As the popularity (number of readers, posters and postings on the list)
of HOCKEY-L has increased over the past several years, so has the time I
have had to devote to mundane chores and so has the childish and
parochial whining.  The family-affair that I envisioned and we enjoyed
for a while seems to be breaking down.
 
I have a few suggestions:
 
(1) If you wish to subscribe or signoff, don't send mail to HOCKEY-L.
    Either learn how to join or leave a LISTSERV list, or send private
    mail to the list administrator (address at end of this mail).  Save
    the welcoming message and usage guidelines that you receive when you
    subscribe.  If you are on a local redistribution, this doesn't
    apply, but the usage guidelines are available in the archives.
 
(2) Treat your HOCKEY-L article as if you were to read it to your
    advisor or manager and to a classroom of 1,000 peers after having
    been formally introduced to them.  If you don't think your campus
    newspaper would publish it, DON'T SEND IT TO HOCKEY-L!  <--- I just
    yelled at you ...  sorry :)
 
    This doesn't mean that a game report is the only thing of value on
    HOCKEY-L.  Different folks will have different opinions as to what
    has value.  Driveling, crying, whining, woofing, ranting and raving
    don't have value (on this list) nor to your advisor or manager nor
    to the valuable time of your 1,000 peers.
 
(3) If you get mail saying your subscription has been removed or you
    don't get mail from HOCKEY-L for a couple of days, then chances are
    that there was a problem getting mail to you.  If a HOCKEY-L
    distribution to you causes a "bounce message" back to me, your
    subscription will be removed.  You are free to resubscribe if you
    think the problem was transient or has been resolved.
 
    I read 10,000 pieces of mail in November.  About 80% were due to
    HOCKEY-L.  Most of these were bounced HOCKEY-L distributions.
    Making sure your mailbox doesn't get full is important to us both!
 
(4) Post to HOCKEY-L only articles about college hockey.  If you learn
    of a virus or cure for cancer, DON'T USE HOCKEY-L TO TELL US ABOUT
    IT.  Sorry ...  there I go yelling again.  I'll try to not let it
    happen again :)
 
    If someone says something awful about your school, rink or dog,
    don't reply on HOCKEY-L -- if you must write, do it privately.  If
    you are really irked, contact an administrator at their site or the
    HOCKEY-L administrator;  also newsgroup rec.sport.hockey may be for
    you.  At last resort, contact your lawyer, but don't write to
    HOCKEY-L.  We all know that person is a jerk and not worth any of
    our time ...  so please don't waste everyone's time by sending mail
    to HOCKEY-L.
 
(5) If you have suggestions for HOCKEY-L, send them to the
    administrator, not HOCKEY-L.  Whenever the situation warrants, I'll
    start up the [log in to unmask] list to discuss HOCKEY-L.
 
What has been happening and will probably continue:
 
(1) People that send mail to HOCKEY-L to subscribe or signoff have their
    request acted on by me and then I send them a letter telling them
    what they did wrong and either how to do it correctly or where to go
    for more information.
 
(2) People that violate (2) above sometimes get mail from me asking for
    help in making HOCKEY-L a high quality discussion list.  Usually
    that is all that is needed.  Sometimes people are offended and
    suggest they are free to post whatever they wish.  They are reminded
    that HOCKEY-L is a private list provided at the discretion of the
    University of Maine System and the list administrator.
 
(3) If mail bounces from your system to HOCKEY-L posters instead of me,
    then your system mailer is broken and HOCKEY-L subscriptions from
    your site will not be available.  HOCKEY-D subscriptions will
    continue to be available, however.  There are currently only a
    couple of sites that fall into this category.
 
    If mail repeatedly bounces from your system, then I will make every
    effort with you and your system administrators to correct the
    problem.  If the problem cannot be corrected, then your subscription
    will be terminated permanently.  Most problems can be worked out,
    but some cannot.  Breakages that cost *me* the most time will lose
    their ability to subscribe.  The worst offenders are those that
    bounce messages every weekend and send multiple bounce messages for
    each HOCKEY-L posting.
 
(4) If you make an inflammatory posting, you will get mail from me.
    No one likes their wrist slapped, but given that people have a hard
    time following suggestion (4) above, means that we must avoid
    inflammatory posts.
 
(5) If you write to HOCKEY-L telling another poster what to do or not
    do, you'll get a nasty-gram from me.
 
What you can expect in the future:
 
As long as HOCKEY-L is run by me, it won't be a moderated list.  Much of
what's good about HOCKEY-L is the timely information we get.  A moderated
list cannot be timely.  Besides, I don't have the time.  I want you to
all act like classy adults, but I don't have the time or inclination
to force you to.
 
We must get better at two current problems: junk on the list and my time
handling bounced mail.  This mail asks you to do your part.
 
Each December I am convinced that this will be my and HOCKEY-L's last
season, at least with its current home.  Nicely, I've been wrong up to
now, but I have to say this publicly for the first time.  If you and
your site wish to consider running HOCKEY-L, please contact me privately.
 
If you read this far, give yourself an A+.
 
Wayne Smith
The College Hockey Discussion List administrator
Systems Group - CAPS              BITNET/CREN:  wts@maine
University of Maine System        internet:     [log in to unmask]