RESPECT & WHAT IT MEANS TO ME

I'm a regular guy with a Yankee fan site and I have no idea how that happened.  Bleeding Yankee Blue is a lot of fun, and it's fun mostly because of how we can post our opinion and we don't hide behind it if you disagree... we interact and have a dialog with all of you.  We don't have empty message boards where you state an opinion it dies... we actually respond.  We don't think our opinion is the only one that matters. We talk it through.  Hell, I've actually changed my opinion having a debate with a reader.  It happens, but it happens because we are nothing more than a bunch of hungry writers trying to crank out solid content for all of you to read. Oh, and we like to talk about it! The others? They don't. They move on from their readers, because they really don't care what you say.

I'm not gonna lie... I never liked writing in the comments section of a Yankee of Baseball blog and never hearing from the administrator or author.  I felt almost like it was disrespectful. My thinking was, "Why are they putting this out there if they don't want to talk about it?" I felt like it was self serving and snobby.  Why write something just to hide?

Remember when Peter Keating of ESPN the Magazine tried to do to me? Remember when he tried to humiliate us here at BYB when he wrote:

Once my piece went out, Keating did his high horse response, which was fine, but when I asked him to have a dialog and not snipe me, I was ignored.   My point is, respect is a 2 way street. If you write something that's provocative, you better be ready for backlash and a difference of opinion, and if you get it, you better be ready for more of the same.  And you know what? That's OK.  The dialog is good, therapeutic, educational, and healthy.  Writing just to act like a snob is dumb.  Keating was a perfect example of that.

Maybe that's why the guy has 2000 followers.

It's all in how to communicate.  Writing can be very exciting for the author.  Sometimes it just flows from the fingers and you are passionate for hours as you work to craft your piece.  Once published, it's out there for the world to see, and for me personally, I'm HOPING for feedback.  The dialog helps a writer improve. Me hiding because it may rustle feathers almost feels spineless to me. Why do it? Talk with your readers... it's how you improve.

I respect our readers very, very much.  I respect my writers.  They spend countless hours writing for BYB, for free, because we love it. But respect goes both ways.  I never want to be accused of being hurtful, disrespectful, mean, dumb, disappointing and worse.  I don't deserve that because I don't dish it that way. I'm an open book. What you read is what you get, and you get more because BYB writers are ALWAYS here to communicate with our readers.  That, my friends is why you read us at BYB everyday.

Sure, we're bigger now than we used to be and we have shirts and tank tops and kids shirts and all of that...

(CLICK HERE TO SHOP), but the reality is, we like what we do, we do not hide behind our computer screens and we are happy to talk to all of you on any given day.

BYB was started because we were angry with the New York Yankees... but we're actually pretty kind and courteous folks over here.  Sure, I fight for what's right and I don't like when people aren't being treated fairly and so, maybe I become confrontational trying to protect people from being swindled... but ultimately, BYB is here, open and eager to speak to all of you.  We respect you, because you respect us... and my God... isn't  that wonderful?

I just had to get that off my chest. Happy Memorial Day weekend.  Be safe and be kind to each other. Most importantly though, be respectful.  It's a good thing!



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