Hi, my name is Brock Beauchamp, and I'd like to talk to all of you!

[kcmets]

Others have pledged financial assistance.

[Edgy MD]

I offered help. I'll pay for March, you ignored me.

 

I did not ignore you. I answered quite clearly.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I can confirm that he wasn't invited. He reached out to me through the UMDB before I gave it up.

I don't see the risk here. We can lock the forums here and try the other place. If wr hate it there's nothing stopping us from returning here.

[Edgy MD]

I think the powers that be are just looking for an excuse to get rid of CPF and this is it.

 

Then you are not reading and don't care about anything but attention grabbing.

 

Multiple alternate positions and ideas have been thrown out there but are being discarded just as quickly.

 

This is false. You suggested the forum get a new moderator and I replied that I am fine with that.

 

Quite a strange pivot to trash a quarter-century of work ...

 

This is simply a false representation.

 

... just because this site is at a low point.

 

"Just because"? If the forum failing isn't a reason to change then nothing is.

 

Also that's not AI, I painted it myself.

 

Gosh.

 

Also note how my assumption that Brock was actually invited wasn't denied.

 

I have no idea what this means or what you are accusing me of.

If anybody wants to offer anything that isn't sarcastic and obnoxious (thanks, Ben), that would be lovely. I'm going to be down with the flu for a couple of days, so I won't be able to respond for a bit.

Brock has unsurprisingly bailed out of the conversation also.

[Benjamin Grimm]

And I don't want to speak for Edgy, but it may not be just about the money. After a while you get tired of putting in the effort and realizing that it's for fewer and fewer people. That's why I pulled the plug on Schaefer and the TCD. If someone had stepped forward and offered me $20 per month to keep doing it, it wouldn't have mattered.

[kcmets]

Brock has unsurprisingly bailed out of the conversation also.

 

That's what snake-oil salesmen do when they realize

their three-card monte isn't working on everyone.

[Marshmallowmilkshake]

I get that you guys don't want to take him up on his offer. I do not get why you need to insult him.

[Marshmallowmilkshake]

It's because he's not our friend, he's a businessman trying to pull one over on us.

 

He's a businessman making an offer, which we are free to accept or reject.

I get approached by vendors looking to do business with me every day. I manage to treat them respectfully even when I'm not interested in their service or product. It's not difficult.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I think the salient point here is that Edgy may decide he doesn't want to do this anymore. The Schaefer thing didn't require much effort on my part, but with so few participants, I decided even that little effort was more than I cared to expend. If Edgy feels he's doing to much work for the entertainment of too few, then it's entirely his right to decide to shed the responsibility. This is not something that should be subject to a vote. Nobody should be obligated to continue a hobby that is no longer fulfilling.

And Marshmallow is right; the open antagonism toward Brock by some is juvenile, although he didn't use that word. Yes, this feels a bit like The Music Man (for those who get that reference) but unlike Harold Hill, Brock isn't asking for any money from us. He's proposing something that may be mutually beneficial. Or may not. That can certainly be debated. But if I was the primary admin and moderator here, and I didn't want to do it anymore, I'd gladly turn it over to Brock. The worst thing that can happen is what happened to the UMDB. I don't like it, but it's not a calamity. Life goes on. Nothing lasts forever. It's okay to let go of things. It's life. To everything a season.

[Benjamin Grimm]

The forum lived at ultimatemets.com for seven years, from late 2018 until early 2026. It had been at other domains before that and is now at another one after that. The UMDB didn't "own" the forum, it was just acting as a landlord, if you want to call it that.

[whippoorwill]

I’m more leery of his requests for email addresses than his possible want of money at this point.

Listen in this day and age everyone has to be careful.

Brock may be the nicest guy on earth for sure but how do we know that? There’s nothing wrong with having questions and doubts.

It all looks very nice but scrolling through my thumbs connect with ads that I don’t want and I don’t like that.

Btw feel better Edgy

[whippoorwill]

Yes it’s a fine little getaway. That’s why it was started…to escape the chaos of the MOFO, which was also fun, but could be overwhelming.

As far as the features that have fallen by the wayside because of lack of participation, that’s sad but that is what starts new features.

Hubby and I had a New Year’s party once many many years ago. We had both invited friends from work and neither of those friends showed up.

I was up in my bathroom moping when I suddenly realized I owed the guests that actually did show up a party.

Learned a lesson about myself and my friends that night.

Be loyal.

[Brock Beauchamp]

I’m more leery of his requests for email addresses than his possible want of money at this point.

 

I'll pop in to respond to this because yeah, I get why that's unnerving.

It's for our email newsletter. Having email addresses from past users allows us to contact them and try to get them back on the forums and contributing.

We don't sell information to anyone, and peoples' email addresses are never used for anything beyond the newsletter.

[duan]

Wow!

Folks, I don't get the open hostility to someone making a reasoned proposal, or indeed Edgy for being interested in transitioning towards a situation where The Crane Pool absorbs less of his resources (be they brain power or monetary).

I don't have the time to post very often, but I visit plenty and always take the temperature of the cranepool as one way of deciding how I feel about Mets developments.

I find it hard to believe that I've been making the occasional post and reading for the best part of 30 years if you include the MOFO days.

Ah Ambler how right you were about Rey Ordonez not getting next nor near a .720 OPS.

I am not near enough a participant to have any input in any such decision, but all I'll say is I've always appreciated the chat here, and will continue to pop in - whatever guise it is in.

[Bob Alpacadaca]

I don't disagree that this is Edgy's call and the final decision rests on his shoulders. And he's under no obligation to do as we say or abide by how we feel. But a poll really would be a more honest gauge about how the community feels about it. It's not a deciding poll, it's a feeler to see how people actually, uh, feel. And it was only in this thread that I learned that Benjamin Grimm didn't actually own this forum. My mind was blown and the entire foundations of my existence were shaken.

 

A poll would be about as impactful as a poll asking who the Mets should play in right field. It's not our call.

I trust Edgy to make a good decision and will go wherever the forum goes. Thank you to all who keep the lights on.

[metsmarathon]

I don’t care if edgy loses money on this forum or if Brock loses money trying to make money on this forum, so long as somebody is out there trying to facilitate my interactions with you fellow metly hill people.

(Actually I care more that edgy - and all of our historical benefactors along the way - is losing money on us).

[metsmarathon]

Has anybody spent much time taking the temperature on the other sites Brock runs?

If so, what do you see that you don’t like?

[whippoorwill]

Ads. That’s pretty much all I don’t like.

[Lefty Specialist]

They're standard team sites. Articles, analysis, I'm sure there's a game preview and re-cap in season. They look to be clean and well-run. Yes, there are ads, but they don't seem overly intrusive. The forums are....eh. Of course, what can you talk about if you're a Marlins fan?

We could probably provide a little je ne sais quoi if we were the Wal-Mart greeters at the new forum. It's inevitable that the CPFishness would get diluted over time. That's life.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Maybe we should look at this as if we were all advancing from Middle School to High School. It will look different, and there will be some new faces, but also a lot of familiar faces as well.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I doubt it will be "hundreds". I don't even think it will be "dozens". It will probably be "a handful". Imagine opening a Blockbuster store and expecting "hundreds" of people to show up looking to rent movies on VHS.

[Benjamin Grimm]

The forum, as I understand it, is just part of a larger suite of offerings. He wants to be able to serve ads.

This is an earlier post from this thread. You can choose to believe this or not. It certainly seems more plausible to me than "hundreds". I'd rather go this route than sit around and watch this place continue to dwindle.

 

I might as well be 100% transparent. When I mean growth, I don't mean explosive growth. I want slow, steady growth that maintains existing culture. Here is the monthly post reports for Talk Sox, going to back to Jan 1, 2020. As you can see, the forum was in steady decline. The vertical red line is when we took over the site. Since then, the forum is nudging up, but gently. I can count on my fingers the number of new, regular posters I see over there... but there ARE new posters, and the forum is back to where it was several years ago traffic-wise.

[whippoorwill]

When did Brock register? It says Snowy is still our newbie

[Benjamin Grimm]

Edgy had to do something behind the scenes to get Brock registered because of the ongoing registration problem we were having until I finally fixed it late last week. I think he took the ID of an old spammer and renamed it for Brock to use.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

What an interesting thread.

People should be happy there will be another place for the room.

It does look like those sites have far too many irritating popups and I wonder if they can be tamed.

People can be skeptical and use AI to express that skepticism in exaggerated ways. I don't see what the problem is. The same guy (I think) advocated moving to a private Reddit room so I'm not sure how serious they are.

I'm skeptical about there being adequate content for a magazine, and I'm not entirely sure this room is actually grow-able. Who wants to hang out with grumpy old farts doing stupid **** allatime?

I didn't bail because Batmags got whacked; I left because there was a guy who called for his execution three posts into his cpf career and it didn't even get remarked upon, and that reminded me there's plenty of ways to make negative contributions to the room-- everyone does it, and most people get away with it. I felt like I couldn't be a part that any longer.

Besides all that with the 2025 Mets, I just had nothing to contribute to the discussion.

[whippoorwill]

Got it.

I’m glad the registration problem is fixed because obviously without registration there would be no growth anyway.

Guys it’s just my opinion and I’m not trying to diss anyone but I like it here, I like our small numbers I like that I trust you people completely and I like an ad free experience. That in itself is a very rare thing these days.

I miss Lunchie, I miss gf, I miss Willets, and many others (Zvon I really miss you), even batmags when he was been just a Mets fan.

There are some newer people here that I can see are really putting in an effort.

I have absolutely no idea how anyone could possibly have a problem with what Cowtipper is contributing plus he has the cutest damn avatar ever.

Now the baseball season is ramping up and things may get busier. As I said before, just because the numbers are down doesn’t mean those of us still here don’t mean squat anymore I hope.

I can’t watch games and haven’t since SNY and I’m still here so what does that tell you about my loyalty here?

But it’s been very shaken this weekend

[Benjamin Grimm]

I'm not entirely sure this room is actually grow-able. Who wants to hang out with grumpy old farts doing stupid **** allatime?

 

That's what I think too. The fear of us being swamped by "hundreds" of users doesn't seem realistic at all.

 

I didn't bail because Batmags got whacked; I left because there was a guy who called for his execution three posts into his cpf career and it didn't even get remarked upon.

 

I don't know if I noticed that call for execution. Is it possible that it was roger_that? If so, you may have missed it, but he's been banned as well, after he accidentally revealed his true identity.

[Frayed Knot]

I'm not entirely sure this room is actually grow-able. Who wants to hang out with grumpy old farts doing stupid **** allatime?

 

That's what I think too. The fear of us being swamped by "hundreds" of users doesn't seem realistic at all.

 

Not realistic in the slightest, IMO, and certainly not in the short term.

And if the room isn't growable then we're essentially talking to the same bunch of dopes under the guise of a different site.

And if it does grow then we've got new participants with new strengths, weaknesses, and points of view.

After all it would do us good to hump a non-cousin every now and then, just for variety at least.

In short, I don't quite get what several here are so paranoid and/or afraid of.

If we choose this route this forum will be moved, essentially intact, and attached to a site containing other NYM/baseball content which we can read, ignore, contribute to, or shield our eyes from. It'll be moderated by folks we don't know but unless they're going to censor FMan's sex jokes or my lame jokes then I don't think it's going to be a problem. Hell, the last time I remember us getting yelled at by the teacher was back when Weisman lectured us (several guilty parties are still present) that we had to stick with baseball talk after one of the threads veered off course into a lengthy discussion of FRAMPTON COMES ALIVE ... and that was back sometime during the ****in' Clinton administration!! And yet we survived, it's probably what led to the Non Baseball Forum being invented, and no one died in the process.

Meanwhile it relieves anyone here of having to worry about registration issues, paying the bills, taking out the garbage, fixing the leaking roof, or dealing with any idiots in the room. All of which were issues that plagued this place from time to time and caused several moves over the years from old out-dated boards and software to slightly less out-dated boards and software.

 

I didn't bail because Batmags got whacked; I left because there was a guy who called for his execution three posts into his cpf career and it didn't even get remarked upon.

 

I don't know if I noticed that call for execution. Is it possible that it was roger_that? If so, you may have missed it, but he's been banned as well, after he accidentally revealed his true identity.

 

Yeah, I have no idea what any of this is about either.

I wasn't one of those (one of the few?) who blocked Mags but I had pretty much given up reading his stuff -- at most I'd quickly scan it ('PC' it for youse old-timers) -- because I pretty much heard every rant of his and didn't really need to know the he thought he was getting picked on again. So whatever it was I probably missed it more than dismissed it and likely wouldn't remember it even it told.

Edited February 24 by Frayed Knot

[Centerfield]

Yes. What FK said. And if somehow we go there and hate it we can always come home. It’s not like they’re gonna throw away the keys to this place.

Anyway. Edgy I’m good with whatever you decide.

[whippoorwill]

Disappointed. Nice knowing ya.