A humorous factor occurred to me this week, moments after LeBron James broke the NBA’s all-time scoring record: 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 new Bing. I wasn’t even watching the sport between LeBron’s Lakers and the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder — I solely knew the file was damaged due to a information alert on my telephone. (As a father of two younger and lively kids, 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 12 months. No, this was a tweet I fired off 13 years ago. And it was going bonkers: Practically 160,000 individuals 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 file held by the good Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, he is truly fairly good.
And the ultimate irony of this publish: 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 telephone and I learn the tweet, my intestine response was: “Wow, that is a silly take!” My second response after 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 suppose. 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 now’s sports activities Twitter, who mercilessly roasted me. @OldTakesExposed kicked issues off by retweeting my publish, and the haters got here flooding in.
“Rattling you bought like every little thing mistaken right here,” stated @Loki64746912.
“I love being so incorrect,” stated @OgClutch1.
And maybe the perfect 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.”
But it surely 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 operating the asylum (oh, wait…). Not that I minded the jabs and taunts — my telephone hasn’t blown up like that since I received former T-Mobile CEO John Legere kicked out of an AT&T party. I truly loved the thrill of my telephone and a notification from somebody telling me that I used to be so, so mistaken.
At this level I believe it is secure to say that my publish is simply horrifically, embarrassingly off. With greater than a decade of hindsight, it is clearly mistaken in a number of methods. A newly earned scoring file 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 totally different from the particular person banging away at a keyboard now. This was Roger in his early 30s, doubtless in a midtown Manhattan sports activities bar, one hand on a glass of beer and the opposite on his telephone, 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 perhaps gotten just a little defensive about the entire thing.
it is truly fairly superior to be in Cleveland. How the Lakers doing?
— Mike (@WhackPoser216) May 18, 2016
Present Roger is much more burned out from social media and, typically, much more zen about issues. So perhaps it is good that it is occurring now. Both means, it is a refreshing reminder of who I used to be.
Present Roger additionally has the good thing about an entire lot of hindsight. Bear in mind, it was 2010, and none of James’ titles had materialized but. My tweet went dwell on Could 13, 2010, the identical day the Kevin Garnett-led Boston Celtics bounced James’ Cleveland Cavaliers out of the playoffs in the Eastern Conference 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 considered one of 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 received a glimmer of hope after all the trades made this week.
However I am not dumb sufficient to publish one other foolhardy James prediction. One viral second is sufficient.
