fbpx

The San Francisco Giants made history last night. In a game 7 blowout, the Giants survived elimination game after elimination game to dethrone the current national champions…the game ending in a theatrical downpour that made for one of the most unusual conclusions of a series in memory.

St. Louis Cardinals fans are generally regarded to be if not the best, among the best in baseball. They have supported this widely respected organization with tremendous enthusiasm. The Cardinals are good – not good enough this time, but year in and year out, perennial contenders.

This post is an example of the tiny minority of Cardinals fans who contributed last night to a cesspool of banal, hateful conversation on Twitter. The examples I found on Deadspin and on Twitter were shocking, racist, ignorant and amazing. These are examples of the darkest side of human nature, expressed using the mega-powerful broadcast tools we are easily armed with on our tablets and phones in 2012.

It's so easy for us to broadcast mental knee-jerk reactions, reactions which show our true character, whether that is our intention or not. Do these  St. Louis fans represent all of the Cardinals Nation? Of course not. Are there ridiculous, idiotic, racist Giants fans? Of course there are.

These Tweets are presented to you today as teaching tools. The takeaway? Not everything you think should be spoken aloud. Sometimes you should put your phone down and walk away from those words you want to share with the galaxy, words which will never, ever disappear. Your hate and ignorance will live with the universe forever.

 

Tweet Now, Think Later? 2

 

Aaron York called up a familiar hackneyed cliché to show his frustration. This venom is disgusting, the worst kind of stereotyping. The well-traveled York certainly stakes claim to understanding Bay Area culture quite well. York apparently felt the need to use a Cardinals loss to admit to the world that he is tremendously insecure, an admission that has nothing to do with baseball, and everything to do with him.

 

Tweet Now, Think Later? 3

 

This one is interesting because Ricky Barry is trying to connect the former home addresses of the Fox announcers with the outcome of a baseball game.  Joe Buck and Tim McCarver get enough heat, a tiny bit of it deserved, but this superb citizen has threatened to murder these two gentlemen for…well, I'm not sure why.

 

Tweet Now, Think Later? 4

 

Joey Napoli probably considered Cardinals infielder David Freese one of his favorite players until the National League Championship Series. So we have learned that if Freese's wife gives birth to a child with a physical deformity (or facial features that resemble Sarah Jessica Parker), this will make Mr. Napoli happy. Would Joey say the words above to Freese in person? You know, I think he's the kind of guy who would.

Tweet Now, Think Later? 5

Lane Caldwell is also a frequent visitor to the Bay Area. This is obvious by his knowledge of our local gay population. Caldwell makes a bewildering connection between the sexual orientation of a handful of our residents and the gender of the Giant's PA announcer.

Lane, I know Renel well. I worked with her for a couple of years. She is the Jackie Robinson of the PA booth, having managed to break both the gender and the color barrier in taking this position with the Giants. She is competent, capable and popular with local fans. Lane Caldwell is afraid of women, and he just told all of us he is. Well played, sir.

 

What you say on Twitter tells us what kind of person you are. Your relative anonymity gives you a false sense of security, the feeling that no one can get to you. Lane Caldwell thinks he can say whatever he wants, and only his closest circle of “friends” will notice.

Oops.

Let's close with a thoughtful post by another intelligent, passionate fan.

Tweet Now, Think Later? 6

There we go. The Cardinals are one of baseball's best teams. These guys busted their butts to get to where they were. They wanted to play well and get back to the Series.

They had another great run. This time, they came up short. They'll be back.

What you say when you hit <enter> lives forever. Would you say what you said last night…this morning, in front of a group of real people?

You know, I think they would.

 

 

 

Tweet Now, Think Later? 7

John Scott

John Scott is the career services manager and a media instructor at the School of Multimedia Communications, Academy of Art University San Francisco.

His second book, "You. Employed."is available in the Amazon book store.

View all posts

1 comment

Leave a Reply!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

John Scott

John Scott is the career services manager and a media instructor at the School of Multimedia Communications, Academy of Art University San Francisco.

His second book, "You. Employed."is available in the Amazon book store.

Get The Newsletter

Enter your email address to subscribe to ITN and receive notifications of new posts by email.

  • Advertisement

Instagram

Instagram has returned empty data. Please authorize your Instagram account in the plugin settings .

Book Recommendations

Brilliantly

SAFE!

2022

Categories