I wrote a sports column for last week’s paper titled “Tide no threat after halftime.”
In it, I basically went on and on about how Alabama is overrated this year, and that Auburn still has a good chance to beat them.
Because I was entitled to my opinion, I just felt like letting out the frustrations Auburn’s been having by pointing out Alabama’s weaknesses.
Auburn’s lowly performance against West Virginia Thursday night made me look like an idiot, and Alabama handled Tennessee quite well in the second half of its 29-9 Volunteer beat down, which didn’t help either.
But what really surprised me were the online comments my article received.
I probably checked The Plainsman’s Web site 10 times Thursday, and every time I did, new comments were waiting for me.
Apparently, Sports Illustrated has an RSS feed on its site, and my article popped up on Alabama’s SI.com team page, which generated some Crimson Tide fan traffic.
I was quite shocked at all this, especially because the most comments I’ve ever received on an article was two prior to this.
Now, the majority of the comments were absolutely ridiculous, a lot of them were vulgar and some of them were even threatening.
I know this is nothing new in regards to the online community, but I’ve never sparked up this much debate with something I’ve written before, so it’s kind of new to me.
And to be honest, I thought the whole thing was pretty funny.
It eventually got to the point where the people commenting were not even talking about my article, but they were starting to turn on each other.
I welcome all feedback. But please think before you jump on a computer and start typing away.
The following are some of my favorite excerpts from the anonymous comments.
I think this will give me a chance to respond to some of them.
“You are, in fact, NOT a qualified sports analyst.”
Please. How exactly do you know? Do you have a copy of my resume?
Have you ever read anything I’ve written aside from that article? Just because I have a published opinion you don’t like doesn’t mean I’m not qualified.
“Your statement that Georgia was overrated is ludicrous. I guess if Alabama beat USC, 56-0 you would believe they were overrated too!”
I’m pretty sure everyone and their moms would know the Trojans were overrated if anyone beat them by 56.
And USC already lost this year to an unranked Oregon State anyway.
“Listening to you express your self-confessed frustrations indicates that you know no more about football that your beloved Auburn Tigers.”
I’ve been watching college football since I was 3. I’ve quit jobs just so I can watch football on Saturdays all day long. Yes, I’m a die-hard Auburn fan, but I follow the entire college football world and am confident I know more than you.
“Auburn is terrible, not worthly to be in the SEC.”
First of all, “worthly” is not a word, but I think I know what you meant.
Now why in the world would Auburn not deserve to be in the SEC?
Because Auburn’s having a rough year and might possibly end it with a losing record? Is that why?
This comment doesn’t deserve much more of a response. The same person also wrote this comment:
“I’ll be back here with comments after BAMA/Auburn game.”
Wow. Is that supposed to be a threat? Let me tell you my friend, we’ll all be waiting on pins and needles to see what else you can misspell. I can’t take anything you say seriously.
Who knows, maybe the same people that commented on last week’s article will find their way to this one and leave more nice comments for me.
Hey, at least people are reading.
Wes Sinor is the assistant sports editor of The Auburn Plainsman. You can reach him at 844-9104.
