First of all, StingTalk and The Hive have always been good complements to each other, IMHO. Each provides something for the Tech fan that is unique.
The Hive had to be heavy with the hammer when sports message boards in general exploded. It was important to RR to not let the Hive become a) unfriendly to younger users, b) a nuisance to the GTAA, or c) a generally unpleasant place to visit for the masses. When the Hive went from about 1,500 users to four times that much virtually overnight, maybe RR was a little quick on the trigger. But I see where he was coming from.
The Hive guys - even the cliquey crowd - are not bad guys. And they shared the same sentiments that everyone here did about Chan, Patrick Nix, Buddy Geis, etc. Even the mods wanted him gone; perhaps not as early as some here did, but gone nonetheless -- especially once he stepped on that plane to Pittsburgh. It's just that RR has had a long-standing rule that the forum will not be used as a place to call for a coach's head. You've got to remember that the site makes money from the information they sell. And they get almost all of that information from the coaches.
StingTalk provides everything for a Tech fan that The Hive does not, IMO. I've been a member here for years, and always lurked. Now that the commercial real estate crash has lightened my load at work somewhat, I've started posting much more. StingTalk's appeal stems from the facts that a) it is moderated largely by its users, and b) its users are mostly smart/witty. You won't find any of (a) nor much of (b) on the Hive.