I think a cooling off period would be ... therapeutic. If/when it comes back, I would personally like to see thread locked instead of deleted. That way, the mod to lock it can provide an explanation. The "mystery" of disappearing threads works some people up. Plus, a lock can be temporary. Might make people a little happier, and happier people are less likely to make the inflammatory posts.

I'm on other forums, and there are systems warning 1-> warning, 2-> one month suspension,-> warning 1-> warning 2-> one month suspension, perma-ban. The mods check a box and the consequences are carried out automatically. Not much more work than deleting a thread. But the members see what's happening. Offending posts are edited, and the official warning is announced. No mystery. Not that I want to tell HNI how to run things, but one specific forum I belong to (an online game forum) runs very smoothly.

Also, there has been a tradition of being a little more lax in the off season. Maybe that time should end?

I have a different take on what you refer to as "fan boy." Because this forum is an online community, members develop a sense of ownership. It's not ownership in the sense of property rights, but a sense or feeling that goes along with belonging. When someone is kicked out, it violates that sense, and it effects others -- friends -- as well. So the way discipline is handled is critical.

In some cases, dissennsion may be unavoidable, like the way people trash a house just before they are foreclosed.

But if everybody sees a ban coming from a mile away, maybe the constant dissension of the onlookers/friends would be avoided. Instead of "YOU BANNED OLD JOE! ARRRRRGGGG!!!" people would say, "Well, hot-headed Old Joe got himself banned (again), LOL!"

Nobody will be happy all the time. I know I'm not, but there's no need to go into my little pet issue right now. I probably wouldn't ever get into it with an overall happier environment.

So I think the Off Season needs a cool down and a reboot, where we all start over happier, and the negative threads get locked right away with an upbeat message from the mod.

Maybe I'm too hopeful here? I just like what we have (had).