SB Nation User Blog: prezofdeath

Think he'd sign for veteran's minimum?

prezofdeath — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 03:49:35 -0000

Think he'd sign for veteran's minimum?

A friendly fanpost/fanshot reminder

prezofdeath — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 07:00:28 -0000

As we enter the free agent period, with rumors, alleged signings, and all kinds of other shenanigans afoot, Blazers Edge explodes with users, each with ideas, thoughts, and points for discussion. To avoid a giant cacophony that leaves us all a bit deafened and confused, let's try to keep a few things in mind:

1) There is a main page--use it!

Dave and Ben work really hard to keep us up-to-date with the latest happenings in the NBA world. If Hedo so much as blows his nose, Ben usually is there to link to it. The main page posts that the two of them make are a great place to talk about what's happening. Got a suggestion? A proposal? A thought? Those main page posts are a great place to do it in the form of comments.

2) Links--Lots of great ways to use them!

When you find something on the 'Net that you think would be beneficial for other Blazers Edgers to check out, you can put a link in your comment. Simply highlight the text you want linked, then click the button, and then you can paste in the URL of the website or blog you wish to link to. There's no need to make a fanpost just to share quick links with people--Ben's posts on the main page are a great place to do that.

If it's something that you think REALLY deserves its own post, go ahead and post it as a fanshot. That is, if it is a link or picture or video that would start good discussion but wouldn't quite fit under Ben's daily link post.

A good example would be this fanshot by HurraKane212 about Greg Oden working out with Brian Grant. It isn't really free agent stuff that would go under Ben's main page posting, so he went ahead and made a fanshot linking to the Portland Tribune article. You can also post pictures or even articles from Spanish websites, especially if you're the type who can translate (muchas gracias Amlmart!).

No matter what you decide, avoid plagiarizing--it's wrong AND makes for confusion. Try to identify where you got your info.

3) Fanposts--use sparingly!

Fanposts are a great way to get discussion started on Blazers Edge. Notice the bolded word. The goal of fanposts is to promote good discussion about various topics here on Blazers Edge. Fanposts are a way to START discussion. If the discussion's already going, the best way to get your thoughts and ideas out there is to add on to the existing thread(s).

The Junk Drawer is the off-topic fanpost of the day--so if you have something not directly Blazer-related, please try to avoid posting it via fanposts or fanshots and instead just post it in the Junk Drawer.

If it IS Blazer related and you think it would promote great discussion, by all means--post it! It should be thoughtfully set forth, and should be something that gets people talking. Whether it's 76 words or 2,776, it should promote new discussion. Just use your head--in the case of Hedo Turkoglu and many of the other free agents, there are probably already fanposts to talk in.

When we get 92,092 fanposts on one topic, it makes the sidebar very difficult to navigate. In yesterday's case, you had to navigate around 32 Hedo posts to find something non-Hedo related (ok, maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but it was pretty crazy).

There was some great material in those fanposts, but it's better for everyone if we keep things as consolidated as possible.

So, a quick recap

Commets--your friend, especially in the main page posts by Ben and Dave. Links, discussion, analysis, debates--you name it, it probably best fits in the comments section of a main page post. Dave and Ben do a great job keeping current with what's going on in the Blazersphere.

Fanshots--great for links, pictures, and videos that don't quite fit under Ben's posts. Quick-hitting stuff.

Fanposts--great for starting discussion. Again, starting! If you're thinking about making a fanpost, that's great--it'd be swell if you just run a quick check to make sure

1) Isn't already being discussed on the mainpage

2) Isn't already being discussed elsewhere in the sidebar.

In this crazy free agency period, you may want to go to your profile and hit "edit settings" and change your sidebar & mainpage settings to allow more than the standard 10 posts. I have mine set at 50. That way you can see what discussion is already ongoing. I'd also suggest reccing the good stuff and flagging anything that seems like "spam" (i.e. is already posted elsewhere).

As always, Dave and Ben, along with the six discussion moderators, can be reached via email at any time--scroll down to the bottom of any page and you should be able to find our email addresses. If you're new to Blazers Edge or have questions about making fanposts or anything like that, we'd be happy to help you. Just let us know.

Love & thanks,

--Prez

6-12 Junk Drawer: Make a Song Edition (4U92!)

prezofdeath — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 08:29:57 -0000

92wasthe year is famous. The world's tiniest junk--what an honor. But he also is a talented song-writer (quite under appreciated I might add).

I'm sure a lot of folks around BE feel the same way. You are an amazing songwriter. Today's junk drawer is the place to let it all out. About the blazers, another poster, your girlfriend, your wanna-be-boyfriend (most likely me, Rudy, or Nic).....you know.... whatever.

To start, I'd like to re-post an ode I wrote to a while back. As most of you know, dear Mortimer is from P-Town (or nearby I presume), but he's currently exiled in L.A. I wrote him a song as an offering of my condolences.

To my dearest Mortihanna (song starts at 35 seconds if you want to follow along),

Portland had his heart
But now he’s worlds apart
He lives in Los Angeles
Down with the movie stars
Where sunglasses make things dark
You see lots of shiny cars
He’s not sure if he likes it there
cuz there ain’t no one share (his Blazer love)

ohhh yahhhhhh…..

When the sun shines, it’s real good weather
He tells himself he’ll live in LA forever
says he’ll always be a friend
Took a good job…I’ma stick it out till the end
But now that it’s raining more than ever
He hate LA like no other
But he still won’t use his umbrella
I’m from Portland and we don’t use no umbrella
(Ella ella eh eh eh)
Don’t use no umbrella
(Ella ella eh eh eh)
Don’t use no umbrella
(Ella ella eh eh eh)
Don’t use no umbrella
(Ella ella eh eh eh eh eh eh)

This pain brought to you because S4E was too lazy to post his own junk drawer. ~~Thank~~ blame him.

Junk Drawer--June 10, 2009 (MOM! edition)

prezofdeath — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 05:14:55 -0000

Here it is--the Mean Ol' Mod edition of the junk drawer.

We all love the Junk Drawer. It's a place to hang and post random off topicness that wouldn't otherwise fit around the site.

A lot goes on in these threads that might not fly elsewhere on BE. Sabonis4Ever asked for leniency in the junk drawer, and I approved heartily with a rec, as did a few other members. However, we've got to realize that the line must be somewhere. It's hard to tell where sometimes, but I (and some fellow members/moderators) felt that yesterday's JD crossed that line, which ultimately led to its demise.

The junk drawer is one of the first things that visitors see when they come to Blazers' Edge, especially when rec'ed to the top of the Fanposts every day. There's no problem doing that, but it also means that the subjects have to stay in bounds. Talking about the things talked about in yesterday's thread (i.e. ideas for a Bachelor party) are completely fine--but when we get into details about what goes on at those parties and all that, pretty soon we end up crossing that line that's so ever-hard-to-find.

Yes, part of it might just be Portland culture, but there still is barrier, a wall that needs to be maintained. It's really not a good thing for Blazers Edge to spend an entire thread (or at least, half of one) talking about strip clubs, where the best ones are in town, and what goes on at them. There are other websites for that kind of stuff. Remember, we're trying to keep Blazers Edge accessible for fans of all ages and walks of life. A number of moderators and commenters discussed with me how uncomfortable it was to have a junk drawer that talked about what it did.

All in all, this is not a repromand nor is it a warning; it's simply a reminder that BE is to be held to the highest of standards; we're not an average blog, by any means. The community atmosphere around here is awesome; most of you all don't need anyone to say that even :-)

In the week or so since mods have arrived, there have been relatively few issues to deal with. The level of conversation, which was already incredibly passionate, thoughtful, and worthwhile has seemingly increased to an even higher level, if that is possible. It's great to see people are arguing ideas instead of people, even passionately. That is wonderful to see.

There have been a few warnings here and there, but they've been relatively small in number and have been generally well-received.

We appreciate any flagging you guys do; it makes our life easy. Aside from some folks flagging for "lameness" or similar silliness, it has gone quite well having the community help us out. Keep it up!

As I mentioned in yesterday's junk drawer, hopefully you guys see as as protector cops rather than "traffic cops" who are looking to fill a quota of warnings and tickets. As Dave mentioned last week, moderators

"...are tasked with keeping community conversational standards fair and high, welcoming newcomers gracefully, and resolving any difficulties that may come our way creatively but authoritatively."

Obviously, that goes for everyone, not just for a select six people. We are ALL responsible for keeping conversation standards high, and you don't have to be a moderator to welcome a newbie to the fold.

Remember, the goal of the junk drawer (or any thread on Blazers Edge) is to bring something useful and worthwhile to the community--so whether it's here in the JD, out on the main page, or elsewhere in the sidebar, let's try to be posting for the benefit of more than just ourselves.

Anyway, just wanted to clear the air after deleting yesterday's junk. Now, onwards to today's junking!

If you have thoughts about the moderation of the site, feel free to email me or any of the other moderators; you can find our email addresses by scrolling to the bottom of the page. Dave's contact info is also there, if you feel the need to get a hold of him.

--Josh (prezofdeath@hotmail.com)

Poll

This is the "MOM" edition, so I ask you: Which female on BE would you want to be your mom?

Blazerfan1--she's got the Travis Outlaw swag, and I like it.

13 votes

Claire--Ballet and the Red Sox = win?

7 votes

Corvid--The bomb. Duh.

8 votes

NBF--Lawyers are nice

2 votes

AnntheFan--Loyal to the end

8 votes

Section323--I bet she could score me some free tickets

2 votes

Twiggs--She could get me an autograph from Rudy I bet.....

6 votes

Jorga--so wise, who wouldn't want her as a mom?

20 votes

Roybot--so young, so enthusiastic

7 votes

Other--Prez made a grievous omission

6 votes

79 votes | Poll has closed

Don't u luv our boys? Roy & Martell "Make It Better"

prezofdeath — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 00:33:23 -0000

Don't u luv our boys? Roy & Martell "Make It Better"

B-Roy and Martell helped raise money for a private school that doesn't like to charge tuition...man I love this team.

The Schonz's Catch Phrases (via Casey)

prezofdeath — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 03:29:25 -0000

The Schonz's Catch Phrases (via Casey)

Great piece over at Lance's Center Court blog. Schonz talks about
--Bingo Bango Bongo
--Lickety Brindle Up the Middle
--Rip City

Good stuff. Read it!

Artest calls out C-Webb, talks about his boys from the hood, and re-confirms that B-Roy is his...

prezofdeath — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 00:27:13 -0000

Artest calls out C-Webb, talks about his boys from the hood, and re-confirms that B-Roy is his toughest matchup in the league. Found via JE Skeets.

Interesting Read on Refs from ESPN Archives

prezofdeath — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 00:49:18 -0000

Interesting Read on Refs from ESPN Archives

After talking about refs on the podcast and Corvid bringing up Bernie Fryer, I somehow ended up reading this article from ESPN's archives. It's by Ric Buford--talks about how tough reffing is and how much scrutiny the league is putting on them. It seems like change needs to happen from the top and come down if anything is going to happen.

Blazers Edge Community Podcast Episode 006 (Jake, Philthy, & Cab.)

prezofdeath — Sat, 30 May 2009 18:20:56 -0000

(Pre-Show)

So today we are recording for the podcast. Guests scheduled to be on today include Cablinasian, jksnake99, and philthyanimal.

Instead of just recording and posting it, I thought it would be cool to have this thread open for a couple hours as a "pre-show" type of thing. Here you can post questions, comments, topic suggestions, etc. and we can address then on the show. I think this might give us a little more community interaction than just having those people on the show being the complete and ultimate dictators of what we talk about. ;-)

Anyway, if this thing works we might continue it in the future, if not we'll reconsider...

Recording will be at early-afternoon and should be posted by mid-afternoon. I'll update this post when it's ready.

Updated Post: (Show)

Alright, so we recorded! As aforementioned, we had some good looking guests (I presume) and we hit a plethora of topics today. Feel free to discuss in the comments...

Kirk--Will he fit? Could he work in a 3-guard system with Rudy and Roy?
Playoffs--What have we learned from the playoffs? How did the Magic switch point guards mid-season and still stay in contention? And later towards the end of the show, we make our Finals picks.
Shower Presence (well, I tried anyway. I think people were too worried about getting banned to give their thoughts)
Ref situation in the NBA--what is it right now? Are refs too old? Are certain refs just not made for the playoffs? What could be done to help the league?
Bonus topic: See what happens when you try to podcast while watching Food Network!

Direct stream found by clicking here.

We're also on iTunes--just search for "Blazer Laser" or "Blazers Edge."

Remember, if you're interested in being on a show, you can always email me (in my profile) or DM me on Twitter @prezofdeath.

Big thanks to Zach, Jake, and Phil for coming on. Give these guys a hand. Well at least to Zach and Jake. Give Phil a bar of soap.

Junk Drawer -- May 29, 2k9 (Love Edition)

prezofdeath — Fri, 29 May 2009 06:56:07 -0000

I love weddings, drinks all around!

Today's junk drawer is for...well....junk. Just like always. But to kick us off, got any love advice?

What's the first thing to remember in a lovey dovey relationship?

Should you play hard to get or be the one who shows unconditional love?

Should you be up front about your relationship when you start and define it or just let it evolve over time (i.e. off the bat "we're just friends/we are in this for the long haul/whatever" or just let it happen)?

Proposal stories might also be interesting.

Keep it fun, keep it clean, and try to keep your junk where it belongs.

Ready, set...go. Now.