Before we plough into the Mike DePalmer vs. the USTA’s High Performance program issue and say a few words about the Jimmy Connors/Andy Roddick partnership, we need to do a little housekeeping, now that we have the Hillbilly Princess (aka Steggy) on board to help moderate the discussions here.
What can I say about Steggy? In addition to being wise and funny, she’s an absolute master all the dark arts associated with the internet. In other words, she can not only tell you who that “Mailer Daemon" guy is, she’s on a first-name basis with the dude! This chick doesn’t wear an “I Read Your Mail” t-shirt for nothing. . .
Anyway, Steggy and I started throwing ideas around some time ago, as it became clear to me that we were starting to have a problem with impersonators and posters of offensive material. We were both anti-registration (for reasons discussed elsewhere, mainly that anyone can create a fake email account so all you do is drive away people who don't want to be that formal), so we came up with a multi-pronged approach to moderating TW in a way that still allows for maximum freedom, spontaneity, and goofiness.
It’s a work in progress, and I’ll keep you posted on how it goes.
Meanwhile, let me briefly reiterate TW’s philosophy and standards. As this is meant to be a “big tent” site, open and welcoming to as many people as possible, we have zero-tolerance for offensive, vulgar, sexually explicit, racist or otherwise offensive (read: gratuitously mean and ugly) language or ideas. Basically, we couldn't care less about First Amendment free-speech rights; there are lots of other places you can go where you're not just allowed but encouraged to be a jerk or worse.
Of course, there’s a fine line between offensive and sardonic, or saucy and sexually explicit, and that’s where our judgment as moderators comes in. I’m comfortable making that call and so is Steggy, not because we want to police anyone’s thoughts or morals, but because, as much as we want to avoid needlessly offending people, we’re also bored to tears by crude and offensive posts. They’re never interesting, funny, or valuable. Nuke a moron is a fun game, everyone should try it!
I don’t know about you, but I think life is too short – and too fundamentally, what, amusing? - for me to tolerate people and things that have no purpose but to make my day more dull, seedy, or grimy. It’s a simple as that. This is – and isn’t – my weblog; it’s just as much yours. We’ve made it a place that rises rather than sinks to a certain standard, and I’d like to keep it that way.
Okay, that’s my Inner School Marm. Don’t let me cramp your style; if you violate the TW Code of Conduct, you’ll know it soon enough.
On other matters, you’ll remember we had a report on Ray Stonada’s Really Big Win (a three-set epic, no less!) the other day. I would love to have more reports of that kind, and I’d especially like them to come to me via email (tennisworld@tennismagazine.com), so I can give them their due in a regular feature I’d like to add: Battlefield Report.
So you players out there (you know who you are), when you have a big win, a horrible loss, some kind of on-court epiphany, a racquet-smashing train wreck of a match or a sublime example of how it’s really you, not that Mikey Seabra fellow, who plays like Federer, just write it up in a few lines or paragraphs (Bob: chapters is fine, volumes a no-no) so we can all share in your moment of triumph/disaster. Just like Wimbledon, we treat both imposters just the same at TW! Even if I don't make a full-blown post out of it, I'll call attention to it in the Comments.
And lastly, What do you all think of a Friends page for all of TW’s dog-cat-goldfish lovers? It would be a web page or open TW post (Steggy and Tino, our backfield webmeister in LA, will figure something out) where we’d put up pictures of your pets – with or without you included. You’ll be able to email me the jpegs, or even post them yourself – the way Juan Jose posted that great picture of his pet hamster, Novak Djokovic. For now, though, do you like the idea?
More later -