[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by New Era

You don't know me, and trying to judge me by a post on a hockey forum is not just weak, but kind of pathetic. I don't judge your character or personality based on your posting (you're a self professed acerbic cyberbully, or what I would call an #######, and embrace that badge). You are very quick to make things personal, which is hardly fair because you get to hide behind that moderator status. So I will leave your personal attacks at that.

I would like to think that I don't hide on this board. People here know who I am and I would hope that my virtual projection is a clear representation of my own persona, which is kind of the point: all we have in this space is what we choose to let others see. So, if this is the facade you have chosen to project, then it is on you if people draw unflattering conclusions as a result of it.

I never accused YOU of anything. I spoke in generalities and not understanding how anyone can become so attached to another individual that they would be okay with elevating them above the team they support, using Oiler fans and the glorification of McDavid as an example. If I used the term "you" it was in a general comparison between two positions - supporting the team or elevating an individual above the team. The fact that you tried to make this about you is laughable. I care less about you than I do about a professional athlete, who ironically doesn't give a squirt of piss about either of us.

I assumed as much, and perhaps was speaking out of turn on behalf of others.

Disingenuous? I'm not the one twisting the words of others here, Kip.

That makes two of us. (And it's "Kipp").

And I respect you for holding that position. If that is a value that you hold dear, good on you. I hope you can respect people that only extend those feeling to people they have direct relations with and only to those who have proven their metal in that regard. In a world where there are so many charlatans that will prey on your good graces I have learned not to extend such respect to people who have not earned it. I have met too many people who I believed to have such qualities from afar only to be disappointed by their actions in real life.

So, this I just cannot get behind. In a world so saturated by mistakes and unfairness I definitely think it is wrong to assume such an intractable default position of suspicion and cynicism. For as many times as each of us is well served by our first impression of other, we are all just as often misled by them. Perhaps you come by that honestly, and if that is the case then I am sorry for that. But if we cannot emerge beyond our own refuges of self-preservation for the good of others, then what hope is there?

I guess I am just an optimistic person, but this intentional projection of empathy and good will honestly helps to maintain my own psychological well being. The world does not have to be dark and full of terrors.