Wednesday, May 30, 2012

MKMOT (May 30, 2012)

What's with all the new writers over there? Who are these people??? At least I had the decency to introduce myself over here. I even brought cookies. We're good neighbors at this here balog.

In keeping with that theme, our thread is always open for you. Please take off your shoes before entering, that's all we ask. NOT at the gym, though. You hippie savage.

Now powwow below Landau.


58 comments:

  1. On Monday evening, Uwe posed a question: Where the fuck are you people coming from? It is, in my opinion, a valid question, due to an apparent uptick approved commenters who seem to show up out of the blue and vomit all over the comment section.

    A while back, while MKM was on hiatus, perhaps you remember the hullabaloo concerning a couple not giving a foul ball to a crying child, as well as the shitfest that went down in the comments section. I randomly went back to that post the next day, and saw something interesting. A starred commenter by the name of "Stinky McBritches" had approved no fewer than 30 of the pinkos, reply to each one with the phrase "Viva la Revolucion." In the link I provided, if you click "Show Earlier Discussions" around 5 or so times, you can see what I'm talking about.

    Does this answer Uwe question? I think it's at least part of the answer.

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    1. Well, would you look at this. Mr McBritches strikes again in Tommy's pinko magnet - "The AP is Gay For Stupid." While we were over hear bitching about Tommy vs Bev, he took advatage of the diversion to go on another approval spree, although he has apparently been de-starred at this point.

      More to come ... ? What are his motivations? Are the people he approves the ones fucking up the threads?

      Delete
    2. (okay this comment was supposed to be first, but somehow I ended up editing my first comment to what you see above)

      Late Monday evening, Uwe posed a question: "Where the fuck are you people coming from?"

      I think I may have found part of the answer. A (formerly) starred commenter named "Stinky McBritches went on an approval spree in the post about the people who didn't give a crying little kid a foul ball. If you hit "See Earlier Discussion" around 6 or 7 times, you can see what I'm talking about here. Mr. McBritches approved no fewer than 30 pinkos in that post. I would have warned people sooner, but MKM was on hiatus and had noone to turn to.

      Delete
    3. Interesting stuff, thanks.

      I'd be curious to hear from the ninj squad on this one. I can only assume they missed it. I'm not sure what that dude's agenda is, but his tactics are certainly questionable.

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    4. Craggs caught on and suspended him for a week - I also assume that was when has was de-starred.

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    5. I just went through the first 5 pages of his comment history before I had to stop.

      It is curious, to say the least, why a suspension was doled out as opposed to an all out ban. He defines troll. The fact that he was ever starred is equally mind-boggling.

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    6. I knew he had done his original approval binge, but I missed the second one. Good catch.

      I had figured the influx of bad commenters was related to people who moved over from Gawker after the Powwow switch but still felt the need to be heard somewhere. Especially for those who had the universal stars.

      The more I think about it though, it seems more and more likely that you are right and McBritches is responsible for the contamination. Why he would do that is beyond me.

      Delete
    7. The sad part is that McBritches is irrelevant anyway. Once we get powwow, those people won't need anyone's approval. They can make their own account, or just use an anonymous burner account. As much as I love all the Guys Who around here, I'm not looking forward to it over at DS.

      Except to troll Raysism, of course.

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    8. Not shockingly, McBritches was a Drewstar.

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    9. I made a tiny little obvious joke once and Drew, who has the internet's most refined sense of humor LOVED it. It might have been a Simpsons reference, or maybe I just said NOHOMO, but either way, I assure you it was subtle, intelligent, and carefully executed. I deserve the star, and you all can suck it.

      Delete
    10. Wait, there's someone else who drools over my jokes?

      Delete
    11. I'm a Drewstar too! We all suck.

      Delete
    12. What's the big deal - Don't all of your people have stars?

      Oh, Drewstar. My mistake.

      Delete
    13. That girl is obviously a fatty. I can tell by the pixels because I've seen a few. Also, I just learned what cuckolding means, and furthermore, I

      Delete
  2. (okay this comment was supposed to be first, but somehow I ended up editing my the comment below into what you see above ... READ THIS ONE FIRST)

    Late Monday evening, Uwe posed a question: "Where the fuck are you people coming from?"

    I think I may have found part of the answer. A (formerly) starred commenter named "Stinky McBritches" went on an approval spree in the post about the people who didn't give a crying little kid a foul ball. If you hit "See Earlier Discussion" around 6 or 7 times, you can see what I'm talking about here. Mr. McBritches approved no fewer than 30 pinkos in that post. I would have warned people sooner, but MKM was on hiatus and had noone to turn to.

    ReplyDelete
  3. (okay this comment was supposed to be first, but somehow I ended up editing my comment below into what you see above ... READ THIS ONE FIRST)

    Late Monday evening, Uwe posed a question: "Where the fuck are you people coming from?"

    I think I may have found part of the answer. A (formerly) starred commenter named "Stinky McBritches" went on an approval spree in the post about the people who didn't give a crying little kid a foul ball. If you hit "See Earlier Discussion" around 6 or 7 times, you can see what I'm talking about here. Mr. McBritches approved no fewer than 30 pinkos in that post. I would have warned people sooner, but MKM was on hiatus and had noone to turn to.

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    1. I see what you're talking about, but if you look at the people he's approved, you'll see that most of them only commented once or twice. Also, many many new commenters have come into Deadspin without ever getting approved, due to some kind of Twitter/Facebook glitch that skips the approval process. It's just the lay of the land now. Ignore them.

      Delete
    2. You are probably right, but I just wanted to throw it out there as a possibility. I'm sure it's a variety of factors, but that is a lot of approvals, and I wasn't sure if people had caught that. Just wanted to throw it out there for consumption.

      But, as we have all pointed out, it won't matter soon.

      Delete
    3. @Talib

      Nice catch. It's especially relevant today, as the gymnast and Terry Francona posts have been full of garbage.

      Delete
  4. Replies
    1. [recipe]

      [hockey reference]

      [those aren't ducks, they're loons!]

      [empty space where joke would go]

      Delete
  5. Interesting decision by the ninja to +1 the MJ/Ewing comment from Captain Insensible, which was funny but not that funny. I can understand the ninja's reply if made to a grey or pink comment, but a starred commenter should make comments like that all day, even in the face of a storm of BOOBS! jokes.

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    1. Are you seriously complaining because the ninjas gave somebody some positive feedback?

      Delete
    2. I thought it was hilarious, and would have +1ed if I could get Deadspin to work on my stupid phone. I thought it was more general commentary on frustration with the state of the day as much as specific kudos to Captain Insensible.

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    3. I'm not sure what part of my comment reads like a complaint. I just found it an interesting decision, given the infrequency with which the ninjas +1 and the funnier comments on that thread and others.

      Wouldn't you find it odd for the ninjas to +1 a similar comment from EMS, Sharting, Gamboa, RMJ=H, etc.? Starred commenters make comments like that, and better, all the time (see the Sneijderman joke below it).

      Delete
    4. Obviously, I can't speak for the comment_ninja, but I do think it's a very funny comment deserving of a +1.

      If I may step away from this particular comment for a moment, it does seem to me that, on a given day, most featured Deadspin comments, while excellent and funny and better than anything else on the internet, generally fall into the pun or recontextualization or premise, set-up, punchline one-liner categories. I think the time crunch has a lot to do with that; a post goes up, you've only got so much time to find a funny angle, work it into a terrific joke, and get it out there before anyone else gets there first. Most of us, our minds go right to those basic joke-types, because we're all really sharp and we can all bang them out with relative ease.

      Captain Insensible's joke may not be the best, most sophisticated, most clever joke of the day, but I think it's genuinely funny and is crafted and delivered successfully. Not every joke that gets a bunch of +1s is funny the way this joke is - many are sharp and/or clever and/or mean-spirited and/or obscure without being especially funny. This was a funny comment and probably a breath of fresh air on a day mostly marked by an overwhelming number of horribly shitty comments.

      And I happen to also think if that comment had been made by another, more prominent commenter, it would have gotten even more applause than it did.

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    5. @Raysism

      I had the exact same thought. To be honest, at first, I thought it was the Ninja saying the comment wasn't funny. I realize now that, of course, he was just saying "This is good, there's been some bad stuff today". And that's great.

      But to the Unstarred Nobody et al, the Ninja doesn't give +1s very often. It's especially unusual that the +1 was accompanied by a joke at the expense of other commenters (sure, the shitty ones, but still). I wondered if it was because Capt. Insensible was a newish starred commenter, but he shouldn't need the ego boost; he's doing just fine. And as Raysism said, starred commenters almost always make good comments (except TRT-X). No disrespect to Capt. Insensible, it just looked weird.

      Delete
    6. @ Shitehawk

      I agree that it's worthy of a +1, but that's not my point in this case. I would bet that the comment_ninjas award more COTFs and COTYs than +1s, so we're not just talking about your usual +1. I think it's funny, but it ain't COTF funny.

      I definitely get the "breath of fresh air" point, but as I said in my original comment, that type of reply would make more sense if given to an unstarred commenter. Like BronzeHammer, I had to read it a few times to figure out if the ninja was being sarcastic or not.

      And this is definitely not a shot at Cpt. I -- he's done some good stuff of late.

      Delete
    7. @BronzeHammer

      You're right about the frequency of comment_ninja +1s, but that doesn't mean it's more than just a +1. In other words, Hatey McLife didn't give out many +1s either, but he would when he thought something was worthy of a it (usually it was a bland "Ha.", but you get the point). It was a rare +1, but it was still just a +1.

      All I'm saying is this: I wouldn't look too much into the comment_ninja giving out this particular +1. It was a funny joke, and obviously that comment_ninja felt it was worthy of his +1. Once, eons ago, back in the stone ages of Deadspin commenting, I had a comment promoted by the comment_ninja and spent the rest of the afternoon waiting for his snarky reply and an inevitable banning. Turned out, he just liked the joke a lot. Ultimately, they're just dudes with senses of humor that might be a bit different from yours or mine.

      I do think it's funny, though, that we've had conversations in the commentariat about the appropriate use of the +1 - that it should be used only to indicate a strong positive reaction to a kick-ass joke - and here we have a possible example of a joke being +1ed by a ninja for reasons that could include the overall makeup of the day. If I were the comment_ninja, I would have left the blurb out exactly because of this discussion.

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    8. No offense guys (and @Ray, thanks for preposterously lumping me in with those guys above: your check is in the mail), but I guess I'm still not sure what the controversy is. The ninjas have given +1s before - not often, but occasionally - and used this one to also tack on a joke acknowledging the carnage of the Francona thread. I don't really see much more to it than that. And I kinda think that if the comment to which they replied had been made by TDK (for example), nobody would have thought anything of it.

      Could somebody explain more clearly what the confusion is about? I just think I must be missing something. Not trying to start a fight or anything, I swear.

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    9. No confusion, and I apologize for starting this mess...

      I may have missed some of the ninja +1s, but it seems to me that they hand out +1s very infrequently -- say, 2 or 3 times a year. So I just found it odd that Cpt. I's comment got one of these. It was funny, but it wasn't a COTF candidate-type comment.

      Looking back, I think the c_n just used his reply to make a funny movie trailer comment on the state of the day's comments. So I think I get it now.

      I'll go back to cataloging and indexing my comments. Lunch is over anyway.

      Delete
    10. I should clarify, I wasn't trying to make the point that the ninja +1ed the comment for the wrong reason, only that the blurb allowed the appearance that the +1 was tied to factors other than "this is a kick-ass joke". I think, given that appearance, this discussion was foreseeable, which is why I probably would have left out the joke.

      @Sharting

      I think the confusion stems from the question of whether or not the comment was given a +1 because the comment_ninja loved it or because the comment_ninja was trying to make a point. To which I would say, if the comment_ninjas wants to make a point, they probably wouldn't choose to do it in the reply section of a comment by Captain Insensible.

      And, you big lug, of course you're in that group. And by "that group", I am of course referring to Alcoholics Anonymous.

      Delete
    11. @Shitehawk

      As always, expertly said.

      Maybe if some of us (myself included) weren't so obsessed with Deadspin comments, we wouldn't find every opportunity to read something that isn't there into a comment_ninja post. I just read it and thought, "Well, there are a ton of funny comments every day, what's that supposed to mean?" I'm not saying the Ninjas shouldn't make comments, just that they do it so uncommonly that it's easy to overanalyze them.

      It's good to see them more active, though.

      Delete
    12. This is exactly how it happened:

      One of the ninja's via email: "Man, I laughed, and laughed at that. Fuck, I'll +1 him as the ninja."


      No one had a problem with it. Nothing more, nothing less.

      Delete
    13. Sean, no one here is interested in your first-person account of what actually happened. This is a blog for conspiracies, Kenny Loggins impersonators, and "Guy Who" anonymity.

      /makes sense

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    14. Like music to a young-Julie-Andrews-in-Nazi-Germany's ears.

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    15. While we're on this topic, I felt honored to celebrate Memorial Day by memorializing Mad Bastards All with
      this shitty comment
      .

      Delete
    16. eh, I fucked that link up. Sorry. Here's the old school link for what it's worth:

      http://deadspin.com/5913771/once-again-northwestern-wins-nth-womens-lacrosse-title-in-n%252B1-years?comment=50111017#comments

      Delete
  6. I'm really not trying to be a dick, and I'm certainly not looking to invite a public stoning of the guy, but I am totally mystified by this comment from Fighting Polish
    in the Mario Balotelli post. To be perfectly honest, I have never been a fan of the take-the-rough-grammatical-structure-of-a-post-header-and-completely-change-it-to-something-else-not-related-and-not-especially-funny joke type, but this one seems to have no actual sense of humor whatsoever. Is the joke there supposed to be that the two of them are sleeping together? Is that funny?

    I'm really asking. If I were doing Roundups, I would be thinking long and hard about putting this one in the Total Fucking Duds, but I am also seriously wondering whether I'm just too stupid to get the punchline.

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    1. You see, Selena Gomez is a "thing" and Justin Beiber is an Italian-sounding black guy.

      /has no idea

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    2. I had the very same reaction, and was prepared to (internally) go off, until I somehow realized that "Thing" and "Gomez" were both from The Addams Family.

      So, while it still didn't make me laugh, it wasn't completely lazy and lacking a relevant tie-in like I originally thought. I'll save my rage for those ones. Especially since I was too slow to catch on for a bit.

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    3. Oh hell no. Every time I think I might want to get back into that, I think about last time, when it was immediately and brutally apparent how totally unreasonable the level of commitment required for that task actually is. Even now, when I'm no longer working for anyone but myself, there's just no way in hell I could commit the kind of time necessary to pull that off, not even a couple of times a week. I wish I could - it was really, really fun.

      Delete
    4. I was accused more than once of being you. My response was always the same. I'm far, far too lazy.

      Not to mention that I can't write nearly as well as you and don't even know how to insert functional links into comments. You were doing yeoman's work with all that, and I don't even know how you did it for as long as you did.

      But you can at least do weekly roundups? Monthly?? Biannualy??? Decadely????

      Delete
    5. I think, at one time or another, everyone from CPH to you to FavreFail has been so-accused. This may be hard for everyone to accept, but I am no longer an active Deadspin commenter. When I say that I'm a reader and you guys are commenters, I really mean it. I haven't regularly dropped comments on Deadspin in, like, ages. I've held onto a star for a good long while now and I of course sign in to check on the pinkos, but truth be told, if I could get my Miserable Shitehawk username starred, I would virtually never use my old handle.

      I can't do regular Roundups. Sorry. There's just no way. But, as I've said before, I do have a running list of my favorite comments of the year. I will probably not wait until the end of the year to post this list, plus accompanying praise, so there's that. It's really fucking flattering that some of you still want to read this stuff. I mean, I know you just want the praise and all, but still.

      Delete
  7. Guy trying to get noticedMay 30, 2012 at 1:01 PM

    So what are you guys drinking?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Guy trying really hard to get noticedMay 30, 2012 at 1:03 PM

    Did you guys check out those morons on Gawker today?

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    1. Guy trying way too hard to get noticedMay 30, 2012 at 1:04 PM

      Hey guys, I made a DUAN youtube playlist!

      Delete
  9. Speaking of the comment ninja, whatever happened to Failbot?

    I miss that guy.

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    Replies
    1. He posted in DUAN recently, maybe two months ago. But it was a total hit and run.

      Delete
  10. 1. Powwow is going to represent a difficult transition for many folks. As with the earlier redesign, there will be a huge flurry of activity immediately after the switch, most of it of the "WTF?!" variety (plus an admirably steady stream of nothing-has-changed home run comments from Steve U), followed by a dramatic slowdown in comments from the site's regulars. Powwow itself might be totally fucked up and broken, or it might turn out to be much ado about nothing. Personally, I suspect that we'll eventually hit on a version of Deadspin commenting that at least allows the best and brightest to do their thing, even if that isn't the first version. But it could be a train-wreck. There is that possibility.

    2. Sandusky is not a dead punchline. It so happens that I haven't seen anyone do anything with it in a good long while, but it can be done. Just like children can be done by Jerry Sandusky. GET IT? /stumbles into vat of boiling acid

    3. Top 5 commenters of the MBA era? That's too tough. Somewhere on the list of my favorites from the era of daily Roundups you would find all of the following names:

    Steve U
    Eddie Murray Sparkles
    Hatey McLife
    Gamboa Constrictor
    All Over But The Sharting
    IronMikeGallego
    SavetoFavorites
    dont-forget-where-you-came-from-cheese-mac
    David Hume

    There are others I've probably left out. And the MBA era came before SponsoredbyV8 made the leap, Raysism really hit his stride, Bring Back Anthony Mason made a name for himself, and others, like BronzeHammer, came about. Similarly, it came after guys like MarkKelsosMigraine and AzureTexan and ClintonPortishead and ArkansasFred and Gourmet Spud held it down. Happily, the list of flat-out amazing commenters on Deadspin is ridiculously long. And my personal favorites include many from both before and after the MBA era (Karlifornia, anyone?). Believe it or not, some of my favorite commenters were low-volume at their peak (Same Sad Echo, Mantis Toboggan, M.D., MattinglysSideburns, etc.) But, yeah, during the days of Roundups, that list up there, plus several others. I realize that's an annoying answer.

    4. The three commenters I miss are AzureTexan, AzureTexan, and AzureTexan. With apologies to everyone mentioned above, there's a reason why I said the AzureTexan Profile in Commenting was the finest moment for MBA - no Deadspin commenter so consistently made me laugh, giggle, guffaw, chuckle, snort, and cackle as much as AT at his best. His commentary was the best combination of sharp and witty + silly and utterly unpretentious. He never reached for obscurity or settled for boring puns. His comments - even his hostile, rabble-rousing Gawker comments - were a joy to read. There are many, many commenters I miss, including serious jonesing for MKM and ClintonPortishead and Hatey McLife, but I'd punch a baby to get AT back into regular joke-making.

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    1. Well, if you're not going to bring back MBA, at least do something like this every month or so.

      Delete
    2. LOW VOLUME?!!! ARE YOU TELLING ME SEVENTEEN YEARS OF DAILY ALBERTO V05 HOT OIL TREATMENTS HAS DONE NOTHING?1?1?!!

      Honestly though, it's great to get some of your analysis again. I'm with Ray, any increased frequency in your posts would be a vast improvement over, you know, never.

      Delete
    3. +1. I'm honored to even be mentioned alongside those stalwarts.

      AzureTexan is a fucking genius who is greatly missed, but YourEarlessReader was a hack and you never should have let him pollute your site with that drivel. Tex would have wanted his tribute to be a simple affair: you know, a few unspeakably sophisticated references hidden amongst simple homespun wisdom, a clever turn of phrase or two, and perhaps Hamilton Nolan's home address, bank account information, and photos of his girlfriend making out with Terry Francona.

      Delete
  11. I insist people not engage 214w in DUAN or anywhere else until he proves to be something other than a crotchety, foul-mouthed troll with virtually no sense of humor whatsoever. As far as I can tell, he's done just enough during his time on Deadspin to narrowly avoid the banhammer and that's it. His repertoire includes two moves: bitch about stuff in as staccato and uninteresting a tone as is humanly possible, and complain that people are mean to LeBron James.

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    1. Amen.

      /furtively places hand over follower list

      Delete
    2. Oops. Will keep that in mind. Nice to see you around giving praise to those who do work around DS.

      Delete