Friday, April 8, 2016

From the comfy chair



Isn't it great that the season has begun? In the past week we've seen many old friends join us. It's made me so happy to see so many fun conversations. The game threats have been crazy. Ya'll talk a lot!

Remember when we were being called Pollyannas and apologists? I consider that a badge of honour. We were proven right to believe in this team, to refuse to be sucked into the negativity that is a black cloud hanging over Toronto sports fandom.

Monday night I was getting a lift from a friend and was talking about how the first game had over a thousand comments. He asked how big the community is. I estimated around 50. He asked me how I felt about 10,000. My immediate response was that it was too big, too hard for people to interact, too easy for trolls to infest. He countered with a discussion board he is on with 10,000 members and they rarely have problems. If you structure it right at the beginning, he said, you can handle it and people want a place where they can talk about the team. He then revealed that he went to school and remained friends with someone high up in the FO, a name I immediately recognized.

Tuesday morning, I wake up to an email that he wrote to said friend about this place and copied me on. Then I come here and RADAR is giggling madly, making phone calls and warning me that many more people will be coming. Wednesday Nego tells me that he will be pointing people that he knows to this place when his pieces go up next week, who includes a couple of baseball writers (one a name I recognized) and people in the FO.

So things are about to change.

When I conceived of this place, I wanted it to be safe and welcoming, especially for women. It's been wonderful and troll free. I.want to keep it that way. I'm not comfortable with the idea of an influx of people coming in. I also know not to resist change. There is a need for a fun place to talk intelligently about baseball that isn't part of the Toronto fan neurosis. Who am I to deny people that opportunity?

What that means is that we will need to fight to keep our community vibe. Smasher's post yesterday is a great reminder of what we are fighting for. (No, it wasn't planned, it just worked out that way.)

Thank you to everyone who has donated time, money, or both. It means the world to know you treasure this place as much as I do. It gives me hope for what lies ahead.

As Smasher said: