34inXXIII - 2016 HOF Inductee

[34inXXIII]

I am extremely grateful to all of those who were involved in bestowing this honor upon me - especially considering how it relates to this group's namesake, Cameron Hartman, who was a stronger individual in his far-too-brief lifetime than I have ever been.

This truly caught me by surprise as I've directly contributed very little to this site since its inception. However, to learn of the behind-the-scenes impact via Bengalholic's comments is not only very flattering, but makes me very proud to know that whatever significant contributions I may have had on the old forum resonated with a number of its members and translated very nicely to this site thanks to the excellent staff in place here.

As I've referenced before, though, an appealing web site and strong moderation means very little without a core of members to make the message board thrive. There is no doubt that we had that at Bengals.com because of the near seamless transition to this board when our home of 10 years was taken from us. I will readily admit that moderating that site was an absolute chore sometimes, but it was because of the wealth of tremendous contributors that made the forum a true community that I felt obligated to try to do my best and to try to do what was right. I may not have always succeeded, but it means a lot to me that so many appreciated the effort.

Beyond the moderation, though, what I am most proud of from the last 11 years is the content of my posts. The two things that I enjoy most when engaging with others in such online communities is talking about my favorite teams and making other people laugh. The Bengals.com message board provided me an opportunity to do just that and to take both to a whole new level for me personally and I am grateful that so many accepted both my sincere ramblings and my flippant one-liners and graphics. (Enough about the old board for now, though; I'll save the rest for my AMA. )

I look forward to being more active on The Bengals Board going forward, not only to justify this Hall of Fame status but, more importantly, so I can qualify to use the Shoutbox. I know that there are so many others here who, like me, do not have many other Bengals fans to be able to interact with personally where they live. That's a part of what can make a site like this so special. It is a testament to what Bengalholic and all of the administrators & moderators have done to not only keep this community alive, but to improve upon it. Thank you and Who Dey!