Revisiting the Community Guidelines

I really hate to do this, since I feel like a bitchy nun rapping the knuckles of unruly students with a ruler. But, I have to -- once again -- discuss the rules of this community.

Here they are, stated as plainly as possible. They are also posted in the left sidebar, and -- going forward -- will be often mentioned.

1.)  Please be civil.  Passionate debate is not only welcomed, but encouraged.  Personal attacks and name-calling is not. Posters who pick fights or flame will be warned. Continued inflammatory behavior may result in a permanent ban from this community at the discretion of the moderators. Remember, we are all here because we love the Yankees. We are all on the same side.\

2.)  This is a community blog about the most storied franchise in sports - the New York Yankees.  Please refrain from political, religious, or other topics completely unrelated to sports, baseball, or the New York Yankees.

We also ask you to bring your 'A' game when you comment. You have to do better than 'Red Sox suck.' Please add something intelligent to the conversation.

3.) Keep the cursing to a minimum. In fact, we would prefer none at all. Excessive cursing will draw a warning.

4.) Behave yourself when dealing with trolls, or when visiting other team sites. When you go to other SBN blogs, you represent PA. Do it with class.

We need to talk about No. 1. Over the past few days many of the comments in a very good 'Posada vs. Cervelli' post by '3460kuri' crossed over the line of good, tasteful argument into the arena of vile, immature personal attacks. Unfortunately, I have chosen to delete that entire Fanpost because of what it degenerated into.

Let me state this as plainly as I can, and I really hate to use this type of language. If all you can say is "I know more baseball than you, so suck my dick, asshole" then keep it to yourself. We don't want it here, and it will not be tolerated.

I know who instigated the melee in that post, and it has been dealt with. Please, though, people, when stuff like that starts don't sink to that level.

I have said this before, and will continue to say it. This is a community of people who are all here because we love the Yankees. We all want the same thing -- Yankee victories. It's perfectly OK if we disagree on how to get them -- and we need to show each other some respect.

Remember, not all arguments need a winner. No one will ever win the Posada vs. Cervelli debate. No one will ever definitively win the Joba in the bullpen vs. Joba in the rotation debate.

Make your argument rationally, without personal insults, then let it go.

If you can't do that , if you need to call people names, insult their intelligence and try to prove that you are smarter than the rest of us, I have some advice. Get your own blog and go away.