The Dude Was Right

 

"Yeah? Well, you know, that's just like uh, your opinion, man."
 -- The Dude, The Big Lebowski

Not much to say tonight.

Sure, I returned to the world today and even hosted a radio show. I mean, I had to run the Jersey Mike's postgame interview for the 13th time*.

* OK, not 13th, but we're overdoing it.

My voice still isn't great but it's not like I'm performing a concert.

The Texas Rangers are six outs away from going to the World Series as I write this, while the Phillies and Diamondbacks will need one more game.

Otherwise, it wasn't much of an exciting Monday and that's OK. Not every story needs to be told.

So I sit here, after 11 p.m., just sort of throwing words on the page.

One thing that grabbed me to mention was a kerfuffle last night in the Play-by-Play group on Facebook.

For whatever reason (ego, naturally) some members insist on posting their work. But, buyer beware.

Often, it is posted with the expectation of getting an "atta boy" and a pat on the back to satiate their desire for praise and acceptance.

But, in reality, critiques and criticism are fair play. The idea is supposed to be that, by posting the item in that group, you've opened yourself to comments.

In the case of the person who posted this play-by-play call last night, the reaction wasn't immediately full of praise. Oh sure, they got the fair share of "likes" but, well, there was criticism.

It was fair but blunt and the original poster took offense. He responded by saying that, basically, the world loved it.

I didn't offer my opinion publicly but I'll say that I offered one privately and it wasn't "atta boy."

I could see the train coming down the tracks. Another member defended the call. Not a surprise.

Eventually, as an admin, I wrote what I've basically written here. The words I used were, basically, "You posted it. Not everything is going to be rainbows and unicorns. Criticism is allowed."

Look, despite what this person said (and was recently said towards me), things aren't automatically "negative" because you disagree with it. Opinions are just that: an opinion. Calling someone a "prep snob" wasn't meant as some great offense, for instance. It wasn't meant to be an insult. It was meant as, essentially, a parody. 

If you disagree, then debate it. Discuss it. Resolve it.

Deal with it, basically.

I went to bed expecting to deal with more from the aggrieved poster this morning only to find that the post was gone.

Deleted.

As far as I could tell, the person who posted the play-by-play call removed it.

That's their opinion and so it goes.

The Texas Rangers just eliminated the Houston Astros. The Rangers are going to the World Series for the third time.

Huzzah.