I think this might be my first time disagreeing with Tom! Hope they don't take away my DBB card.
I don't think people were unfair to Joe Rigo, on either the Fisher's Island review or the other thread, nor do I think anyone is making the case that FI is above any criticism. When you make brash, over the top statements, dismissals and insults, you shouldn't be surprised when others take the same tact with you.
Tom, my recollection of The Confidential Guide... is that you gave FI a 7. I think you said something about there being few other places you might rather spend a day, but the implication was it was more the setting and experience than the perfection of the course. Yet, no one came on here and ripped you for your views.
Mr. Rigo's prose doesn't exactly evoke the memory of Darwin, nor were his comments as insightful architecturally as many of the reviews posters on here offer quite frequently.
And calling out the maintenance practices at FI shows a lot of what Mr. Rigo is looking for, imho.
There is a lot of terrific discussion of this site of FI, for anyone who cares to search for it. All of it is a lot more of the type of discussion we are seeking here, as opposed to reviews like Mr. Rigo's, imho.
I don't think there are any sacred cows on here, but I also think that if someone is going to make strong statements, they should be prepared to back them up, and not be surprised when people take umbrage.