Happy holidays and thanks to Clarity

[Steve19]

Clarity:

BP has given us all a chance to interact with others that have the same respect and admiration for Ohio State sports. I was amazed recently when I read some of what you have gone through to make this all possible.

You have created something of incredible value. A venue in which people can agree or disagree while still maintaining their respect for one another. A place where those of us many, many miles away can find a little piece of Ohio State, Columbus and home. A place where those of us who have strong connections to Buckeye sports can gather.

What you have created has improved the quality of many lives. Be well and enjoy the holidays and a happy new year. God bless.

[scarletngray]

Yes, indeed! Thanks to Clarity and Merry Christmas to all.

[BuckeyeBaiter]

Another thankful member of BP. Happy Holidays to all.

[stowfan]

I have to echo the above sentiments

[iambrutus]

great post, indeed thank you to Clarity and the others that help make BP what it is, a great place for all of us to express opinions, get and give advise, and to share our love for The Ohio State University

[stxbuck]

Amen, Feliz Navidad, Joeux Noel, and Bah Humbug to scUM! Thanx a lot Clarity.

[blufftonbuck]

Thanks for the creation of the anti BNuts site..which is a lot to be thankful for...

[Clarity]

Thanks all. But to be fair, I just put up the site. It's the posters who make the place, particularly those who dedicate hours of each and every single day to help bring form and function to areas like recruiting (bucknutty and buckskin86), news (3yardsandacloud), the game previews and blogs (daddyphatsacs, bucklion, osugrad21, fkagobucks877, 3yards (again), etc.), BP Book (oh8ch), php spreadsheets (mililanibuckeye), Rumor Mill (alan), pick'em (gbearbuck), miscellaneous contributions (helpinghand, biatchabutuka, dragonknight, tibor75, croonyfish-potter), law and order (brutustrength, buckiprof, clevebucks, hubbard, jcosu86, lokybuckeye, lordjeffbuck, ramdrvr1, scarletngry, sears3820, etc.), I could (and probably should) go on, but this place is just an empty shell without all of the posters. Everyone from #1buckeyestunna through zeta16. Then there are all the people who have kicked in here and there to help out with costs (buckeyeintheboro, notredamechief, buckeyesoldier, jlb1705, uscemper, kn1f3party, akakbuck, kentstatebuck, killernut, charlottebuckeye62, coxew, happygobuckeye, buckeye68, lightningrod, gregorylee, jenkinswoody, matz2, mightbeabuck, buckinmichigan, cincinnatibuck, fcollinsbuckeye, bigtenbadboy, exhawg, scarletinmyveins, sanclementebuck, vprhis, chuck_jax, bucklion, biobuck, deety, ratboy18, lloydman, buckmark1, mothra, brutus1, nj-buckeye, several others who were mentioned in sections that preceded this part, who both work on the site, and toss in a few bucks here and there towards it. And a special mention to tallindian who recently donated the Alamo Bowl tickets for the raffle.)

Anyway, I greatly appreciate your sentiments, they mean a lot, and I'm regularly encouraged to keep driving BP forward by how much so many people enjoy it. But as I accept your thanks, I want to pass on my own to everyone above, double thanks to anyone who I neglected to mention, and really just every user who checks in here to post, lurk, or whatever.

I think we've really built a true community here, and I suspect that by next season, that community is going to be rivaling commercial sites in terms of scope and reach. It's a bit like open source software communities vs. commercial development houses. The latter pay a small group of people to build a product. These people are motivated by their salaries. The former get hundreds or thousands involved who are motivated by the subject matter, and the desire to create the ideal (not the most marketable) product. The latter enjoys the freedom that comes with money they can use to develop new products, the former enjoys the freedom that comes with building something by them and for them. The latter has more access and 'official' recognition, but the former enjoys an ever-growing pool of active contributors -- 1000 volunteers building something for themselves will eventually come up with something superior to what 10 employees paid by a company with deep pockets will create. It's hunger vs. a lack thereof. We have a very liquid and evolving vision of what would make the project better and constantly set the bar higher for ourselves. We make what we want. I'm not knocking other approaches. I'm just saying that those who knock ours don't have a firm grasp of the pros and cons to both angles.

The point is, I think we really have something here, and I look forward to all of us making it better.

Hope everyone has a safe, happy and healthy holiday season. And with all due respect to our Oklahoma State guests (who have been outstanding), here's hoping our seniors go out with 3 Michigan wins, and 3 bowl wins for their Buckeye careers.