Trolls and Enablers

 

Timing and optics = bad

There has been much to process in the aftermath of the Bills/Bengals game last night and Damar Hamlin's cardiac arrest.

As I wrote last night, ESPN was magnificent in their coverage and I continue to commend everyone involved with that broadcast.

Of course, we had Skip Bayless (who doesn't work for ESPN) acting like Skip Bayless and, as the night gave way to this morning, the world resumed acting in the disgusting way we do.

Bart Scott went on TV (ESPN, unfortunately) and blamed Tee Higgins, the Bengals receiver involved in the play with Hamlin. No, Bart, this is not Tee Higgins' fault.

Bayless, of course, seemed to focus way too much on the status of the game at a time that felt just "too soon." But it was "on brand" for him.

And that's where I find myself today. I'm thinking about the troll, which Bayless is.

Look, I can certainly be accused of saying and doing things to dial blood pressure up and I'll own it but, in the grand scheme, who am I?

This is Skip Bayless's thing. The contrarian. The troll.

The best thing is to not feed them. Oh, I have experience with trolls. I look at their own social media accounts every day.

Every.

Day.

And yet, whether out of pity or some other bizarre reason, the trolls in question get the attention they are craving.

Why?

That's the part I really don't understand.

You realize that by ignoring them -- the thing we've been taught since we were little kids -- they'll go away or back down, right?

Yet, astoundingly, I see the same thing day after day. The same ridiculous content and the same people liking it.

On a much larger scale, that's what happens with Skip Bayless. He's the squeaky wheel and he gets the grease. Look, I don't know of anyone who watches his show. I don't watch it but I don't watch any of those "embrace debate" shows.

I've got social media for my daily dose of utter stupidity (and, believe me, there has been plenty today). For instance, I am actually repulsed at the number of people who think Hamlin's heart attack was a result of the COVID vaccine. The fact that that is even a discussion is a sad statement on our society in 2023.

The guy (I'm trying to be nice) that does the show on WGCH before mine was implying it as I getting ready to go on the air. What a reprehensible clown.

(To be clear, that show doesn't originate from WGCH or Greenwich. It's a national show.)

But, we're the enablers who feed this stuff.

Heck, from the other side of this, I can tell you that it drives me when I get feedback about the blog, broadcasts, or anything else. Positive reinforcement is definitely a good thing and now I'd like a cookie thank you very much.

So if you keep feeding just remember what you're creating: a monster.

Maybe that's what you want.

Because I've seen this movie many times and I know how it plays out. It's not pretty and, normally, there is fallout.

I have the shrapnel wounds to prove it.

Perhaps I am equally guilty in that I'm writing about trolls/Skip Bayless so I'm feeding them as well.

Attention is what they live for. In the case of Skip Bayless, attention is what his bosses live for also.

Stop enabling these people, whether it's Skip Bayless or someone who isn't famous. 

*****

Word is breaking as I write that Damar Hamlin -- exactly who we should be focused on -- is showing signs of improved breathing. His uncle spoke with CNN and said that Hamlin had to be resuscitated twice; once on the field and once at the hospital.

The world continues to think good things for this young man. 

Lastly, if you didn't hear, Hamlin started a GoFundMe to raise funds to buy toys and other items to "bring lasting impact to his community." Hamlin is from McKees Rocks, PA just outside of Pittsburgh.

It had raised some money (around $3,000) since it began back in 2020 and surpassed its goal of $2,500. Tonight, it's at $5.3 million.

People can be good. Very good. Great, even.

Just don't feed the trolls.