It's now 649 - 359

and growing
something like 12 votes a minute now.

657-388

658-393

659-396

659-399

Tangotiger might have motivated the SOSH boys.

660-414

battle stations!

700-448

I voted like 30 times so far

710-456

I did my civic duty and voted at least once for BBTF.

715-533

Man, THT is going to be toast once we match up against a site that has forums/comments...

715-583.

At this rate, our lead isn't going to hold up longer. It's got to be a handful of guys posting over and over, doesn't it?

At this rate, our lead isn't going to hold up longer. It's got to be a handful of guys posting over and over, doesn't it?

no, like I said yesterday, it's that goddam prevent defense

100. Walt Davis Posted: December 18, 2007 at 01:25 PM (#2648948)

Na Na Na Na
Na Na Na Na
Hey Hey
Goodbye

Nice going, Walt.

Looks like Schill has a bot working for him.

At this rate, our lead isn't going to hold up longer. It's got to be a handful of guys posting over and over, doesn't it?

Yeah, I think we're in trouble!

Thanks to everyone who has voted. It looks like someone is using a bot so I suspect the lead will only hold up for another 40 seconds.

Clear your cookies for multiple votes.

The message on the SoSH thread. So I guess that answers my question.

I think we are seeing a preview of what Schilling has in store for the Cy Young voting next year.

When internet voting finally is used, I hope the US government doesn't give PollDaddy a no-bid contract.

Even if we win the vote by some odd chance, we probably shouldn't link to future rounds - with the cookie exploit so easy to bot, our posters could just as easily do it as well, which is wrong.

what a travesty. This makes the 2000 election look like the 1960 election. I mean .. wait .. that's not right ...

Even if we win the vote by some odd chance, we probably shouldn't link to future rounds - with the cookie exploit so easy to bot, our posters could just as easily do it as well, which is wrong.

Yeah, it really is, and it's a pretty crappy thing to do to the site that set the damn thing up. I'm glad I didn't vote more than what ordinary rules allowed (once from home, once from work).

When internet voting finally is used, I hope the US government doesn't give PollDaddy a no-bid contract.

"And Mustafa Kemel Ataturk wins the 2012 presidential election with a popular vote total of eighteen quadrillion and six."

Even if we win the vote by some odd chance, we probably shouldn't link to future rounds - with the cookie exploit so easy to bot, our posters could just as easily do it as well, which is wrong.

BustedCoverage should be able to pinpoint almost, if not all, of the bot votes and disqualify them. Not that I see it happening, though.

BustedCoverage should be able to pinpoint almost, if not all, of the bot votes and disqualify them. Not that I see it happening, though.

But if they don't, what would be the point of continuing with the thing?

BustedCoverage should be able to pinpoint almost, if not all, of the bot votes and disqualify them.

700 votes in less than 2 hours? Yeah.

I have the correct link bookmarked (BTF), but my bookmark name for it is still "Primer"
(and always will be)

You'll be pleased to know I'll be splintering the blog off to its own domain BaseballPrimer.com during the off-season. I hope to have a beta test open in January. Email me if you want to take a look before then.

It's heartening to know that telling TangoTiger he's a ##### ##### can motivate him, even years later. Let me be the first to congratulate him on his stunning accomplishment.

But if they don't, what would be the point of continuing with the thing?

Since they thought it was a fait accompli that we were going to lose anyway, what do they care?

Since they thought it was a fait accompli that we were going to lose anyway, what do they care?

If they don't make any attempt to fix it now, then the rest of the contest is pointless because it will keep happening in other matchups.

And now it looks like we've got our own bot going, which is just as stupid.

Bot ### for bot tat!

The stupid word you're blocking, Nanny, is T I T, you over-aggressive censor piece of ####.

Exactly tied as of 3:18 EST.

Yeah, please no botting guys.

At 3:18 PM Eastern: Schilling, 1012, BBTF 1010.
This will go down with the 1996 AL MVP vote as one of the worst travesties in the history of humanity.

Yeah, please no botting guys.

This is why botting should be banned, it has a coercive effect.

I consecutively-refreshed the vote tallies, about five times in 10 seconds, and Schilling had added 5 votes in that time...

Two minutes later he's added another 30 votes...

Another 30 votes in less than a minute..

The bot has now increased Schilling's total by 10% in less than 3 minutes...

man, they must really want those Hannah Montana tickets

What makes you so sure it isn't Curt Schilling, sitting in front of his computer and madly refreshing and revoting?

What makes you so sure it isn't Curt Schilling, sitting in front of his computer and madly refreshing and revoting?

The fact that EverQuest characters don't level themselves?

Guys, its me.

I'm shaving points and dumping this game.

If baseball history has taught us anything, it's that you really don't want to face off against Schililng in any kind of post-season tourneyment.

It's heartening to know that telling TangoTiger he's a ##### ##### can motivate him, even years later.

I wonder what got nannied out. Moustachioed four-flusher?

I'm sure Schilling will claim to have tried bots once, didn't like how they made him feel and never used them again.

Seriously, though ... Tango doesn't strike me as a ballot stuffer.

Best Regards

John

As Dan said, please no bots. The guy had a good idea. Let's not make a mockery of his well-intended work.

Yeah, please no botting guys.

Bot why, Dan? ;-)

Seriously, it's not me.

ah like big BOTS and i can NOT lie...

Can't we get the UN to come in with some of their votewatchers to ensure fair voting practices?

Who would monitor us. Clearly, the thinking fans were cheating too... they just cheated better.

It's a stupid theme, that shouldn't have been linked in the first place.

Wink wink.

Wow we've been crushed.
1944-1215

Wow we've been crushed.
1944-1215

Russian judge

eh just send the guy a email telling him bots were used to get all schils votes disqualifyed that would be funny

There really is no way for them to ignore this. The votes for this one single matchup pretty much blow away the rest of the field. It will probably get to the point where the votes for this matchup will be more then the rest of the matchup in this tier combined.

Right now the other matchups have about 4800 combined votes, BTF vs 38 has 3200.

It's heartening to know that telling TangoTiger he's a ##### ##### can motivate him, even years later. Let me be the first to congratulate him on his stunning accomplishment.

What does this mean?

If BTF is at 1200+, there's botting on both sides. The argument to throw out bots would be more persuasive the vote were 1900 vs. a legit 700.

Sigh.

I just voted. This is crushing.

Tangotiger might have motivated the SOSH boys.

Why?

Oh, I see Tango posted the link over there.

And I also see It's heartening to know that telling TangoTiger he's a ##### ##### can motivate him, even years later.

What is this all about, besides being another high point in Furtado's stunning stewardship of this site? It's hard to imagine one could do more to ruin this place than being the reason Tango left (if that is the case).

Guess he didn't want to play by the book. Why should anyone else be interested in getting it then?

1944-1215

I guess D-Day is worth more than the Magna Carta.

so they came up with some 1800 votes in a matter of hours.

I have lost all respect for Tango Tiger. #### him!
Just simply compare the content on the two sights 38.com and Primer, and it is not even close comparing the usefulness.

Many of us were not here for Tangos petty little fight with BTF sight admin. That Tango is such a petty, childish little #### is telling on that scumbags personality .. He probably deserved to be banned or booted or what ever happened to him.

Merry Christmas to you #######!

He openly instigated this wide spread cheating, and I wouldn't be surprised if he wrote the bot, and PM'ed it to a few memebers over there. Heck the thread announcing this big bedate at SOSH barely has 20 replys, yet they got 1800 votes in mere hours. This is something that hopefully many of us will never let him live down.

1800 plus votes in a matter of hours.

#### you tango, and #### everything you used to stand for!

there is like four guys posting in that thread at SOSH, and now tango is openly admitting they have a bot.

one of those four guys wrote it, but I hold Tango responsible.

I hope this reflects harshly on his once good name.
Something he has spent years to build ..

what a piece of ####.

Tango tiger: I'm not the one who wrote the bot

Tango has added another 150 votes in the last 10 minutes.

and now tango is openly admitting they have a bot

Really? Do you have a link?

post 26 ..

I remember Tango used to run his blog on Primer like a dictator but I don't remember what all this animosity between him and Jim was. Anyone want to elaborate?

Besides how stupid this little gambit is, what the hell is he doing on SOSH? Does he just enjoy the fact that 90 percent of the discussion is metatopics and warnings that threads will be shut down?

In the early days of the internet, when people posted and blogged for the love of it, things like this never happened.

Senator Mitchell will be investigating any day now. I'd ask Larry Bigbie who wrote the bot.

Anyone want to elaborate?

I know, but I'm not telling.

Thanks Repoz, that helps a lot! What are you, some kind of idiot Clemens fan named Darren?

What are you, some kind of idiot Clemens fan named Darren?

Hey, we're the only two left...named Darren, that is.

lets see if i am understanding this

you guys are saying that tango tiger/aka tom tango is deliberately cheating on this contest to get even with furtado for some argument years back?

it is beyond gross to see 2 40-50 year old males act like that

sigh

mennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

I perused the thread over at SOSH and there wasn't anything there that suggested that Tango wrote the bot.

Obviously, someone did, and it's possible that it's him and he's lying about it, but there doesn't seem to be any compelling or substantive evidence that that's the case.

I must have made the big time, as this kind of warm feelings are usually reserved for MGL and Voros.

As I said elsewhere, I posted that thread in the same spirit that Walt posted his goodbye post (fun and jovial). And I have no knowledge of any bots, whether they exist or not. I was just looking for a good battle... but between BTF and Schilling, not me!

Anyway, I'm here for 10 minutes, as I've got to put my kid to sleep right after. I'll be back tomorrow if you like. Otherwise, you can post on my blog.

Of all the things that could cause tango to make a post on BBTF, this was the last one I expected...

anyway, BustedCoverage has responded to the allegations in their comments section:

#
adminon 18 Dec 2007 at 4:52 pm

Some of you have raised concerns about Schilling’s vote total going on a ‘Roid Rage.

When we started this tourney we made it clear, if we find that someone is boting the totals, your ass is history.

There are 24 hours until the end of the opening round. We may have to kick Schill out of the tourney. Sorry, dog, but you already have enough money.

TBD.

#
# adminon 18 Dec 2007 at 5:07 pm

Follow-up to the Schill situation:

We’re taking heat for the voting situation. Thanks for the love.

Busted Coverage never expected this to blow up like it has. We have possible ballot stuffing from the Son of Sam Horn crew and others are crying foul.

Remember the NHL fan vote where the guy wrote code to rig the vote for the journeyman?

If some guy was able to rig an NHL vote don’t you think we’re ripe for a rigging.

We can only hope people will be honest but it doesn’t seem that is happening.

To be continued….

#
adminon 18 Dec 2007 at 4:52 pm

Some of you have raised concerns about Schilling’s vote total going on a ‘Roid Rage.

When we started this tourney we made it clear, if we find that someone is boting the totals, your ass is history.

There are 24 hours until the end of the opening round. We may have to kick Schill out of the tourney. Sorry, dog, but you already have enough money.

I figure Schilling weighs in on this within 24 hours if he has time during the holidays and while he is hanging with Joe Lieberman on McCain's campaign bus. Seems like he would get a kick out of talking about it (insert "Schilling talking all the time joke here). Do people think there was a BBTF bot as well? I assume so.

Well, people were questioning my character.

See you tomorrow...

Well, people were questioning my character.


Do you think 38 pitches is as relevant in the blogosphere as Primer? If not, why the post?

what the hell is he doing on SOSH? Does he just enjoy the fact that 90 percent of the discussion is metatopics and warnings that threads will be shut down?

That's funny. Everyone over there is a deputized mod, ever on the lookout for the thread whose subject changes and always ready to SHUT IT DOWN.

I voted for Schilling's blog -- once -- for two reasons: (1) I laud his forthrightness; and (2) if he gets a writing award this year and Shaughnessy does not, I will be very happy.

Okay, three reasons: (3) high level of personal animosity and long-lasting grudge matches in BTF forums.

Anyway, I refer to your book often, Tango, and miss your blog here.

(3) high level of personal animosity and long-lasting grudge matches in BTF forums

***

So if weren't for Nieporent and RETARDO, and kevin and Dial, BTF would have kicked Schilling's ass? ####.

Tangotiger might have motivated the SOSH boys.


I didn't mean anything by this - I just mean that Curt Schilling is kinda a popular figure on SOSH for obvious reasons and that notifying the SOSHers about the vote and that Schilling was losing might motivate some of them to vote for him.

Tango (when you get back),

I didn't really think there was any reason to believe you wrote the bot. Though I did think this post

Wow. In one hour, Schilling went from being 400 votes down, to now taking the lead by 100 votes.

Other than possibly USSM, there is no bigger fan force than SOSH.

was either ridiculously naive or an encouragement of vote-rigging. It was pretty clear long before you posted that the incredible turnaround was not entirely aboveboard.

Do people think there was a BBTF bot as well? I assume so.

I suspect someone was doing it for awhile, unfortunately, most likely after Schilling's total blasted up, but it's still wrong.

100. Walt Davis Posted: December 18, 2007 at 01:25 PM (#2648948)
Na Na Na Na
Na Na Na Na
Hey Hey
Goodbye

"Dewey Defeats Truman!"

I suspect someone was doing it for awhile, unfortunately, most likely after Schilling's total blasted up, but it's still wrong.

Maybe the guys running the thing will disqualify both sites. Sort of like Bonds facing Clemens. Or Ryan Franklin facing Howie Clark. Whichever.

This would never happen if there were baseball year round. Or a salary cap.

Maybe the guys running the thing will disqualify both sites. Sort of like Bonds facing Clemens. Or Ryan Franklin facing Howie Clark. Whichever.

If they disqualify us, I'd certainly understand - they have to cut off any bot-ing wherever they see it. If they do, best thing would be is to have the empty spot in the next round filled by the #65 blog.

so they came up with some 1800 votes in a matter of hours.

I have lost all respect for Tango Tiger. #### him!
Just simply compare the content on the two sights 38.com and Primer, and it is not even close comparing the usefulness.

Many of us were not here for Tangos petty little fight with BTF sight admin. That Tango is such a petty, childish little #### is telling on that scumbags personality .. He probably deserved to be banned or booted or what ever happened to him.

Merry Christmas to you #######!

He openly instigated this wide spread cheating, and I wouldn't be surprised if he wrote the bot, and PM'ed it to a few memebers over there. Heck the thread announcing this big bedate at SOSH barely has 20 replys, yet they got 1800 votes in mere hours. This is something that hopefully many of us will never let him live down.

1800 plus votes in a matter of hours.

#### you tango, and #### everything you used to stand for!

Wow, do people really care this much about this stupid tournament? If BTF lost 8 million to 0, I wouldn't give a ####. How does it matter, at all? Someone rigged the voting, boo-#######-hoo. As if anyone will remember this next week.

If they disqualify us, I'd certainly understand - they have to cut off any bot-ing wherever they see it. If they do, best thing would be is to have the empty spot in the next round filled by the #65 blog.

Good idea

Remember the NHL fan vote where the guy wrote code to rig the vote for the journeyman?

Yeah, and it was tons of fun when it happened (and spanned 11 threads). And Rory Fitzpatrick was awesome for going along with it.

Wow, do people really care this much about this stupid tournament? If BTF lost 8 million to 0, I wouldn't give a ####. How does it matter, at all? Someone rigged the voting, boo-#######-hoo. As if anyone will remember this next week.

You realized that all of those quotes came from the same person, right?

How does it matter, at all? Someone rigged the voting, boo-#######-hoo. As if anyone will remember this next week.

Maybe he took the tourney thing seriously and laid money on it.

I've got a few minutes right now. I'll do my best, but I promise to come back tomorrow.

Chris/187: I think Schilling does great stuff. It's not important if I think Schilling is more relevant than BTF. In fact, as I said elsewhere, I voted for both! I was alerting SOSH to the fact that there's a blog competition. I was hoping for a really close vote, a fair fight if you will. I actually got the idea from RB at post 87, and Walt/100 goodbye call made me think it was an equally sporting thing to do. Really, the way Walt meant it, is the way I meant my initial post.

Giant/188: agreed, and thank you.

Dan/190: I certainly wasn't singling you out, and I took your comment in its intended spirit. Others though, may have not.

SoSH/191: actually, getting tons of post so quickly is not so strange. I got something like 300 posts from USSM in a matter of a couple of hours, and they had to fill in some 100 drop-down selections per ballot. SOSH have been almost as good in their balloting for my Fans' reports. What I did on the SOSH thread is give a direct link to PollDaddy (unlike here, where you had to page down). So, open the SOSH thread, click the link, and click the Vote. That's about as easy as it goes. There were some 2000 views of my thread after the first hour or two. The SOSH crowd is super motivated.

At one point though, it did look like a bot, and then it looked like a BTF bot back. That's unfortunate, and I hadn't considered that until it was brought up here.

One guy did tell me he voted 30 times by clearing his cookies, but he did that he said in response to a BTF poster who admitted to doing it. T!t for tat, I guess.

Best Dressed/197: I'm hoping the passage you quoted from the other poster was a heat of the moment post from him, and not some real feelings on the matter.

Certainly if I wanted to "rig" it, I wouldn't first announce to SOSH that there's a competition going on, and then wait an hour after doing that to run a bot! I mean, really? Did anyone really seriously think that?

I started a blog post. That's it, guys! If I were anyone else who started that thread, would you care?

Really, the way Walt meant it, is the way I meant my initial post.

Yes, that's fair enough. I meant to edit my post after reading it.

If I were anyone else who started that thread, would you care?

It's different doncha think?

Agreed, it would be slightly different because of the past history here.

But, if all someone has to go on is that post I put at SOSH, then its incumbent on the reader to give the writer the benefit of the doubt. Especially since I am extremely reachable. I have my own blog and my email is easy to find. Rather than jumping to conclusions, someone could have asked my intent, and we'd be done with it.

It's not like I'm Bud Selig or Joe Morgan, where you can't reach me.

At the end of the day, my blog post was what it was. Nothing more.

I started a blog post. That's it, guys! If I were anyone else who started that thread, would you care?

Isn't this being overblown? Stupid offseason. And really, who cares about the blog vote? BTF is fairly successful in its own right, I assume. And Schilling is probably the best player blog. And Tango, whatever his personal difference may or not be, is a respected researcher in this field. If he wants people to vote for Schilling's blog, his own choice. This is just getting blown way out of proportion based on some late night ( presumably alcohol fueled ) posts.

Merry Xmas everyone!