I don't know if it is possible for anyone to miss the game thread more than I... because I miss it so much it physically hurts.
Twinsdaily users who have joined more recently won't know exactly what I'm referring to but I'm am talking about the Glory days of around 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013. The Twins on the field were about as bad as it gets. Lots of losses yet the negative comments were few and easily dismissed or passed over because the majority of game thread participants were having a fantastic time from Chief's Dad Jokes, to Bark Art, to all of us. It was an incredible group of participants.
I wrote a lot of openers during that stretch with the wonderful help of Squirrel. I tried my best to start with that fun tone. It was hard to come up with that much weird stuff daily but regardless if I was successful or not, I did it with pride and I never looked at it like it was a burden even though it kind of was.
I was a fully formed adult with fully formed life responsibilities, a full time job and yet like a kid who couldn't wait to open packages X-mas morning, I couldn't wait for the work day to end so I could go home, turn on the Twins and just let those adult responsibilities slip away so I could laugh, joke with all those wonderful people on the game thread. Every... single... day, the game thread was going to be a way to end my day with a smile on my face. There were times that I was laughing so hard that tears were coming out of my eyes. It's really hard to explain to your wife why you are sitting in a living room by yourself watching the Twins and laughing audibly out loud. I honestly can't express how much I looked forward to it... every... single... day.
Sadly, those glory days were probably not sustainable because here's the deal. When a town grows... it isn't just Andy and Opie moving into town. Otis is coming to. By about 2015 I started to notice the pendulum swinging the other way. The negative posters started to arrive which is going to happen with growth and as time went by those numbers grew and the people who made me laugh started waning and it just kept getting worse every year.
There were many days that I showed up excited to game thread in Glory Days style and the glory days were gone because there was literally no one to play with. The room was filled with fire this coach, how stupid is that player.
I was an avid game threader because It made me happy. There is enough negative in this world to challenge everyone's happiness, I do not want to seek out more of it in my off time. So, I would simply close my lap top by the 2nd inning and leave. One less guy trying to have fun while only the rats were left to chew on the woodwork. Woodwork with craftmanship that a lot of us put a lot of elbow grease into.
Once the tide had turned with no sign of an ebb. Those game thread intros that were not a burden became a burden. The time I spent on the game threads was only sending me to bed angry. I crave happiness... I don't want to go bed angry. So, eventually... I just pulled the plug. I mourn this loss. What I lost was important to me. More important than I can express.
I've tried to jump in on occasion lately but the room is still to... not what I'm looking for. It will be almost impossible to bring the game threads back to the glory days because the negative is here to stay. The only chance to at least make it better is participation from people who would actually like to be happy and those folks don't surround themselves with unhappiness to find happiness.