of approving/starring commenters ("come comment and be approved";any Drew post), combined with the incredible speed of posts lately has led to an influx of inferior commenters.

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    6. This is the same thing as the race jokes thing: it's not "be super funny," it's "only a great joke will be funny about a topic like this."

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    7. @ Anon

      That'd be great, except it doesn't do anything to address the issue that the "topic like this" is obviously different for everyone. For Scocca, it's apparently "unattractive women". Why on Earth that's so much more prickly than child abuse or deaths (both of which will produce dozens and dozens of hackneyed, ghoulish comments that go undisciplined) is anyone's guess.

      And that's my point - because all Deadspin staffers have their own opinions about this stuff, it's never codified in any meaningful way, and it's impossible not to run afoul of the mysterious rules from time to time (that is, unless as is pointed out below, you already work there - in which case: do whatever!)

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    8. I was going to message MIA to see if he was given an explanation for it, and I saw this in his public messages...

      03/21/12 11:20 AM Tom Scocca wrote:
      Bullshit. That was a nice dunk. As for the forehead: HEY WOMAN-DOING-THING, YOU MAY HAVE DONE A THING, BUT I DON'T WANT TO FUCK YOU, SO THERE. Stupid women, thinking they can do things. Be sure and send in video next time you throw one down, so we can compare and so we can poll the ladies in the office about whether they want to sex your face. Have a nice day.


      So there you have it. Unattractive female athletes doing marginally impressive athletic things = not fair game. I guess Child Deaths was right.

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    9. This treatment of lazy "derp she's ugly/fat" jokes has been going on since long before Scocca joined the site. I'm not endorsing it, just pointing it out. And I think the action in that post probably had a lot to do with the fact that, like, damn near every comment in it was a lazy "derp she's ugly" joke, which makes Deadspin's commentariat look 1, lazy, 2, sexist, and 3, repetitive. You can say the same thing would or wouldn't happen if all the jokes were about Conor Clapton or whatever, but that's never happened.

      You make a lot of noise about this stuff needing to be "codified in a meaningful way," but it never has been, and Deadspin's had the best comments on the internet for years. Maybe that's not the problem?

      (And the whole sniping at the staff for being exempt from the rules is a dog that won't hunt. They aren't commenters.)

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    10. @ Anon

      You know, it's a lot easier to take you seriously and have a meaningful discussion with you if you put your name to it. For my part, it's a hell of a lot easier to swallow being talked down to if I know who's doing it.

      I'm not defending Maverick's joke or anyone else's in the thread. And, actually, I don't know that the premise that she has a large forehead is all that similar to the other jokes in the thread, which assert claims about her gender - but fine. Move them all, that works for me. Supposedly, everyone's star status is continuously examined, though, and not subject to change in one instance. But this is about more than just one guy's star, in my opinion.

      Deadspin has great comments, and great commenters. Lots of that has to do with the comment ninjas and, of course, the editors who post the stories in the first place. We're all lucky they're there so we can fuck around on the internet. But it's absurd to claim that it's perfect, or couldn't be better, or that by virtue of having great commenters, everyone there is absolved for the uneven way they handle said commenters. And judging by the redesign(s), Nick Denton doesn't ascribe to your "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" mentality anyway.

      And quit apologizing for editor comments. You don't think that maybe if they were commenters once and now have, as part of their job description, to write long articles explaining just how exactly to comment, that we shouldn't wonder whether if it's good for the goose or not? I'd like it if they got in there and made a joke, or tangled with some serious criticisms from time to time, but the comment linked below is neither.

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    11. A Different Anonymous GuyMarch 21, 2012 at 4:39 PM

      It seems like everybody's overlooking the fact that it wasn't moved to #sexist or #hineyholeisland, but to #groupthink. Seems to me the issue is mostly about the fact that everybody in that thread made the same damn joke, and a starred guy got punished for being unoriginal.

      And, c'mon, Mav's not exactly Bevraj of Choice, here. He's just some guy. He's no more deserving of a star than at least a few people who don't have one.

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    12. [passes out cookies and milk to everyone]

      Play nicely.

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    13. Deadspin has great comments, and great commenters.

      Hey, don't drag me into this.

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    14. @Raysism Ha!

      @IMG I really do feel bad gumming up your comment sections once a week with long boring screeds. But my only other creative outlet is the bead shop, and they close at 2:30.

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    15. YOU ONLY LOOK! YOU NEVER BUY!

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    16. @Child Deaths.

      + however many you want.

      Quick boring story that is interesting to no one but me - before I ever made my first comment on Deadspin I read the comments religiously. One day Raysism made a Connor Clapton joke and I sent him a PM expressing my wish that he'd avoid that topic for personal reasons. He changed it in 2 minutes, and didn't even go the " . " route that most of us to redact - he made another funny joke instead. That was when I decided to try to join "the community" - to see if I could ever be seen as a peer with someone who could just come up with something else so funny off the cuff (little did I know that Raysism was the 437th funniest commenter here - but that is a different topic.)

      Personally I don't find "her forehead is huge" jokes particularly funny, but we make jokes about mens' appearances constantly (hey, did you know that Rex Ryan is fat!??!11!) so I have to agree that Scocca's judgement seems capricious. Maverick earned and deserves his star - there is no one here who hasn't made a poor joke at some point, and I wish Maverick had been given the opportunity to redact and come up with something better before getting a partial execution.

      Finally, if you can establish a coherent thread among the paragraphs above, then you are much cleverer than I am.

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    17. The Cookie MonsterMarch 21, 2012 at 5:41 PM

      I SWEAR TO GOD IF ANYBODY TOUCHES THOSE COOKIES BESIDES ME, I WILL STAB THEM IN THE NECK

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    18. Dubai's story would be so sweet if I hadn't replaced it with a joke about Bo Diaz falling to his death:

      http://deadspin.com/5823406/yeah-sure-chris-dudley-is-totally-an-nba-legend?comment=41152470#comments

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    19. While I appreciate your support, you aren't legally obligated to post a comment that proves that you are, in fact, the 437th funniest commenter on Deadspin.

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  4. Neither Of These GuysMarch 21, 2012 at 1:24 PM

    http://deadspin.com/5895250/report-tim-tebow-has-been-traded-to-the-jets?comment=48145042#comments

    http://deadspin.com/5876474/heres-the-tim-tebow-and-911-connection-you-never-thought-anyone-was-dumb-enough-to-make?comment=46047891#comments

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    1. Yeah, I'm a huge fan of PARS but that joke has been done to death and it doesn't even work here. Errant probably does not apply to 9/11.

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    2. I didn't see this until now, but yea. After a minute or two of reflection, I deleted the comment. For the reasons IMG mentioned, and several others.

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  5. Regarding that COTF post yesterday, I guess the staff is exempt from the rules?

    http://deadspin.com/5895250/report-tim-tebow-has-been-traded-to-the-jets-[updated]?comment=48144370#comments

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    1. He who points out the obviousMarch 21, 2012 at 3:42 PM

      Um, yes? Obviously? Moron? Because it's their website?

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  6. So after a slow start to the week (slow couple of weeks?) people have been fucking hilarious today across the board. Tons of promoted comments, tons of deserved +1s going around.

    Good work.

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    1. Agreed. I've been super busy at work and been ignoring DS lately, but had some time today. Seems like I picked a nice day to have some time.

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  7. Shouldn't this guy be getting ninja'd for giving his opinion? It was made clear that nobody cares about opinion comments, buddy. GTFO!

    http://deadspin.com/5895347/in-order-to-save-football-roger-goodell-will-destroy-it?comment=48156537#comments

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    1. Seriously! Try something you found on the Family Guy floor, like "I haven't seen such a botched bounty system since Jabba the Hut forgot how to use decimals!"

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  8. Funny is good. Early is better.March 21, 2012 at 6:26 PM

    Did you know that you could block a follower on Twitter? Did you ever think that you were so interesting that doing so might be meaningful? Are you so idiotic as to realize that anyone who wanted to see what you said might just click on your timeline?

    If you answered "no" to any of the above, then you are clearly not HateyMcLife.

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  9. It is Thursday! I can almost, almost deal with a comment_ninja post on a Wednesday, followed by the inevitable sperm-swallowing on this blog. But having Sean post a Jose Canseco post on Thursday is a bit much. Just focus your efforts on the weekend, buddy. Then we can all ignore you in peace.

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    1. You just gave away your geo-location, homey.

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    2. Not sure if you were implying it was me, but I'm in the US - check the country stats on your log and I don't think you'll see any UAE hits recently unless you have other fans there). I use my own name around these parts (and I like the Canseco posts). Probably just paranoid, but just in case....

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    3. By the way, the ninja post wasn't made on Wednesday anywhere in the world, except maybe China (I don't remember exactly when it went up and I'm too lazy to check, but I think it was pre-DUAN). So, rather than a geo-location giveaway, I think we have an unemployed giveaway ... most students or people with jobs have a decent sense of the current day of the week.

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    4. He was just talking about where the guy parked his Chevy Geo. How he figured that out, I'll never know.

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  10. Don't be a fool anymore
    (This is it)
    The waiting is over.

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  11. Since it was a topic of discussion today apparently I'll give my 2cents:

    P.S. How the fuck do I create a permanent log-in on here? (Maybe Google account will work)

    1/ Obviously, it wasn't that funny, it was barely chuckle worthy at best. Wasn't necessarily meant to be hilarious, just an off-hand observation that she labeled it "throwing it down" after jumping about 5 inches. So let's not worry about arguing about that aspect. The standard is clearly no longer Be Funny or Else...

    2/ Show me where I said she was ugly. I implied that she has a big forehead (fact, by the way). You know who else has a huge forehead? Tyra Banks. Quite bangable and good looking. I realize as a white male conservative that I am the last subgroup of the population that is allowed to get made fun of with impunity from the joke makers while simultaneously getting zero rope to do likewise.

    3/ She is 6'8" with an 86inch wingspan apparently, it is fact that she barely even has to jump to dunk.

    4/ Jesus Scocca is a petty bitch. He clearly had a hard-on for me after the comment I made on the Pat Knight post last week. Whatever, I'm not going to tell them great job on every fucking post just because I'm a starred commenter like IMG does (Sorry IMG, keep up the good work!). I thought what he wrote was idiotic so I said so. As was Drew's piece (mostly) today. He didn't even post anything today. The only thing he did all fucking day was unstar me before 8:00am.

    5/ Apparently he combined with Drew on the Goodell post today, which included this: "Damn straight. In the NFL, if you don't do exactly as you're told, and you dare to subvert the established chain of command, well, then that earns you the death penalty. Goodell's punishment is about letting the world know that the NFL is the kind of league that keeps all its rogue elements in control. There will be no disobeying." Ironic they were bitching about that, no?

    6/ He has still failed to respond to me point out that the equivalent of her dunking would be me on about a 8'6" hoop after he challenged me to send in footage.

    7/ This probably ends with my banning.

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    1. Don't worry, Mav. Once I quit law school, bum around for a few months, take up writing, start my own blog, get a few hits, give up writing, work for my dad for a couple of years, get bored, take up writing again, start a sports blog, happen to bump into Deadspin EIC Hamilton Nolan at a boxing match, get hired as an intern at Gawker, ask him to let me write something, get turned down, ask again a few weeks later, get turned down again, set up an elaborate scheme to get a picture of Nolan in a compromising position, get caught before setting the plan in motion, get convicted of a couple of minor charges, have them expunged from my record after six months clearn, restart my own blog which I had to discontinue as a condition of having my record wiped clean, have it bought by Deadspin, and finally get hired as a writer, I'll restar you.

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  12. http://deadspin.com/5895397/boston-college-football-player-charged-with-recording-audio-of-his-teammate-having-sex?comment=48166227#comments

    And there's our pink comment winner.

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    1. Maybe a Gimp Named Dave R(etard) can approve him, since apparently he likes approving terrible fucking comments.

      http://deadspin.com/5895328/the-tim-tebow-trade-might-be-held-up-because-the-jets-never-read-tebows-contract?comment=48157042#comments

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