Last November, when the race videos from the Missouri High School boys meet were posted at flo, the video of Rockhurst breaking the 400 Free Relay record became a pretty spectacular 45 comment blogfight. I felt horrible for the boys on the relay and for their coach. It has to be an awful feeling to do something so great, only to have anonymous cowards take cheap shots at you on the web.
I will be posting soon about Swimming World TV's decision to require names attached to comments. I was in the middle of writing that blog when I ran into Rockhurst's coach Paul Winkeler, and he was nice enough to let me ask him about the comments from that race. I have always wished that the jerks commenting on that post had to attach their names, and I have wondered how many of these particular jerks would have said anything at all if we knew who they were at the time.
Rockhurst seems to have taken it pretty well. Coach Winkeler seems to have accepted the jerks as a part of modern sports.
A "Strange Observer of All Things Swimming" and "The Helmet and Horns of a Different Opinion."
You know, maybe if you blog for SW.com they will let you chime in as Screaming Viking? Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteI can't stand when people chime in about things, in a particularly ignorant & insecure rant.
A coach in my LSC pointed it out to me and it makes sense. "When you are the best you're seen as an a-hole. When your not, your a nice guy. I would rather be seen as an a-hole."