A humorous factor occurred to me this week, moments after LeBron James broke the NBA’s all-time scoring report: I began going viral on Twitter. And never in a great way.
It made no sense. It had been greater than 12 hours since I final posted, and that tweet was about Microsoft and the brand new Bing. I wasn’t even watching the sport between LeBron’s Lakers and the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder — I solely knew the report was damaged due to a information alert on my cellphone. (As a father of two younger and lively youngsters, I am already spiritually and bodily damaged at this level within the day.)
Stranger nonetheless: The viral tweet in query hadn’t even been despatched that day, that week or that yr. No, this was a tweet I fired off 13 years in the past. And it was going bonkers: Almost 160,000 folks have seen the tweet, which has garnered greater than 600 likes.
It learn: “LeBron James=overrated AND heading to New York. Sucks to be in Cleveland proper now.”
Taken with none context, that is an epically dangerous take. Indefensible. Nonsensical. James is on the Los Angeles Lakers. He by no means performed in New York. And clearly, after toppling a 39-year-old report held by the good Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, he is truly fairly good.
And the ultimate irony of this submit: I am a hardcore Lakers fan, which is listed proper on my Twitter bio. I ought to know higher, proper?
The entire thing initially threw me off kilter. When the primary notification hit my cellphone and I learn the tweet, my intestine response was: “Wow, that is a silly take!” My second response after taking a look at it extra carefully: “Oh wait, I wrote that…”
I’m getting slammed for this admittedly dangerous — AND 13 YEAR OLD!!! — tackle Lebron now that’s he the scoring champion. That’s Twitter in 2023, I assume. And sure, I’m a Laker fan. https://t.co/EAuJxYxTbj
— Roger Cheng (@RogerWCheng) February 8, 2023
The truth that Barack Obama was nonetheless within the White Home when that tweet got here out did not matter to the denizens of right this moment’s sports activities Twitter, who mercilessly roasted me. @OldTakesExposed kicked issues off by retweeting my submit, and the haters got here flooding in.
“Rattling you bought like the whole lot flawed right here,” mentioned @Loki64746912.
“I like being so incorrect,” mentioned @OgClutch1.
And maybe the very best insult from @WhackPoser216: “It is truly fairly superior to be in Cleveland. How the Lakers doing?” Not properly, WhackPoser216, not properly.
Shout out to @BradRobinson86, who got here to my protection: “Jesus @OldTakesExpossed that is 13 years outdated.”
However it did not matter. That is Twitter in 2023, a spot the place time has no which means, trolls roam free and it looks as if the inmates are working the asylum (oh, wait…). Not that I minded the jabs and taunts — my cellphone hasn’t blown up like that since I bought former T-Cell CEO John Legere kicked out of an AT&T get together. I truly loved the thrill of my cellphone and a notification from somebody telling me that I used to be so, so flawed.
At this level I believe it is protected to say that my submit is simply horrifically, embarrassingly off. With greater than a decade of hindsight, it is clearly flawed in a number of methods. A newly earned scoring report and 4 titles for LeBron has me with egg on my face.
However extra fascinating to me: This tweet additionally served as a mirrored image of somebody wholly completely different from the individual banging away at a keyboard now. This was Roger in his early 30s, possible in a midtown Manhattan sports activities bar, one hand on a glass of beer and the opposite on his cellphone, fast to tweet. He was actively engaged within the Twittersphere, keen to hitch the dialog, any dialog. He additionally would’ve taken this extra severely, and possibly gotten a bit defensive about the entire thing.
it is truly fairly superior to be in Cleveland. How the Lakers doing?
— Mike (@WhackPoser216) Might 18, 2016
Present Roger is much more burned out from social media and, generally, much more zen about issues. So possibly it is good that it is occurring now. Both manner, it is a refreshing reminder of who I used to be.
Present Roger additionally has the advantage of an entire lot of hindsight. Bear in mind, it was 2010, and none of James’ titles had materialized but. My tweet went reside on Might 13, 2010, the identical day the Kevin Garnett-led Boston Celtics bounced James’ Cleveland Cavaliers out of the playoffs within the Japanese Convention semifinals. The loss had Cleveland questioning if its hometown hero would stick round, with the good cash suggesting he would transfer to the New York Knicks.
James would announce two months later that he was “gonna take my skills” to Miami as an alternative. Seen with that context, my tweet makes much more sense (even when it is nonetheless not nice).
Twitter, nevertheless, is not going to let logic or context deter sports activities followers from skewering one among its personal. And I am completely sport. Heck, I might welcome a second serving to of backlash if James might win my Lakers one other title. I’ve bought a glimmer of hope after all the trades made this week.
However I am not dumb sufficient to submit one other foolhardy James prediction. One viral second is sufficient.
