Late Night Thoughts: Realignment twitter is killing the fun

Since the SEC poached Texas and Oklahoma, realignment has basically dominated twitter discourse for the Big 12. Worrying about who would be joining, becoming the Hateful 8, welcoming the newcomers, worrying about tv right, and well just worrying and yelling.

Then, the PAC 12 loses USC and UCLA to the Big 10’s super conference, and the discourse got even worse. Mouth pieces of the PAC-12 desperately trying to convince everyone they are fine and could even go raid the Big 12. Big 12 mouth pieces and fans countering. Name calling. Rumors. And more worrying.

Frankly folks, I am just sick of this stuff. I can’t do it anymore, and trust me, I have been right in the middle of it. it used to be fun to argue with some nerd from the West Coast or tease an SMU buddy about them getting left out. But the fun of it was that it was 1) not literally all the time and 2) it wasn’t this weirdly personal nonsense about quality of school or where someone lives.

Now, the fun is long gone and it’s just constant bickering. It’s personal, all the time, and just everywhere on any post about anything remotely close to the subject. Look, the PAC12 is maybe screwed. Maybe long-term the Big 12 is too. But what good does it do to yell at that Wilner guy? Or the random Utah fans? Does every post need a 300 tweet long thread about how Utah is also a flyover state?

And the worst part of this stuff, the absolute worst, are the damn rumors. Guys, there are real sources for news. Sportswriters and journalists who are reputable, and while they can be wrong they are trying to report on stories the best they can. Even though I think some of the media clearly have agendas and sides, those guys have actual connections. Yeah, people may want to tell them only certain things to try and drive conversation, but they actually talk to industry experts and athletic directors and regents. And like I said, this doesn’t make them right but it makes them at least reporting actual news.

The random freaking West Virginia burner account has never once known jackshit. How many freaking times has an account just said “I have a source” and then straight up lied about a tasty rumor and it gotten run with? I have seen legitimate discourse happening over what doesn’t even rise to the intellectual level of message board rumors.

Even more maddening, the same accounts do this over and over and over. We keep seeing that they are the least plugged in people, and they still get hundreds of replies and quote tweets and likes for spouting literal bullshit behind anonymity.

Like I said when I started these pieces, I am not proposing a fix to all of this. I am not starting a one-man crusade against the nonsense, I am not shouting into that void all day trying to stop this wheel from crushing the sporting discourse on twitter.

But man, surely you all are tired of this too? Realignment is going to continue to churn, and at some point, someone will actually know or tell everyone something. But pick your sources of news well, it is not hard to know who actually knows something and who is full of shit. And for the love of all that is holy, leave the personal stuff back at home and bring the fun back.

Tease folks, have a laugh, crack a joke. But how the hell did realignment become the most toxic thing in sports?