It's always nice to see a community taking a moment to recognize unique contributions, especially when it's something as significant as what the man known as "sureloss" provides to CP. What he brings to the table, requires a ridiculous commitment of year 'round time and effort.
Some of us like to joke that there's no point in even trying post news on this forum because of how one man seems to have every angle covered. We like to think he sits in a batcave, surrounded by monitors that are directly into his cerebral cortex. Be it night or day, the depths of Winter or a warm, sunny Summer afternoon, he always seems to show up and deliver the breaking news to this community, in the most efficient, clean and organized fashion, without ever asking or expecting anything in return. His ability to utilize social media as an aggregate source for all things Flames, is second to none.
It really is an amazing feat and I'm not sure how many people actually realize how much work it actually is. It's a yearly commitment. However, the key difference is, it's not
work if you genuinely love doing it. And that's the key, he really does seem to love doing it. Maybe it started as a hobby, something he'd do from time to time, but it pretty clearly grew into a passion, and we all get to be the lucky recipients of watching a man do the thing that he loves.
His earlier comment was born from the fact that when people begin to bicker amongst each other, acting out against others who dare try to step into the role he's so masterfully perfected, he can't help but ask himself if he's starting to do more harm than good.
Yes, he does an amazing job. No, he doesn't want some sort of special treatment. No, he doesn't want to be the only person posting the news. He comes here, as most of us do, to be a part of a community, he enjoys reading other people's threads just as any of us do. What he does want (and sureloss, please, stop me if I'm way off base here), is for people to stop worrying so much about who breaks the news and instead get back to focusing on sharing in the excitement of it all.
A few years back, he and I covered a July 1 as something of a team. It wasn't planned, it just sort of happened. I can tell you from my own personal experience, it was a lot of
work. It was basically an 8-hour marathon of scanning social media, listening to the radio, watching TV, jumping back and forth between tabs, copying/pasting and refreshing, trying to deliver all of the news as quickly as possible. I basically ignored my wife and kids and locked myself in my office for the entire day.
Afterwards, while plenty of people were thanking us for a job well done, he and I spoke privately and congratulated each other on a fun day. He wasn't upset that someone was "trying to steal the spotlight" as I've seen others suggest today, he seemed to genuinely have as much fun as I did being a part of generating discussion that so many people seemed to get so much enjoyment out of. I walked away from that wishing I could repeat that feeling of excitement 365 days a year (and then went to beg forgiveness from my wife
).
There's something pure about that process and people need to stop bitching and moaning and just let what happens, occur naturally. Don't try to dictate who gets to be a part of generating that feeling, and don't worry about how it happens. If things get out of hand, if too many threads are being duplicated or sources aren't being properly vetted, we have a more than capable moderating team that can take care of it.
Sit back and enjoy the ride, after all... that's what we're all here for. Sureloss, while CP wouldn't be the same without your contributions, that's a secondary (and selfish) reason for asking you to keep going. If this is a passion for you, it would be a crime to shelve it. And if it ever becomes
work, no one would fault you for taking a break. No one deserves one more than you, bud.
