Actually… I think this does mean that they are dumb. If not dumb then willfully ignorant, which is even worse.

The worst experience I ever had with comments on 247 was when Arvydas Macijauskas was a Hornet a few years back and Byron barely played him. We got a lot of Lithuanian commenters, and while some were cool, most were there just to make racist statements about Scott, how he didn’t like playing white guys, etc. It was unbelievable. I was glad when the team bought Macas out because I didn’t have to moderate that crap any more.

It’s a shame that people feel they can say whatever they want on the Internet. Just because they’re anonymous they think it’s okay, even though they’d never dream of speaking the same words in the real world. I loved what Mark Cuban did with the Josh Howard backlash, posting those e-mails he got on his site. Completely turned the tables on the haters, and I like to think he got some of those people to step back and take a long hard look at themselves.

It wasn’t the blogger that was being sketchy, it was the commentors, whose actions actually proved the blogger’s post to be exactly right. I don’t mind a reasoned argument, but I don’t like the idea that people can come on other people’s sites and anonymously be ignorant and disgusting. And then you wonder why people don’t think the internet is “legitimate.” I guess all you can do is never let it happen on your site. Which is a huge issue I have with the cesspools of racism that are Nola.com’s comment threads. They just do not moderate what is pure hate speech, and I don’t find it OK. Deadspin? Occasionally a funny site, but whenever there is a picture that remotely has a woman in it, even teeny in the background, the commentors all chime in with “yes” or “no” on whether they’d do her. Guess which site I don’t go to anymore to read funny sports news.

Which is my own rant, and not where mW was going, but I think if the internet is to evolve, people need to come to realize it’s important to keep their “property” safe from jackassery. I mean, I don’t go put on a mask and piss on your lawn and wave my body parts around. Which is roughly equivalent to what some people do on other people’s sites. And I do think it makes others avoid having discussions there, and the person who owns the site has lost out.

For the whole WNBA thing, I don’t think it’s necessarily sexist for most people, but it’s an easy target to place on the league. I remember one point they made promoting WNBA viewership was that the Shock swept the finals despite a strong Silver Stars squad. Well, that’s precisely a reason for me NOT to watch (in retrospect), since I didn’t watch ANY of the Spurs-Cavs finals, and we all know how that went (coming from a guy who watches the playoffs like a madman). To express my opinion in a justified and reasonable fashion on many of those sites is futile, which is a reason I avoid the commenting sections and always come back here.

However, my favourite active player is Becky Hammon (for all basketball), so needless to say, I’m pretty biased FOR the WNBA.

And don’t go and promote that anonymity postings hold no responsibilities. I still remember ticktock’s rants about those trolls during the playoffs, hahaha.

Damn fine post, mW