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...and then attacking...you might just ask for clarification? Sandy didn't say "gee, I think most Mariner fans are idiots re: prospect development"...he was using that as the reducto ad absurdem, I believe. I think he was trying to say that it's UNLIKELY that Mariner minors watchers were stupid enough to miss development stories for all those years...that there must not have been many stories to tell.
Just saying I dislike the use of terms like "supercilious" and mean-sounding defensive jargon when it may not apply. If you'd confirmed that Sandy was indeed saying Mariner prospect watchers were idiots for decades...then yes...I can understand having that tone. But ask first.