no.stupid.answers

Today we’re celebrating Steven KeyMan, a longtime WikiAnswers contributor. How long, you ask? Steven reached the Ruby level in contributions and managed to grab a WAmmy award as ‘The Neat Freak’ for most category changes in 2008, as well as two honorable mentions.

But that’s not where it ends: The KeyMan is a Category Supervisor for Baseball Memorabilia (you’ll soon understand why) and a graduate of the Mentoring program. He’s hit over 500 Trust Points, over 500,000 contributions and has won 2nd place in a past AnswerThon.

How did you originally hear about WikiAnswers?

I first heard of WikiAnswers when the name was changed from FAQ Farm. (Rimshot - badum-CHING)  In fact, (or in ‘FAQ’, if you will) the link saved in my favorites still reads FAQ Farm, and has the original URL: Faqfarm.com. Always doing research on-line for baseball memorabilia, I often found myself being directed to FAQ Farm. Now as a member of WikiAnswers, I share the results of my past research with collectors looking for information.

Explain your username.

No, I am not the egotistical man that is the ‘Key’ to everything. My WikiAnswers username, Steven KeyMan, is a tribute to my childhood hero: Mickey Mantle (micKEY MANtle). My first name is Steven. Often, in the past, trying to use the name Mickey Mantle as a username with other forums, Mickey Mantle along with a thousand other combinations of numbers is usually taken. KeyMan - Key the last three letters of Mickey, and Man the first three letters of Mantle - is more unique.

What motivates you to volunteer your time to the WikiAnswers community?

I enjoy collecting baseball memorabilia, and love to help people with their questions. It’s kind of an extension of my hobby, and in helping people out I also learn in the process. The greatest part of memorabilia is the history behind the item. Regardless of value if a piece of memorabilia has a story behind it, it has my attention. If I do not know the answer I am compelled to find it. My motivation to volunteer my time is the love for the hobby, to pay my dues for the wealth WikiAnswers has given me and… to get Crystal off my back to become a Supervisor.

What are your areas of expertise?

Baseball Memorabilia would be my area of expertise but I do not consider myself to be an expert. I like to use the term knowledgeable. If I were an expert, I would know everything, and knowing everything would make it all very boring. I don’t know everything. You could ask my ex-wife.

What is your favorite WikiAnswers feature?

My favorite WikiAnswers feature is the ’sign out’ feature. When I sign off it usually means I had enough, I can’t see anymore, and it’s time to go to bed.

My second favorite feature are the Trust Points. When I receive a trust point, it gives me a sense of accomplishment in that I have helped someone out.

What has been the funniest question you’ve seen or your funniest experience on WikiAnswers?

The funniest question I had to answer had to be when Crystal asked me to become a Supervisor. Thank you Crystal - I’m not laughing anymore!

In general, I find it amusing when a question is asked with too much detail, and the asker runs out of room to complete it. Such as: How much is a Mickey Mantle baseball signed for my fathers cousin given to me by my mothers brother in-laws friend three weeks before m…?

And last year’s WAmmy for funniest question winner: When Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died did he start to decompose? That is genius!

Share a random fact (or two) about yourself.

I take great pride when I am asked for advice about historic memorabilia items. I have been interviewed by newspaper reporters on items like the value of Barry Bonds’ record-breaking home run baseball. TV shows such as ‘History Detectives’ have come to me a number of times for information.

I have had the pleasure of seeing some extraordinary pieces of history, providing advice, and information to museums, and authors of reference books. I am currently in contact with the Vatican about a group of baseballs signed by Joe DiMaggio, NL President Warren Giles, and baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn presented to Pope Paul VI when he held masse celebrated at Yankee Stadium on October 4, 1965. A plaque was dedicated to the Pope in center field in Yankee Stadium for this event.

An ongoing adventure.

Do you want to be interviewed for the Contributor corner? Just leave a comment below and we’ll get to work.

Today I’m happy to present a deeper look into one of the brilliant minds behind the WikiAnswers team. Gil is a WikiAnswers tester, who, when not working on making sure the site is constantly perfect, apparently has other things to think about… who knew?

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Yesterday was a big day for me.

Four of my favorite sports teams were playing simultaneously in three different sports, and luck would have it, they all won!

It’s hard to describe how good it feels for a devoted fan when your favorite team wins a game, I think the closest I can come is it’s like having the best ice-cream headache of your life combined with the rush of eating way too much chocolate (before that nasty stomachache kicks in). So if you’ll take that feeling and multiply it by four you’ll know how I feel today…

…kind of sick.

You see, apart from being a part-time Wikiholic, I am also a sportsoholic.

I follow baseball, football, basketball and soccer; in each I have a different favorite team.

Actually, it’s even more complicated than that.

I root for one baseball team, one football team, two basketball teams (one in located in Israel and one from the NBA), and three different soccer teams (one in Israel, one in England and one in Spain).

Wait, I think I can complicate this even further.

One of the basketball teams and two of the soccer teams play in two different leagues each. That’s like trying to Supervise ten different categories…

Oh, and did I mention that almost half of those games are played between midnight to 6 am, my local time?

So, to recap, every year I follow seven teams in ten different leagues, playing more than 365 games. No wonder days like yesterday happen…

Gil

P.S. And I didn’t even talk about my favorite tennis and golf players!

Do you want to be interviewed for the Contributor corner? Just leave a comment below and we’ll get to work.

Sometimes I look around WikiAnswers and come across questions I’d never imagine people wondering about. Questions are a matter of taste, I suppose, like anything else.

Like yesterday, here’s a rundown of bloggers who have had some of their own questions answered by WikiAnswers… And, like yesterday, I am left satisfied knowing that no matter how bizarre the topic, we’ve got it covered.

• Yum Yum Lax shifts the focus on to the true enemy of all, baseball, as it gloats the answer to, Is baseball boring to some?
• You hear it all over and are too afraid to ask, lest you prove you’re behind the times. No fear, Frugal Parenting shares the meaning of the word beta.
• As the last of the states go to the polls to choose a Democratic candidate for the U.S. presidential elections, you may want to take this into account: Barack Obama’s favorite food. Shared by the Laptop Chef.