Vindication for Arsenal!
Aresenal didn't lose the Champions League final, the ref threw the game! I call shenanigans! Barcelona didn't beat Arsenal, the referee handed them the match on a silver platter! I knew it. I think I would have preferred it if the douchebag had refused to admit his mistake. It's kicking a man when he's down, "Oh, by the way, you were right, I made a mistake. But the mistake stands and you guys still lost. Ha!" At least if he had steadfastly refused to admit the error we Arsenal supporters would have been able to point to the unrecognized injustice for decades to come. He robbed us of first the title and now our righteous bitterness. Rat bastard.

Arsenal: the true champions of the Champions League. Go Gunners!

The Hyper Bowl of Hyperbole?
Rcently, I descended for the first time into the dark and shameful world of internet message boards. I joined the boards of the comic book site Newsarama to respond to a story about an upcoming travesty from DC Comics, the twelve-issue limited series The Trials of Shazam!, written by hack extraordinaire Judd Winick (Boo! Hiss! Get the hook!). Here is my post:

From Green Lantern (Kyle's series) to Green Arrow to Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day to the utter wastes of time that were "Lightning Strikes Twice" and Superman/Shazam: First Thunder, Judd Winick has never failed to disappoint. The only good news is that The Trials of Shazam! is a limited series; so, in August '07 a competent writer can start thinking of ways to rehabilitate Captain Marvel and undo all of the damage Winick is going to do.

Thank the comic gods Marvel Family fans will have Jeff Smith's forthcoming Shazam!: Monster Society of Evil to get us through the long night of Winick's reign of terror.

To my surprise, the site administrator soon felt it necessary to us my post as an example of an inappropriate comment. Here are his two cents on the matter, including a quoted passage from my post:

Originally Posted by Mike Wilson
....undo all of the damage Winick is going to do.

Thank the comic gods Marvel Family fans will have Jeff Smith's forthcoming Shazam!: Monster Society of Evil to get us through the long night of Winick's reign of terror.

alright - it's been going along fine, but can we keep the hyperbole far beow this level?

MattB

I can only presume he meant to write "...keep the hyperbole far below this level?"

My brother introduces me to his friends by saying, "This is The Last Angry Man." And 'tis true. I make no apologies for being right when so many others are so completely and obviously wrong. I make no apologies for being certain when others doubt. I do apologize, quite often, for hurting my friends, both unintentionally and, though less frequent, intentionally, as I have regrettably been known to do. (Thanks for putting up with me, gang!) I am now going to compare myself to God by saying I am what I am, though like the Bard's Iago, it could also be said of me that I am not what I am.

The point being, I'm so used to be so right so much of the time that I'm a terrible judge of when I have or have not gone too far. So, I ask you to come to my aid, my friends. Am I in the wrong in this instance? Were my remarks unacceptably intemperant? Or is the moderator, Matt "MattB" Brady, the prig I initially assumed him to be? I will be most grateful to any and all who leave their most frank assessments in the comments section. Thank you.

As a separate issue, why is it that people are allowed to make wildly, hopelessly, indefensibly positive claims about those things they support, but negative remarks are so often censored and supressed in the name of decorum? Aren't ridiculously uncritical endorsements just as offensive as ridiculously unjust condemnations?