"HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey" etc. Within the bounds of decency and good taste, an open, and perhaps even spirited :-) exchange of opinions is certainly welcome on HOCKEY-L; however, a few recent postings force me to remind list members of the following two points: 1. Flames are not -- repeat, *not* -- repeat again, NOT!! -- welcome on HOCKEY-L! In addition to being rude, stupid, and worthless, flames can often offend people other than the one(s) who they are directed to. A flame-fest tends to discourage people from participating in the types of discussion that keeps lists like HOCKEY-L alive; in fact, there have been instances in the past in which people have signed off HOCKEY-L or severely reduced their partici- pation because of the amount of flame-like traffic on the list. This is, to say the least, counterproductive. In short, if you feel offended or slighted by something that has been posted, and you feel you must respond with both guns blazing, first ask yourself two questions: Does it matter that much? And if so, do the other hundreds or thousands of HOCKEY-L subscribers need to know about it? Chances are, the answer to one or both of those questions is "no". So if you find yourself in the position of absolutely, positively HAVING to flame somebody, then do so *through private electronic mail*, not on the list. (Personally, I hope no one out there ever feels compelled to flame anyone else -- but if you do, keep it off HOCKEY-L.) Corrections, as opposed to flames, are of course welcome on HOCKEY-L. But there's a big difference between "Jones didn't score that goal, Smith did" and "Boy, what kind of moron are you? Anyone with functioning neurons would know that Smith scored that one!" The former is an appropriate, as well as useful, HOCKEY-L posting; the latter is neither. If you are unsure whether what you are posting is a flame or not, ask your- self: Is this something I would say to the person face-to-face, without raising my voice? And in the context of posting on HOCKEY-L, ask yourself if you would say it to the person face-to-face in an auditorium full of strangers. By and large, the level of civility on HOCKEY-L has been pretty good over the years. Let's work on making sure the list continues to be a friendly place for *all* college hockey fans to visit. 2. Discussion of what is or is not appropriate for HOCKEY-L is NOT a valid topic for HOCKEY-L. Postings of the form "I don't think it's appropriate for those folks to jump all over anybody who disagrees with them" are not welcome on HOCKEY-L. If you believe that something on the list is inappropriate, either send the HOCKEY-L administrator (that's me!) a note at [log in to unmask] or join the HOCKEY meta-discussion list by sending the following message to [log in to unmask] : subscribe hockey your-name Generally, the first method will get you the quicker response :-) The HOCKEY list exists for discussion of issues related to the college hockey lists (HOCKEY-L, HOCKEY3, and INFO-HOCKEY-L). Again, if you have any HOCKEY-L related issues you'd like to discuss, feel free to send me Email. Thanks for listening. Bill Fenwick HOCKEY-L Administrator [log in to unmask] HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to [log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.