This is Matthew.  I'm leaving PtR.

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In a recent game thread KA1Z3R posted about 50 pictures.  I was going through the game thread afterwards, just skimming it, when I noticed the picture of the girl in a thong.  At the time the community guidelines hadn't been posted, but anyone who comes here as often as KA1Z3R definitely knew this was against the rules.  I deleted the photo and kept skimming.  I came across at least two more photos that I considered totally inappropriate.  I'm not going to get into the what they depicted.

I decided to warn KA1Z3R and hide all his comments until I could finish going through the rest of the thread.  At the time I didn't know that the only way to unhide the comments is to do so one by one.  That's why all the photos from that thread appear to be deleted.  They're actually just hidden.

He's not banned, and since the official guidelines weren't posted until after that game thread, he doesn't even technically have a warning.

Lastly, the only people I have ever banned were obvious trolls.

I was going to write a post about the history of Spurs nicknames on PtR, but that requires research, and then I got distracted by some Uncle Tupelo music.

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Community guidelines have been officially posted, and there's a permanent link on the left sidebar.  Ruthless enforcement begins now.

As some of you have noticed, PtR and the other SB Nation blogs are now loosely affiliated with Yahoo, via a link box on team specific pages.  The powers that be have instructed me to write some sort of welcoming post for the flood of new users (all eight of them, though traffic has increased by about 25%).  A little something that will explain the rules of the blog and give the newbs some idea of what PtR is all about.

So that's what this post is supposed to be.  Except I only have 35 minutes to write it, meaning it will be woefully inadequate, and I am therefore relying on you, PtR brethren, to fill in the gaps via the comments, and I will eventually compile everything into a voluminous user guide:  like a Dungeon Master's guide, but lamer.

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I ate Wendy's tonight.  I don't particularly like Wendy's, it's simply the closest fast food joint.  They put floral-print napkins in my bag.  Did they simply run out of official, branded napkins?  And if your car shimmies when it's idling, that's bad, right?

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Now before the fawning and adulation begin, let's admit one thing to ourselves.  If given the choice, there's a large part of Tony Parker that would love to play with this lineup for the rest of the regular season.  With Tim and Manu sidelined, the Spurs have exactly one guy capable of creating his own shot on a regular basis.  Tony could shoot the ball 50 times a night with this lineup, and I'm not sure Pop would blink.  Tony enjoys this opportunity to have the show revolve around him for 40 minutes a night.  There's nothing inherently wrong with that, but that love of the limelight separates the Frechman from Tim and Manu, the two anti-stars of the Spurs three star solar system.

Now let's get down to the praise and worship part of the service.

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(Written Saturday night.)

One $30, adjustable height ironing board.
One $6 chair cushion, which I am now sitting on.
Two $1 toilet scrubbers, which I will use at most twice before throwing away.

That is what I purchased this evening at Ikea.  They have self-checkout lines there now, and I forgot they don't give you bags to carry out your stuff.  I didn't feel like buying a bag I was just going to throw away, so I just hauled the stuff out to my car.  On my way home I stopped at Super Fantastic Wal-Mart for soda.  I again used the self-checkout line; it was either that or wait 20 minutes.  In Wal-Mart.  On a Saturday night.  No thank you.  Then drive thru at Taco Cabana.  Then home.

It reminded me of something I wrote to a friend, back in the days when I wrote with an earnest belief my own words could change me:

Living alone in a condo where you never see your neighbors is considered "hip."  It makes little sense when you strip away the packaging.  So much of the American Dream seems superficial and isolationist.  Move away to the suburbs.  By a car for every adult so you don't have to share.  A TV for every room so every family member can watch what they want.  When did convenience come to mean the avoidance of human interaction?  Success is measured by how alone one make his or her self.  I am independent.  Which is really the same as I am alone.

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As some of you guessed, the trolls in last night's game thread were repeat offenders (new IDs from same IPs).  I had their IPs banned.

I feel all tough now.

The Spurs have two obvious needs (besides the health of the Big Three):

1.  A big man who can play defense and rebound.
2.  A permanent spot on the bench for Michael Finley.

Rasheed Wallace seems like a pipe dream to me.  I find it hard to believe that Detroit couldn't get something better than Bonner, Hill, Mahinmi, Mason (these are the only four guys we would trade that anyone would want) and contract filler (especially when you consider that Detroit would have to cut guys to make room on their roster for our pu-pu platter).

So how about we go after someone who's actually available?

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