A lot of people have been inquiring about what happened with Craig [Gassy] and I think it only fair I put the record straight here because the last thing I want, or any of our other mods want, is for there to be a cloud over Craig.
Craig is a popular guy around our paintball circuit, and rightly so, both he and Cheryl work frikkin hard both on this site and behind the scenes. I have no trouble whatsoever in admitting, our site wouldn't/couldn't be where it is now without the work those two had put in.
Sometimes in life, events conspire to throw up a situation that on the face of it looks completely different from what's really going on; this is one such instance.
I think for a lot of you guys it looked like the recent problems I had with someone else [Newsflash thread] were somehow linked to Gassy's problem and you'd have been right to assume that.
So what happened? ..... good question ....
I received a message from Craig that I think I can fairly describe as ambiguous ... meaning, I took it one way but Craig meant it another. In itself this wouldn't have caused too much of a problem because we would have just sorted it out between us but on this occasion his message had plopped right into the middle of that 'Newsflash' problem and for all intents and purposes, they looked related.
I realise I'm being vague here, I'm not being vague so as to hide anything, I promise that ... but what I am doing is giving you guys a true account of what happened and at the same time protecting Craig from the circumstances that conspired against him.
I think I would be fair in suggesting, if Craig could go back and rewrite the message he sent me, he would leave out a few words because those few words initiated a chain of events that culminated in a conclusion that really did have no relevance to what was going on around us at the time.
Craig 100% realises now how his message was received and also interpreted because all of us mods interpreted it in the same way but .. it really wasn't what he meant at all.
Mind you, in the same breath as us interpreting his words in the way we did, we also really couldn't come to terms with it because of they way we all regarded Craig, and that is, we all respected him as a person and the work he puts in.
And so, we had this niggling problem of just not believing he could have meant what he wrote.
I suppose with hindsight I should have pursued that doubt and pushed for a fuller explanation of what he really did mean but the prima facia evidence was seemingly unambiguous.
It really was a classic case of wrong place - wrong time, or rather wrong words - wrong time.
Nobody banned Craig, Craig took a break, that's all and when the dust settled on the other matter, things began to take shape and a clearer picture became apparent.
It wasn't until that 'newsflash' problem was resolved that all of us, including Craig and Cheryl could finally see the other side's context.
Once that become clear, the situation was resolved in a heartbeat.
I'd be right in saying Craig is highly regarded by all of us and I think he was just a victim of his own passion and loyalty to our forum that resulted in a heartfelt reaction that involved an emotional message. I realise this sounds a bit vague but there's no point in going into detail because Craig never meant to say it anyway.
I hope Craig can find it within himself to come back because he will be sorely missed by members and mods alike and maybe he could do with a few days break but from my point of view I have no problems whatsoever.
I just wish the truth of the matter had made its way out of the confusion that surrounded that newsflash problem sooner but it only resolved itself after a certain individual had taken a much needed conciliatory position thus allowing us all to see the truth.
It's been emotional ......
Craig is a popular guy around our paintball circuit, and rightly so, both he and Cheryl work frikkin hard both on this site and behind the scenes. I have no trouble whatsoever in admitting, our site wouldn't/couldn't be where it is now without the work those two had put in.
Sometimes in life, events conspire to throw up a situation that on the face of it looks completely different from what's really going on; this is one such instance.
I think for a lot of you guys it looked like the recent problems I had with someone else [Newsflash thread] were somehow linked to Gassy's problem and you'd have been right to assume that.
So what happened? ..... good question ....
I received a message from Craig that I think I can fairly describe as ambiguous ... meaning, I took it one way but Craig meant it another. In itself this wouldn't have caused too much of a problem because we would have just sorted it out between us but on this occasion his message had plopped right into the middle of that 'Newsflash' problem and for all intents and purposes, they looked related.
I realise I'm being vague here, I'm not being vague so as to hide anything, I promise that ... but what I am doing is giving you guys a true account of what happened and at the same time protecting Craig from the circumstances that conspired against him.
I think I would be fair in suggesting, if Craig could go back and rewrite the message he sent me, he would leave out a few words because those few words initiated a chain of events that culminated in a conclusion that really did have no relevance to what was going on around us at the time.
Craig 100% realises now how his message was received and also interpreted because all of us mods interpreted it in the same way but .. it really wasn't what he meant at all.
Mind you, in the same breath as us interpreting his words in the way we did, we also really couldn't come to terms with it because of they way we all regarded Craig, and that is, we all respected him as a person and the work he puts in.
And so, we had this niggling problem of just not believing he could have meant what he wrote.
I suppose with hindsight I should have pursued that doubt and pushed for a fuller explanation of what he really did mean but the prima facia evidence was seemingly unambiguous.
It really was a classic case of wrong place - wrong time, or rather wrong words - wrong time.
Nobody banned Craig, Craig took a break, that's all and when the dust settled on the other matter, things began to take shape and a clearer picture became apparent.
It wasn't until that 'newsflash' problem was resolved that all of us, including Craig and Cheryl could finally see the other side's context.
Once that become clear, the situation was resolved in a heartbeat.
I'd be right in saying Craig is highly regarded by all of us and I think he was just a victim of his own passion and loyalty to our forum that resulted in a heartfelt reaction that involved an emotional message. I realise this sounds a bit vague but there's no point in going into detail because Craig never meant to say it anyway.
I hope Craig can find it within himself to come back because he will be sorely missed by members and mods alike and maybe he could do with a few days break but from my point of view I have no problems whatsoever.
I just wish the truth of the matter had made its way out of the confusion that surrounded that newsflash problem sooner but it only resolved itself after a certain individual had taken a much needed conciliatory position thus allowing us all to see the truth.
It's been emotional ......