And btw, for EVERYBODY: “tommie” is fine. I got a long ass name, I know it. No need to spell the whole damn thing out all the time.

Like they say, brevity is really, really, really really, really good.

First, in the interest of full disclosure, I did NOT recently receive and e-mail from Mike, Ben, or Joe telling me to lay off the personal attacks. So, if anyone was assuming I was part of that aforementioned group specifically told to knock it off and that my behavior crossed the line, nope, wrong, sorry, unless the email got lost at the post office.

That being said, after reading this whole thread, and then rereading the previous couple of threads, specifically, my back and forths with Chris C, Hitman, Bo, Lanny, and numerous others, I will admit that sometimes I’m sure I have gone too far here and there and crossed the line.

I’d maintain that 90% of my posts are attacking the message of the other posters and not the posters themselves, and in reference to the comments in the Manny thread vs. Chris C, I think that you’ll find that if you read through them, most of my agitation was spurred not by any vitriol or agenda of my own accord, but by the characterization started by Chris of calling any Yankee fans who would/could be pro-Manny “thickheaded” or saying that “people like me would never learn”. So, I didn’t toss out the first name-calling salvo, but I will admit that I probably let it get to me too much and responded with some of Chris’s absolutes with a few excessive absolutes of my own, and I’ll try to scale back on that. My goal is not 90%, it’s 100%.

The one person I would like to apologize to is Lanny. Ironically, my recent posts were more of an effort to praise his new writings in contrast to some of the previous positions he’s advocated that I thought were incorrect, but I realize in retrospect, I was praising Lanny in a needlessly insulting and condescending tone, and I’m sorry.

All that being said, I think I’ve been more respectful towards other commenters than many of you are remembering. I write a lot, and I write emphatically, but the overwhelming majority of my comments are either detailed, explicit outlines of a position I espouse; passionate, meticulous rebuttals against positions, talking points, memes, agendas, or clichés that I disagree with, sometimes vehemently; or nonsensical whimsy and movie quotes. Often times, writing like that can seem more meanspirited in the heat of the moment than it actually is, and people with entrenched positions tend to take shit more personally than they should. In most of the extended back and forths that I’ve had on this site, the other parties have resorted to far, far more personal attacks against me and my intellect/gall/fandom/morals than I have against them.

And for the record: If anyone ever feels like me and any of the RAB “regulars” are ganging up on them, we probably are. It’s not because we don’t like you, it’s because your position is weak. Don’t take it personally.

But in summation, I like all you guys, and if I’ve called you a name, I apologize and I won’t do it again.

Except for Andy in Daytona. I hate that dirty fucking douchebag, and I hope he gets cancer of the gonorrhea of the AIDS and dies.