For Whom the Bell Trolls

Twitter trolls are a fascinating species. You never know when they’ll strike from their dark and dank dens deep under the staircase that leads to their parent’s basement.

A couple Sundays ago, Husker Nation and its players received enough constructive feedback from the trolls that it felt like Middle Earth came to life.

Considering what happened that fateful morning, #TommyBomb’s reaction to the news was no worse than your aunt who will post a 500 word rant on Facebook whenever Hy-Vee doesn’t honor an expired coupon.

However, Tommy’s tweet had the trolls smelling blood in the water.

According to @Drama419‘s Twitter bio, he’s a “Family man, traveling man. Sports nut, Noles, Vikes, Pens! I get to travel the world and engage in Tomfoolery” and lives in Maumee, Ohio, a hamlet of 14,000 on the banks of the mighty Maumee river. The town’s biggest attraction is the interstate. I-80 and I-90 magically become one (according to the Google Maps) as it passes by Maumee.

Now @Drama419 claims to have a wife, a pair of kids and a wonderful life. A life so wonderful that he had nothing better to do on a Sunday morning than harass a college kid who just found out he lost his coach, mentor, and friend.

One can only imagine what the rest of his Sunday Funday was like. “Hey honey, round up the kids. We’re taking a cruise up to the I-80/90/475 interchange to watch all the big dreamers who are driving someplace that isn’t Maumee.”

Cut to the following Friday night.

I’m on the couch with my feet up watching the Pac-12 Championship Game between the Oregon Ducks and the Arizona Wildcats. It’s absolutely amazing how fun and relaxing college football can be when the Huskers aren’t playing.  And by fun and relaxing, I mean your heart doesn’t stop beating every time the ball is thrown in the air.

Oregon won their rematch with Arizona in a landslide and before the final whistle even finished blowing, a Twitter troll lashed out at your humble author, his friend, The University of Arizona Athletic Department and the Los Angeles Kings hockey team.

WTF, right?

A couple points to clarify in my response to @colebigby: 1) when I said Oregon is my second favorite team, the gap between the Huskers and the Ducks in my fandom (like any true Husker) is so great you’d need Matthew MacConaughey, a spaceship, and a conveniently placed wormhole in order to properly measure the distance. 2) By “watching the game with Coach Neal‘s brother” what I really meant was that we were both in our respective homes furiously texting back and forth like a pair of 12-year-old girls who just guzzled their first Frappuccinos. Lord help us if we ever figure out Snapchat.

In his defense, @colebigby was quick to own up to his mistake.

But he revealed an interesting look into the mind of a Twitter troll. What he responded to was a Twitter chat that happened two months earlier about Duck Hunt memes.

Score one for the Wildcats coming up with the Duck Hunt joke first.

And seriously, trolls. When your team wins, celebrate and enjoy the victory. If you feel compelled to tweet about it, write something nice to your team and players.

Don’t be so quick to rub your team’s victory in the faces of the losing fans that you rely on a program to help you find Twitter users to troll. But if you insist, at least make sure you’re trolling the right people.

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