Should SportsFilter Think of the Children?: Kerrycindy, a new SportsFilter user with an 11-year-old son who reads the site, is upset that profanity appears here. Although we discourage some profanity and delete most profanity that's personally abusive from one member to another, we've never had a rule here to keep it as clean as a PG-13 movie. Our archives will show lots of examples of George Carlin's seven dirty words. Should we reconsider this policy and clean our act up?

posted by rcade to editorial policy at 11:38 AM - 37 comments

Pushing an Agenda on SportsFilter: "I don't like to come to SPORTSFILTER, to defend my religious or political views. It's not fun. We share a common thread here and it's sports." Longtime member Tselson has a beef with the high school baptism link.

posted by rcade to editorial policy at 09:18 AM - 50 comments

On Kim Clijsters, Marriage and Childbirth: The asswhip I'm getting on the front page gives me a good opportunity to make a point. There are a lot more people with strong opinions on front-page links than there are people who post front-page links.

posted by rcade to editorial policy at 04:58 PM - 22 comments

Comments with Profanity: There's no blanket rule against profanity on SportsFilter, but we've moderated the site to avoid becoming a community where people routinely use phrases like "piece of shit racist anti-fan fuckbag motherfuckers." Though you may be able to wield such a phrase with style, humor and panache, experience shows that most people who follow your lead will just be abusive dolts.

posted by rcade to editorial policy at 08:43 AM - 20 comments

If if looks like a sport, smells like a sport....: This past week we had this little gem of post degrade into the whole "is it or isn't a sport" conversation. I freely admit I was a part of it as were one of the sites admins. I was just wondering if we could get a ruling whether or not pro wrestling/sports entertainment post we welcomed.

posted by HATER 187 to editorial policy at 01:36 AM - 10 comments

Should SportsFilter Have a Daily Catch-All Link?: The Drudge Retort has a daily Nooner post that's an open thread for any discussion that doesn't belong in any of the existing stories. It has been a useful and popular feature. Should SportsFilter have something similar?

posted by rcade to editorial policy at 01:49 PM - 18 comments

Spam: Nuke from orbit, por favor.

posted by yerfatma to editorial policy at 08:56 AM - 19 comments

Dupe Post and Spam Comment: All in one.

posted by yerfatma to editorial policy at 07:33 AM - 10 comments

Suggestions Needed for Sidebar Links: I've added a link to the SportsFilter Wiki to the sidebar as the first step in fully integrating the project with the mother ship. If there are other SportsFilter-related efforts we should be linking here, or other sites that merit a front page link in the sidebar, please suggest them here.

posted by rcade to editorial policy at 12:52 PM - 10 comments

Welcome to the New Server: SportsFilter has relaunched on a new Linux server with MySQL/PHP software driving the site. All weblog posts and comments have been moved over, going all the way back to the first post on Jan. 24, 2002. (Updated Aug. 21).

posted by rcade to editorial policy at 02:31 PM - 112 comments

Should Fantasy Sports Be on the Front Page?: Considering the popularity of the leagues here, and the work being done by the users who start them, should we consider moving the Fantasy Sports category to the front page, now that such things are possible?

posted by rcade to editorial policy at 02:51 PM - 11 comments

Guess I didn't get the memo: Newbies have to take a sports quiz to join SpoFi, but they can't view a chunk of the site "guidelines"? More inside.

posted by lil_brown_bat to editorial policy at 11:16 AM - 22 comments

Would a short story about baseball make a good column?: I wrote a short story about a neat experience I had playing little league. I'd love some feedback and was wondering if that sort of thing would make a good column here.

posted by dfleming to editorial policy at 09:01 AM - 20 comments

Thread-pissing: can we have a little civil discussion about what constitutes thread-pissing, and what editorial policy toward it is (and should be)? There's been a bit of it lately, or at least allegations of same (I'm thinking of three, possibly four different threads, which I'll reference if anyone wants).

posted by lil_brown_bat to editorial policy at 02:39 PM - 56 comments

Guidelines update request: can we put something in there about no damn AOLisms? The influx of "LOL" makes me want to hurl.

posted by lil_brown_bat to editorial policy at 09:11 PM - 55 comments

post dump: i posted a link on December 6th that was deleted. It was about Barry Bonds finally having to show up in federal court in San Francisco. And low and behold, i turn on my trusty spo-fi this morning and there's a post from rcade about Michael Vick getting sentenced. I see no difference in either post. So why was mine deleted? I've had links deleted before but i thought this would have been a good discussion. Surely, both the Vick link and the Bonds link are comparable. My bad, i guess.

posted by texasred to editorial policy at 06:58 AM - 5 comments

SportsFilter Has 2.37 Million RSS Subscribers: That's not a typo. For several years, this site has been the most-added weblog on Yahoo and one of the 10 most-added sports sites. This audience sees the site differently than web visitors, as you can see by visiting My Yahoo's Add SportsFilter page. We've tweaked the posting guidelines a little to account for them.

posted by rcade to editorial policy at 09:02 AM - 44 comments

Editorializing on the Front Page: My choice of the phrase "early exit" in the Yankees post drew some heat from SportsFilter members who felt I chose the link to kick the Yankees while they were down.

posted by rcade to editorial policy at 09:49 AM - 172 comments

(N)O.J.: Is it remarkable restraint on the part of SpoFites 'round the world, or some other mysterious force that's kept the recent O.J. Simpson arrest off the Front Page? Thoughts? Hypotheses? Conspiracy theories? Love to hear 'em.

posted by The_Black_Hand to editorial policy at 07:06 AM - 12 comments

Wiki Reminder: Just a reminder that the site does in fact have a wiki and we are working on it. I have recently installed the Bad Behavior extension to help curb the rampant spam and *hope* that will help. I have also played with the look and feel of the wiki so that it looks more like the rest of SportsFilter. Lastly, I have added the FAQ and the Guidelines to the wiki, with the idea that the original versions on Sportsfilter.info can be redirected to the wiki. Everyone is encouraged to sign up for a wiki account (please use your SpoFi username) and to add/edit content in a responsible manner.

posted by terrapin to editorial policy at 12:35 PM - 11 comments

Quality of Links Decreasing. Discuss.

posted by yerfatma to editorial policy at 08:53 AM - 106 comments

Punctuation Matters: SportsFilter is not a chat room. Users who can't write or punctuate simple sentences will be introduced to the banhammer. If you'd like to help us draft this guideline, plz help be4 it gets ne wurs!!!!1!!!

posted by rcade to editorial policy at 10:20 AM - 137 comments

Is it just me...: or is there no simple and obvious link to the posting guidelines (not the "what's a good FPP", but the lengthier, "what is an asshat and how not to be one" guidelines)?

posted by lil_brown_bat to editorial policy at 09:03 AM - 6 comments

"what dose this has to do with not a thing just trying to reach my 15 14 to go":

I think this is the first example of the downside of our "minimum comments before posting" rule.

posted by grum@work to editorial policy at 02:42 PM - 6 comments

Sportingo is Gone, Gone, Gone: Recent front-page links to Sportingo, a new user-generated content sports site, have been spammed by someone affiliated with the site. New users should take note of the rules here: Don't post your own work (or that of your buddies or boss) to the front page.

posted by rcade to editorial policy at 09:54 AM - 25 comments

Read the Guidelines : Please. Is the linking to a meager Yahoo! article just to foster a discussion tolerable?

posted by Ying Yang Mafia to editorial policy at 02:21 PM - 70 comments

The Thin Red Line: Is that little red line under my typo my imagination, or is there some sort of Word-type spell checker on here?

posted by SummersEve to editorial policy at 06:51 AM - 9 comments

SportsFilter Now Has a Practice Squad: A new rule we're trying out: New members can't post a front-page link until they've been a member for a week and made 15 comments.

posted by rcade to editorial policy at 02:54 PM - 65 comments

Banned topic proposal: I just want to bring up chicobang's suggestion for discussion outside of a specific thread. Player salaries and deservedness thereof: done to death on SpoFi?

posted by qbert72 to editorial policy at 05:36 PM - 55 comments

The Write Stuff: Should SportsFilter dump a member for being completely incapable of writing complete sentences and punctuating them correctly?

posted by rcade to editorial policy at 09:40 AM - 59 comments

Legit Discussion Shut Down -- Why?:

In the spirit of texasred, who asked 9/18/06 in a Locker Room post what was up when his NASCAR posts were deleted, I am addressing the Michelle Wie issue here.

My post from Friday 9/22/06 entitled "Masters? Michelle Wie Should Master LPGA First, says Female Sportswriter" fit the FPP. Admittedly, it is about Wie and her heretofore futile quest to make a PGA cut, a subject that always sets this forum on fire. But previous discussions have included unfounded accusations that those who are critical of Wie must be 'male chauvinists.' The column I posted was written by longtime San Jose Mercury News columnist Ann Killion, someone whose opinion obviously couldn't be motivated by agreement that a woman's place is barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen. On top of that, Killion cited LPGA pros (including LPGA legend Nancy Lopez) who agree that Wie is disrespectful of female professionals by acting as if the women's tour isn't important.

None of those differentiations seemed to matter when some made note that it was I who posted the column. Immediately, some alleged that I have a hateful, politically motivated anti-Wie "agenda," but there were others who wrote that even if that was the truth (which it isn't), it was not a reason to stop posting legitimate items about Wie.

The burgeoning discussion of both Wie's choices and whether or not people who are annoyed by the topic should ignore it came to a screeching halt when justgary made his first and only post on the thread. He simply wrote "Sorry, been out." Then, it appears, his next act was to shut the thread down with the words "This discussion has been closed by the admins."

Seeing that not only I but others agreed that it was a legitimate post that fit the standards of the FPP, I think I am entitled to an explanation of why closing this thread within hours of its creation wasn't an arbitrary variance of SpoFi policy.

posted by L.N. Smithee to editorial policy at 01:22 AM - 71 comments

post booted: Was wondering why when i post something about Nascar, it seems to get booted. Is it because y'all don't like Auto Racing? I see a lot of lame posts (imho), that doesn't get booted . I'm new at this so if i"m in the wrong place, let me know. And please , don't hammer me over this post. Thanks.

posted by texasred to editorial policy at 09:13 AM - 18 comments

Guidelines plus.

posted by justgary to editorial policy at 04:25 PM - 97 comments

Political Feuds of SpoFi: Several recent FPPs (see here, here, and here) have devolved into angry and drawn-out socio-political debates. This has led some veteran members of Sportsfilter to lament the decline of the entire site. Are these political debates a serious problem, and if so, how can we head these off in the future?

posted by Venicemenace to editorial policy at 08:34 AM - 121 comments

There aren't limits...: but maybe there could be. This is gonna sound a little nutty, but is it altogether out of the question to think of amending the posting guidelines to suggest brevity as a virtue?

...or at least, if what you write contains nothng sports-related?

posted by lil_brown_bat to editorial policy at 08:04 PM - 71 comments

Is this a viable FPP?: Or just another in what could be a never-ending series of rather predictable preseason-ranking-articles? Somebody could just find a league-wide scouting report and post that, so we don't have to go through this will all 32 teams. Or is that just being nitpicky?

posted by The_Black_Hand to editorial policy at 08:33 AM - 27 comments

Troll Bait?: This FPP is is using a minor (at best) story as an excuse to editorialize. Bad sportsmanship, bad SpoFi FPP.

posted by Joey Michaels to editorial policy at 12:44 AM - 105 comments

I'm not going to post the link to the FPP I had deleted last night again, but: where is the line I crossed? I thought it was funny; did some find it offensive?

posted by Texan_lost_in_NY to editorial policy at 01:35 PM - 19 comments

FPPs and Linking: Just a general guidelines question. After reading this post I wondered: When making a FPP is it better to link to the original news report or to a blog entry about the news report?

posted by ?! to editorial policy at 02:37 PM - 50 comments

April 18, 2006...Best Day Ever?: What a great bunch of FPPs today. Really a pleasure to drop in and luxuriate in all that SportsFilter can be. Kudos justgary, rcade, lilnemo, rocket88, and dusted for some excellent posts that were so Anti-Yahoo it made the world seem like a better place. Not that the other posts today were bad, but those five really did the trick for me. Viva SportsFilter!

posted by The_Black_Hand to editorial policy at 02:41 PM - 24 comments