The Saga of "54" and the Truth - Post #120

[frankbmd]

Although it may seem like an eternity to some, I haven't been around on this forum all that long (a little over 54 weeks). I have also pondered the origins of Net54 more than once in my tenure here. Searching the nooks and crannies of the web site has not been rewarding. I'm sure there are veterans of this forum who are enlightened, but my suspicion is that most of the members have no clue as to the meaning of Net54. Therefore I ask the following:

Rule #1. Members who know the genesis of Net54 are asked kindly to refrain from posting on this thread. This is important and why I placed it first.

Rule #2. All others are encouraged to speculate about the reason this site is called Net54. This is not a contest and you may post freely and often as new ideas spring to mind. In other words you are encouraged not only to post early, but post often.

Rule #3. I fully expect that at some point one of the above rules will be broken, knowing the crowd here. If we can get enough response to Rule #2, which is actually difficult to break, when the Rule #1 rulebreaker posts, perhaps and hopefully he will not be noticed and therefore he will not need to be vilified.

I will start things off with a few examples designed to encourage participation, so that no one feels intimidated. Hopefully better responses will follow.

54, the number of outs in a 9 inning baseball game won by the visiting team. Visitors are always welcome on Net54.

54, the average age of our forefathers, who started this site, at the time of creation.

54, the number of cards in a deck containing two jokers.

[conor912]

Net54 was the vision of Steve Rubell. But since the internet wasn't invented yet, he settled for starting Studio54 instead. The rest is history.

[Matthew H]

In the old days, you used to have to drink 54 beers in one sitting as initiation into the club.

[bigtrain]

54 was chosen because it is the atomic number of Xenon, a noble gas and the founders were noble men. No? Ok, how about this? The original founders were coincidently named Toody and Muldoon. (Now I am really showing my age.)

[Bocabirdman]

Originally Posted by bigtrain

54 was chosen because it is the atomic number of Xenon, a noble gas and the founders were noble men. No? Ok, how about this? The original founders were coincidently named Toody and Muldoon. (Now I am really showing my age.)

Toody was a fan of the Babe and Muldoon favored the Say Hey Kid. The Net difference between the two? 54 homers

[peterb69]

Car 54, Where are you?

[Bocabirdman]

It was renamed Net 54 because it took 54 posts for someone to correct another poster's grammar.

[4815162342]

1. 5 + 4 = 9
2. 9 upside down is 6
3. 9 x 6 = 54
4. Start back at 1

[Bocabirdman]

Originally Posted by conor912

Net54 was the vision of Steve Rubell. But since the internet wasn't invented yet, he settled for starting Studio54 instead. The rest is history.

You almost have it right. It was started with what little money was left over from the Studio 54 bankruptcy. From Swinging and Snorting to Soaking and Slabbing.

[AndyG09]

The first 53 "Nets" were already claimed, so the originator had to roll with 54.

Best,

Andy

[bn2cardz]

I assumed it was a forum hosted by another company, Network 54, and the name carried over.

I don't know this and joined around the same time as you, so if it is right than it isn't breaking rule number one, but just an observational guess.

[Jlighter]

Originally Posted by bn2cardz

I assumed it was a forum hosted by another company, Network 54, and the name carried over.

I don't know this and joined around the same time as you, so if it is right than it isn't breaking rule number one, but just an observational guess.

Hmm, the only logical answer here. Can't be that one.

[Bocabirdman]

Originally Posted by Jlighter

Hmm, the only logical answer here. Can't be that one.

If LOGIC was involved, grown men wouldn't be chasing old scraps of cardboard, paying car payment or mortgage payment prices for them. Logic has NEVER been a player in this game.

[novakjr]

Originally Posted by bn2cardz

I assumed it was a forum hosted by another company, Network 54, and the name carried over.

I don't know this and joined around the same time as you, so if it is right than it isn't breaking rule number one, but just an observational guess.

I don't know the full history behind the name, but I'm pretty sure you're spot on with how WE ended up with it. As far as I know Network54 Corporation, created the original forums. As far as how they came up with the name, I don't know.

But I'll humor the intentions of this thread. Assuming there was a baseball tie to the number. I'm gonna go with what little info that I have about the company. I believe the corporation is based out of Los Angeles. So let's assume that there's a chance that the founder was possibly a Giants fan. I believe the corporation started in 1999, so at the time, 1954 or '54 was the last time that the Giants had won the World Series.

Outside of baseball, my guess would be a play off of "Studio 54"(as someone had mentioned earlier). The movie came out in 1998, so it was fresh in people's minds again. Maybe the 54 was intended to indicate that it was "a popular and fun place for people to get together"...

[frankbmd]

Few know that Net 54 was the initial online dating site.
Inspired by the Marvelettes' hit single "Beechwood 45789"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucu83CZKeGg
The 5***4 portion of the title is based on encryption of that song title.
Vintage cards were introduced to the site by a gal named Lola
in an effort to get lucky with a member known only as leon.
Interestingly this is the same encryption methodology used by Ebay today.

I have been looking for evidence to substantiate this contention regarding leon, Lola and the Marvelettes. I decided to pick an area code at random (760) and dialed Beechwood 45789. A cub reporter named Farleigh from the Desert Sun in Palm Springs answered the phone. I explained the reason for my call and Farleigh assured me he would look into it.
Well, it wasn't long, before I could finish my venison tostada, that Farleigh returned my call. In the newspaper's archives he found evidence of a clandestine meeting that took place in the early nineties between the Marvelettes warm up band, "The Baker's Dozen", and a group of card soakers know only as "The Dirty Dozen". What makes this even more compelling though is the location of the meeting, the Bistro 29 in Twentynine Palms, just up the highway from Palm Springs. Far be it for me to doubt Farleigh's research and if I'm not mistaken 13+12+29=54. I think I'm getting closer to the truth.

Heading to Bistro 29 tomorrow to look for gum stuck under the tables. I'll run it down to Newport for DNA analysis. I'm guessing members of The Dirty Dozen may be lurking on the Board right now. I realize this is a dangerous mission, but I wouldn't be caught dead in Inkster, Michigan, home of the Marvelettes.

Surveillance video from Homeland Security released today clearly identifies border crossings 54 miles east of Yuma by a band of 12 mean hombres disguised as a mariachi band. When the musical troupe couldn’t play “Cielito Lindo” upon a request from the Border Patrol, they were apprehended. HS confirmed the identity of the band as the "Dirty Dozen", aka the Sonoran Soakers. Seized musical instruments were found to contain rebacked T206s that tested positive for heroin and possibly other contraband. Agents became suspicious when they noticed “crack” in the cracks of a particularly well worn example of Harry Lumley. Apparently the Sonoran Soakers were using the contraband laden cards as envelopes with team names to indicate the final destination of each delivery. With the interception of the Brooklyn bound delivery, residents there are warned to use caution as street violence is expected to increase with the break in the supply chain. If you have friends or relatives in Brooklyn, please keep them in your prayers. Residents of the other 52 cities represented in the T206 set are also urged to exercise caution with the apprehension of the Sonoran Soakers.

Who could have imagined a defunct soul trio and their back up band, a desert bistro, the Border Patrol, drug traffickers, a temptress named Lola, and a member known only as leon were behind our little site known as Net54baseball? As improbable as all this sounds, don’t jump to any conclusions until you hear a member known only as leon’s version

“Frank, I beg to differ. Let me explain the truth behind Net54. When the forum was originated, it was right after the demise of the original Full Count board, which was started by John Spencer and (current) board member Mike Williams, in around 1998. After a two or three years John got tired of getting threatened with lawsuits, and all that went on, and shut it down. Elliot Bassin and Mike Williams both immediately started chat boards to take its place and for our hundred to two hundred (I guess) members to go. It was decided one forum was better than two. For a few days both were running. One, Mike’s, was hosted by Yahoo, I believe, and the other by a chat board hosting company called Network54.com (where the non-sports guys still are). It was decided that the Network54 one was a bit better operationally so Mike shut his down and we became http://www.network54.com/Forum/153652 , which is the web address of the old board. It is still there for read-only purposes, though everything has been transferred to our new board. There are a few reasons, which is another story, to keep that board alive…but as read only. As we got much bigger our s/w and hosting provider, Network54.com, didn’t update their s/w and their service wasn’t great. It didn’t have many features of the newer s/w on the market. Network54 still has rather antiquated s/w but it works for many forums, just not ours. In March of 2009 we started looking for a different hosting and chat solution for our forum. I asked questions of members, analyzed several different chat solutions and decided to buy the s/w, Vbulletin, which has one of, if not the, largest base of chat forums on the market. At this exact time I asked several friends of a good name for the new forum since we were moving away from “”Network54.com” and it could easily be changed. The new name was actually going to be Net55baseball.com, but after further thought I decided to capitalize on the historical marketing of Net54 and made the name very similar, Net54baseball.com, which it is today. Whenever someone says “Network54” they are not correct and I cringe a bit, but it’s not a big deal. The name todays stands at Net54baseball.com and that is the story of 54, which was almost 55 J.”

I apologize for the nonsense before “The Truth”, but appreciate your indulgence. Thanks to all for your contributions and if anyone wants to add anything to the front end of “The Truth”, please feel welcome to do so. My initial concept for the thread was simply the question about 54. Although correct, I’m not sure Leon’s story completely answers the question, but it seems at least that the “54” part of our title has absolutely nothing to do with baseball.

The saga part (my nonsense) was not preconceived. It just happens.

[atx840]

Glad it's out now, I'm not good with secrets.

Fun thread Frank.

[h2oya311]

Great thread....so anticlimactic though! I had fun researching the importance of 54. Regardless, what, then, is the reason behind the name "network 54" from whence this board originated?

[Bocabirdman]

Well, that was silly, good fun.....

[t206blogcom]

Well, now we know. Better entertainment than the halftime show...

[baseballart]

Originally Posted by h2oya311

Great thread....so anticlimactic though! I had fun researching the importance of 54. Regardless, what, then, is the reason behind the name "network 54" from whence this board originated?

www.network54.com was simply the hosting site for the forum

[mwilliams]

Leon...that happened too, but there was no teeth to them

Appreciate your kind words!

Mike

[h2oya311]

Originally Posted by baseballart

www.network54.com was simply the hosting site for the forum

Well duh! But where did the hosting site come up with the name?? There aren't any hosting sites called Network3 or Network45...are there?

[EvilKing00]

now thats an answer worth waiting for!

[freakhappy]

Damn that was long and exhausting...I only fell asleep twice during the explanation

[SushiX37]

This thread and that answer had an "Al Capone's Vault" kinda feel to it.

Rich

[WWGjohn]

The "real" explanation is quite interesting, although it does not match up well against "at the kickoff meeting for the Vintage Card Collectors Forum, each member was given one vote when electing a president. While there were only 12 people in attendance, it was quickly noted that there were 54 votes cast. A quick investigation discovered the discrepancy resulted when each of the Bruce Dorskinds had voted separately." I really prefer that one and I'm still half convinced it is the real one.

John

[frankbmd]

Don't know about Bruce's legend, but I sure would like to meet him. I'd invite him over, but I don't have room in my driveway for his 43 cars.

[mwilliams]

Small tweak to Leon's version...I shut the Full Count board down due to some extremely disparaging comments about 9/11, not threatening lawsuits.

Prior to all the crap, these were great, great days!

[Leon]

Originally Posted by mwilliams

Small tweak to Leon's version...I shut the Full Count board down due to some extremely disparaging comments about 9/11, not threatening lawsuits.

Prior to all the crap, these were great, great days!

Thanks Mike. I had heard John (and maybe you but for sure John) had got threatened with lawsuits. Maybe that was only a rumor though.....at any rate glad to have you here with us again after all of these years.