As a senior member of Mudcat who has been a member from the earliest days, I have witnessed this beloved site as it went through ups and downs, golden eras and dark ages. I have met fascinating characters, saints and sinners. I was the original founder of Lane, Fielding, Patterson and Swan, layabouts at large and for hire. I am a veteran of the earliest Mudcat Pubs where I had my arse handed to me in the legendary lime jello pit wrestling matches by two women, Harpgirl and The Fair One. Now that I have established my bonafides, let me get to the business at hand.

I mostly lurk and moderate these days. In doing so, I have noticed that we have an elite cadre of Mudcat warriors about, who are always ready to march into battle. They are a nasty lot, ready to eviscerate every word of their opponents. They have no regard for sissified rules of intelligent discourse, preferring the manly art of being nasty, disrespectful, and rude. They parse words and ridicule anyone who disagrees with them and their opinions. Surely these marvels of warriordom have had their martial training backed up by strong intellectual training as they have all the answers. It became apparent to me that these are not your run of the mill obstreperous pricks, these were Black Belt Obstreperous Pricks, worthy of special recognition. Hence I am creating the Black Belt Obstreperous Pricks Order of the Mudcat Cafe. It is an invitation only group, of which I will be the sole arbiter of who will be awarded their black belt. I may even have first through tenth dans to recognize those who are the biggest obstreperous pricks among the elite group. I will accept nominations by PM from fellow old timers. If you are selected for this elite club, you will be informed by PM only. The PM will come from me. If you decide to make it public you may do so, in fact you may attach BBOPoMC after your screen name so everyone will know you are a Black Belt Obstreperous Prick. Your Mother will be so proud.