Lookout Landing

This is all going to Dave, but this is a token to both USSM and LL for building such a strong community.

Don’t go spend all that money on 1/5th of a book!

Wilder. - November 21, 2008 reply

No way the Kossacks raise $10K for Mauro if he would have lost

Corco - November 21, 2008 reply

Markos could've pushed it if he wanted to.

But I doubt anyone else would pull that kind of weight.

Wilder. - November 21, 2008 reply

I've got to wait until my next paycheck, but I will shoot some money Dave's way.

BrianL - November 21, 2008 reply

Don't kill me guys, but what exactly is the cause we're giving him

money for?? Just for his personal use?

Hmm, god bless u guys, you sure are generous

DarkLou - November 21, 2008 reply

Pay for college

Corco - November 21, 2008 reply

College scholarship.

Uh.... school.

But he can use that money any way he wants, just like the $10k scholarship he should have won. There are other expenses to stay in school than just tuition and books. If my money allows him to go have a nice dinner with his wife, then I am satisfied.

Wilder. - November 21, 2008 reply

Scholarship for an economics degree

Well that is a good cause. I thought everyone was just giving him money just for

the helluva it

DarkLou - November 21, 2008 reply

I donated as a way of expressing gratitude and compensating Dave

for the hours of informative and enjoyable reading material he’s provided. I really couldnt give two shits what he spends it on — if he wants to throw his money away on a college education, that’s his business.

FlaskInSafeco - November 21, 2008 reply

This is legit. We've raised money for beer before, but that went to Jeff.

marc w - November 21, 2008 reply

Yes, do not donate beer money to Dave

It will not go to its proper use.

Exactly.

Beer money for beer drinkers, college funds for (one) college student. Makes sense to me.

marc w - November 21, 2008 reply

Not both?

rtang - November 21, 2008 reply

I will as soon as I get home from the Arctic.

After having my identity stolen I am paranoid about my credit card info floating around the ether on unsecured wi-fi.

thewyrm - November 21, 2008 reply

Done

Easiest $25 I ever contributed to anything.

tootthekazoo - November 21, 2008 reply

I suspect Derek already has that first $500.

A no-brainer.

borgy - November 21, 2008 reply

I have an idea...

Send me the 10K and I’ll give Dave my Econ Degree?

PLU Tim - November 21, 2008 reply

what's your emphasis?

Trenchtown - November 21, 2008 reply

No emphasis really...

The school only offered a General Econ, International Econ, and an Environmental Econ. To get the Emphasis in International or Environmental, I would have had to of forked out a couple of extra G’s to go abroad for a month. On my budget that was not an option.

So while I took courses on Econometrics, Environmental Econ, International Econ, and Banking Econ, my degree is a general BA in Economics.

PLU Tim - November 21, 2008 reply

econometrics was a pain in the as

mine is in labor econ

Trenchtown - November 21, 2008 reply

Econometrics is the best part

says the man who works with like 20 economists.

I just gave 20

InSpokane - November 21, 2008 reply

The weird thing is

That both USS and LL (and BP and just about every baseball blog out there) tend to be pretty darn left leaning as it is, so how daily kos made this about politics is absolutely beyond me. Anyway, as soon as remember my paypal account password I will be swinging over and giving Dave a donation

Trenchtown - November 21, 2008 reply

You can give with out logging in.

InSpokane - November 21, 2008 reply

You still have to log in to paypal though

Corco - November 21, 2008 reply

But, you do not have to use your account. I just did it.

InSpokane - November 21, 2008 reply

I think it went down like this...

A diary or 2 was posted on dKos to help Mauro. Some people from Red State and Free Republic caught wind of this and because Dave Cameron was the closest one to Mauro, they jumped on and “adopted” Dave in a manner.

This in turn only caused Kos to rally the troops, which turned the voting into a 4th quarter blow out.

So the reality was that Freep and Red State weren’t really trying to rally votes FOR Dave, they were rounding up votes against Kos.

PLU Tim - November 21, 2008 reply

"A diary or 2 was posted on dKos to help Mauro"

ahem. 32 mentions and diaries before the Red State blog entry.

ooh

and we all have “sour grapes”

you betcha.

At the risk of getting this deleted for zNP!, entries like this make me glad David Mauro supports a cause he has almost no chance of acheiving in his lifetime

It's really upsetting that they choose to rip into Dave for being a bad sport when really, of everyone in the Mariners blogosphere

Dave was the one who tried the hardest and was the most successful at taking the high road and not throwing himself into the muck

Hey I was quoted! YES!

(though they cut of my disclaimer where I said I'm sure there are plenty of good Kossacks.)

It may be just me, but they seem pretty intent on justifying the way they won through any means necessary

and not really paying attention to fairness or truth

quite like the contest, rather ironic

I just can't get over the fact that commenters are still referring to the USSM commenters as "conservatives."

In a sense, they are

the USSM commenters don’t believe in giving lots of money to baseball players who are bad at their jobs

Fascists.

You rang?

He said "fascists" (plural)

not “fascist” (singular). You need some backup, buddy!

I'll help.

We should start calling them Red Sox Nation

We should have gone to the Seattle Times forums and told everyone there that David Mauro hates Griffey and wants the Mariners to bring back Mike Cameron.

Seriously the RSN thing is a good analogy

Loud, whiny, smug, and self-entitled.

Ah, I see.

Yes, that works. We could get them some pink hats with donkeys on them. Asshats, if you will.

I don't see how they can equate Dave asking for votes from his own blog

and Mauro seeking out support on a much higher traffic site.

If Mauro had done this just through asking for votes from his own blog, I’d be far less annoyed.

That's also because David Cameron would be $10,000 richer

Well, not necessarily. If someone actually read Mauro's blog

and then took the call to DailyKos without Mauro asking for it, that would be less appalling.

I’d still rather Mauro’s voters were people who had any idea who he was before the voting started, though.

This is all very interesting.....

I just spent over an hour reading the various threads and links connected to this story. I have always wondered since the inception of SBNation, when of if, any conflict would ever emerge from the fact that this sports network of blogs was born from the progressive movement (DK) and what affect it would have with members of the sports blogs that are conservative if they became aware of this. I’m sure a lot of people have no idea of the connection as I mentioned it once on HH and some people were horrified to find this out. It is also interesting the more I have looked into this the number of people like, Nate Silver from Baseball Prospectus and 538.com, blog politics as well as baseball.

This issue with Dave has certainly shed some light on this subject for me and something I have wondered about for a long time. I feel sorry for Dave for losing out on the money, but it was fascinating to get some new insight into this.

I would say this whole episode has very little to do with which members are and aren't conservative

and more to do with our collective distaste for how Mauro and the DK ran the whole campaign.

Yup.

If I were a conservative, I don’t think it would affect my enjoyment of this site in the slightest.

Word.

It’s all down to how Jeff/Graham/Matthew run the site. By strictly enforcing the “zNP rule” it makes it a welcoming place for people who just want to leave politics at the door and talk baseball (and hunt hobos).

esoteric - November 21, 2008 reply

I think there's still some political subthemes running about.

There was one particularly engaging OT thread on global climate change that focused more on the facts then on the fiction, though perhaps that’s how it wasn’t political…

I agree, that the zNP rule is great to avoid idiotic political arguments.

But I think that it could be eased up a little, meaning that we should be too scared to either say the name of the President or post a .GIF of that person. Maybe I just got way into politics this past few months that it is hard for me to avoid connecting topics to politics.

/rant before I get in trouble.

Fin - November 21, 2008 reply

I understand your point of view, but I think the stricter the better on this one.

I’m absurdly political, so it’s nice to have a place that’s fully apolitical.

Aaron Campeau - November 21, 2008 reply

Get out of my head!

dpseadv - November 22, 2008 reply

Nope

We’re keeping it as strict as possible.

Jeff Sullivan - November 22, 2008 reply

Thank you for this.

Sec 108 - November 22, 2008 reply

Please.

Given that my opinions differ from, well, everyone, keeping such discussions entirely absent is a good idea.

Llewdor - November 22, 2008 reply

Well, not really.

I’ve read through some heated threads at my cousin’s Hawks blog chock-full of political arguments, and they were absolutely pointless. Politics have no place in the sports blogosphere.

It all comes down to separation of sports and politics, I guess.

.Taylor - November 22, 2008 reply

It doesn't.

I totally agree, this situation is unique in itself.

But reading all the back and forth comments and posts on USSM, DKOS, and LL, it would reveal to the reader the connection of SBNation and DKOS which I think many people would not be aware of otherwise. I have always been curious what the reaction would be from conservative or liberal SBNation members if this was brought out, and this issue with Dave and the voting brought some of that to light from both sides of the political spectrum. Because of the political sensitivity of this, I have never found it appropriate to discuss it on and SBNation site before.

There were a few Kossacks that really freaked out when told that Kos started SBN.

They were incredulous. And angry. And accusing Jeff and others of lying for shattering their perfect worldview or whatever. It was hilarious and very odd.

That was a proud moment for me

I was laughing like an idiot reading that.

Did they take that thread down? I can’t find it.

OK I found the comments, but they're not in the thread anymore.

FASCISTS!

Fascist comment hiders

It’s weird how you can still search for and track down hidden comments.

But you have always been honest about your fascism, so it doesn't carry the same kind of irony.

I could understand them deleting your fake thread in support of whatever-his-name-was, because that was subversive (and hilarious), but the parts about SBN seemed relevant and fair.

I'd love to blame Markos for trying to hide his past but that place has like a billion admins

If nothing else I have confirmed that Jonah Spangenthal-Lee is a baller.

Aaron Campeau - November 22, 2008 reply

I am disappointed, how dare they try to stifle my research!

I got part of it...

The only really important part…

This is the comment from the only time I mentioned the connection on HH:

stevo
he does seem a bit odd. but i can’t blame him for bitching, that’s pretty understandable… we might have to wait until fox buys sbn i suppose for a real (will they still be?) blogger to get around the scene

by proletariat on Oct 22, 2008 11:20 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I doubt FOX will ever buy SBNation, since it is owned by Mark Moulitsas of DailyKOS.

by 44FAN on Oct 22, 2008 11:37 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

oh jesus christ
the commies own this joint?

by tdischino on Oct 23, 2008 12:16 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

And this is a good example of why I am glad the zNP rule exists.

Fin - November 22, 2008 reply

Sports, like music, is universal and I think it is always best to keep it a respite from

something as divisive as politics. And if sports blogs are owned by an entity that has a strong politcal persuasion one way or another like FOX or DKOS they ought to go out of their way to present their content in a neutral fashion.

44FAN - November 22, 2008 reply

I think it shed light on the inherent flaws of giving out a substantial prize for winning an internet poll

Where does CollegeScholarships.com get its money?

I would be kinda pissed if I donated money to a group that was giving away thousands of dollars in a simple popularity contest.

You're not donating to CollegeScholarships.

You’d be donating directly to Dave.

Thingray - November 21, 2008 reply

Of course. I donated to Dave's fund last night.

I’m just making a point that while we all agree that voting on a scholarship is dumb, and the group giving out the money doesn’t seem to mind, perhaps the people who gave that money to the organization might be peeved that it is handed out so recklessly.

I think he's questioning the funding sources of the site doing the contest

Thank you.

As I’ve said before, I specialize in words and simple, clear English sentences. But come Friday, I’m a total idiot.

They added a pledgie link, it has a little Jerry Lewis telethon bar to track the progress.

But you have to make your donation through the pledgie link or it won’t add your donation to the total.

dpseadv - November 21, 2008 reply

Excellent

This credit card transaction will appear on your bill as “DEREK”.

… so this might look bad on someone’s CC statement

Heh, first time my wife found donations to USSM and LL on a statement she grilled me.

I lied my ass off. Kidding.
Seriously though, I never used paypal so it surprised the heck out of her.

dpseadv - November 21, 2008 reply

There's a reason why, in my household, we keep our finances separate.

This is part of it.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/11/21/15490/478/323/664789

Diary up on Kos with the Pledgie

If anyone is a member there perhaps we could Full Tilt Boogie Recommend it up. Also, in said diary I called out Rubygal to at least match my 10.00. Perhaps we could track her down and get her to help compensate for the 10 G’s she stole from DC.

Edanger6 - November 21, 2008 reply

Just doing my best

I only had so much money I could donate, but I figured since I was a member there, I could try it out to see if it worked.

arbeck77 - November 21, 2008 reply

Give me what I want

I’ll give Dave $1,000 if you let me run this blog for 1 week. I get full access to everything, and I promise I’ll be nice to everyone except Graham. Give me the power and Dave will be 1/10th of the way there.

I want the power. Give me the power.

Give_Me_What_I_Want_and_Dave_Gets_1000 - November 21, 2008 reply

Bye Marinator

You and your "Slant Rants."

BrianL - November 21, 2008 reply

I want him to blame the French for this

mark sobba - November 21, 2008 reply

How about...

This post was an even bigger disaster

than communication between the FAA and the military on Sept. 11.

JI - November 21, 2008 reply

FUCK OFF, MY DAD WORKED FOR THE FAA WHEN I WAS GROWING UP!

This is true, FWIW.

This is the reason I lived in Enumclaw for a few years.

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA

Robert - November 21, 2008 reply

I'm not proud of it.

But I also abstained from horses the ENTIRE TIME, so I’m proud of myself.

Graham MacAree - November 22, 2008 reply

FWIW my dad still works for the FAA, essentially

seattlebruin - November 22, 2008 reply

That wouldn't be that terrible. Some guy runs the blog for a week, and Dave gets 1000 dollars.

.Taylor - November 21, 2008 reply

Dave wouldn't get A thousand dollars

Robert - November 21, 2008 reply

You're an idiot sometimes

Sometimes

.Taylor - November 22, 2008 reply

Adorable

Dewey N - November 22, 2008 reply

what school does DC go to?

he’s still an undergrad?

Freneau - November 21, 2008 reply

UNC-Greensboro.

And yes, I believe he’s an undergad. “Still” makes it sound like he’s Van Wilder or something.

DAVE CAN DO IT

If a moron like me can finish college, Dave certainly can.

Seriously.

College was easier than high school for me. Then again, I went to a hard high school, then got a communications degree at WSU. But I made out just fine, so I’m cool with making fun of Wazzu.

Depending on your field of study, college can be a breeze.

I got my Philosophy degree with effectively zero effort.

Astrophysics was harder.

Llewdor - November 22, 2008 reply

I can polish a boat hull with my eyes closed.

dpseadv - November 22, 2008 reply

Done.

Daily Kos really pisses me off, for a bunch of reasons I won’t go into here, and I’m a staunch progressive. The irony is that Kos himself apparently created, or at least had a hand in the creation of, SB Nation. I doubt he would’ve helped freep the vote it had been Jeff that was up for the scholarship.

USSM rocks and Dave deserves the help.

lemonverbena - November 21, 2008 reply

Actually what's funny is that there was another SBN blogger up for the award and he got ignored

pshaw.

there you go again … assuming that someone would actually do some research before they endorsed.

We need an open Mauro photoshop/paint thread >:(

Copied from the previous thread before it was closed. All I have to say is this:

Open Fucking Fire.

First thing that sprang to mind when I saw this picture

Or

Frye? Frye? Frye?

…Captain?

To quote a friend of mine

“Yeah know, Captain Harriman flying the Enterprise B into the Nexus to try and save those ships is just the 23rd century version of Frye once again severely damaging another awesome vehicle.”

Goose - November 22, 2008 reply

Payday is next week. When it comes, I'll be sure to send Dave a portion of my check.

Also, fuck Daily Kos.

The process of giving an award to an internet poll winner was the bigger problem

Mauro and DK were simply manipulating the process because he was able to. Doesn’t make him deserving, because he probably wasn’t, but there you go.

I’m out of a job in less than two weeks, so I need to hoard resources until things get back on track. But I hope Dave gets enough money for school that this contest nonsense is moot. I’ll pitch in if things turns around.

Already almost up to $1000. Good job people.

Plus there was a lot of money donated outside of that button.

I gave a few bills hours before the official pledge drive was under way.

Woa, how many is a few?

Fin - November 21, 2008 reply

$4 million.

Teej - November 22, 2008 reply

I just donated $10.

Not a lot, but hope it helps. If anyone, Dave truly deserves it. I am in college, so I know how hard free money is to come by, especially when he runs arguebly one of the best baseball blogs pro bono, so I couldn’t think of anyone who deserved it more.

Fin - November 21, 2008 reply

Dave deserves every time anyone can afford to give him

I gave him $10. I would love to give him more but need every dime I can get for survival

Don't jusify shit Corco.

You gave what you could, and God bless you for it. Anyone that gives even $1 is helping out.

Aaron Campeau - November 22, 2008 reply

i completley agree

and to anyone whoe donates I offer the following advice: alcohol and tobacco and weed/1 prescription drug is good enoguh. No reason to go further alltough ti is nice to bec ompletely wasted

YOU FUCKING MORON

(It’s for his own good.)

Aaron Campeau - November 22, 2008 reply

Cheapass.

What do you need beer money for? DONATE OR DIE!

Two Rs and Two Ls - November 22, 2008 reply

You gave money, period. That's what matters.

.Taylor - November 22, 2008 reply

I wonder if Dave has to pay tax on theses donations

Telegraph - November 22, 2008 reply

The next thing that LL'ers will try to game:

Tax Code.

Let's do this shit

Two Rs and Two Ls - November 22, 2008 reply

I'm invoking the first rule of fight club.

ten four

buddy come on back…horse trailer on a cadillac talkin to a cowboy in a coupe deville…chug a luggin on one side…slidin down the other…i’m a love of the other side of the hill

IIRC if it's used for formal college education he's off the hook

Gomez - November 22, 2008 reply

I'm not sure about that.

I know that official donations, grants, and scholarships are not taxed, but we’re effectively just giving somebody money and in a round about way it’s for a service they provide us. That would be income for Dave, which would be taxed.

Unless we call it a loan, they’ll sure try to tax him.

Thus the solution might be

an offshore account.

Is somebody around here a tax accountant?

This is understandably gray matter in terms of tax law.

Gomez - November 22, 2008 reply

Are gifts taxable in the US?

They’re not taxable in Canada.

Llewdor - November 22, 2008 reply

Gifts are only taxable in the US to the giver above the exemption per person

which is about $13,000 per person per year, I think.

Paytheline - November 22, 2008 reply

From the IRS Website

The gift tax is a tax on the transfer of property by one individual to another while receiving nothing, or less than full value, in return. The tax applies whether the donor intends the transfer to be a gift or not.

The gift tax applies to the transfer by gift of any property. You make a gift if you give property (including money), or the use of or income from property, without expecting to receive something of at least equal value in return. If you sell something at less than its full value or if you make an interest-free or reduced-interest loan, you may be making a gift.

Looks like my loan idea is out, too. One thing to point out, however, is the broad terminology of the value of items received in return. A lot of us find Dave’s work to be invaluable as sources of information, education, and entertainment, but it’s very hard to put a tangible value upon such things necessary to appease the IRS. In effect, a lot of us are giving this money as a form of justice in response to the stupidity of the Blog Scholarship rules. If we get a really really good lawyer involved, we could argue that due to the manner of the awarding of the scholarship, Dave has suffered harm or damages and that this action is a charitable one in which to help recover from those harms and damages. There are two problems with trying to make that case. 1), It’s truthful but not factual, therefore hard to argue. 2). The lawyer would take up all the money anyway.

HOWEVER!… there is this little nugget of joy from the FAQ:

What can be excluded from gifts?
The general rule is that any gift is a taxable gift. However, there are many exceptions to this rule. Generally, the following gifts are not taxable gifts.

   1.
      Gifts that are not more than the annual exclusion for the calendar year.
2.
      Tuition or medical expenses you pay for someone (the educational and medical exclusions).
   3.
      Gifts to your spouse.
   4.
      Gifts to a political organization for its use.

In addition to this, gifts to qualifying charities are deductible from the value of the gift(s) made.

Emphasis mine. If we can make absolutely sure that all of this money is paid to someone’s tuition (and in this particular case, that would mean WE as the donees, or more specifically DMZ since he’s running the thing) and not directly being received by Dave Cameron himself, then it is excluded as a gift tax.

So what I mean to say is...

Gomez’s original thought was right and my fears were unjustified. There’s probably more red tape to deal with to ensure that all conditions are met, but generally we should be fine.

It's good you looked into this though

Last thing we’d want to do is hand Dave a tax headache. He should be okay, though, as you found out.

Gomez - November 22, 2008 reply

No red tape.

the annual exclusion is more than enough for these purposes.

Paytheline - November 24, 2008 reply

that would mean WE as the donees

should read “that would mean WE as the doneRs”. God I suck today.