How My One Tweet Making Fun Of Coach K Set Off An Internet Frenzy About How Soft Everyone Is Today
I've been in the Barstool blog game now for 5 years. Short relative to the OG's, but long enough to feel comfortable around the Internet streets. I dip my toe in the mud, usually when it comes to college basketball or making a cocaine joke about Peru soccer. They DO NOT like that. But mostly I've just sort of hung out, pissed people off, talk hoops and post smut. Not a bad life. Now at the same time, I did not expect THIS to be the one that blew up and started a Twitter debate about generational softness and death threats. 14 words. That's all it took for it to happen.
I tweeted this at 8:26pm on Saturday night while enjoying a couple nooners and Kentucky kicking LSU's ass. Could I have used a different word besides 'going after'? Maybe. But fuck Coach K. It's what popped into my head first. What I didn't expect was what would happen after hitting send. From pro athletes to Duke's coaching staff, there were takes to be had. Oh, were there takes to be had. Let me be clear. If you are defending K here, I probably hate you. You're probably a Duke fan in Pennsylvania, New Jersey or New York and can't point to Durham, let alone North Carolina on the map. Just the worst of the worst type of people.
I didn't expect this to be the one that blew up. I assumed the same 20-30 Duke fan accounts would chime in with the same boring digs as they get ready to cheer on their Chiefs and Bucs. This isn't even that wild of a K take. Shit, it's pretty much in line of what we think about him from my 5 years to Kmarko to Big Cat to Dave. Really if the entire world could just agree that K is a gigantic dickhead, sore loser and hypocrite while being one of the most successful coaches ever, it'd be a better place. Yet for some reason people refuse to acknowledge the first half of that.
Why? Because of the soft generation. Or at least this perceived notion that everyone is soft or everyone is trying to cancel everyone. Let me be clear. Shut the fuck up. People aren't always trying to cancel someone (unless you're part of the blue checkmark brigade). It's getting a joke off and enlightening people on K being an asshole. This is who he is after a loss. People always use the excuse that he's trying to 'teach' someone, whether it's an opponent or a reporter. No, he's not. It's his sanctimonious holier than thou bullshit.
Which brings me to the actual words in the tweet itself. 'Going after.' That's the one that people are freaking out about. No one is really paying attention to pathetic or K quitting, mostly because I assume level-headed people get the joke and understand K is being an asshole. But this went more viral than normal when I say something about K (thanks Big Cat) because of the argument of being soft. That whole notion is crazy. You don't know your ass from your elbow when you talk about someone on Twitter. Good chance people can't even pronounce my last name let alone anything about what I think is 'soft'. I'm not going to sit here and list accomplishments or shit that shows I'm not 'soft' or trying to cancel someone, because it's pointless. People have their minds made up no matter what and you move on.
But what fascinates me about this viral tweet are the two clear different camps you are in. There's this one:
Then there's this one:
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Two pro athletes taking two completely different sides. Then there's the Duke guys coming to K's defense:
I did laugh at the champ comment. That's an A+ condescending champ. Well done, Nolan. There are a million responses. Like I said everything from people agreeing with me, disagreeing with me to wishing violence and getting fired (sorry, good time to drop I signed a new multi-year deal recently. Suck it, K riders.) and people wishing K gets fired. Hell, even the kid who asked the question responded.
Kid handled it perfectly. Listen, whether people believe me or not but I was a journalism major. I followed Billy Gillispie for two years, so I know all about shitty answers after a loss. The kid asked a softball question. It's a basic question asked at literally every level of the sport. But the problem is K always wants to prove something after a loss. Plus, let's not forget there are plenty examples of him being the asshole after a loss
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- Lying about Dillon Brooks
- Doing the same thing to Virginia Tech player before that
- Shit he's cursed out student reporters before just because of a 'grade' they gave players.
Now back to the answer in question. It doesn't even make fucking sense. Trying to tie it to an econ test? What the hell are we doing here? Oh and let's be honest, if you fail an econ test the correct answer is figure out how quick you can drop the class/get a C or just go to the bar. That's it. You figure out what the fuck to do. And for the whole 'soft' talk? Are we forgetting that K asked for EMPATHY here? EMPATHY. He also called a road game against an unranked Louisville team the toughest test ever. It's a bullshit, stupid answer.
Again, if we all just agree that K is a fucking dickhead, sore loser and hypocrite while being successful we'd be better off. That's the point here. No, I'm not trying to 'cancel' K. No I'm not 'soft.' Just the perfect tweet at the perfect time from a Kentucky fan. That's the start of a viral tweet that I found fascinating. Just goes to show that we’re all screaming in an echo chamber for the sake of arguing, regardless of details and circumstances.