Today is a momentous day in the history of these boards, for history has been made on this wonderful late-Winter 'noon. For today, here as I type at 1:52pm AEST I am only the 3rd forumer to reach the coveted 50,000 posts.

The much loved AfromanGT was the first person on this sometimes wonderful, sometimes depressing, sometimes absolutely outrageous forum to achieve this summit. Our beloved Afro is no longer part of these forums, successfully separating himself from the all too often nonsensical bullshit that goes on around here. He still leads the forum count with a tick over 60,000 posts, most of which were involved in a long running, intense, bloody war with Notorganic. A conflict, which like many civil wars, had no actual winner, but the forum still bears the scars of many a dozen page attack, allowing a particular interesting topic/thread/discussion to derail with the ferocity of the Lac-Mégantic rail disaster

The second poster to reach this achievement was Joffa. Half man, half Robot, he achieved this through posting so many news articles in threads that nobody cared for, often interrupting useful conversation. Along with his polls, and the often irritating, "Well, here's the thing" option, he has posted many good threads along the years, matchday threads, etc. After a short absence, he seems to have returned, although his motives are yet unknown. Will he charge on, and attempt to overtake AfromanGT, or will Kevin Airs reel in his cover identity? 

For me, it's been a long, and enjoyable journey. Much like attempting to complete the Great North Walk in a record time, this forum has had it's wonderful peaks, and some very low, low times. I've met a lot of people on here, and made some pretty good friends. We've shared banter, drunk many litres of beer and sat in pubs for hours on end. We've created armies, and lost banners on suburban railway platforms. I've laughed, and I've cried, I've wound up in a hospital emergency room with a fellow forumer, and almost had my bollocks burnt of by a flaming petrol can by another (because let's face it, lighting petrol when you're drunk seems like a great idea at the time!). I've shared schooners, and seedy motel rooms, casual racism, long train and bus rides and political incorrectness.

It may seem a little sad, but I've made lots of great friends and shared some memories that'll stay with me forever thanks to this forum. It's a brilliant little community that like most communities, has it's problems but in all it's been a wonderful forum that I'm proud of being part of. 

So cheers, lads. 50,000 posts down. Another 50,000 to go until the next major milestone. If it takes me another 6 years, I wonder what other adventures we'll have! 

Oh, and by the way, the secret forum and features that unlock when you hit 50k posts are pretty cool. :cool:

Heine :)