Patrick

Rest in peace.

Thank you to everyone who has voted thus far. If you haven't, you should! It doesn't take that long and is a great way to recognize some of the great members within our community. Patrick

Haha. Nice. Here are some details on the safety: http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2013/11/15/how-volvo-created-the-jean-claude-van-damme-video/ It says they did it on the first take. Pretty impressive. Patrick

Yeah, it's amazing how big the story became. But, still, with or without them, it's a mediocre team. Probably going to have to suffer through this season, get these issues flushed out of our system and improve next season, hopefully. Patrick

I would just treat him as you would like to be treated. I like mal103's idea. Managing online communities like this one, I've come to a simple understanding: when it comes to what I can expect from a person, attitude wise, I can pretty much throw age in the dumpster as far as it being a useful indicator. I believe that a majority of all of the worst people I've ever had to deal with here, the people I have had to ban, the people who wouldn't follow a set of guidelines if you held it in front of their face every day for a year, were people in their late 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s. What can I say about the 38 year old woman who flipped out, started spamming people, sending emails to members telling them how awful I was, hounding all of the moderators and talking about how they were all terrible at life? Was that her "teenage attitude"? Though it can be easy for one to become jaded, I don't go around saying "well, that's just adults for you" and that's that "adult attitude" coming through. Meanwhile, some of the greatest members we've ever had, joined when they were teenagers. What does this tell me? Nothing. Nothing except for the fact that, when it comes to drive, motivation, a good attitude, etc., age pretty much means nothing. There is an endless stream of adults who just skate by in life, putting in a half-hearted effort (or worse) in pretty much everything that they do. You know plenty of them, don't you? Of course, there is also a stream of teenagers who this applies to. In all, there is a stream of people, of all ages, who do this. I'd encourage you to just treat a teenager like any other decent human being and also understand that it's not easy being a kid, especially a teenager because while you are growing to become an adult, you are still pretty much in charge of nothing. People expect you to act like an adult, yet you literally get almost none of the perks of actually being an adult. Heh. As a reminder, you are all a member of an online community that was started by a 15 year old. It was incredibly frustrating when people approached me in this manner as I was trying to find my way. I remember one person told me, "I'm older than you, why should I respect you?" That always stuck with me and I've always endeavored to treat all members here the same, regardless of their age or experience in the arts. Just something to think about. Thanks, Patrick

Glad that you enjoyed it, Nidan Melbourne. Patrick

The Dolphins are just a mediocre team. That pretty much sums it up. Expectation is 7-9 or 8-8 at this stage. If we get hot and get some breaks, of course, anything can happen, but the likelihood of that happening seems ... slim. Oh well. At least we know what our priority should be next offseason: offensive line. Patrick

Hello Nidan Melbourne, Yes, that is Kansas. You can see a full list of state abbreviations here: http://www.50states.com/abbreviations.htm Patrick

Thanks for sharing that, Nidan Melbourne, and for pointing out the duplicitous questions. Not sure how those made it in there, that was funny. I have fixed it. Patrick

Hello, Welcome to the voting period of the twelfth annual KarateForums.com Awards. Through these awards, we recognize just a few of the individuals who have made outstanding contributions to KarateForums.com in the past year. You submitted your nominations and, from those, we have our KarateForums.com Awards 2013 nominees. In all, 23 different members have been nominated in the various categories that make up this year's awards. They are CredoTe, ps1, yamesu, Hawkmoon, mal103, AdamKralic, lowereastside, Kusotare, Wastelander, ninjanurse, sensei8, bushido_man96, DWx, Harkon72, MasterPain, ShoriKid, cheesefrysamurai, pittbullJudoka, tallgeese, JohnASE, Evil Dave, JusticeZero and KarateGeorge. Congratulations to all of you! Voting Guidelines These awards take into consideration all community activity between October 19, 2012 and October 18, 2013. As a voter, you should place your vote based upon activity made during this period - not activity prior to or after it. With the ballots crafted, it is now time to vote. In order to do so, you must have a KarateForums.com account that had at least 10 posts made on or before October 18, 2013 (Eastern Time). There are just two guidelines to keep in mind when voting: 1. You cannot vote for yourself or an article that you wrote. 2. Do not attempt to artificially inflate our vote totals in any way. This includes but is not limited to trading votes, encouraging people to vote indiscriminately (publicly or privately), mass mailing/posting and any other behavior that could lead to results being artificially skewed. Members found to be participating in these activities will be disqualified from nomination in any category. Please note that you do not have to vote in every category. You can vote in as many or as few as you would like - please go for as many as you feel comfortable with. The more valid votes we get, the better! Categories The categories are listed below. For each category, you will find a link to the ballot where you can vote. Member of the Year http://www.karateforums.com/member-of-the-year-vt45864.html New Member of the Year http://www.karateforums.com/new-member-of-the-year-vt45863.html Community Spirit Award http://www.karateforums.com/community-spirit-award-vt45862.html Staff Member of the Year http://www.karateforums.com/staff-member-of-the-year-vt45861.html Funniest Member of the Year http://www.karateforums.com/funniest-member-of-the-year-vt45860.html Karate Contributor of the Year http://www.karateforums.com/karate-contributor-of-the-year-vt45859.html Jiu-Jitsu and Grappling Martial Arts Contributor of the Year http://www.karateforums.com/jiu-jitsu-and-grappling-martial-arts-contributor-vt45858.html Korean Martial Arts Contributor of the Year http://www.karateforums.com/korean-martial-arts-contributor-of-the-year-vt45857.html Equipment Contributor of the Year http://www.karateforums.com/equipment-contributor-of-the-year-vt45856.html Health, Training and Fitness Contributor of the Year http://www.karateforums.com/health-training-and-fitness-contributor-oty-vt45855.html Instructor Central Contributor of the Year http://www.karateforums.com/instructor-central-contributor-of-the-year-vt45854.html Article of the Year http://www.karateforums.com/article-of-the-year-vt45853.html Vote Now So, that's all there is to it. Please vote. We need as many valid votes as possible! Voting will be closed on November 26, 2013 at 10 PM ET. Please do not post your votes in this or any thread. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to private message me or reply to this thread. Please do not post a reply on the poll threads. Thank you for reading and for visiting KarateForums.com. Your participation in these awards is the most important ingredient to them being a success. Sincerely, Patrick

Please vote for the Member of the Year in the KarateForums.com Awards 2013. Award Description: This award is intended to acknowledge the non-staff member who you feel best exemplifies the qualities that KarateForums.com puts a premium on. Knowledge is valuable, but most valuable is a kind and helpful nature. You don't need to be a martial arts expert to win this award - you need to be someone who is kind and who shares what they know in a productive fashion that helps others. Here are the nominees: CredoTe ps1 yamesu Hawkmoon mal103 Voting will be closed on November 26, 2013 at 8 PM EST (GMT -5). Please do not respond to this thread. Thank you for voting.

Please vote for the New Member of the Year in the KarateForums.com Awards 2013. Award Description: This award is intended to acknowledge the non-staff member, that registered on or between the dates of October 19, 2012 and July 18, 2013, who you feel best exemplifies the qualities that KarateForums.com puts a premium on. Knowledge is valuable, but most valuable is a kind and helpful nature. You don't need to be a martial arts expert to win this award - you need to be someone who is kind and who shares what they know in a productive fashion that helps others. Here are the nominees: Hawkmoon AdamKralic lowereastside Kusotare Voting will be closed on November 26, 2013 at 8 PM EST (GMT -5). Please do not respond to this thread. Thank you for voting.

Please vote for the Community Spirit Award in the KarateForums.com Awards 2013. Award Description: This award should go to a person whom you feel has a passion for this community. A person who is all about the home team - in this case, KarateForums.com. Here are the nominees: Wastelander ps1 ninjanurse sensei8 bushido_man96 DWx Voting will be closed on November 26, 2013 at 8 PM EST (GMT -5). Please do not respond to this thread. Thank you for voting.

Please vote for the Staff Member of the Year in the KarateForums.com Awards 2013. Award Description: This award is intended to acknowledge the staff member who you feel deserves special recognition for their contributions to the community. Here are the nominees: ninjanurse sensei8 DWx bushido_man96 Harkon72 Voting will be closed on November 26, 2013 at 8 PM EST (GMT -5). Please do not respond to this thread. Thank you for voting.

Please vote for the Funniest Member of the Year in the KarateForums.com Awards 2013. Award Description: Humor is an important aspect of the forums and this award recognizes the member who has brought a smile to your face many times. Here are the nominees: MasterPain Hawkmoon ShoriKid Voting will be closed on November 26, 2013 at 8 PM EST (GMT -5). Please do not respond to this thread. Thank you for voting.

Please vote for the Karate Contributor of the Year in the KarateForums.com Awards 2013. Award Description: This award is for your favorite contributor within the Karate forum. It should be a member who has added substantial value to that section in the past year. Here are the nominees: sensei8 cheesefrysamurai bushido_man96 Kusotare mal103 CredoTe Wastelander Voting will be closed on November 26, 2013 at 8 PM EST (GMT -5). Please do not respond to this thread. Thank you for voting.

Please vote for the Jiu-Jitsu and Grappling Martial Arts Contributor of the Year in the KarateForums.com Awards 2013. Award Description: This award is for your favorite contributor within the Jiu-Jitsu and Grappling Martial Arts forum. It should be a member who has added substantial value to that section in the past year. Here are the nominees: pittbullJudoka tallgeese ps1 Voting will be closed on November 26, 2013 at 8 PM EST (GMT -5). Please do not respond to this thread. Thank you for voting.

Please vote for the Korean Martial Arts Contributor of the Year in the KarateForums.com Awards 2013. Award Description: This award is for your favorite contributor within the Korean Martial Arts forum. It should be a member who has added substantial value to that section in the past year. Here are the nominees: bushido_man96 DWx Voting will be closed on November 26, 2013 at 8 PM EST (GMT -5). Please do not respond to this thread. Thank you for voting.

Please vote for the Equipment Contributor of the Year in the KarateForums.com Awards 2013. Award Description: This award is for your favorite contributor within the Equipment forum. It should be a member who has added substantial value to that section in the past year. Here are the nominees: JohnASE Hawkmoon Wastelander Harkon72 Voting will be closed on November 26, 2013 at 8 PM EST (GMT -5). Please do not respond to this thread. Thank you for voting.

Please vote for the Health, Training and Fitness Contributor of the Year in the KarateForums.com Awards 2013. Award Description: This award is for your favorite contributor within the Health, Training and Fitness forum. It should be a member who has added substantial value to that section in the past year. Here are the nominees: bushido_man96 tallgeese yamesu Evil Dave Voting will be closed on November 26, 2013 at 8 PM EST (GMT -5). Please do not respond to this thread. Thank you for voting.

Please vote for the Instructor Central Contributor of the Year in the KarateForums.com Awards 2013. Award Description: This award is for your favorite contributor within the Instructor Central forum. It should be a member who has added substantial value to that section in the past year. Here are the nominees: sensei8 JusticeZero bushido_man96 mal103 Voting will be closed on November 26, 2013 at 8 PM EST (GMT -5). Please do not respond to this thread. Thank you for voting.

Please vote for the Article of the Year in the KarateForums.com Awards 2013. Award Description: This award distinguishes your favorite article that was published in the KarateForums.com Articles section on or between October 19, 2012 and October 18, 2013. Whether the article enlightened or inspired you, this is the place to recognize it. Here are the nominees: Martial Arts is Half Physical, But 90% Mental by KarateGeorge Creating a Home Training Environment for Martial Arts by tallgeese The Secrets to Good Taekwon-Do! by DWx Voting will be closed on November 26, 2013 at 8 PM EST (GMT -5). Please do not respond to this thread. Thank you for voting.

Thank you to everyone who has served honorably in the armed services. Patrick

My pleasure. Glad that we were able to record this one, thanks to Google+ Hangouts. Patrick

Thank you for sharing that, lowereastside. I appreciate it. I am fortunate to have a great staff that consists of guidelines (Sempais), including sensei8, Harkon72, Wastelander and Lupin 1, and moderators (Senseis), including ninjanurse, bushido_man96, DWx and tallgeese. Together we are able to follow through on the goals that I have for the community. Thanks again, Patrick