For starters, I'd like to start this off by saying this is probably the worst time to bring this up. People are fired up after a Sharks first game loss, tensions are running high.

However.

Everyone is aware of the dust up that occurred with Ang and Ghost of Link Gaetz. That's an elephant in the room that probably needs to be talked about.

Here's the history between Ang and I-- she has been one of my longest tenured readers, and my loyalty to her runs deeper than my loyalty to most here. I was aware she deleted her account on Sunday. I spoke with her over the phone a few days ago for twenty minutes and ironed out what issues she was having. It was not solely due to her conversation with GOLG, and although that was the straw that broke the camel's back, there were other issues that helped shape how she decided to respond.

In essence, she left for her own peace of mind.

I like to handle these affairs behind closed doors, because frankly, people's personal decisions are their own to make. No one needs to hold anyone's hand here, and Ang is a strong and capable woman that is able to do just that. She is well aware of her choices.

This isn't high school. There is no need for gossip. These things happen, and life moves on.

Which brings me to the general point.

If you feel that you have been wronged in some way, especially on the internet where keyboard courage runs rampant, flag it. It's right next to the rec button under actions. A troll, personal attack, or something else?

Flag it. Flag it, flag it, flag it. And don't respond. That just feeds the fury. This is Internet Etiquette 101.

I have a life outside of Fear The Fin. I can't be around the comments 24/7, moderating every dispute that occurs. The only way you can be sure I see that there is a problem is when you flag a comment. It pops up on my authorship dashboard and I can go directly to the issue when I log in.

Poor Evilducks is the only one who has been hit with a flagged comment in the last two weeks, due to the fact he shared pictures of the Thornton jersey he purchased from a website. There have been no flags for trolls, personal attacks, or anything else. Hell, I had to be informed by mymclife and CTGray via Twitter that there was a big argument on Sunday.

It's possible I'm at fault here-- maybe over the course of the last two years I have let the comments serve as a place where everyone gets their say, even if those words don't agree with the worldview of others. I have banned exactly two people in my time as admin-- one guy who was posting Nazi symbols in a game thread earlier this year, and another who was trolling readers to vicious degrees. I hate banning people. I'm a big believer in an open community, one that gives Sharks fans an opportunity to explain how they feel.

I have let you guys dictate the comments for the most part. I love writing about the Sharks, I love hockey, and it's fun to share my opinion with the world. And it's even better to hear yours. It's the open dialogue that keeps me up late at night and gets me up early in the morning, the dialogue that fuels my passion for the team.

So if that dialogue is being ruined by users who you feel are taking away from the quality of the discussion, that's a problem.

If the situation presents itself where an individual is getting flagged on multiple comments, that user will be banned. I hate to do it. I really do. But at this point, it seems like playing bad cop is going to be my responsibility.

Five flags and you get a warning. Ten flags and you get suspended. Fifteen and you get banned.

I'm personally done with Palin mask at this point, because even though it brings good mojo and is completely in good fun, it's obviously a point of contention amongst the community.

Thanks for visiting the site, and as always, you're the best readers in the world.

Go Sharks.