Sam's MVP (Most Valuable Poster) Award for 2014

Usually this award is presented around the time the Celtics playoffs start.  This year, there were no Celtics playoffs, so I'm blaming that for my tardiness with apologies to all.

For newcomers, each year, we present a Sam's MVP (Most Valuable Poster) award.  It's important to recognize that all posters are valuable, and I'm not just saying that to be nice; it's absolutely true.  

The award actually originated when many of us were on the Boston.com message board, and it has been perpetuated here.  There's no voting for this award.  I've sort of reserved the honor of selecting the recipient myself—probably the only decision of some significance that doesn't involve some sort of referendum.

The purpose of the award is to recognize a poster whose allegiance and contributions to this board go above and beyond the norm.  One of the rules (which are pretty loosy-goosey) is that a poster can win the award only once, so it should not be assumed that the value of previous winners has somehow become diminished.  The previous winners (and I hope someone will correct me if I'm wrong) have been:

2008 Beat
2009 Matty
2010 gyso
2011 Bob Heckler
2012 112288
2013 Rosalie

This year's winner is the voice of reason on the board.  Urbane and witty, he's also extremely informed and well-reasoned when it comes to basketball (and probably all other areas in his life).  He's the kind of person I'm sure we'd all be honored to have as a personal friend, and he's obviously a great family man too.

Now that I've extolled his virtues, I'm a little embarrassed to have forgotten his name.  (Only kidding.)

Probably to the surprise of no one, the winner of the 2014 Sam's Most Valuable Poster Award is:

Outside

Congratulations, Outside.  We all thank you for your contributions and your friendship.  We can only hope that continued participation on our forum will eventuate in your blood taking on a Kelly green hue.  Best wishes and godspeed to you and your family.

Sam

I'm dumbfounded.

I don't deserve it, but thank you for making such a generous mistake in my direction.

Congratulations Outside!

Outside well done and well deserved. Congrats!

Nice pick

Outside I enjoy your view on all topics and when you have an opinion it is always supported by some good facts.

Congrants!!

beat

Thanks for the kind comments. From my perspective, I'll just say that the awards really need to go to the forum as a whole for providing a place to talk about something I'm passionate about.

I've mentioned this in the past, but it bears repeating -- I tried for a long time to find a forum for intelligent, civil discussion about basketball, which turned out to be much harder than I expected. It is amazing how pervasive insulting and idiotic behavior is in Internet forums. I found the Boston.com site during the 2008 finals, and while it had its share of unappealing behavior, there were at least some intelligent posters sprinkled in. When Sam decided to start his own site, I joined in and found the good stuff I'd been looking for without all that bad stuff.

Special credit goes to Sam and his co-horts for creating and managing this site and maintaining the congeniality at an exceptionally high level. And credit goes to everyone here for allowing someone who isn't a true-green Celtic fan to become part of the family. If you want to gain an appreciation for how special this place and this group are, try visiting those other forums out there.

So thank you, Sam, and thank you everyone. I'm just glad to be a part of it.

Congrats Outside.
I enjoy reading every one of your posts.
I feel you bring the most balanced and fair approach to this forum out of any of us.
Thank you for all of your participation!

Yeah Outside!

For a non-Celtic fan you are remarkably cogent.  LOL.

Seriously, Outside has been one of MY favorite posters for years now.  He provides balance, he backs his arguments up with facts and not just the hysterical drama he referred to when talking about other forums and he wrote one hellaciously good multi-post thread about Wilt Chamberlain that was just fantastic reading (I should probably hunt it down and resurrect it for the newer board members.  It was really good stuff.).  There was a period, a few years back, when he took a hiatus and I took it upon myself to do what I could to bring him back into the fold.  This nomination is my personal vindication for that.  I was right then and I am right now when I say that Outside's involvement on this board is nothing but a positive.

How often do you have a non-partisan fan named to any kind of honorary post like a HOF on an obviously partisan board?  How often do you find a board that is so reasonable yet resistant to imposed groupthink that people can object without being objectionable and does not meltdown in barrages of ad hominem attacks and bile?  Outside's nomination to this board's HOF is not only a testament to the quality of his contributions but to the maturity of the board itself.

Congrats, buddy.  You have earned it, + 1.



bob



.

Outside,

I'm sure I speak for all the administrators and board members when I say it's definitely our pleasure.

Sam