Cardinals’ GM slams troll in Post-Dispatch chat
St. Louis Cardinal's General Manager John Mozeliak.
This is wonderful. St. Louis Cardinals General Manager John Mozeliak has done a number of online chats with fans on the Post-Dispatch’s web site. He is candid and wants to hear and respond to the questions. But he let an online troll have it during a chat on Wednesday.
My colleague, Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz, sets up the scenario better than I could in his column on Thursday. In it, Bernie (an active online participant himself) really captures the essence of online community and etiquette. I’m going to quote from it liberally, because the link won’t be good forever.
But first, the good stuff. A reader who named himself “I Hate Bill DeWitt” (the Cards’ chairman), poses this question on the online chat:
Mo, please describe what it’s like living in your little land of make believe, where you honestly believe that Cardinal fans should be excited about this team. If you wouldn’t mind, go into details, about how in Mo’s world people are celebrating (our) three horrible new lefty relievers, and the signing of our awesome new .213 hitting shortstop.
Mozeliak fires back:
First, (I’d) rather live in my world than yours…it is sunny out today??? No, you’re right, it is 30-something degrees, my girlfriend dumped me, and my car won’t start.
First, it is not we stink (unless you ask yourself these questions in the mirror) and we make decisions based on scouts, stats, and other information. If we thought Greene was going to hit .213 we would not, I repeat, not make the deal. Go back to your world and I hope by mid summer you’re ready to come out for air.
Bless his heart.
But I want to give Bernie his due. This is a guy who has been active in an online forum since well before I arrived at the Post-Dispatch in 2002. He’s been blogging for several years, too. On top of the three or four columns he writes for the paper each week. And the news stories he breaks. In Thursday’s column, Bernie writes:
Debating topics on the online chats and forums can be a full-contact sport. I should know; I’ve been hosting “Bernie’s Press Box” on STLtoday.com for nearly 10 years. And it can get rough. We keep it civil on my forum, and I appreciate exchanging comments with about 90 percent of the regulars who visit. And they regularly educate and enlighten me. We’ve developed a good online community.
But the hack-a-Shaq strategy does come into play at times. If I’m fouled, I’ll take the free throws and keep hanging in there. But on the other end, I also contest layups. No freebies. I’ll do what I have to do. Which usually means zinging an insult right back.
Hard fouls? Sure. This ain’t supposed to be something out of Miss Manners. If you’re going to set up shop on the Internet to truly interact with readers, then you should try to keep it real, and spontaneous. And sports fans like to bust on each other. It’s no worse than the discourse we have in our culture over politics and religion.
Besides, what’s the point of offering vanilla, homogenized answers? If that’s the plan, just stay up in the ivory tower where it’s safe, where you can look down on everyone, where you can avoid being held accountable.
Bless his heart, too.
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