All very viable theories.

LeBron James paid FanNation to delete everything before he became a free agent. That crafty devil has been plotting this for some time. This is an actual quote from LeBron from November 25, 2008:

"If you guys want to go to sleep right now and not wake up until July 1, 2010, then go ahead because it's going to be a big day,"

The plot thickens....

QUOTE(#6):

Originally posted 06:48 AM ET  12.07 by FL0AT:TheTroof!

ROY got a job as a Mod? We are all DOOOOOOOOOMED! I tell you.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! :^D

July 1, 2010...the Mayan Calendar missed that one.....

Heres the seneraio:

They had to delete comments to ensure enough room for everyone's "Dream Team" comments comparing the Marlins to the Heat.


You're welcome.

QUOTE(#8):

Originally posted 07:24 AM ET  12.07 by TnerB57

Frome JPax, over on the NCAAF threads: "I think maybe I know what it is. Langoliers."This one cracked me up more than any other.

Ha!

SI's FN site is jealous of ESPN and are trying a new competitive technique - under-competing. Changing the college and pro football gameflashes so only tweeters can post was the first step. Deleting old comments will mean that no one can now compare this site unfavorably to ESPN's site. And there is more to come when they removed both sports news and sports rumors from the site.

Maybe... they just pulled an old server offline and are going to replace it with a new one with terabytes of storage. Then we get everything back, only faster.

Thanks for the in depth investigation into this confounding problem.

Good work Yoda!