Results of the USSM Dave Cameron Scholarship Drive

DMZ · December 12, 2008 at 1:40 pm · Filed Under Mariners 

Including donations outside Pledgie and my match of the first $500, I’ll be cutting Dave a check for

$8,826.76

to support his college education.

Really. $8,826.76.

I am filled with gratitude for you all.

Comments

45 Responses to “Results of the USSM Dave Cameron Scholarship Drive”

  1. Dave Clapper on December 12th, 2008 1:48 pm

    It’s a shame this opportunity to help Dave came up when the economy was so bad. I was delighted to be able to contribute, but the iffiness of my job meant that I contributed less than I really wanted to. Nevertheless… what a great community, and Dave deserves every penny (and more) that was raised. This makes me proud of everything USS Mariner.

  2. mark s on December 12th, 2008 1:48 pm

    Fantastic! Makes me proud to be a part of this community!

  3. Broadcast James on December 12th, 2008 2:04 pm

    Saying this was well deserved, would be an understatement. I’m very happy to see Dave’s efforts being truly valued by the readership here.

  4. gwangung on December 12th, 2008 2:08 pm

    WAHOOOOOOO!!!!!!

  5. Faux on December 12th, 2008 2:09 pm

    Damn, my check just cleared bank today.

    Can you at least put the old paypal up so I can give him some beer money to go with the classes?

  6. JWay on December 12th, 2008 2:12 pm

    Congrats Dave! You deserve it!

  7. Zobmie on December 12th, 2008 2:14 pm

    One heck of a community we have here. Makes one proud to be part of it.

  8. eponymous coward on December 12th, 2008 2:14 pm

    Doesn’t Dave also get $1,000 for being runner up in that contest, so, in essence, he got the scholarship anyway?

  9. Dave on December 12th, 2008 2:24 pm

    I don’t know what to say. I’m honestly speechless. Thank you all so much.

    The college scholarship people actually gave me $2,000 as a “we’re sorry for how this went” runner up bonus, so all total, the total is almost $11,000.

    You guys are amazing. I have no words.

  10. JI on December 12th, 2008 2:30 pm

    How did you end up with 76 cents on the end? That’s strange.

  11. Ninja Jordan on December 12th, 2008 2:32 pm

    How old is Dave?

  12. DMZ on December 12th, 2008 2:32 pm

    Paypal takes a percentage.

  13. wrob4343 on December 12th, 2008 2:41 pm

    Im in school too, otherwise I would have donated. Dave actually deserves it though. One day I want to be as dedicated to something as Dave is to USSM!

  14. scotje on December 12th, 2008 2:42 pm

    Also, people donated non-whole dollar amounts even before the PayPal cut. I think to be clever but I’m not sure.

  15. JerBear on December 12th, 2008 2:44 pm

    Sweeeeeeet! Congrats, Dave! Makes me extremely pleased to know that you came out ahead after all… We don’t need no stinking scholarship! 🙂

    In all honesty, we sincerely appreciate all that you and Derek (and Conor and Jeff and the mods and everyone else) do to keep this place running and stocked with excellent analysis. This site truly has no competition, and we’re glad you guys put such effort and care into it. Thanks.

  16. Teej on December 12th, 2008 2:46 pm

    More than glad to help, Dave. Good luck in your studies.

    And thanks to Derek for putting it all together.

  17. JI on December 12th, 2008 2:48 pm

    Ah yeah forgot about the paypal tax.

  18. longbeachglenn on December 12th, 2008 2:50 pm

    What a wonderful way to honor a servant like Dave who has given so much to so many. I too am proud to be a part of this community and thrilled with this richly deserved response. I only wish that his WHIP was a little lower.

  19. wrob4343 on December 12th, 2008 2:56 pm

    probably unrelated… definitely unrelated but [deleted, unrelated]

  20. JerBear on December 12th, 2008 3:02 pm

    I only wish that his WHIP was a little lower.

    Although, based on last year’s ERA, I think he has some talent and should have a good season… 😉

  21. ThundaPC on December 12th, 2008 3:03 pm

    Amazing.

    Congratulations!

  22. robbbbbb on December 12th, 2008 3:21 pm

    So, wait, Dave, you made out better than you would have if you’d won the scholarship contest in the first place?

    Awesome. Truly. Glad to be a tiny piece of it, and you deserve every penny. Use that education well.

  23. seattleslew on December 12th, 2008 3:49 pm

    That’s wonderful. Congratulations, Dave!

    All gave some, some gave all.

    Good luck!

  24. thewyrm on December 12th, 2008 3:55 pm

    Congrats Dave. Be sure to do something smart with that cash before you do what I’d do with a check for $8000. You know, spend it all on hookers and blow.

  25. Alaskan on December 12th, 2008 4:18 pm

    You know, spend it all on hookers and blow.

    Hey, if it helps get him through school, who are we to judge? I doubt the hookers will help, though, and I’m sure Mrs. Cameron would agree.

  26. MKT on December 12th, 2008 4:25 pm

    Be sure to do something smart with that cash before you do what I’d do with a check for $8000. You know, spend it all on hookers and blow.

    “Tug McGraw, asked what he would do with the salary he would make as a pitcher, said, ‘Ninety percent I’ll spend on good times, women, and Irish whiskey. The other ten percent I’ll probably waste.’”
    — Louis Menand. 2007. ‘Notable quotables’. The New Yorker, 19 February, p. 188.

    (Pasted from http://www.highlevelresearch.org/Yorksite/Quotes.html )

    It’s almost the polar opposite of an Ichiro quote, but equally amusing.

  27. Matt the Dragon on December 12th, 2008 4:26 pm

    Also, people donated non-whole dollar amounts even before the PayPal cut. I think to be clever but I’m not sure.

    I imagine currency conversion rates account for most, if not all, of those cases.

    Congratulations, Dave. Keep up the good work.

  28. SonOfZavaras on December 12th, 2008 4:33 pm

    Congratulations, Dave. Good luck.

  29. Thom Jimsen on December 12th, 2008 4:41 pm

    Wow. I’m so happy to have been a small part of this.

    The power of the blogosphere — and USS Mariner — has truly asserted itself. I wonder how well this would have gone had a mainstream newspaper columnist tried to launch a similar drive. My guess is that they would have reached fewer people — and fewer people invested in Dave. Today, the blogosphere, I believe, eclipsed the mainstream in terms of pured targeted reaching and drawing power.

    Dave, I’d say, “go on and do great things” … but you already are. Your awesometasticness knows no bounds.

  30. banestar on December 12th, 2008 4:58 pm

    Congratulations!

  31. The Ancient Mariner on December 12th, 2008 5:26 pm

    Congratulations. I regret that I was too strapped myself to help, but it’s good to see our collective gratitude for your work bring you some actual benefit. 🙂

  32. Five Number Ones on December 12th, 2008 5:56 pm

    Dave, thanks for all the great work. You and Derek are not only the best Mariner coverage around (to the point that immortal heroes Thiel and Stone are stealing from you), you’re the best baseball coverage around, period, and my friends from other teams admit it.

    As for the decimals, I tacked 47 cents onto my donation for reasons that I cannot explain.

  33. Evan on December 12th, 2008 6:30 pm

    It’s a shame this opportunity to help Dave came up when the economy was so bad. I was delighted to be able to contribute, but the iffiness of my job meant that I contributed less than I really wanted to.

    Ditto. I made two donations, but I wish they’d been about three times the size.

  34. spetzy on December 12th, 2008 6:42 pm

    wow! great job! i bet you make your wife proud.

  35. Typical Idiot Fan on December 12th, 2008 7:25 pm

    That is a lot more then I thought it was, and I am more then proud of all of us. No, we didn’t make our own 10 grand, but it’s still a damn fine effort.

    Our little “grass roots” campaign has demonstrated what the power of a true fan community can do. Good work all.

  36. WardP on December 12th, 2008 7:26 pm

    @MKT:

    Tug McGraw was once asked, “Which do you prefer playing on, grass or artificial turf?” His response: “I don’t know. I’ve never smoked artificial turf.”

    Congrats Dave!

  37. Taylor H on December 12th, 2008 7:49 pm

    I’ve been reading/commenting on this site daily since 2006, and the quality of Dave’s work has never dipped below fantastic.

    Congratulations, Dave. You earned this.

  38. ajdaddy on December 12th, 2008 7:52 pm

    Congratulations, Dave! You guys do so much work on the blog to entertain and inform us, it was a pleasure to be able to chip in my little bit! It probably should have been more!

  39. Jim_H on December 12th, 2008 9:11 pm

    /cheer

    Congrats Dave!! Well deserved!

  40. mkd on December 12th, 2008 9:23 pm

    Glad this really dumb story had such a happy ending. Glad to contribute- will do it again in the future. I f’ing love USS Mariner.

    @ five number ones:

    I’ve been obsessed with 47 since I read The Long Walk by Stephen King when I was a kid. My alarm is set for 6:47 am.* I occasionally run into other 47philes. Nice to meet you.

    *and, of course, I hit the snooze bar 5 times and get up at 7:23. Of course

  41. Sports on a Schtick on December 12th, 2008 10:05 pm

    Seriously, this might be the greatest offseason in Mariner history.

  42. kmsandrbs on December 13th, 2008 8:01 am

    This is fantastic.

    In and of itself, this is quite the story. If there is a journalistic entity out there that follows the web … this is the kind of story they should report on. It actually might be interesting to see how much money you raise from ads, vs. straight donations, vs. apparel issues, vs. beer money, vs. the scholarship. It wouldn’t surprise me if the last two were actually the most profitable, and might lend a good economist with some better ideas about how to earn a small amount of cash from a good blog.

    Dave, I am incredibly happy to see people recognize you, even in small ways, for the contribution you have made and to assist you in being able to increase your skills.

    For all of the USSM authors, I hope y’all see this with a sense of pride. We all know the site is not a money maker (even if you include the amount that was raised for Dave, if you balance that against time invested), but I hope this indicates that there is an appreciation, even a monetary appreciation, for what you provide.

    Finally … I have no idea if the scholarship people learned anything about their process. As many people indicated, it seemed a poor choice as a way to determine a scholarship. However, if they feel the need to continue on in this fashion, I have a suggestion … instead of just votes, do a matching scholarship competition (with a reasonable limit on individual donations). That way, EVERY blogger wins, to a degree. Plus, they really would only get people ‘voting’ who truly wanted to support the individual.

    Congrats Dave! If you ever have any issues as you pursue your higher education, let me know. It’s my field of study and work, and I would be happy to share my wisdom if it can help!

  43. harry on December 14th, 2008 12:27 am

    I barely posted last season, but I still read USSM every day. Congratulations, Dave, it’s well-deserved.

  44. MKT on December 15th, 2008 11:24 pm

    instead of just votes, do a matching scholarship competition (with a reasonable limit on individual donations). That way, EVERY blogger wins, to a degree. Plus, they really would only get people ‘voting’ who truly wanted to support the individual.

    It’s a really good idea, but with one bad attribute: blogs with rich readers would have an advantage. E.g. blogs whose readers are mainly students would likely get lower donation amounts than blogs whose readers are … (insert job title of overpaid fat cats or idle rich).

  45. kmsandrbs on December 16th, 2008 2:04 pm

    It’s a really good idea, but with one bad attribute: blogs with rich readers would have an advantage. E.g. blogs whose readers are mainly students would likely get lower donation amounts than blogs whose readers are … (insert job title of overpaid fat cats or idle rich).

    Yeah … I think the per-donation limit would have to be $5 or $10. Certainly, this would not completely overturn the advantage, but it would help, combined with the same kind of features they used to limit voting by individuals.

    Of course, better yet might be to get voting to narrow it down to 5 or so, then actually have some kind of panel of experts determine the winner.

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.