So who am I to make a post like this?  Not a mod, not a staffer, not an intern, not even leader board.  But it's something on my heart and on my mind and I feel like I should say this speel before I hit the hay tonight.  This has probably been said many times on the site, but I feel it can't be said enough.

I pray this doesn't come off as elitist, because it isn't intended to be.  It comes from someone who has made these types of comments on the site in the past, learned from them, and still slips up every now and then.  

And I know a lot of this is in the commenting policy, but I sometimes feel it could be reiterated more.  Now on with it!

I've had negative opinions about the buckeyes or buckeye-related events in the past on here.  When I had such opinions, I shared them one of two ways.  Either supported or unsupported.

Unsupported: The Ohio State basketball team lacks resiliency.

Supported:  I think that Marc Loving could play with a bit more emotion, especially on the defensive side of the ball.  There were times in the game when his face would get expressionless and soon following he would be late to get back to the perimeter.  I also wish that Daniel Giddens was a little tougher boxing out on the inside, perhaps this is something that he could work on in practice this week.

The first?  An under-thought comment I made, pretty recently in fact.

The second?  The one I should have made.

I get that when you're high on emotion watching a game sometimes you just pump out a FIRE PAULUS!!!  But understand that not everyone shares that opinion, and frankly it can make you come off as a bit of a jerk.

Just try to make an effort to re-read any negative opinion post/comment you make.  Remove profanities, add facts/reasoning/examples, and be eloquent and under control.  Be the Fonzie of commenting, not the Donald Duck.  It will not only give your comments a better reception, but make you appear quite educated on the subject you are talking about.

Again, just trying to spread some failure-learned knowledge.  And I certainly don't expect anybody to be perfect, I know I'll probably slip up and spout off a "Beck needs to go!" in the next month.  But it helps to make an effort.