WasWatching.com

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I don't know how you put up with people who bitch about your writing -- who then come back every single day and bitch some more. They suck at life. I'd just get rid of the bashers, send them an e-mail with links to other Yankees-related sites and tell 'em to have a nice day. It's your space and no one is forced to come here if they are repeatedly put on tilt by what they read.

I have reached the point where I am so turned off by the personal attacks directed towards Steve that have nothing at all to do with his posts, that visiting the site is becoming an increasingly negative experience. If people don't like Steve personally or want to complain to him about whatever shortcomings they feel he has as a Yankee blogger, don't force it on the rest of us. They should be encouraged to send him a PM, or an email separate from the comments section. They're ruining it for the rest of us. The comments are as integral to the site IMO as the original post made by Steve, and refraining from reading them would lessen the experience. I know I'm not alone when I say that I especially enjoy when a debate breaks out and all parties are arguing passionately. Now it seems that the only comments left are the complainers.

To all that feel this way, please, don't let these people bother you. Here's why:

Six weeks ago, I went out to dinner with some old friends. One of the friends is a sports fan – but, he’s not someone who plays around with the Internet nor is he a Yankees fan. Therefore, he’s not someone who reads this (or any) blog. Nonetheless, at the dinner, I was explaining the blog to him and he was interested about how many people read it. When I told him, he was amazed – and, he offered “A lot of people must like it.” I laughed and shared “Well, I get a lot of great – and positive – feedback. But, I also get a pretty decent handful of folks who like to tell me that I’m an idiot, that they hate me, and that I should do ‘something’ to myself.”

When I told him that, he said “Oh, I get it. It’s like Mike Lupica. So many people say that they can’t stand him, etc. Yet, they all keep buying the Daily News and the first thing that they read when they get it is Mike Lupica.”

I never thought of it that way – but, my friend was right. While I probably don’t want to be compared to Mike Lupica in terms of some of his views, it would never be an embarrassment to be compared to him in terms of the platform that he has established and the attention that comes his way.

If someone wants to call me a fool, or a negative person, or a non-Yankees fan, because of something that they’ve read here – and they keep coming back and posting it over and over again – who’s really the fool or being negative? Anyone who doesn’t like this blog, because of me, and who keeps coming back to read it (and to make posts attacking me) is the true fool. In fact, by coming back, again and again – and I have the stats to prove that they keep coming back – they’re helping me by driving up my page views. If they really wanted to “hurt” me, instead of calling me an idiot or griping about my views, the smartest thing would be for them to never read this blog again.

But, I suspect that those people who like to complain about me will keep on reading this blog - as well as linking to it, or referencing me at other blogs - just like all those people who complain about Lupica keep reading him in the Daily News. And, just as I would imagine that Lupica could care less about those people who complain about him, that’s the way that I feel as well.

So, if it doesn’t bother me, then you shouldn’t let it bother you.