Rules of the Game

There is room on this field for opposition, but we are all playing on the same grass.  While we may play hard on both offense and defense, in the end our goal is to meet respectfully midfield and shake hands from our respective positions.

Bottom line: this is a place for respectful dialogue.  Please review the guidelines and penalties below before commenting or e-mailing us.

General guidelines:

1. Be civilized and considerate.  Think before you speak.  Use your words.

2. We're allowed to disagree.  We're allowed to object strongly.  But we will not permit "flame wars" or "trolls" to undermine the course of dialogue here.  If you're looking for a fight, go pick on someone as annoying as you are.

3. TYPING IN ALL CAPS IS CONSIDERED YELLING.  Please use your inside voices.

4. No profanity is allowed.  Period.  Any comments that contain profanity will either be edited or deleted, at the discretion of the moderator.

5. If you get to comment to us, we get to respond to you.  Any comments that do not include a valid e-mail address and/or URL will be deleted.

6. Don't threaten us and don't even think about threatening our families. Personal insults, racial or ethnic slurs, and comments that offend based on gender, sexual preference, or religious beliefs will not be tolerated.  I'm telling you: do not mess with the mama bears.  We will ban you faster than you can say "minivan."

7. Annoying things like comment spam, advertisements, or irrelevant links will irritate us.  If you want to advertise here, contact us by e-mail.

Reprimands:

Yellow card - Warning

If you have a mild to moderate violation of the guidelines above, we'll be sending you a warning.  You get to keep playing, but we're watching your behavior.  Shape up, or your next offense could earn you a ban.

Red card - You Are Outta Here

Flagrant disregard for the guidelines above, including repeat offenses, threats, insults, patently distasteful comments will result in a ban.  We reserve the right to delete comments, ban ISP addresses, and take any action necessary to keep the field here safe for everyone.

Appeals to warnings and bans will be handled on a case-by-case basis by the moderator.