I don't know about anyone else, but red flags went up when I saw this thread. Personally, I believe that that the chance of some unknown lurker that follows pool enough that he knows who Darren is and actually watched a pool video, then decides to sign up on this forum just to start a thread badmouthing Darren, are extremely slim.
People don't go from lurker status to create a account and the first post out of the gate is to ream a pro. Sorry, just not the way things work. The guy obviously knows how to start threads and post videos, so he's familiar with this forum to that extent. Doesn't sound like a newbie to me.
I don't fall in the category of people that want to let him slide just because he "apologized". No one is entitled to be a member here, if the first post they make, the subject line is Darren Appleton is a lying cheat or whatever the hell he said.
Think about it.. how many legitimate people here would have went from having no account here, to creating a account and then badmouthing a pro in such a despicable way IN THEIR VERY FIRST POST? Not really sounding like some guy wanting to fit in and maybe make some friends since he's a brand new member.
The whole thing doesn't pass the BS test to me, therefore he deserves to be banned and reamed a new one, because believe me.. he's laughing about the whole thing, especially all the people that are feeling genuinely sorry that people are going off on him because after all.. the poor guy did post a "apology".:grin:
Just my opinion... everyone is certainly entitled to their own, I"m just going with my experience and common sense on this one.