Gotwood4sale, floridafan, itsinthegame, J H, Fungo, and others? All great contributors a while back, sure would be interested to hear how they are doing.
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Those names just brought back some great memories. Gotwood4sale or "Woody" was awesome. He brought so much fun to the site. I loved the way he could take a post, add a picture and then cause you to reflect on things. What a great guy. itsinthegame or "Gamer" as I love to call him is one of the nicest people I have ever had the pleasure to get to know. Both of his son's were absolute studs. In the baseball dictionary beside "Gamer" you will find a picture of both of his boys. I will never forget watching games in Jupiter and at Belmont Abbey with Gamer. Fungo was an all time great poster. He probably would have led the golden post award if it was around when he posted. His son was a stud as well. Florida Fan is another outstanding person. I had the pleasure of meeting him as well a couple of times. What a gracious man. Just a great person to talk to. And yes his son was an absolute stud. There is a common thread with all these guys. They are great people. Their son's are great people. I hope they are all doing well. I miss them here as well.
I really miss all those people and many others that made this site so great. Some have sadly passed away. Luckily, there are many new members that help keep this great site going. There is nothing like it for us baseball nuts. It is true entertainment.
Want some good laughs. Go into the Unusually unusual Forum and read some of those old posts.
http://community.hsbaseballweb...ally-unusual?page=55
The sub forums do not get much use anymore, so much just gets dumped into General.
The only person I do keep up with on Facebook is Luke Bell aka Fungo. I won't go into personal details, but Luke has left Tennessee and resides in Boca Raton, FL.
He has been living on life support for a while now, but I would bet that he would love to hear from old friends from the HSBBW.
Fungo could use all of our prayers. He is absolutely my favorite poster of all time here, and a wonderful person in real life. The best.
I feel bad for those who missed his wisdom here. There will never be another like him.
Mine, too, jbb. One of a kind! And a great photographer, too. He loved learning & using the latest & greatest in video & stills equipment.
Thank you for the updates, ill be thinking of fungo.
So...are we shutting the site down? I keep seeing all these nostalgia threads and hearing about how there aren't any posters like those old guys. You guys giving up?
Teaching Elder posted:So...are we shutting the site down? I keep seeing all these nostalgia threads and hearing about how there aren't any posters like those old guys. You guys giving up?
This seems unnecessary. A thread eflecting on those who provided such valuable "history" and which got the HSBBW (and success for many parents and baseball players) to this point is not mutually exclusive to those who participate now. Both can be celebrated.
When people start celebrating the past it often times signals disaffection with the present and a move towards the exits. For instance, if your significant other starts telling you that things aren't like they used to be, or reminiscing over past love interests, you'd better lookout.
I think that the board is pretty good. I read one of the listed examples of a former great thread, and truly did not see a big difference between it and many from today.
Some people here are light hearted and easy going. Others are tweaked up a lot. There are a few trolls, and a lot of great posters. Some posters only want to talk about themselves and how great their kid(s) are. Many are ready and willing to lend a hand to help you with yours. The board can be a little cliquish, but that's life. Sometimes things get heated, but opinions differ.
The present board is still very good and many memories will be made here for years to come.
Celebrating the past can be viewed in negative or positive terms. I just posted an article on college athletics, culture and the distinctions of a culture of losing needing to be changed and a culture of winning which has carried through in Stanford football since 2007.
Our son's college team won the CWS in 2016 after knocking on the door for many, many years. That team and its coaches were exuberant in recognzing the "culture" and expectations from the past as part of their wonderful success in the present.
I don't see any differerence in this thread other than your perception.
I spend a good amount of time reading old threads, some from 10+ years ago. Best as I can tell, every era of this place has been truly great.
I spoke to Woody about a year ago and he is doing well. J H is professional baseball scout. I am friends with Fungo on facebook and he is not doing well, unfortunately. I am in touch with floridafan and he is doing well. I've maintained some contact with itsinthegame over the years as our sons have crossed paths in professional baseball. He is doing well.
I do not beleive it is better or worse, just different. Things change. Some things I miss, other new things I welcome.
I find these days that most people here tend to hide behind their screen name. That's as far as they go to let anyone know their identity or who their son is.
The difference back then is that we all knew who everyone was, regardless if your son was in middle school, HS, college or professional ball. We pulled for one another's player in good times and bad times.
When our sons committed we announced what school. We posted who our sons were when we joined, there is a topic pages and pages long about that. We knew each others names, where we lived, we went to see others player's play, we met when our kids played against each other. We spent time getting to know others outside of these walls.
Yes we sometimes didnt get along. We listened to the people who had been there and done it. People dont understand that basically the process has sped up a bit but still the process is the same.
Can't tell you how many websters here have been to a game and introduced themselves to son asked if they needed anything. I got a text from another webster recently that his son will play in the same conference as the one son coaches in. I have done the same.
Thats just one of the reasons why this place was better back then. It felt more like a real community all together and not in a seperate pm.
I really think that is when some people who have been here for years felt that shift.
That and the shift to a new server.
TPM- hope your staying safe. My son is a PO at a school in Georgia! My son and I was expected to be living in South Florida right now, but the job fell through! I'll PM you
Oops, just realized I posted under the wrong thread
Teaching Elder posted:When people start celebrating the past it often times signals disaffection with the present and a move towards the exits. For instance, if your significant other starts telling you that things aren't like they used to be, or reminiscing over past love interests, you'd better lookout.
I think that the board is pretty good. I read one of the listed examples of a former great thread, and truly did not see a big difference between it and many from today.
Some people here are light hearted and easy going. Others are tweaked up a lot. There are a few trolls, and a lot of great posters. Some posters only want to talk about themselves and how great their kid(s) are. Many are ready and willing to lend a hand to help you with yours. The board can be a little cliquish, but that's life. Sometimes things get heated, but opinions differ.
The present board is still very good and many memories will be made here for years to come.
It is still really good, however there is a trend of forums shrinking since many discussions get shifted towards social media.
I personally don't like that since the discussion level is much lower and there are more insults and cheap shots due to a lack of moderation on social media.
So I agree that the the past was better thing usually is an illusion but in case of message boards there is a real trend of them losing members to social media.
brball posted:Oops, just realized I posted under the wrong thread
Thats ok s*#@ happens! 
Thank you for the updates on the 'Old Timers'.
If my post bothered anyone, you are simply reading too much into the intent of my post. I was simply asking how some of those folks were doing. Nothing more, nothing less.
bballdad2016 posted:Thank you for the updates on the 'Old Timers'.
If my post bothered anyone, you are simply reading too much into the intent of my post. I was simply asking how some of those folks were doing. Nothing more, nothing less.
Its all good, no worries.
It wasnt your post that bothered anyone. Hope all is well.
Elder - Many good current posters now and many good past ones. But there are none in either "era" like Fungo. He has communication skills over the internet that are well beyond my abilities and 99.9% of others.
Thats no knock on anyone else. Just calling greatness when I see it. Nothing more.
Good deal.
I've made it a point to go back and read Fungo's posts on here.... Agree 100% his contributions to HSBBW and Baseball in general have been immense
Highly recommended
bballdad2016 posted:Thank you for the updates on the 'Old Timers'.
If my post bothered anyone, you are simply reading too much into the intent of my post. I was simply asking how some of those folks were doing. Nothing more, nothing less.
No problems with your post. It was just fine. It warmed my heart to see these names mentioned.
I miss Bal more than anyone. Wonder where his kid landed. I believe he was a 2017. Guess Bal is busy delivering the meat and milking the chickens. Getting strong, Taekwondo . . . . . .
Haven't been here for so long - Its been so long and I really missed it.
It is great to see so many special people still sharing their thoughts and experiences.
Coach May, PG, Clevelanddad, TPM, bbdad, infielddad, justbaseball, bishop - and I am sure many more.
What great people - real caring people - and selfishly I have many fond memories of the support and friendship they provided - and the true pleasure of meeting so many of them.
The HSBBWEB family - the great people who started it - the great people who carried it on - the great people contributing and still here and the great people that have passed on - are all people I will never forget.
itsinthegame posted:Haven't been here for so long - Its been so long and I really missed it.
It is great to see so many special people still sharing their thoughts and experiences.
Coach May, PG, Clevelanddad, TPM, bbdad, infielddad, justbaseball, bishop - and I am sure many more.
What great people - real caring people - and selfishly I have many fond memories of the support and friendship they provided - and the true pleasure of meeting so many of them.
The HSBBWEB family - the great people who started it - the great people who carried it on - the great people contributing and still here and the great people that have passed on - are all people I will never forget.
Hey, how are you!! I often think about how you are, saw that your D retired. Hope all is well with him.
Some folks don't like us old timers, they think we don't get it anymore. We could use you here, with a son who played professional ball for a decade, you could pass on a few things. It's not as easy as it looks!!!
Oh man it's so good to see you post here. My good friend how are you? How are the boys? You are special to me. I will never forget our time together in Jupiter watching our kids play. I think back to that time at Belmont Abbey when we watched your youngest son play after Jeff's game ended. I miss watching baseball games with people like you. I wish everyone here could meet you at least one time. You take care buddy and if your ever around Belmont Abbey during the college season please reach out to me. All the best.