I like the suggestion of effectively 'suspending' posters who temporarily get out of control, but whose actions don't warrant an outright ban. Not sure if the current software allows that.

We have definitely had a few incidents where users have been 'warned'. Perhaps future warnings could come with a suspension of posting privileges for x number of days.

Overall though, banning users is kind of rare. Usually the deletion of an improper post along with a PM warning does the trick. Also, the selective locking of threads that have heated up to personal flame wars tends to cool things off.

Things are always bad after a loss, so the overall need for fans to 'vent' is also taken into consideration
JC