Ryan S' Face The Board Answers

[Antmeister]

Will you buy me a hat of your favorite team?
Do you really want a Yankee cap?

Ever played at hattrick.org?
Never. I often thought about it, but I never got round to signing up for the website.

Are you happy?
Yes, fairly happy. I am pretty easy going, and I have never suffered from depression or anything like that.

Are you a Tennessee Volunteer fan?
I don't have ties to any college team so I just tend to watch the best games rather than supporting a particular team.

Favorite whisky?
I don't drink Whisky at all, but I drove past a Johnny Walker distillery today.

Do you like haggis?
No, I hate it. When I was younger we were forced to eat it during the high school Burns Supper

Ever worn a kilt? With nothing under?
Never worn a kilt in my life, I also have no intensions of ever wearing one.

How did you become a FOFC regular and got into the position your are in now, as a moderator?
A two part question! I was a member of a High Heat baseball website that was run by GA Sports (The Dugout?), and Tony posted a message about a new website he was launching called "The Sideline". I joined the site on day one and bought FOF2 and the rest is history.

Most of my ICQ logs were deleted years ago, so most of this is from memory and old emails.

Chubby and Tony Wyss had disappeared by the summer of 2002, and Blackadar was running this place on his own. I was unhappy with some of the moderation and that the board was using ancient, unreliable forum software. I seem to remember a controversial post about the golden age of FOFC which was sadly lost during the vBulletin upgrade.

I sent Blackadar a PM to let him know how I felt, and he told me that he was considering stepping back and appointing new moderators.

I threw my hat in the ring, not really expecting to hear anything more about it, but then I got an email back asking for my opinion on several possible moderators. If I remember correctly, I was pushing for Skydog and Quiksand. I think Mrskippy was also a candidate!


Celtic or Rangers? (sorry, even thinking I know the answer, I had to ask. )
Neither. I am a Blackburn Rovers fan. Most of my friends support Rangers and most of my work colleagues support Celtic.

FOF or OOTP?
I prefer baseball to football, but I think FOF is a better game.

Hearts or Hibs?
Neither. I have been avoiding Edinburgh for over 10 years.

How much technical work have you had to do for FOFC recently?
Very little, the majority of the technical work happens when the board software is upgraded, or if there is a problem on gamespy's end and I have to make changes.

In your opinion, what's the best forum software out there?
vBulletin is my favorite, but I have not used anything else since this board upgraded to vBulletin. Most of the free boards look pretty good, but will not have the same level of support from both developers.

How did you get into American Football?
My father watched the highlights on UK tv when they started showing them in the early 80s, and I started watching as the 49ers were domimating.

Since then the coverage has got better and better. Sky Sports shows more live NFL games than English Premier League soccer games.

Scotland has a lot of good names for football teams, in my opinion, such as Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Partick Thistle (maybe I just like thistle). What's your favorite?
I don't have a favorite, but I have always thought that "Queen of the South" was a strange name.

Do you believe in the Loch Ness Monster?
No, but I suppose it brings in the tourist dollars.

I don't think I could moderate this board without really taking part in any discussions. What keeps you doing this day after day?
I have never been a huge participant in any board I have joined over the years. It is fairly rare that the moderators need to intervene here so it is not a huge time commitment unless something goes wrong.

Who's your favorite poster?
Drake (though probably more for his posts at FOBL than FOFC). Back in the day, I was a Jason Tobias fan.

If you didn't co-moderate with SkyDog, who would be your first pick to moderate with?
Quiksand, though I suppose I co-moderate with him now. Fritz would be fun.

Which member did SkyDog ban would you un-ban and why? Let's assume that you have to do this...in other words, no cop out and say you agree with all of his bans.
sjshaw (though his was only a temporary ban) I also remember arguing against a Hell Atlantic ban last year. Most of the lifetime bans we have handed out have been well deserved.

Cocky, funny or both?
Funny. Never cocky, but always quietly confident.

do you consider Critch to be truly Scottish?
Of course not!

My crazy mom's engaged to a guy from Motherwell. Is it as shitty as the pictures I've seen of it?
I have never been there, I have only driven past the town. I expect it is probably much worse than the photos you have seen.

I don't see you post much, even though you're a mod. How often do you visit the boards?
I visit the site regularly after work, usually refreshing the front page every hour or so. During work it can be tricky to check up as I end up out of the office so often.

You're as enigmatic as QS, so tell us something about:
Your background and up-bringing.
Not much interesting here, I grew up in a middle class family in a middle class neighbourhood, did pretty well at school, went to University...

Your current occupation.
Currently working in IT support.

Your family.

My family come from all over the UK. My mother is from Northern Ireland, and her parents were from Belfast and Dublin. My father is Scottish, but his mother was English. As a result of this, I feel more British than Scottish. I have one sister who is a couple of years younger than me.

Your favorite food.
I like steak. It's a boring answer, but I like it.

Your greatest moment so far in your life.
Difficult one. Finding out I had passed my degree was pretty good. Winning my office Fantasy Soccer league was also a pretty big occasion

Your goals for the future (5-10 years)
I plan to change job soon, preferably going somewhere in the south of England. I definitely want to get out of Scotland. The weather up here is so frustrating. I can count the number of days above 70 this summer on one hand. I also want to get out of here before Scotland is given independence (if it ever happens).

True or false - If it's not Scottish, it's Crap?
False. If it is not British, it's crap.

You keep such a low profile, are you naturally shy, or just don't feel the need to be involved much?
I am not shy, I just tend not to post that often.

What are your favorite outdoor activities?
I like playing most sports, but lately I have been playing soccer regularly.

Scotland has some great Golf courses, do you play and if so how good are you?
I don't play regularly, but when I do play I am wildly inconsistent.

About 5 years ago I shot a 5 over 77 round Belleisle Golf Course (regarded as one of the best public courses in Scotland). I could just as easily shoot 97 today. I have not played at all since last summer.

I am told that I am naturally talented at golf, which may be true. My grandfather played in 6 British Opens, and represented his country at amateur level. He also shot lower than his age on the Ailsa course at Turnberry every year between the ages of 66 and 82.

My father is a member at Turnberry and works in the golf industry.

Have you been to America, and if so met anyone from FOFC?
I have been to the US and Canada, but I have not met anyone from FOFC.

What's the best value for Scottish whisky? I say Sheep's Dip.
No idea.

What's your favorite drunk munchie?
I tend not to drink much, nor do I eat much after drinking, but on the rare occasions it happens, I always tend to end up with some kind of chicken from a dodgy takeaway.

I saw you lurking in the organic vs. regular food thread.. any thoughts?
Not really, I don't think I have ever knowingly eaten organic food. This is not because I have been avoiding it, I suppose I have never cared enough to investigate why I should be paying more.

What was your favorite food as a kid? Grown up?
Probably chicken when I was young, but steak is my favorite food. And roast potatoes are pretty good.

If bald people work as chefs in a restaurants, do they have to wear hairnets?
I would guess no, but I don't think I have ever been in a restaurant kitchen. I would have though hairnets were only for people with long hair.

Do you get less wet if you run in the rain?
Yes, if you are running to shelter

What is the happiest moment in your life? Most nerve wracking?
Happiest - Passing degree

Nerve Wracking - Giving a presentation in front of approx 200 people in a lecture theatre during my degree course. I was not too worried about my presentation, I was worried because one of the other members of my team was extremely nervous, and I thought he was going to bottle it.

Do you have a significant other? How did you meet?
Nobody at the moment.

What was the first car you owned?
An '89 Vauxhall Nova. It was a pile of junk. I have been driving an '01 BMW 3 Series for the last four years and I am planning to get something newer shortly.

What is the most distant place you've ever visited (away from home)?
In Canada I have been as far west as London, Ontario (My cousin goes to University there). In the US I have been to Florida, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. I have also visited airports in Bangor, Maine and Atlanta, Georgia
Most of my recent travelling has been within Europe.

What is your favorite expletive?
It is not an expletive, but a Scottish word I like (and have never used) is "Crivvens".

What cities have you lived in? Out of those, which one's your favorite?
Ayr and Edinburgh. I don't like Edinburgh so Ayr is my favorite by default. I prefer Glasgow and London to both.

[Lorena]

Short, but sweet, thanks for answering my questions

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by Antmeister

Will you buy me a hat of your favorite team?
Do you really want a Yankee cap?

Ever played at hattrick.org?
Never. I often thought about it, but I never got round to signing up for the website.

Dammit, I missed the questioning phase! Stupid work.

I enjoyed reading this....I'll confess that somehow I didn't know you were from Scotland. I guess I miss a lot of the obvious things at FOFC.

Thanks for the good read, even if you ARE a Yankees fan. Oh, and don't join Hattrick. It's gone massively downhill.

/tk

[korme]

good read ol sport

[CamEdwards]

nice read, thanks Ryan.

[Poli]

Rats. Foiled again.

[Schmidty]

Good job. Still enigmatic.

[flere-imsaho]

Good read, thanks for taking the time to do it.

[miked]

Jason Tobias reference. He was one of the best things to happen to the UBL, at least the first time around. With him and HA it was like a goodie bag of posts.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by miked

Jason Tobias reference. He was one of the best things to happen to the UBL, at least the first time around. With him and HA it was like a goodie bag of posts.

hahahaha, i remember him in the UBL. i swear i think the guy would puts random words in a hat and write sentences based on the order he picked them. HAHAHAHA

[miked]

Originally Posted by Hell Atlantic

hahahaha, i remember him in the UBL. i swear i think the guy would puts random words in a hat and write sentences based on the order he picked them. HAHAHAHA

I can't seem to find it, but I think he named his coach "Captain Eo" and had some very weird minor league names. Come to think of it, I think he was obsessed with Michael Jackson because his AAA was like the Neverland Ranchers or something.

[MikeVic]

Good read. I like short.

[Drake]

I just want to state for the record that I have a a pocket full of man love and a throbbing porridge cannon erection for Ryan S.

God, it feels so good to finally say that out loud. I feel free at last.

[Antmeister]

bump....unstick