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Hello from a name from the past.

Started by Bret, June 23, 2014, 05:48:36 PM

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bigbaldben

OK Bret, I can accept your clarifications.  I honestly don't recall exactly what you were expressing whenever that was. I thought I rec'd an apology of some sort at some time, but I don't remember what I had for breakfast, so....

Anyway, if you've got no regrets and nothing to be forgiven for then so be it.  All apologies on my half rescinded as well, since if you didn't apologize, I don't need to apologize for not accepting it.  Everbody wins!

Besides, truth is as you say - Ben vs. Bret was never even close to the main event at PCF. At least I think that's what you're saying.

As for a magic death wand, I'm afraid you would not even be in line.  If I had a line at all, there might be two or three people on it, and only one from the days of forums past. I expect Tider and others know who that would be.

So yeah,anyway, I understand your need to keep it real. But can we put all that aside and let me ask the one really important question that has popped in and out of my head every so often?

What did you do/say/think/throw/murder when the Vikings signed Favre?


rollntider

Quote from: bigbaldben on July 07, 2014, 09:09:27 PM


What did you do/say/think/throw/murder when the Vikings signed Favre?

thats the important question



Bret

Quote from: rollntider on July 07, 2014, 09:49:33 PM
Quote from: bigbaldben on July 07, 2014, 09:09:27 PM


What did you do/say/think/throw/murder when the Vikings signed Favre?

thats the important question

All right, I'll bite on this one...

I was upset. No, not because Favre was the franchise quarterback of my team's arch rivals for so many years. But, because (in my opinion) he is one of the two most overrated athletes in human history (Mike Tyson is the other). Two of the many reasons I feel that way about Favre is because his numbers never justified his hype, and because Favre was always about himself first, and the team would come somewhere after that. How many Packers games, indeed entire Packers seasons, were sacrificed because Favre's consecutive starting streak was so important?

Anyway, at first I thought the guy couldn't decide whether or not he was retired. Then I figured out what he was doing...being all about himself, he thought that going to training camp with the rest of the team was beneath him. So, he stayed "retired" until preseason was over, then he magically comes back.

I will admit to this...if Favre would have played each season like he did in '09 for the Vikings, then I would agree that his hype would be justified. However, it just wasn't that way. Anyway, because Favre is Favre, and he's all about him, that's what cost the Vikings a trip to the Super Bowl.

I dunno how many of you remember, but late in the 4th with the game tied, all he had to do was to kneel on the ball and have Ryan Longwell (another former Packer) split the uprights with it and the Vikings finally get to go to their long-overdue Super Bowl. But, instead of doing the right thing, Favre instead reverted to doing what he did better than anyone who ever played the game...threw an interception. I have to admit that I wasn't all that surprised when that happened. I knew it was only a matter of time before the Favre I knew reared his ugly head and started being himself again.

Sometime next year I'm going to put together my pilgrimage to the Hall of Fame. I have always wanted to visit. I promised myself I would visit after Cris Carter got inducted and before the HOF's integrity was compromised with Favre's presence. I'm looking at next Summer. I think that Favre will go in I believe in '16. :(

In all fairness to Favre, I will also admit that with that masseuse scandal, I was on his side. One question that begged to be asked about all that, and I'm not sure it ever was, is if this woman was so offended then why did it take her two years to get mad about it?

Bret

So, since most of you used to know me back during the PCF days, I thought I'd give highlights of how my life is different now as compared to then...

I have a pretty good job, not perfect, but what job is? I am a tech monkey that maintains a 129-seat office for the a government agency. I've been working here for about 4 and a half years. If I could make one change to my workplace, it would be that people would be fired for consistent incompetence. Government doesn't do that, and I have never understood why that is. But, this place apparently appreciates me. I have had four absolutely flawless performance reviews, and I haven't had any idiotic closed-door talkings-to about shit that doesn't matter anyway. My boss is great. He just stays out of my way and lets me do my job. I don't do well with micromanagers, but I absolutely thrive with freedom, and I am so grateful that I have that at my current job.

I am married now. Have been for a little over five years. I am so relieved my dating days are over. I have a good marriage and I am enjoying the married life.

I suffered a horrific leg injury in late 2010. My fibula and tibia became separated from one another, and my fibula was broken in several places, not just one or two. My orthopedist told me that had this happened around 1980 or before that the leg would have needed amputation. But, thanks for modern medical technology I still have my leg. I can run and do all the other stuff I used to do, but there is pain at random intervals sometimes.

As of last summer I am a home owner. I am also relieved never to have to deal with an asshole landlord again that will always find some lame excuse for stealing my deposit. It's not a huge house, but I REALLY like my neighborhood. No less than four cops and one firefighter live on my street, so I doubt very seriously that crime will be a problem. Even better than that...no HOA!!! Yay!!!

I now drive an '09 F150. It is reliable, and because of the parade of shit cars I've had in my lifetime I appreciate it.

As compared to the PCF days, my life has improved in almost every way. I am grateful for the way my life is now and appreciate my blessings.  The only way my life is worse now as compared to back then is my body. I kind of fell out of working out, and I've put on some weight to be honest with you. I've been trying to work on getting my old body back, but it is slow-going. Blah.

Oh, also...I currently do not own, administrate, or moderate any website anywhere. That is just the way I like it. I can't see myself ever doing that again. :) Well, I have considered opening up my own blog where I can rant on uncensored, but just haven't gotten around to that yet.

rollntider

Congrats on the marriage and the House....

Married to the right woman makes it all the worth while.

Since PCF days I have went back to college again and finished my Associates in Computer Science (2 degrees, programming and web) and have a job in developing software now. I love my job, it isnt perfect, but what job is? It is close to perfect as it can get.

My kids are almost grown. My daughter attends the university of Alabama(ROLL TIDE), my son is in high school

I finally got my dream car, a mustang GT (2006)



Bret

Quote from: rollntider on July 11, 2014, 01:07:43 AM
Congrats on the marriage and the House....

Married to the right woman makes it all the worth while.

Since PCF days I have went back to college again and finished my Associates in Computer Science (2 degrees, programming and web) and have a job in developing software now. I love my job, it isnt perfect, but what job is? It is close to perfect as it can get.

My kids are almost grown. My daughter attends the university of Alabama(ROLL TIDE), my son is in high school

I finally got my dream car, a mustang GT (2006)



That's good to hear. I'm sure you're very proud to have a child at Alabama...I'm sure you're going to go for two for two. :)

Rollntider, I assume you still live in or near Birmingham, so I'll share this story with you...

I actually visited Alabama (the State, not the college) for two whole weeks back during Christmastime of '08 to meet several of what was then my future in-laws. Not Birmingham, but Phenix City, which is across the Chatahoochie River from Columbus, Georgia. It was my first trip to the south. I know you get different perspectives from visiting then you do living in a place. That disclaimer said, I had a wonderful time, and was very impressed. The wife's mom let us have full use of an automobile, and being the life-long Civil War history buff that I am, I took full advantage. We went on many mini-road-trips and hit several sites throughout Eastern Alabama and Western Georgia. It is very beautiful country out there, with rather tolerable weather for Christmastime, generally inhabited by good people who seem to take pride in their home. One of the greatest ironies that I have observed in my life is that the decedents of the losers of the Civil War generally seem far more patriotic than the decedents of the winners (again, just my observation). I'll also throw out there that, again, just based on my two weeks, pretty much every stereotype I've seen and heard about Southerners is wrong. I wasn't even offered a mint julep my entire time there, nor did I see a single banjo or rocking chair! I could very easily see myself living out there myself one day. I get the impression that I would fit in much better down there than I do where I am at now, which is still Tucson, Arizona.

rollntider

Yes outside of the ham. I never had a mint julep. Yep we are considered crazy for being patriots. One thing for sure, people move here and like to stay.



Bret

I'll add this to my intro thread...

As I stated, I haven't done the forum thing since the PCF days (with the exception of tech forums, which aren't social in nature at all). Even though there aren't that many people here, things seem slow, and not everyone agrees with the thoughts I share...it is good to be back, much better than I thought it would be.

I look forward to reading all of your post...yes, even Ben's. :)

Bret

I'm not sure if bumping a 2½ thread is considered bad etiquette, but I'd like to do it, anyway.

I rarely think of the PCF days. But, for whatever reason I've been thinking of them lately. And, also for whatever reason, I'm seeing those days a little differently than I did when I originally started this thread. I don't know if this is me getting smarter or getting dumber, but in either case I'm compelled to share these thoughts with someone. Since I really don't want to deal with hiring a therapist to listen to me, this thread seems like the next best thing.

I don't poke my head into forums like these much anymore. I have a lot going on in my life. I have a full-time job that keeps me busy (but not at this particular moment, which is why I'm making this post). I'm married. I am a homeowner. I'm working out. Basically, I have a lot going on in my life that eats up a lot of my time and doesn't leave all that much left for forums like this...no matter how cool they may be. :)

Back in the early 2000's, I was not nearly as fortunate. I couldn't find a good job. I lived in a shit place. I could almost never get a date, and when I could, a second date was absolutely out of the question. I tried very hard to improve my station in life, or at least some aspects of it. But, back then, those attempts all met with failure. In all candor, I probably was only a few steps ahead of GoChiefs on the social ladder. The only thing I really had on GoChiefs at that time is that I wasn't afraid to ask a girl out, and I could take no for an answer. I don't accept responsibility for the situation I was in because it wasn't my fault. I did what I was supposed to do to pull myself out of that situation. Despite what some would have you believe, your success in life IS NOT all up to you. It just isn't. Only about a third is up to you. The other two thirds are you need someone somewhere somehow to do their part to help you along the way, and plain, old-fashioned good luck. In the early 2000's, no one was doing their part to help me out (by, you know, hiring me or going out on a date with me), and I didn't have any luck in any of my endeavors during those years.

Those two paragraphs out there, I'll offer that the most likely reason I had far more emotional investment in PCF than I really should have is that I didn't have too much going on in my life back in 2003 or whatever it was. Back then, administrating PCF was one of the very few things in my life that gave me any sort of purpose or structure. I'll be the first to say that's sick and pathetic. I admit it, I own it, and I ain't proud of it. But, unlike guys like Andy P and Dave Branda, I never saw the forums as an extension of my small penis. It was never about a power trip with me, and even with this pathetic confession on my part I still offer that, as a board admin, I was head and shoulders above those two assholes. For me, banning someone was very difficult for me to the point that it turned my stomach a little bit each time I had to do it. The fact that it came so easy to Branda and Andy, to me anyway, reveals pretty much everything you need to know of their character (or lack of same).

This isn't to say I have many regrets with PCF. I still really don't. But, I guess what I'm saying is that one of my regrets is my emotional reactions to some situations that presented themselves during the PCF days. I was so focused on building up PCF that I cared far too much for what many others thought. This may have created a general perception of me that isn't entirely accurate, and that I regret.

PCF did provide me an important life lesson, though...it taught me the lesson of "too many cooks". I wanted PCF to be a community effort. My heart was in the right place, but I realize now that was a mistake. Until such a time as PCF grew to something like 100 regular members, I should have just kept all the control to myself. I should have done all the modding, I should have made all the decisions, I should have called all the shots. I should have done what I thought was right regardless of what anyone else thought or was telling me. And, I should have decided all by myself whether something was or wasn't working.

If back in 2003, my life was the way it is today, I still might have created PCF. Andy P and Dave Branda were both drunk on their own power (to say the least), and the football gaming community needed a responsibly-administrated alternative. But, if I did have that do-over, I would retain all the control myself (at least while it was still small), and do what I thought was right while ignoring influences and pressures from those I thought I could trust. And, if someone didn't like something I did or said, I'd tell them to just shove their head up their ass so they couldn't read what I was typing and/or hear what I was saying.

But, now, in the year 2017, there is no way in the world I would ever again admin or mod a board. It is A LOT of work, far more than I feel like putting in, especially with all the other positive things happening in my life.

Before I close, I want to close a loop and express my biggest regret of the PCF days. Most of you who give a shit enough to read this post know that a few people got together, pooled their money, and bought the site from me for $500 once I expressed my desire to sell it. I guess their "captain" or "leader" was Joe Gandolfo. Joe kept it a secret that he was representing a group and not acting singularly. I never understood why he kept that secret because it would not have influenced my decision in the least to sell to him/them. I wanted out, and money is money. I would have sold the thing to GoChiefs (Clayton Wendler for the search engines) if he were the highest bidder. I'm digressing here.

Anyway, back to my regret....after the sale, I'm assuming the infighting amongst the inner circle continued, and PCF began to deteriorate. Joe brought me in to figuratively right the ship. I told him I would do it if I were the only and only person calling the shots. He agreed. He gave me all the passwords and told me to do what I thought was right. Remembering the lessons learned of the couple of years before, I made some changes. And, those changes began bearing a little bit of fruit. However, there was still drama and fighting and complaining, and I was just emotionally spent. So, I walked away. One day I just decided I would never again log in to any football gaming forum, or attempt to communicate with any of their regular posters, for any reason, and just walked away. For my emotional health, that was the right call, and I really don't regret that today. However, what I really regret is not telling Joe that I was walking away, or why. To use a modern-day dating term, I ghosted him. That was assholish of me, and I regret that. So, Joe, if you google yourself and happen to run in to this post, I offer you a sincere apology for how I handled things, especially after you put that trust in me despite the resistance to that decision you were undoubtedly receiving from others around you.

Well, if anyone actually read this, I thank you for allowing me to dump my 14-year-old emotional baggage upon you.

rollntider

I am friends with Joe on Facebook, I will guide him here. For what its worth, I loved my time at PCF, I met several internet friends that I still chat with today. I consider PCF a great thing, and thank you for putting it together. I know there was some strife and fighting going on over there. I hate it happened but it happens.  Look me up on face book if you are on there Bret.



rollntider

oh an bump any thread you would like :)



Bret

Thanks! And...I'm ashamed to admit this, but I don't remember your real name (I'm gonna feel like a moron once you tell it to me). PM it to me if you like.

BigDaddyCool

Well Bret, as long as we're talking about PCF (and your apology is accepted by the way) I feel that I owe you an apology for how things went down there as well.

Back then I was approached by the "group of investors" to present the offer to you for the site. The way it was presented to me at the time was that I would be running the site with the group as "silent partners". Yeah.....as it turned out some of them didn't want to be so silent. That's when some of the infighting began and some people then left for greener pastures like BSB, EAMods and Football Freaks. I really regret about not being more upfront with you about it at the time as I was honoring a request from the group that they remain anonymous. I truly am sorry for that.

I do take some solace from the fact that PCF did outlast MaddenMania as a separate entity in the end. At one point I looked up MM and found out that they had been sold lock, stock and database to Operation Sports and were part of their network. Unfortunately in the end for PCF it gradually became a place where only the advertising spammers went to post there porn ads. Most of my days were spent with deleting those posts and banning the users, only to find out that they came back the next day under different names and posted again. I swear, they must have been using some sort of super spamming program that created profiles automatically. That went on until the day when I went to log in and found that PCF had disappeared. Yeah, our host had decided to close up shop and go out of business overnight and they took more than a few sites with them. It wasn't what I wanted but I didn't have much say in the matter. So after that I migrated over to Football Freaks where they were doing some fantastic work modding Madden NFL 08, and I moved with them to Football Idiots when the FF database crashed.

I've been part of that community ever since and I have been working on modding the final version of Madden for the PC and having a hand in updating the look and feel of that game to modernize it - with the tools that those guys developed it's a fun hobby for me at least.

On a different note it is good to hear from you again, and I am happy to hear about the positive turn your life has taken.

rollntider




Bret

Quote from: BigDaddyCool on April 13, 2017, 02:54:04 PM
Well Bret, as long as we're talking about PCF (and your apology is accepted by the way) I feel that I owe you an apology for how things went down there as well.

Back then I was approached by the "group of investors" to present the offer to you for the site. The way it was presented to me at the time was that I would be running the site with the group as "silent partners". Yeah.....as it turned out some of them didn't want to be so silent. That's when some of the infighting began and some people then left for greener pastures like BSB, EAMods and Football Freaks. I really regret about not being more upfront with you about it at the time as I was honoring a request from the group that they remain anonymous. I truly am sorry for that.

I do take some solace from the fact that PCF did outlast MaddenMania as a separate entity in the end. At one point I looked up MM and found out that they had been sold lock, stock and database to Operation Sports and were part of their network. Unfortunately in the end for PCF it gradually became a place where only the advertising spammers went to post there porn ads. Most of my days were spent with deleting those posts and banning the users, only to find out that they came back the next day under different names and posted again. I swear, they must have been using some sort of super spamming program that created profiles automatically. That went on until the day when I went to log in and found that PCF had disappeared. Yeah, our host had decided to close up shop and go out of business overnight and they took more than a few sites with them. It wasn't what I wanted but I didn't have much say in the matter. So after that I migrated over to Football Freaks where they were doing some fantastic work modding Madden NFL 08, and I moved with them to Football Idiots when the FF database crashed.

I've been part of that community ever since and I have been working on modding the final version of Madden for the PC and having a hand in updating the look and feel of that game to modernize it - with the tools that those guys developed it's a fun hobby for me at least.

On a different note it is good to hear from you again, and I am happy to hear about the positive turn your life has taken.

Good to hear from you again, as well. I can't accept your apology, though, because I never needed one. I wasn't offended or angered by your approach during the purchase, just confused by it. I didn't really understand why you felt you couldn't be straight with me, that's all. Things were kind of crazy back then, and I guess none of us were at our best. That's not to say that I give everyone from those days a pass, but I've never held any ill will toward you, Joe, or Rollntider, or a lot of the guys from back then. I'm not even angry at GoCheifs. I miss that guy in a retarded-court-jester kind of way.

As to MaddenMania...as I said earlier in this thread, I have poked my head in to take a look every year-and-a-half to two years. I even posted in a MM-related thread on Gamer's Lab when that was around (it took me a few days to finally understand it wasn't Gamer Slab). Anyway, I have observed that the football gaming community as a whole finally understands what kind of man Dave Branda really is (BlyGilmore for the search engines). While I take pleasure in that fact, I will confess to being a bit irritated that it took a good four or five years for the community as a whole to finally understand what we at PCF had known all along.

While I am laying it all out and confessing, and while I'm thinking out the old days...I'll share with you that I'm wondering how the community history would have unfolded had JamesSGN never turned MM over to Branda, and had Mike from MaddenCentral (the first football gaming site I frequented, and one I really missed) had never turned over MC to Andy P. Things on the whole would have been a lot better for pretty much everyone involved, and there maybe would have never been a PCF.

It's good to hear/see that there's still a community that's still making mods. I get why that community is working on Madden '08, because it was the final PC offering (which I find very sad). But, even though it was the last doesn't mean it was the best. Pretty much every Madden from the late 00's was shit, including '08. That's when EA stopped caring because they had so many years left on their exclusivity deal with the NFL. The people who make Madden always seemed to either hate PC gamers, or at the very least saw them as an inferior class of people. So, it doesn't surprise me in the least that they haven't made a football game for the PC in a decade. I really, really, really hope the NFL never signs an exclusivity deal with EA ever again.

I'm glad this place is here for us to get together once in a while. Sure, the advent of "social media" has really changed the game for boards like these. But, these boards still have a unique character and charm that can't be replaced by social media. I will make an effort to participate more around here.