Shane. (who isn't Shane720, as far as I know.) Nothing quite like the first time I heard "castrati"!!
I'd also make a distinction between talking crap -- just yammering and badmouthing -- and the true art of Smack Talking. True smack talking has craft, so that when you hear it you almost want to laugh even if its directed at you! Its smart, funny, and it stings a bit.
Lasz was often not too loud on 200, but every so often he'd let off a real zinger. Sometimes when he'd get on a roll I'd go onto 200 and say, "Now, kids, THIS is what smack talking should be like!" Unfortunately what passes for smack now is little more than "you're lame", "you're ganging", "nice pick", and endless permutations of similar whinefesting. It almost always has more to do with "I just died and I don't like it" than it does with cleverness or wit.
I think of smack talking as being jabbed with a fine point, like a rapier. 99.5% of what floats around here is either lame purse fighting or as subtle as a biker with a 2x4.
