Off-Topic Forum

Over a year ago, one of our members, BOBSCARDZ was banned from the forums after having "pushed" too hard and too frequently in some of his posts in the Forums. Over time, he irritated enough senior members who had sufficient influence with Admin that they convinced Admin to ban Bob from being able to post in any of the Forums.

Bob has tried to appeal his ban but has no voice with Admin and those who have influence with Admin will not plead his case. Therefore, I am posting this to see how much support Bob has in our community and, if there is sufficient support, to possibly get Admin to lift the ban with placing Bob on "probation" in the Forum.

BOB DID NOT ASK ME TO POST THIS. I am posting this because I believe there is some sense of justice and that we all deserve a second chance.

What I do not want to see here is "hate" posts; keep your hate for others to yourselves. I would rather see a "Yes" or "No" and if you wish to expand on how you view the situation, feel free, both in support of lifting the ban or keeping it in place.

Let us hear from the members. I will leave it to those few who have deletion rights in the Forums to delete any posts that direct hatred towards Bob or single out any other members in a negative way. Anyone who posts against my having even brought this up, you can leave as I have a strong back and like to know who my friends are.

YES

My vote is to lift the ban. Yes, Bob was irritating in his posts, often asking in several different ways how to get something listed that did not fill any of the criteria for what could be listed, be it obscure VAR or items that did not meet the "card" sense, coasters come to mind. I oftened joked that Bob would like to rename the site "Bobscardz Trading Things Database". But at least he asked unlike some of the things we have seen appear because someone wanted them listed and did not ask whether they were allowed. I found myself reading his posts either with laughter or with irritation depending on my mood more than how he said things. But the fact is, I did read all of his posts because he often had information that was useful. The posts that were not, I glossed over but those that were useful, I read thoroughly.

There are several other members on here that I don't read any of their posts because they are really "useless", always negative, rude in the way they respond to other members' inquiries, or "novel" in length. When you look at the Forums even now, are they all to your liking? Personally, I would have banned several other members before I would have banned Bob.

Yes - 24

No - 23

One on the fence; one never voted, just ranted. And happy to be singled out. And one vote per member only; unlike political elections, this petition is not to be rigged.

#FREEBOB if y'all can put up with my BS you guys can put up with Bob

I am a new-ish member and this is before my time, but a one year ban seems more than long enough.  If the individual is still on the site and would like to contribute in a meaningful way on the forums, I vote to lift the ban and allow them a probation period.

Not sure what brought this on, but I agree with sandyrusty as far as giving him another 'probationary' chance. Bobcardz was an irritating %$$hole as far as I was concerned and I have told him that personally, so I don't feel bad posting it. Sometimes I felt like he was intentionally trying to stir things up or be a pain in the butt....I don't know why anybody would intentionally be that way, but then, I aint perfect either, none of us are. I can't say I disagree with the original ban, I think he was warned several times in a roundabout way to shut up. However, perhaps he has learned his lesson and is ready to contribute helpful info on the forum. 

Bob, I know you can't post, but you can, and I'm sure you are, reading posts. So, if by some lucky chance you get reinstated or whatever, please shut the %@#^ up!!!! No more arguing or trying to be a thorn in somebodys side. I don't know the personal politics on all this, and I don't really care; that's not what I'm on TCDB for. I'm here to track my collection, trade with other collectors, and learn what I can from this diverse group of the best on the internet.

So, whoever it's up to, Admin, or some other mysterious being, I'd like to see Bob given another chance to be either a productive member on the forums, or to make an @$$ of himself again and get booted off the forums permanently and forever.

Sincerely,

Mike Litteer aka aint56cool aka Champion of the 2020 TCDB Fantasy Football League (who whupped Bobs butt in the Championship Game after he talked smack at me!!) 

Yes. After a lengthy suspension I think he has served his time and deserves an opportunity to post once again.

I agree. Its time to give Bob another chance. I always used to enjoy the banter.

This is an email I sent yesterday...

I was approached by Bob yesterday to plead his case to have his permissions to post on the forums reinstated. Because he's asked me to intervene for him I will be copying this email and forwarding it to him.

Over the past few months he's contacted me about his banishment and we've made a trade in the interim, too.

Early on he mainly vented, but lately we've generally discussed cards, particularly trading and possibly meeting up in NJ when I travel up there periodically - that's always been a topic between us since we hooked up on a trade way back when.

I don't know specifics about what he did to commit the ultimate violation of the site's rules, but I have told him that Admin owns the site and we must abide by what he says. I explained that Admin's removed some of my posts, and even warned me to follow some other guidelines to avoid permissions from being taken way from me. So I understand crossing the line and being warned, and I've reminded Bob that because of those warnings I've decided to play by Admin's rules. My participation in the forums has lessened significantly by my choice to avoid what led to my reprimand. I may not always like the way things are run, but the benefits of the site far outweigh my opinion and I'd rather be able to benefit from TCDB than do without.

I'm also coming from an antagonistic position toward Bob as we've had it out in the forums about the way he'd handled certain topics. He's been offensive, too. But I know myself enough to realize that I can be as hard headed as the best of them. So he and I have learned to live with each other. I honestly picture him as a typical New Jersey resident - and I've come to know them very well living half my life up there over the past few years.

I share all that just to say that I cannot promise that Bob will avoid the issues that caused his banishment. He says he's changed; his words were, "...his focus has been changed..." and "I'd be reborn". He does have passion for his collecting, and couple that with his personality, then you have, well, Bob.

To say the least, Bob has a strong personality, but he also has a vast collection and knowledge that has at times been a plus to TCDB. I'm putting myself out there as one who believes he'll be an asset overall - a brash and abrasive one at times, but to use the sports analogy, sometimes you need that type of personality on a team to win championships.

I'd be okay with his forum presence being reinstated. 

Lest this appear to be unaniomous, I will chime in a dissenting vote.  That's a NO from me.

Though in truth I'm not here often enough anymore to even read all his garbage if & when he returns.  No doubt this will come off as sour grapes, but that absence, is due in at least small part to annoyance with him way back.

If anything BOB made you think and rethink and double check how we do things here.  I'm not a seasoned veteran here, and I agree that some of his rants were pushing, but some of they "why do this here, but not do this here" made ya think.  Sometimes he was rather entertaining.  I feel the ban was rather long yet fitting.  But it's time to let him share his knowledge and rekindle friendships here.  My vote: yes

Everyone of Us has needed a "second chance" in Life, in various areas of Our Lives.  Sports Trading Card Collectors are a rare breed of individuals, with unique and sometimes "quirky" personality traits.  We need to have authentic & genuine Trading Card Collectors, that represent well this diversity.  Plus, most of Us do learn from our mistakes and mature, over the course of Our lives.  Please reinstate Bob ASAP to Our TCDB Community, allowing Him to have a voice in Our Forums, once again . . .

Yours in The Journey - Felix