King DrunkWino

Too many people at top spots take Cybernations too damn serious and/or refuse to get out of this prepackaged loop of how the game should be played. The loop runs something like: Decide you don't like some alliance or leader/Continue vendetta against some alliance or alliance leader Quietly build/Luckily stumble into a coalition against said alliance or leader Sneak around and plan the burning and pillaging of said alliance Get one of those CB's people really don't care about, invent one, or just ignore a CB totally Engage in tons of mindless hive-minded trolling against the other side Wait till your at your strongest and/or the other side is at it's weakest and THEN actually war Blow stuff up Whine and troll OWF Win or lose war Talk about your mercy by your mercifully stealing what you didn't already blow up/Complain about the fact that the other guy is robbing you even though you agreed to it Go back to the top and repeat loop I probably missed a step or two but that's it in a nutshell. Now, no offense intended here, but that is really kinda played out. I'd love to see more alliances get toghether and agree to a fun war for no real reason every once and a while. There really doesn't have to be all this chicken**** grudges and paranoia about each other. It's just a game after all. Does anyone still think that business as usual is really that much fun anymore? Heck, the only reason this war is fun is because it's completely off the charts as far as lunacy goes. It makes it seem new and fresh. I think the bulk of us can agree that new fresh ideas are needed. If you don't believe me, go to the suggestion box and see how many folks suggest gameplay changes. This game ain't all about admin changing things around for us to have fun. CN is probably 25% the actual point and click element and 75% player driven content.

The world needs more dirty little spies stealing every-bodies dirty laundry and hanging it all over the OWF.

You want the honest answer? You sure? A lot of folks wrote checks that their *** can't catch and they haven't bothered to look at the checking account lately. /Letting your members be driven to bill lock so bad that deletion is the best option over THOSE peace terms?! If that's true than each one of those alliances better have a member riot and coup.

Simple, it's the folks that walk into the head shrinks office and says "Doc, I think I have Asperger's," to which the physiologist replies "No, you're just an ***hole."

[quote name='anenu' date='16 February 2010 - 06:41 PM' timestamp='1266363692' post='2186449'] Stumpy is already the Viceroy of Purple and it would be wrong to distract him from his duties their [/quote] He first act as Viceroy will be to move TOP to purple. /sorry for spoiling the surprise

Count me in the large number of people who's brain hurts trying to read all the technical jargon. Thank goodness there are people that will help set these things up. If I had to do so, my alliance would rely on messages via carrier pigeons.

Welcome back class. Settle down and stop using your laptops to search xvideos and redtube for porn. Now, if you remember my last lecture, (which I suppose should be read AFTER this one since it was a 200 level and this is a 100 level class, but who gives a ****,) I pointed out some general and specific ways for alliance leaders to pick up their game a bit. If you haven't yet read it, just read the previous blog entry. Should be easy to find, and if you can't, well yeah. Anyway, this lecture will be aimed at you as a member of an alliance. Just as a leader has a responsibility to lead followers have a responsibility to follow. There's that ugly r-word again. Look, I know just about everyone decides to play a game for the express purpose of avoiding responsibility for a while. Welp, you come to the wrong game folks. The alliance dynamic of Cybernations requires certain responsibilities at all levels of membership. You might think it sucks, but it just happens to be what it is. Let's dive in to a few simple ways that YOU as an alliance member can take responsibility for YOUR game: ------------------------ Working with your leader(s) I'd just like to note that I'm using the term "leader," as a simple catch all for all the various Emperors, Senates, Poison Kool-Aid Servers, and so on. Basically it means anyone with a speck of authority in an alliance from the big boss all the way down to military squad leaders. That said, probably the most important responsibility a leader faces is that a leader should not simply let his or her whims decide the course of an alliance. A GOOD leader needs to know what his or her membership wants: where they want to go, what the memberships top priority is, what alliances does your membership like and dislike, and so on. Realize that your leaders don't know this unless you tell them. In fact, not only should it be considered your duty to let your leaders know where you stand but it's just plain old good common sense. The flip side of that and something members need to keep in mind is that you should always have your leaders back. If an issue is so big by your personal set of morals that you can't do this, it's probably time to look for another home. See when your leaders commit to a course of action, the good ones have already figured out what the bulk of the active members of that alliance want to do. The course of action that those leaders decide on is one that usually is in line with what the majority of the membership wants. It's also the best course of action that those leaders see to carry out the will of the alliance. So, even if you personally disagree with it, it's what your alliance mates and friends want to do. You kinda have an obligation to at least support your friends. You don't have to go all out in public and do the same ole "I troll your side and hail my side," bit (it's a kind of worn out bit anyway,) but the little things like following orders from leadership, well, you kinda have to do that much. Don't get me wrong, if you disagree with a course of action, try to let your leaders and the rest of your alliance know what's on your mind. Just do it in a constructive and respectful kinda way. Don't fall all over yourself sucking up, but have a little courtesy to your alliance mates. The last thing in this little bit is don't be afraid of or in awe of your leaders. Seriously, they're just like you in that they're just playing the game. Make an effort to get to know your leaders on more than a Cybernations basis just like you would any typical CN player. You might find some common interests like fantasy football or other games that you both play. You can't tell me that there are members out there that would love nothing more than getting an xbox id out of their big boss man and then camping that mo'fo in a FPS or conning them into joining your legions in the Facebook gaming-crack that is Castle Age (shameless plug, invites upon request PM's.) ------------------------ Making yourself more than a useless stat lump(s) When you join an alliance, usually when you first begin playing CN, it's a big and scary new world for most folks. If you're lucky, you get a brief outline of how to do the "point and click" part of CN, $3+ mill, and a bombardment of invites to join some sort of alliance tech farm. From there you're left to wander the wilderness of your alliance and the CN forums. It usually takes a while for a new player to get caught up in the meta-game of CN and they usually have to do it on their own. No matter if you ever get caught up in the rampant silliness of the OWF or the various IRC boondoggles, you can and should make an effort to be active in your alliance. You MAY have just joined so you wouldn't get raided, but like seemingly everything else round these parts, it comes with some strings. If you're just hanging around your alliance so you won't be raided, I'd highly suggest considering going to any of the neutral menaces as they better fit what your looking for. How to get active in mah alliance, you ask? The best place to start is your alliance message board. Lurk around a while in the members-only areas, jump headfirst into the spam boards and open chit-chat areas. While you're doing that, be sure to stop into the various boards that deal with your alliance charter and the various "dept of _____," boards. Even if you don't yet feel comfortable taking on an actual job within your alliance (and there are ALWAYS openings, believe me,) you will get comfortable with your alliance mates. As you get a feel for what's shakin', you'll find yourself posting more. You'll start offering your ideas and opinions more. Hell, you might actually make a friend or two, you Asperger's Syndrome rejects. Now you're starting to make friends and get minimally involved in your alliance. This is good, but there's more to do to get the most out of the entire CN game experience. You should, by this time, be considering taking on some sort of position in your alliance, like a deputy to a cabinet member, a squad leader, doggy-style, or even just helping by sending out a few recruitment PM's. Don't start out by biting off more than you can chew. Lots of folks, myself included, got to this stage and just tried to do too much. Not only does it burn YOU out majorly after a while, but if folks start to see you as the guy who'll step up and do all these peon-level jobs, then they start feeling they don't have to. Remember that doing a job in an alliance is a commitment of time and work. Don't just do it because you think it'll put you on some fast track to being a big-shot gov member. I mean, it won't be too long that you figure out that big-shot gov members aren't big-shots and the actual work involved makes it actually kind of sucky. Don't be afraid of these little jobs either. In most, if not all, cases, these jobs don't take that much time out of your day, they help improve your alliance, and they actually DO take some of the heat and stress out of the people that are running that department. So, really the biggest thing you're doing is helping your alliance. Believe me, a cabinet-level guy or gal that has to do all the work his or her self WILL be burnt out and clinically insane inside of two months, tops. ------------------------ Standing up for yourself After a time, you as a player will have formed your own points of view on the various things going on in your alliance and CN in general. Hopefully (and most likely,) by this time you're active on your alliance board, you've held a job or two (maybe even have been in leadership,) because it's only then that your "n00b phase," as a CN player is really over. This (the forming your own opinions,) is a great thing. When you get to this spot, then you're ready to really kick your CN gaming experience into high gear. Let's start with a common problem. Say you are against X and the bulk of your alliance is for X. Well, this might just be a problem, right? That all depends on exactly what X is and how strongly against it you are. If it's something that seriously compromises your moral view, then it's time to let your alliance now and see about coming to some sort of solution. I won't lie, sometimes you might just feel like you need to move your AA to a different address, but you might be surprised how often that, if you just keep your head and talk about it rationally, you and your alliance can come to some sort of consensus. Though, if you can't and you feel you have to leave, do yourself a favor and DON'T leave with some flame filled nonsense post. Remember, even if you're in disagreement with what your alliance is doing, you DID go to the trouble of making friends there and if nothing else, you owe it to those friends not to be a dick when you leave. Don't be afraid to venture out into new territory. You might have a damn good idea for your alliance. Get that idea out there and see how folks feel about it. You'll probably get some good posting feedback to improve that idea after all. Me, I got a few ideas I'd like to try out someday. I've had this idea of starting a casino-type board that folks can come over to and make bets of tech and CN money on. Another idea I had is starting up an alliance of pure mercenaries; you want our help in your war? Agree to the pay and sign a contract. Will they end up working? I dunno, I did try the casino bit and it didn't go anywhere, but I didn't really try that hard. The bottom line is that ideas like that are in my "To-Do," box and next time I'm incredibly bored, I've got a couple of things that'll be interesting projects. There's a case study I'd like to share before concluding today's lecture. That case study is that of the one and only Rebel Virginia. Whether you like him or loath him, somewhere inside you just gotta respect the way he plays the game. Just on the level of CN player, that dude is probably having much more fun with this game than the bulk of us. It really doesn't matter much if you think his character is worn out or even boring; he has his own rules, plays by those rules and just flat out has a good time doing it. Isn't that the point of playing a game, having the most fun you can? Players like RV, Ivan, Doitz-Elyat (who I give credit for learning the art of the wall of text, when I actually could pop out a decent wall-o-words before but giving him credit will make him feel good,) the Schatten-meister, and Astronaut Jones just to name a few are people that I, as a player, have a ****load of respect for because of the way they play their game. Don't be afraid to branch out on your own. Before you do, though, remember the biggest key to being that type of player. That is establish your character and stick to it. A lot of folks play the game as a blend of their ruler and themselves, an OOC/IC hybrid. I catch myself doing it all the time, and I don't particualrly like it when I do. I feel it kinda takes away from the game when players do that. CN is a nation simulator and RP kinda game after all. Like I said, I slip back into it at times, so I know it's not the easiest thing to do even if you're trying to do it. With that in mind, I offer one simple suggestion: To establish a pure IC personality, sit down with a pad and pen or open up your word processor. Write down who this character is, what he/she stands for, personality quirks, etc. Hell, just pull up a character sheet from an old-school RPG like D&D and use it to help build your CN character. Once you've got it all written out, keep a copy of your CN character sheet close by. Now whenever you go to post or make some sort of major action, check the sheet. If it matches up well with who your character is, do it. If not, change whatever it is you were gonna do. ------------------------ Please note that the last bit up there is bumping up against a future topic I might churn out about improving your CN character. I'll probably do that sometime after I *really* get a grip on doing it myself. At any rate, this concludes the lecture. Your lab-work assignment will be to honestly figure out where you are in your alliance and use some of the ideas above to improve your alliance and your gaming experience. Really, now is a great time since war typically brings increased internal alliance activity. Lurk, understand, get to know your alliance members and leaders (they ARE members after all,) and get involved. The point and click method of playing CN is about as boring as you could get and if you're looking to really play this game, you're gonna have to get off your own duff and get involved. Thank you for your attention. I'll leave you to use your laptops for porn searches now.

[quote name='bros2' date='16 February 2010 - 07:23 AM' timestamp='1266323010' post='2185447'] what error does it give [/quote] Error 153a: You're Schattenmann and we hate you. /just guessin'

You can punch on the messenger all you like, it doesn't change the fact that he's got a point, a very good point.

You are?

[quote name='Merrie Melodies' date='13 February 2010 - 01:43 AM' timestamp='1266043435' post='2178849'] Hoo Dat going to war? Have fun guys. [/quote] Oh lord. If yer gonna do somethin' do it right. Hoo Dat? Hoo Dat? Hoo dat say dey gonna declare dat war?

Might? MIGHT?! Have we not met yet? /and yes, there is a test. every day you lead an alliance and your membership doesn't want to impale you, you pass.

Oh, TPF. At this point you should just go ahead and make it part of your charter that you will be involved in some big war at least once a month. /that actually sounds like a selling point in a recruitment note.

Settle down class. Today Dr. Wino will be conducting a seminar on how to improve the inner-workings of your CyberNations Alliance. There are those of you that this will be more of a refresher course and there are others here that, quite frankly, need to listen to some of these ideas before you fail. In other cases, before you fail again. This course is mainly for those of you in leadership positions, but you players that aren't should pay as close, if not closer, attention. Let us begin: Egos Our first lesson is on proper ego management. Are you a leader of an alliance or are you actively seeking leadership? If so, realize that you have an ego and it's probably the size of a small Pacific island. If you read that and thought "I don't have an ego like that," then your probably right. You probably have an ego quite a bit larger, something along the lines of the Pacific ocean or the western hemisphere. Now, kindly realize that having an ego is no crime in and of itself. It's not until you are making decisions that impact your alliance based of that towering ego that you're fracking up. Yes, you ARE fracking up. See, if you're leading an alliance, then you have to take responsibility for the nations that follow you. In other words, all those players sitting at home or work (GBTW slacker,) have placed most of their Cybernations playing experience into your hands. Now, when you make a idiotic ego-fueled decision then it is totally on your head if the players that follow you have crappy experiences in the game over it. Things like getting into an unpopular war because you decide you don't like the guy running an alliance (and if you try and say this doesn't happen you're telling dirty fracking lies,) or ignoring certain elements of your alliance because you don't like them; well folks that's a load of bullhockey and you're being a poor leader by doing it. Does that upset anyone out there? Good. Quite frankly, some of you need a good swift kick in the nads. In order to be a good leader, you must conquer and control that ego of yours. You DO need a good health ego to lead, don't get me wrong. Nobody wants to follow a wishy-washy kinda guy. You must learn to control it though. In order to do that, it's easy to explain, but it's hard to put into practice. Simply put: You, as a leader, have a very real responsibility to do the right thing NOT for yourself, but for those that follow you. You must put aside where YOU want to go, learn where your alliance whats to go, and then lead them there. If your alliance wants to go to the Magic Kingdom and you want to go to Epcot, you need to shut your trap and lead your people to the Magic Fracking Kingdom. ------------------------- Your members If you lead an alliance, then you have people you're leading, correct? Just who are these people? Do you know offhand? Do you know what they want to do in Cybernations? If you answered no, then you're doing it wrong. You cannot effectively lead a faceless mass that you know nothing about. You cannot do it because if you do not know what that faceless mass seeks, you cannot lead them there. Think about the word "lead." It means being the guy in front blazing the trail to the land of milk and honey or the land of strip clubs and open bars. If you're not leading your people to where they want to go, somebody else will step up and do it, leaving you all by yourself. First lesson: Your members are not simply meatshields or chess pawns. They are thinking and reasoning human beings. When they talk, they aren't doing it to exercise their fingers on a keyboard, they're doing to be heard. Hear them for cripes sake. Take them seriously and learn from them. Part of the good about Cybernations is getting to know people you'd never meet otherwise. Get out of your ivory government boards and secret private IRC rooms and get your butts into you members common area. When you get there, fracking participate. Let your members know your not some high and mighty snobbish jackhole. Hit the spam rooms, jump into the "Everything Else," boards. Second lesson: Find and cultivate talent when it presents itself. I remember back to the NoCB thingy. I was the FA dude at the RIA. For some reason I forget, a little known member member to the world stage came to me and asked me if he could do something. Again, what the something was, I forget, but I do remember it was kind of a big thing. Now, this guy had very little if no government experience and, at the time, I didn't see a whole lot that separated him in my mind from anyone else in the RIA. So what did I tell him? I said yes. I gave him a broad outline of what to get done and got out of his way. Know what? He succeeded beyond any expectation I had. He did so well that I had no beef stepping aside as FA guy in the next elections and letting him spread his wings. That guy you may know as SWAT128. I take no credit for him being a good guy, but I take a measure of pride for getting out of his way and letting him take his shot at bat. Why the story? Well, if your that dense that you didn't figure it out, there may not be much hope for you here and now, but I'll explain. No matter who you are or how smart you think you are, there's always somebody that can do what you do and in some cases, they can do it better. When you find these people, let them have their turn. If they need help, offer it. If they mess up, teach them. If they are doing well, get the frack out of their way. Cybernations is a game, quit hogging the controller. ------------------------- Basic tips to running your alliance less crappy Lesson one: Treaties You see how fracked up this current war is? Yeah, it's because folks weren't keeping up with their treaties. Folks just signed a bunch of them based on how much leader A likes leader B or some such nonsense, then put the e-paper on a shelf to collect dust. Stop doing this as you're just embarrassing yourself and your members. Review your treaties monthly, annually at least. If you find that the reasons that you signed that treaty aren't there anymore, don't be afraid to act on it. Oh, and for the love of admin himself, please learn that a MDP isn't the lowest branch in the treaty tree to sign. Now, I'll agree that PIAT's are kinda stupid since it's basically a NAP with extra words. I disagree that a NAP or a friendship treaty is pointless. If you like somebody enough that you don't want to fight them, but not so much that you'll fight along side them, there's nothing wrong with a treaty that says you won't punch each other in the mouth. It doesn't even have to be a prelude to a MDP. If you're a leader, then quit following the herd mentality on this issue and fracking lead your people. Lesson Two: Streamline Your Process Nobody likes a bunch of rigid bureaucratic garbage that slows your alliance down. Nobody except the folks that sit on congresses or councils or whatever you wanna call it (bet you though I was just slagging on big boss men, didn't ya?) If you have a council or sit on one, realize one fracking thing: You do NOT sit there to indulge your unwarranted self-importance. You sit there to represent the ordinary members of your alliance. It damn well doesn't take weeks to figure out where your members stand on an issue. If you have a working brain cell and any sense of responsibility, you already have an idea on where your members stand. Even if it's a heated issue, it should take a day or two to figure it out. It ain't fracking rocket science. Oh, and if you are on some kind of council and aren't gonna be around for a while, MAKE SOME KIND OF FRACKING ARRANGEMENTS SO YOUR ALLIANCE DOESN'T COME TO A SCREECHING HALT WAITING ON YOUR DUMB ***! This applies to anyone in alliance leadership. Take a good long look at your charters and governing structure. Chances are, it could be better. Here's a trick, a good government structure is one that allows flexibility. The more rigid your governing structure, the harder its gonna be on you to do business. Give department heads a wide range of powers in their respective departments. Give the big boss of an alliance the authority to be a big boss. If anyone takes it too far, reel 'em back in. If somebody screws up and doesn't do what the membership wants, make sure there's an easy way to kick 'em the frack out of the job. Basically make things simpler. This is a game. People participate to have fun. Bureaucracy is not fun. In short, it sucks about as hard as suck can suck. ------------------------- Alright class, that's about enough for today. I expect you to at least attempt to digest this. Like I said at the offset, for some, this is a refresher course and I hope you don't feel like this was a total waste of time. For too many others, I highly suggest you learn this stuff and do it quickly. Not for your sake, I quite honestly don't give a flipping crap about improving your game since your hogging of governmental reigns or parliamentary bullcrap is taking fun experience away from others. I want you to learn this **** so that your members have easy access to the complete CyberNations gaming experience. Quit being those pair of retard little brothers from Moral Oral screaming "MINE," and share. Come back next class where I'll lecture on something else we're all screwing up on. Yes, I said we all. I'm not gonna claim I'm any better than you and I freely admit there are things I screwed up on and will probably screw up all new things in the future. Thing is, I can admit to it and attempt to learn something from it. Do the same.

[quote name='Rebel Virginia' date='12 February 2010 - 10:35 AM' timestamp='1265988908' post='2177640'] [color="#0000FF"]I could really care less about the sum. There is simply no point for reparations.[/color] [/quote] PREACH it brother, preach the gospel. If you got beef with somebody, beat 'em up on the battlefield and quit stealing their cars and lunch money afterward.

[quote name='shahenshah' date='12 February 2010 - 03:57 AM' timestamp='1265965052' post='2177321'] Also, This war just keeps getting more WTF everyday. [/quote] We passed the WTF threshold a long time back. This war has gone full retard and fast approaching division by zero. [img]http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m445/jwbathe/thunder-trailers.jpg[/img]

[quote name='goldielax25' date='10 February 2010 - 06:31 PM' timestamp='1265844687' post='2173379'] To be quite honest those are all reasons one should be afraid of that person. [/quote] Frack fear. Any guy who's got the stones to follow his own path ain't gonna be scared by anyone. AJ, you're one hell of a dude. This planet would be better off with more dudes of your big ole swinging prickly mansack. Offhand, I can count guys like that on my fingers and have a few digits to spare.

'k, really folks, you've just got to stop all this ridiculous jibber-jabber. Both sides of this issue sound like their being argued by people that got dropped on their heads at birth. Repeatedly dropped on their heads. It's called a misunderstanding. Happens all the time. No reason for such prepubescent butthurt. Now hush and get back to your wars. Reading all of this has caused me to have an aneurysm, so if you'll excuse me, I have an ambulance to catch.

[quote name='mythicknight' date='10 February 2010 - 12:05 PM' timestamp='1265821507' post='2172758'] Someone wake'd and bake'd [/quote] You make that sound like some sort of bad thing.

Let this be a lesson to all non-glowstick friendly outdated agreements and rules.

[quote name='Rebel Virginia' date='09 February 2010 - 11:43 PM' timestamp='1265777039' post='2171932'] [color="#0000FF"]The common sense approach tells us that by being present on both sides of this conflict it will be impossible for us to lose. You see, unlike other alliances FAIL does not gamble with its future. We will not lose this war.[/color] [/quote] He speaks truth, for nothing but truth could ever sully the tongue of the God Emperor of FAIL. It's just the way it is. FAIL now! FAIL forever!

You should get that checked out, a bleeding heart can lead to all sorts of nasty things like wanting universal health care and wanting to save widows and orphans. Real nasty stuff.

I typically don't go for the whole "hey check out what I went through," mainly because if they don't involve a matter of life and death and have some sort of clear moral point or survival tip, it's mainly just someone indulging their ego and pumping up their own self-worth at the cost of a few minutes out of a bunch of peoples lives. (I just watched a whole ****load of House episodes, which is why I probably come off as a sheer ******* right now.) At any rate, if you didn't hear, there was quite a bit of snow and ice dropped on the central and northern Virgina regions last Friday. Since I just happen to live in a semi-rural setting, that means there are lots of trees around. Apparently too much snow and ice has a funny effect on trees, namely it knocks them down. Also a funny fact about trees falling down, they can knock down those pesky little power-lines. Long line of funny facts that aren't really that funny shortened, we lost power at nine pm Friday night. At first, not a problem. The heat *had* been on and fairly higher than normal just in case. By Saturday night though, it wasn't quite enough anymore. No power + cold = a very cold house. My wife and I were huddling around a very small fireplace with two kittens on our lap and a half frozen dog trying to displace the kittens. Sunday morning I wake up and decide to make a command decision that we are going to a hotel, I don't care if we have to drive to Kentucky, after all the heaters in the car work. So I dig myself out from under the four comforters and the aforementioned kittens trying to climb inside my heavy snow jacket for warmth. Why? Not so much for the working heat. Dammit, it's Superbowl Sunday and there ain't no way in heaven nor hell we're missing the Saints bring home the trophy. Meanwhile, my wife gets a text message from a friend. Her friend had just booked a hotel room and wanted to know if we wanted one to. "Hells ******* yes," was my hoarse scream from across the house. A few hours of digging out a car later and after dropping off the animals to friends that just happen to have a little bit of a warmer house (think still at 50 instead of the 38 that was reading on my thermostat,) my wife and I are nessled in a warm room at the Hilton trying to defrost our partially frostbitten digits, chowing down to combat the mild malnutrition (electric stove and all,) and drinking all the water we can get our hands on because of the also mild dehydration. Of course, the two bottles of Champainge we just *happened* to feel a need for starting somewhere in the fourth quarter probably didn't help much. Neither did the bar tab we rang up after seeing Coach Payton The Great hold up, but hell with it. What's a little dehydration to seeing the Saints bring home the trophy? Funny isn't it, a ****ton of snow and ice on the ground and we end up partially dehydrated. Again, not so much funny ha-ha as funny, well, not funny. So here I sit now, digits defrosted and still attached and everything else mostly cleared up. I say mostly cause I've been having this chronic hella-pain issue for a year now. Drugs mostly take care of the worst of it, mostly and you know what? Every minute of it was worth it. I'd go through this weekend every weekend for the rest of the winter if it meant winning that Lombardi. Why you ask? Dammit, I'm a Saints fan. Wading through misery and pain comes with the journey. Best weekend ever. /on a side note, I told my wife when the Saints win the Superbowl, we're having a child. Good thing my usual preseason bet on the Saints came through cause I gotta start remodeling my office. //also, as a PSA, I know my nick is DrunkWino and all, but seriously, don't expect to find me sober from now till, well ever. ///and what's up with that little war thingy? Anything interesting happen lately?

BRING BACK MIKE LEACH!

Don't sell AJ short. That man may be fairly rough with his language and has the diplomatic skills of a coke snorting bull that's been injected with heroin, but that dude has some really impressive insights to what's up. All you gotta do is laugh off all the censored words and the occasional rant and you'll find he poops out nuggets of gold a good bit of the time.