The Old Forum Is Now Dead

[Skul]

I guess Ray saw our messages about a new forum and decided to turn off the old one. If you go there now (http://www.sportssuck.org/phpbb2/index.php), you'll get a 404 message.

I just wish he'd give us some kind of communication. The main site is still up, but I'm not sure for how much longer. I'm sorry, but if there's anything you wanted to save on the old forum, it's too late now...

I wonder if any of the older members — abitagirl, Fitz, Sergey — will find their way here? Time will tell.

Farewell, Old Forum. We had good times and bad times there.

[Big Fat Heretic]

DAMN!!!

I was hoping to get in 4,000 forum posts before it went down!

Oh well.

[ThinWhiteDuke]

The forum is dead. Long live the forum.


(When listening, just imagine the word 'forum' in place of 'queen')

Here's to the new forum and the discussions it shall bring!

[Agent 47]

Well that is sad news.

That's the fourth website I've joined now that has just disappeared off the face of the earth!

Damn you, internet!

But thanks for organising this site for us, Skul.

AND COME AND JOIN THIS SITE, RAY!

[Earl]

Yesterday I tried to visit the old forum just before the board index (along with all of the other webpages of the forum) was replaced with the 404 error webpage. There was a brief message displayed on the webpage indicating that the forum was undergoing "maintenance" (if my memory serves me correctly). I could also see who was logged in at that time. I saw that "secretary" was logged in. I knew it had to be Ray. He had used the "secretary" username before in November when he logged in for the purpose of deleting his Admin profile. (Here's a dumb question: Why didn't he just log in as "Ray"?) The rest is history, as they say.

Ray's rude conduct of late is quite puzzling to me. We had a very friendly online relationship. We communicated frequently until about a year ago when Ray became more busy at his job. (At least that's what he said.) Ray had given me his e-mail address; and I had provided him with the rest of my personal info; namely, my name in real life, my regular mailing address, and my home phone and cell phone numbers. I asked him for his telephone number so I could call him; but he was reluctant to give it to me because, so he said, he was afraid I'd find him to be boring. As I remember, he once indicated to me in an e-mail that he was fearful of one or more members of his extended family finding out that he had created the old website.

So, anyway, I have no idea why Ray has refused to communicate with either Skul or me. As far as I'm concerned, he's had every right to walk away from the website he created. But by not cooperating with us or even communicating with us once, he has shown himself to be downright inconsiderate of all those who have appreciated the website. A common response of supportive visitors (especially those who are guys) has been "I thought I was the only one who didn't like sports." To put it briefly, it's disappointing. Perhaps Ray became a sports fan.

I like this new forum a lot more than the old one. It has a pleasant appearance that's pleasing to the eyes.

For the time and effort he has spent setting up this new forum, Skul deserves a round of applause!











(How did he get in here? )



(This one's just too cutesy for me! )










(Another cutesy one! )

[HugeFanOfBadReligion]

It's unfortunate that the forum disappeared before we were expecting it to; I was at least hoping to be able to post there until January 3. At least this forum is up, and we still have a place to post.

[Skul]

Oh, come on. Stop it, you're embarrassing me.

...

I didn't actually mean stop.

[Earl]

HugeFan, are they applauding Skul or the demise of the old forum?

(By the way, I like having a larger assortment of smilies to choose from, although I miss .)

[ThinWhiteDuke]

Three cheers for Skul and his forum building skills!

[HugeFanOfBadReligion]

HugeFan, are they applauding Skul or the demise of the old forum?

(By the way, I like having a larger assortment of smilies to choose from, although I miss .)

I intended the clapping for Skul, I definitely don't think the demise of the forum is something that deserves applause!

It feels so weird to have such a low post count.

Also, I just checked up on a post in the guestbook I made earlier today, which questioned the removal of the forum by Ray, and it seems Ray has deleted it.

[Earl]

I intended the clapping for Skul, I definitely don't think the demise of the forum is something that deserves applause!

Oh, I know that! I wasn't being serious. I was just joshin'. I was just trying to interject a little humor into the situation (and I do mean "little").

It feels so weird to have such a low post count.

Obviously, I know how you feel. It makes me feel so small.

Also, I just checked up on a post in the guestbook I made earlier today, which questioned the removal of the forum by Ray, and it seems Ray has deleted it.

I'm not surprised to hear you say that. Sounds like something the new and definitely not improved Ray would do. I don't remember if I told you what he did to me in the Guestbook. To give you some background (in case I didn't tell you): Last month before Ray went bonkers, there had been this funny guy leaving messages in the Guestbook in which he claimed to be Fat Man and, as such, had repented and become a big sports fan, as well as a Republican and a Christian. Fat Man himself had something to say about that, of course. As for me, I thought the whole situation was hilarious. I'd post a message or two along the lines of "Send in the clowns. No, wait. They're here." Harmless banter, you know.

Well, when Ray logged in to delete his Admin profile, he also "cleaned up" the Guestbook, deleting the posted exchanges between Fat Man and "the real Fat Man"; and much to my amusement, I soon discovered that Ray had also BANNED me from the Guestbook! Imagine that! How shocking! Oh, the shame of it! I'll never live it down! This whole situation has been crazy.

More than once I've wondered what that most notorious nemesis of the website Samdaman would think about Ray the creator of the website succeeding at what he had wanted to do, which was to destroy the website. I've wondered how he would react. Would he chortle, or would his jaw drop? That would be interesting.

See how crazy this is? Well, you already do. Obviously.

[Big Fat Heretic]

Ray's rude conduct of late is quite puzzling to me. We had a very friendly online relationship. We communicated frequently until about a year ago when Ray became more busy at his job. (At least that's what he said.) Ray had given me his e-mail address; and I had provided him with the rest of my personal info; namely, my name in real life, my regular mailing address, and my home phone and cell phone numbers. I asked him for his telephone number so I could call him; but he was reluctant to give it to me because, so he said, he was afraid I'd find him to be boring. As I remember, he once indicated to me in an e-mail that he was fearful of one or more members of his extended family finding out that he had created the old website.

I'm going to give Ray the benefit of the doubt here.

I don't think he switched sides and decided to become a sports fan, as has been speculated.

Perhaps he was intimidated by some of his family members who happened to be sports fans.

Maybe they even found out about the web site that he created.

Perhaps there was even some violent opposition toward Ray from some of his sports loving family members.

I can only speculate, since we don't know all the facts.

[HugeFanOfBadReligion]

Well, when Ray logged in to delete his Admin profile, he also "cleaned up" the Guestbook, deleting the posted exchanges between Fat Man and "the real Fat Man"; and much to my amusement, I soon discovered that Ray had also BANNED me from the Guestbook! Imagine that! How shocking! Oh, the shame of it! I'll never live it down! This whole situation has been crazy.

I remember you telling me about this, so I should have expected Ray to delete my message. I don't think he banned me from the guestbook, because when I went back to it this morning, nothing stopped me from going to the page where I would enter my message. However, I didn't try to actually post anything, so I don't know for sure whether or not he banned me. It's funny how now it seems he's not just letting the website die, but he's actively trying to silence us, without any explanation. I imagine he might even be upset that this new forum exists where we can question his actions without our posts being deleted.

[Skul]

I'm not surprised to hear you say that. Sounds like something the new and definitely not improved Ray would do.

When I read that, this song immediately sprang to mind (starts off pretty loud). Every word in it may not relate to the situation, but I think it kind of fits.

I'm going to give Ray the benefit of the doubt here.

I don't think he switched sides and decided to become a sports fan, as has been speculated.

Perhaps he was intimidated by some of his family members who happened to be sports fans.

Maybe they even found out about the web site that he created.

Perhaps there was even some violent opposition toward Ray from some of his sports loving family members.

I can only speculate, since we don't know all the facts.

That's true. It's one possibility.

It's funny how now it seems he's not just letting the website die, but he's actively trying to silence us, without any explanation. I imagine he might even be upset that this new forum exists where we can question his actions without our posts being deleted.

He is, of course, perfectly free to register and talk to us, even if it's just one post.

[Earl]

ATTENTION! News flash! News flash!

First, I must provide background information as to this latest development in the Ray saga. You know whom I'm talking about, don't you? I'm referring to Ray, the highly esteemed creator of the noted website www.sportssuck.org -- which is due to expire tomorrow. After we had become well-acquainted over the Internet via many posts, PMs, and e-mails in 2009, I became one of Ray's "Friends" at Facebook.

Just a few days ago, I had sent him another PM at Facebook (the sixth, in fact) urging him to communicate with Skul or me -- something, as you no doubt already know, he has steadfastly refused to do. Well, earlier this afternoon just out of curiosity, I thought I'd check his profile page. My eyes were greeted with the sight of a slightly different webpage. It still was a profile for Ray; but I was now denied access to the pictures that had been posted on Ray's "wall," pictures I had always seen before. Well, I must confess I was scared. I knew something was horribly wrong. So, I checked the list of Ray's "Friends." I could not believe my eyes ; so, I checked it again. I do declare that my name was missing. What am I saying? As you read this alarming report, it is missing. Do you realize what this means? I have been * gasp * de-"Friend"-ed" by Ray!

Oh, woe is me! Woe is me! I've been de-"Friend"-ed at Facebook! Oh, the shame of it! What will my friends say?! What will I tell my wife and children?! What am I ever going to do?!

Will I ever recover? * sniff *

[ThinWhiteDuke]

Curiouser and curiouser! Don't know what to make of this whole Ray saga. At least we have this forum up and running.

[Skul]

What's weird is that he has a section up in "Letters" for 2013. Isn't that kind of pointless? Unless he's not actually going to let the main site die?

What's happening?

[Earl]

Thanks for the song, Lewis . . . er, ThinWhiteDuke! Great song! It reminds me of John Lennon and Coldplay. (Don't laugh! I'm just a 62-year-old guy who doesn't keep up with the latest pop music.)

Of course, I was being silly. I was trying to be funny. I wasn't being serious. My feelings haven't been hurt at all by Ray. Upon my little discovery at Facebook, my initial reaction was to chuckle about it.

He almost seems to be acting irrationally. Some of his actions don't make any sense. What was his point in banning me from the Guestbook? Since the entire website was set to expire soon anyway, why go to the trouble of "cleaning up" the Guestbook and banning me? Why should he ban me as a "Friend" at Facebook when he could just simply ignore me?

Curiouser and curiouser! Don't know what to make of this whole Ray saga.

I doubt we'll ever get any answers. I suspect he panicked when Skul let him know I had discovered that the website had an expiration date that was impending. Perhaps he was worried about one or more members of his extended family possibly discovering his ties with the website. Who can make sense of his actions? More questions are raised, but there are no answers forthcoming.

At least we have this forum up and running.

I am grateful for that.

Thanks again, Skul.

[Earl]

Skul, I just checked the old website. As of 10:55 p.m. (Central Standard Time), there was no "Letters 2013" column. So, I don't know what's going on here. Could Ray be playing games with us? I have no idea. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I can't see him continuing the old website without a forum. Like I've said before, I really wonder if he doesn't fear someone connecting his identity in real life with the website he created. Of course, as I've also said before, I have no way of knowing one way or the other. All I can do is speculate, which I've been doing for over a month.

I'm still assuming that it will die tomorrow. I'm wondering if it will die right at midnight or at some other time of the day. If it is scheduled to die at midnight, I wonder by which time zone. Since Ray lives in the Eastern Time Zone, I'm going to stay up past 1:00 in the morning to see what happens.

Ah, questions and more questions. Nothing but questions.

P.S. I just told Mrs. Earl, who had been away from the house for a while with our daughters, about the new "Letters" column you saw featured at the old website. She suggested that maybe the column was created automatically and then Ray came along to delete it. Who knows?

[HugeFanOfBadReligion]

The site is still up, who knows for how long.

I posted another message in the guestbook based on a scene from the movie Taken. Since I'm proud of my work I'll post it here because it will probably be deleted, and if not, the site will be shut down today anyway.

Ray, I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for funds to renew this site after it expires, I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you renew the site now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will make you watch a very boring football game.

[Skul]

Skul, I just checked the old website. As of 10:55 p.m. (Central Standard Time), there was no "Letters 2013" column.

Really? I just looked again and there a link to here. Maybe he's banned you from webpage updates? Now that takes some serious skill, to block a particular person from a normal HTML page.

[Earl]

I don't get it. Late this morning before I came here, I went to the old website to see if there had been any changes. Sure enough, it was as you had said. In other words, I saw the "Letters 2013" column with the message "No letters received yet this year." I'd like someone to please explain to me how you could have seen the new letters column while I didn't see it, but later the following morning I did see it. Why was the new letters column displayed to you, but not me? It's a mystery to me.

Incidentally, I had assumed that when the old website expired, it would disappear from the Internet, as if it had been displayed by means of some projector that could eventually be turned off. I had assumed that the expiration of a website would be like flipping a light switch; namely, turn off, no more website. Sort of like what was done to the old forum. Remember, I really don't know a great deal about how the Internet works. So, I'm wondering what will or has already happened to the old website. Will it simply float around in the Internet as useless junk? Obviously, if no letters are ever posted in the new column, we will know that it's inactive.

Again, we come back to the issue of Ray's motivation and intentions. I still say some of his actions seem to be irrational. I'll say this, though: I'm now inclined to believe that Ray is some kind of jerk. He's been inconsiderate to everyone. In effect, he's told anyone who would appreciate knowing there are other people who also have a problem with the culture of school sports (for example, see the latest scandal -- the Steubenville cover-up ) or simply have no interest in spectator sports, "I don't care!" Yes, go ahead and put me down as saying Ray is a jerk because he most definitely is. He actually owes everyone I've referenced an apology.

P.S. HugeFan, your Guestbook message to Ray is hilarious!

[Skul]

Why was the new letters column displayed to you, but not me? It's a mystery to me.

That's a mystery to me as well. It could be you just weren't paying close enough attention. I don't know. Doesn't really matter.

Incidentally, I had assumed that when the old website expired, it would disappear from the Internet, as if it had been displayed by means of some projector that could eventually be turned off. I had assumed that the expiration of a website would be like flipping a light switch; namely, turn off, no more website. Sort of like what was done to the old forum. Remember, I really don't know a great deal about how the Internet works. So, I'm wondering what will or has already happened to the old website. Will it simply float around in the Internet as useless junk? Obviously, if no letters are ever posted in the new column, we will know that it's inactive.

Either it'll just exist, or come tomorrow, will cease to be.

Again, we come back to the issue of Ray's motivation and intentions. I still say some of his actions seem to be irrational. I'll say this, though: I'm now inclined to believe that Ray is some kind of jerk. He's been inconsiderate to everyone. In effect, he's told anyone who would appreciate knowing there are other people who also have a problem with the culture of school sports (for example, see the latest scandal -- the Steubenville cover-up ) or simply have no interest in spectator sports, "I don't care!" Yes, go ahead and put me down as saying Ray is a jerk because he most definitely is. He actually owes everyone I've referenced an apology.

No, I agree he's pretty much become a jerk. No excuses, no messages, no apologies, nothing. At the very least, he could give a link to this forum.

[HugeFanOfBadReligion]

I agree that Ray is being a jerk. It would have been somewhat understandable, albeit careless, if he simply forgot about the website due to a lack of interest and it expired without his knowledge, but rather he's taken deliberate action to get rid of the forum. Not only that, but he's clearly seen that we are confused by his actions and even after attempting to directly contact him, again he has deliberately acted in order to ignore and silence us (e.g. deleting guestbook comments, removing Earl as a friend on Facebook). Regardless of whether or not he has a good reason for doing this, he should have at least told us why he has done this. He only knows us through the Internet anyway so there would be no consequences for him if we are frustrated with his reasoning, but we would at least know why he has done all this.

[Skul]

I posted another message in the guestbook based on a scene from the movie Taken. Since I'm proud of my work I'll post it here because it will probably be deleted, and if not, the site will be shut down today anyway.

I'll give you three guesses what's been deleted, and the first two don't count.

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