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

[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.