Comment Trolls

In my nine-month career as a Blogger I have been required to develop a new set of computer skills and learn some new terminology. I had fooled around with HTML code editors a little before last August, but now I have an everyday reason to keep my HTML code in order on my Blogs because a little errant code here or there in the “Blog Skin” template or in the code of a new posting can result in a complete disaster in how the Blog pages look when you stop by to read my writings.

Can’t have that, can we?

In addition to links to other Blogs and Websites, I have added and learned how to use site meters to monitor my readership and gloat over my success or failure on a weekly basis. I have been surprised to learn that I have readers not only here in the US, but also across Europe, Asia, and the Pacific rim.

The one section of my Blog that is disappointingly under-utilized is the comments section. Either I am so on target with my writing that all I get from my readers is a mental “Amen Brother” or I am so laughable that most of my readers refuse to believe that making comments could possibly do any good. I wish that I got more sincere comments.

There is one phenomena out there in Blogdom that I have had very little experience with—“Comment Trolls.” “Comment Trolls” come in two forms. There is the “Drive-by Comment Troller” that stops in once and delivers an explicative laced comment rant that might or might not make any logical sense, and there are “Stalker Trolls” that adopt a Blog and pester the heck out of the host Blogger with multiple mindless missives.

I got this gem from an anonymous “Drive-by Comment Troll” today:

“your f(**)king stupid, the players that have recently received the MVP award have earned it due to their hard work and talent on the court. This has nothing to do with what race they are. Don't feel bad that more African Americans have won the award than whites have, it might be that they are more talented, that is why most of the players in the NBA are black.”

This lovely piece of mental flatulence was in response to my May 10th posting titled Racism-In The NBA?

Here is the core of my argument:

“In a league populated largely by gigantic, sweaty, foul mouthed, overpaid black men, sportswriter Dan le Batard of the Miami Herald Herald writes this article questioning racism as a factor in Canadian Steve Nash beating out Shaquille O’Neal for MVP of the National Basketball Association.

I did a little checking, and out of the past 24 NBA MVP’s, Bob Pettit, Bob Cousey, Dave Cowans, Bill Walton, Larry Bird, and now Steve Nash are the only white boys on the list.

So what is le Batard crying about any way?”

My Anonymous Comment Troll obviously can’t read because they missed my point entirely. In arguing gainst Steve Nash's MVP title, Dan le Batard (not me) is the one quoted as asking:

“How much of this has to do with race?

A lot?

A little?

Or ''zero,'' as Miami Heat president Pat Riley said before the little white guy beat the big black guy for MVP?

My point in my earlier writing was that no white player since Larry Byrd had won MVP, and once the league fully integrated and moved into the “modern era” of the “hip-hop rapper thug” NBA that some of us refuse to enjoy today that the MVP’s had been exclusively black—that is, until Steve Nash won the title this year.

I personally have no argument with the number of black and white NBA MVP’s and never made any comments to that effect in my posting. I did add that the liberal media and race warlords Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson would be all over the NBA if the MVP ratio was reversed on the basis of whites and blacks.

Finally, I will point out to my “anonymous comment troll” that Nash’s Phoenix team is still winning in the NBA playoffs, as is Shaq’s Miami team. Nash is still a factor in the categories of scoring, stealing, and assists that won him the MVP title and his team is benefiting as a result.

I would suggest to Mr./Miss/Transgendered “Comment Troll” that if you want to call somebody “f**king stupid,” that you direct your (f)e-mail to Mr. Dan le Batard ( dlebatard@herald.com ) at the Miami Herald. It would also help if you actually attempt to read and understand what I write next time you get your boxers in a bunch.

And by the way…Y’all come back now, ‘ya hear?