I don't think it's kissing his ass. He won a pretty high level show and it's just giving him credit. He takes a lot of shit but never really seems to meltdown and never gives up and just keeps plugging along. If he left the board entirely because of all the crap we give him he'd be criticized for being a pussy and not being able to take the heat.
Remember how much shit Steve Namat use to get but he never gave up and never backed down. After a while you earn a little respect. There's a lot of folks here like that such as Arvilla and JNN that went through the ringer but never gave up.
I'm sorry, but Steve, Arvilla and JNN seem like cool guys, MattT, however, is not. Dude is pretty much full of himself and to me, sends off a vibe, at 28, yet to outgrow.
For whatever reason, he might be okay in person, but going by his posts and this is dating back to 2003 or so, the persona in the posts are all "look at me," kind of attitude.
Again, I don't know Matt personally, just going by how he carries himself here.