Internet trolling and immaturity may cost you down the road. Just ask Dylan Miley, more commonly known as WWE wrestler Lars Sullivan. WWE announced that Sullivan was fined $100K ($100,000) for insensitive comments that he posted on the bodybuilding.com message board. In addition, Sullivan must undergo sensitivity training.
Fining a low-tier wrestler $100K for things he posted before he joined the company? Doesn’t seem appropriate. I could even see firing him if he were deemed too much of a public-relations risk. The company should take responsibility for failing to perform due diligence on the matter. Maybe match that $100K and donate all the money to a goodwill cause?
Most of his comments were from 2007-13. Reportedly, Sullivan joined the company around Oct. 2013. Here is the reddit post covering this topic. It features links to all his controversial remarks. They provide evidence that the “elperfecto” account belongs to him. Please note that bodybuilding.com is a community where users frequently use derogatory language (e.g. “ph***ot” and “r****d”) without any repercussions. Typical high school gym talk mentality. Such controversial behavior is nothing new there.
Some of what Lars Sullivan (elperfecto) says is true. Other users provide few, if any, defenses against his statements. For example…
elperfecto on Alberto Del Rio: The only reason he’s in a main event position is because he’s Mexican. And WWE needs that latino superstar to bring in the latino audience and merchandise sales. Mexican’s love him, whites hate him.
MY TAKE: That was the point with Del Rio. He was marketed to a niche audience who was supposed to generate heel heat from white crowds. Jinder Mahal went from lower midcard to WWE champion solely because of his Indian heritage. Neither is racism. It’s marketing to a target audience.
Some of what he says is harmless, albeit foolish, opinion.
elperfecto on A.J. Styles doing well in WWE: He’s old and small. No.
MY TAKE: Narrow-minded opinion. Hindsight has proven him wrong. Foolish, but it’s a harmless opinion that should generate nothing more than an eye-roll.
Then we have analysis that would subject 50 percent of my Facebook list to a $100K fine.
elperfecto on demonizing Muslims for their religion: They should be demonized for their religion. They are violent and have a violent agenda against America.
MY TAKE: Fifty percent of my Facebook just got fined $100K. Seriously though, this is buying into false perception. Extremists make up a significant minority of that religion. It just feels like more because the media rarely covers anything but the negative. It’s similar to treating Twitter as the Gospel, even though, like Clay Travis claims…
Oh the irony…
elperfecto on social anxiety attacks, part one: lol @ “anxiety attacks” in a grown man. It’s called a mental disorder, and it’s called stop being a bitch who likes to feel sorry for yourself. Be a man, don’t be scared, and get out there and live your life.
elperfecto on social anxiety attacks, part two: Aw did I cause you to have another anxiety attack? Go take some prescription medicine for it you ****ing derp.
MY TAKE: A reported anxiety attack kept him out of a potential huge push and marquee match at WrestleMania 35.
Now we got some downright ignorant stuff, although this may provide an example of “out of context.”
elperfecto on Kofi Kingston and R-Truth: On the flip side I will ask what are Kofi and R Truth supposed to be? A PG black panther stable? I always wondered why they had to team up two black guys. Both those guys look like they could be in a prison black gang.
MY TAKE: … Not sure if serious or sarcasm. Having reviewed the context of that post, it appeared he was making a smart-ass remark to the original poster who claimed The Straight Edge Society was meant to look like “A PG skinheads or Aryan brotherhood stable.” Without context, this looks bad. Reading the whole post and his remarks afterward, probably more of a sarcastic attack to the poster than what he feels about those two wrestlers.
Then again, he criticized Styles because he was small. He made other posts centered around black stereotypes. So…
…..
Alright then. I’m not analyzing every single post. Message boards breed a lot of immaturity, trolling, and overall ignorance. Kind of like Twitter but replace the memes with lots of typewritten nonsense and backfire effects.
My primary memory with forum controversies occurred around 2007. I was a frequent visitor at the website Madden Planet. One of the sections was a sports bar where people discussed sports topics unrelated to the Madden video game. Former NBA player Tim Hardaway claimed that he hated gay people. Here’s a rundown of Hardaway’s homophobic attitude.
What ensued was a rant spanning nearly 1,000 replies. People were fuming on both sides of this debate. You can imagine the homophobia and religious intolerance. For me, this was an eye-opener as to how abrasive people became over debates. In a society where everyone wants to have the last word, the verbal attacks seemingly never end until a moderator puts a stop to it. It’s an Armageddon of backfire effect.
It’s a little disturbing to think people are getting punished for immaturity stemming more than a decade ago. Lars Sullivan was making those posts in his early-20s. At that age, I went through a Rucka Rucka Ali phase. Not because I agreed with any of it. I just had a dark sense of humor. Now in my 30s, people say I’m humorless and that I need to lighten up. Nonstop criticism from Millennials. It’s impossible to please them!
What can Average Joes and Average Janes learn from Lars Sullivan getting fined $100K? Many collegiate and professional athletes have already learned this difficult lesson. Anyone who uses the Internet has submitted themselves as a participant on a real version of The Truman Show. Consider yourselves watched. Always think before you hit “Send.” If you drink, don’t think; just stay off the Internet until you sober up.
Clean your history. Cover your webcams. God isn’t the only one who watches you masturbate. There’s always some shady figure spying through webcams, baby monitors, smart devices, etc. One day, you’ll discover that you’re the biggest porn star on the dark web. Red rooms created just so viewers can watch you sleep, undress, masturbate, whatever.
I’ve said it before: we are a Society of Stone-Throwers that never forgive, never forget. People will do anything to fulfill their agenda. They’ll do anything for that dopamine rush from uncovering ancient dirt on another person.
Watch yourselves. You never know when the ignorance of your youth may cost you when trolls, employers, enemies, or anyone search through your online portfolios.
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Joshua Huffman was born and edumacated in Middle Tennessee. He has published content for Yahoo! Sports (via Contributor Network) and Titan Sized, among other venues. At SoBros, he’ll provide Daily Fantasy Sports suggestions and broad sports coverage. Follow him on Twitter (although I rarely use it).
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