Every once in awhile you'll read something that makes you say, "That pretty much sums up everything that's wrong with the world." I came across one of those today!
This epic tale encompasses subjects such as, message boards, idiot fans, horrific journalism and an overly litigious society. A grand slam!
From CBSportsline.com comes the story of a Nebraska fan that came up with a clever way to get even with some Oklahoma fans. I'll try and sum this up quickly.
- 36 year-old Nebraska football fan named James Conradt decided to antagonize some Oklahoma fans on a message board by posting a bogus story.
- Conradt went to the The Oklahoman website (which is the main OK newspaper) and lifted a template to create the story.
- The bogus story, which at least appeared to be very legitimate, stated that Oklahoma QB's Sam Bradford and Landry Jones had been arrested for cocaine distribution.
- The bogus story is somehow picked up by multiple Texas radio stations and reported as fact.
- The Oklahoman tracks down Conradt and tells him to knock it off.
- The father of Landry Jones threatens legal action against Conradt.
NICE!
Where to begin?
At the beginning of course.
Is there any bigger waste of time then having a debate on a message board? I understand that these are places where fans of a particular school can get together and have a discussion. It's not for me, but I won't lump all these people into one group. However, as soon as your discussion breaks down into "My school's the best, your school sucks" what's the point?
When was the last time someone won that argument anyway? Has it ever happened?
Actually I just looked it up in the ESPN College Football Encyclopedia, it happened once. On March 4, 2003 it was determined definitively that the University of North Texas "sucks" and Baylor is "the best".
Glad we settled that one.
I have a hard time saying "it's pathetic that this guy went to all that trouble to get back at people he probably didn't know and will likely never meet". People waste time doing dumb shit every single day. Someone took the time to put together those spectacular GI Joe PSA's for YouTube.
As far as internet pranks go, this one was at least creative. Whether or not this is malicious I think you can debate. I'm sure in his wildest dreams this clown would have never thought that some legitimate media outlet would pick this up and run with it. Who is moderating these boards anyway? The FBI? I doubt it.
Let's face it, I could tell you right now that [insert prominent figure] has committed [insert heinous act] repeatedly. Is that illegal? Maybe. Does it happen every single day? Certainly.
Personally, I would love for some judge somewhere to have to try and figure out what constitutes slander when it comes to the internet. Good luck policing that one folks.
The most egregious aspect of this entire story in my opinion is that multiple radio stations that people rely on to be accurate when they're reporting "the news" would run with this story. ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? How does that happen?
Journalistic integrity is dying a slow death in this country (and probably elsewhere) because the line between rumor and fact has been almost completely erased. It's easy to say, "Don't believe everything you see in the paper," or "Don't believe everything you see on TV." Do people REALLY have to be told "Don't believe everything you see on the internet"? On message boards?
FUCK!?
Twice this week I have heard talking heads at ESPN address rumors in the world of sports. The first said, "Where's there's smoke, there's fire." That's really solid reporting. That was in the response to the nauseating Brett Favre saga. Just die already man.
The second time was actually today in response to the very story I'm rambling about. This time it was, "Some of the stuff you read on those message boards is true." Cripes. Some? How do you know which? The stuff about Jimmy committing to State or the stuff about the two OK QB's getting busted for selling blow? Which exactly is accurate buddy?
The last time I heard "Where there's smoke there's fire" was right around the time ESPN was lambasting Ohio State over the Troy Smith accusations. Troy Smith did indeed take a handout. To insinuate that the whole program was dirty and that Tressel was on his way out as a result, well, we're still waiting for our apology on that one after the NCAA found absolutely nothing else going on.
The Oklahoma AD addressed this very issue today stating, "We feel it's real unfortunate how many things have germinated from an anonymous starting point that are unfounded, untrue and, as this story proves, hurtful," Mossman said. "The Internet has enabled a lot of this kind of thing to happen, and it's really disappointing."
Right on brother.
And finally, we get this comment from the father of one of the defamed(?) QB's, "I'm going to prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law, I've got deep enough pockets to do it."
You stay classy my man.
Someone pulled a prank, someone made a mistake (actually several people made mistakes), someone has apologized and the whole world now knows your son isn't dealing China out of the 4,500 sq. ft. luxury condo the University of Oklahoma is providing for him.
Can't anyone ever take the high road? If it was my son, I would be pissed off. The first club out of the bag shouldn't be "I'm going to sue" though. Oh, and you got the chance to tell the whole world you've got "deep pockets" out of this too. We're all thrilled for you father of Landry Jones.
Instead of dialing your lawyer why don't you explain to us what kind of a fucking name Landry is anyway. Asshole.
I'm guessing the protaganist in this story, Little Jimmy Conradt who likes Big Red, doesn't have millions of dollars sitting around for you to take a bite out of. You want to waste more taxpayer dollars in court? Sue the morons at those radio stations.
I'm not sure if anyone else caught that fake CNN story running around the internet a few years ago about the Olsen twins matriculating to Ohio State? Yeah, this isn't the first time some genius with spare time and a laptop has dreamed this up.
I guaran-fucking-tee that this will now become the prank dujour for college football fans around the country. G-F-T.
"Lies, lies, these are all lies."
Wake up people.
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