An Essay On Sternfan and Contrariness

I've been a loyal DRaysBay reader and occasional poster for about 2 and a half years now. I have come to love the site for it's analysis, but what really keeps me interested is the debate. When I first started lurking here I would get caught up in some random thread about the intricacies of some seemingly esoteric statistic. It really got me into stats and new perspectives on the sport.

Over time I've noticed that there are two types of debates that happen in the comments sections. In the first type, a commenter (often a DRB neophyte) will post a legitimate question or perspective. The regulars and mods will either answer the person or guide them to a site (i.e. fangraphs) where that poster can better articulate their argument. These outside perspectives really help offset the confirmation bias that has a tendency to pervade sites like this and lead to mutually beneficial debate.

The second type of debate is the kind that rapidly devolves into a flame war. We've all seen this happen (bgfour and countless others). It starts with ignorance, which is not the problem, and arrogance, which is. When a person posts something and is asked to back up their stance, in this scenario, rather than admitting that they were wrong or didn't do any research, they just start attacking. Neither party gains anything from these petty fights. It's just yelling across the internet.

This brings me to sternfan1.

When I first started reading sternfan1's posts, they all seemed to be the kind that only ever set off that second type of debate. As I recall, he rarely using statistics to back up his positions. I think some people just got tired of his stubbornness.

But, to his credit, he started doing research, started backing up his opinions with facts. This was sometime last season, if I recall correctly, when his arguments became tolerable and reasoned. Still contrary, but reasoned. I liked those posts, when legitimate debate from a diverging perspective caused some self examination. Those were the good days.

And here we are. I follow sternfan10 on twitter and read what he has to say here. I do it, perhaps out of habit. I know he is going to say something inflammatory, contrary, and reactionary and people are going to argue with him about it. But it's never the good kind of argument anymore. These days, only when there is a chance to cause ruckus or denigrate a player, the team, the stadium, the fans, or the other posters, does sternfan1 have something to say.

So why am I writing this? It really isn't my place to speak up, since I'm hardly a regular poster. I just miss the debates. The REAL debates, when people weren't just trying to be a pain and start fights, but where they are actually trying to GET somewhere. Where coming to a conclusion and hearing other people out LED to some discovery, or at least a new avenue of discussion or analysis.

This isn't meant to be a personal attack on sternfan1. I'm just trying to use you (as the most vociferous of the commenter rebels) to show how good, positive, fresh thinking and debate can really benefit the site and all fans in general, and how being contrary for the sake of being contrary can kill a good debate.