The Commies

This is a blog that I've been thinking about doing for months now, but finally put it into action.

Although my own enjoyment in my blog is paramount, I am also glad that others take enjoyment in my blog. The easiest way to know that I have readers who enjoy, or at least regularly read what I post, is by the comments I receieve.

The comments posted on my blog range from funny
Shawn: "This is your blog. I'm pregnant." (from We Need to Talk)

to philosophical
Brendan: "These ultimate conversations are really just an extended metaphor for the unabating monotony of existence." (from Call and Response)

to nostalgic. Who could forget George Cooke's trip down memory lane?
gcooke: "I saw Journey warm-up for the Stones in 1981. The crowd gave them the finder for the whole show." (from I Have A Problem)

I've written 88 entries to the blog and have received 208 total comments, for an average of 2.36 comments per blog. Of the 88 posts, 24 have received no comments. If you take out those blogs, then I have 64 posts with comments. So when I do receive comments on a given post, the average is 3.25. The longest dry spell is 5 posts. The longest streak of posts that receive comments is 14. Eleven entries garnered five or more comments, with the record number being twelve, for the Baseball post. Well, I didn't start this to bore you with statistics.

Statistically, the most frequent commenter is Shawn Walding with 30 comments. A distant second is Seth Bartel at 19, who once claimed to be in the running for most prolific poster (see: Top 25-A Review). A close third is Gibbs (18 comments) who has used such phrases as "mature language", "amusing anecdotes", and "boy sport blabber" to describe my blog. Becknasty and myself have 17 comments each to our name, although Becky mostly commented on my blog not to say something about my posts, but to correspond with me. Such things as, hey can I play, hey I can't play I hurt myself, and quit talking about how you foot-blocked me. Brendan (13 comments) and Rachel (11) round out those who are in the double-digits club. What an exclusive club! My wife isn't even a member of the club even though she has used three different pseudonymns to comment with (Lana, pnusjmevm, and the clever NotLana). Seven people have commented between 5 and 9 times, one person 4 times, 1 person 3 times, 8 people 2 times, and 14 people have commented once.

There have been some great comments, such as Brendan's comment in the Baseball post. When I wasn't sure how to respond to people who thought baseball was boring, Brendan stepped up to the plate and hit the proverbial home-run. There was some good discussion following the Big Problem post about fat people. I never commented again about it but it seems to be a good talking point and I was glad other voiced their opinions. Finally, there was Shawn's hypothetical Gatorade talk of a Gumbo Gatorade flavored with Andouille sausage, okra, and gravy.

Some people ask questions.

Gibbs: "Is there karaoke in Australia?" (from Captain's Log: 100906)

The answer is yes, there is karaoke. You were upset that you missed it at central regionals in Chicago, so upset, it seems, that you skipped karaoke in Perth.

Others just make hasty but potentially true exclamations.

NotLana: "Kevin Seiler is hot!" (from Captain's Log: 80706)

Yet others commit to a season of ultimate frisbee.

Wes: "OK." (from The van Buren Boys)

So, I decided to make an awards list for those commentors or comments that have stood out from the rest. I call these awards The Commies.

So folks, without further ado,

THE COMMIES:

Pioneer Award (first poster): Mike Lun, congratualtions Mike, you went were nobody else dared to go. You talked about how you touched the disc once at 2004 Nationals (see: The Top 10 Continued). Oh how far you've come.

Least secretive pseudonymn: Lana Meyer for pnusjmevm. She offered a dollar for whoever figured out what her name meant. Jake had it figured out less than an hour later (see: Awkward). Want a hint? Think mnemonic devices used in Saved by the Bell.

Runner up: Lana Meyer for NotLana (see: Captain's Log: 80706). Oh, by the way, she is Lana Seiler now, but before she was Lana Meyer.

Best use of the comments section for you own personal vendetta: Steph Miller (my sister). Congratulations Steph! When I forgot your birthday back in 2006, you let me and all my adoring fans know what a terrible brother I was (see: On Sleeping). Hey, remember when I then forgot it in 2007, too? I'm such a stitch! Love you Steph.

Best Zing: Shawn Walding. Brendan had just got done commenting on how he is so awake in the morning and full of energy and that he is unintentionally annoying to people in the early hours. Shawn writes "Right Brendan, just in the early hours of the morning, right. No other time." I'm no linguist, but I think he was implying that Brendan can be annoying at other times.

Runner Up: Tim Murray. I had just thrown in a zinger in my Movin' On post and he commented thusly: "Zing. It could be worse like living in Iowa, being on the 3rd place team from the central, and not winning a game in FLA." Now, it was evident that I don't want to live in Iowa much longer, but I wasn't feeling too bad about the last place finish, after all great men sometimes finish last. Timmy, don't you know a little something about last place finishes? (see: SubZero 2003 nationals).

Most awkward exchange: Shawn Walding and Kevin Seiler. Who could forget the drama that ensued shortly after Sellouts? was published. Just as the visible portion of the iceberg is but 10% of the beast, so the visible portion of jersey debacle but 10% of the beast. Shawn and I resorted to fisticuffs on that one. Fisticuffs is when you email each other privately instead of post publically.

Most homophobic post: Mike Lun. "Gaayyyyy!!!" (from Has Anybody Seen My Fiance?) Sure Mike, I'm the gay one. I only use 1 "a" and 1 "y" when I write "gay". You use 2 "a's", 5 "y's", and 3 exclamation points. Interesting.

Most intimidating responder: Rachel Derscheid. She made Shawn write: "I am scared to blog for fear that you may find faults in my deeds and actions." (from Captain's Log: 73106)

Best comment from a family member: Ryan Seiler (my brother). "Score o matic, more like bore o matic." (from Don't Forget Heirrison Island) It may not seem funny to you, but it was great for me to be so far from home and get a message from my brother who I didn't even know was reading my blog.

Most sci-fi comment: Shawn Walding. When scoffing at what a theoretical Carleton coed 2004 vs. Carleton coed 2005 match-up would be like he later said, "It's so easy insulting teams that don't exist in the same plane of space-time existence!" (from Fantasy Pool Play Results)

Prolific Poster: You already know it is Shawn Walding. He really cleaned up here. If there was a Most Awards award, he would win that one, too. Well, thanks Shawn.

That wraps up the awards ceremony and this post. Thanks for commenting, but if you never comment, that's fine, too. Thanks for reading.