Think before you tweet.
Think before you tweet
Fresh off a blowout win against Clemson in last week’s Sugar Bowl, Ohio State has found itself with an issue more pressing than an upcoming date with Alabama: The Buckeyes are experiencing a COVID-19 outbreak that could leave them with an entire position group unavailable and perhaps even force next Monday's National Championship to be postponed, AL.com’s John Talty and Matt Zenitz reported on Tuesday. The CFP has booked Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium for Jan. 18 as a backup date, although there has not been a final decision on whether to bump the game back a week, according to the report. (CFP executive director Bill Hancock and Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith told ESPN that the game will not be moved from its original Jan. 11 date.)
Of course, some fans inevitably took the news as evidence of a conspiracy; this is the world of college football, after all. But somebody with a little more responsibility than a Twitter egg joined the chorus of Crimson Tide supporters alleging shenanigans.
Alabama coach Nick Saban’s daughter, Kristen, tweeted on Tuesday afternoon that Ohio State’s coronavirus cases are a smoke screen designed to get the game pushed back so that quarterback Justin Fields, who injured his ribs on a nasty hit against Clemson, can rest up and be at full strength when the title game is played.
The younger Saban set her account to private before posting an apology three hours later. “I made a huge mistake and I apologize,” she added. “In a moment of frustration, I let my anger get the best of me and acted before thinking.”
When someone makes a bad tweet, their actions can sometimes tell you just how bad it was. If they leave the post up and don’t follow up on it, maybe it wasn’t so awful. But, this was pretty bad! How do I know? Well, Saban ended up going through all five stages of social media controversy:
- Delete the tweet.
- Set your account to private.
- Post an apology.
- Delete your account.
- Delete your other social media accounts.
Hopefully Saban learned a few lessons here that are applicable to any person these days. First of all, think before you tweet. Second, don’t be a conspiracy monger during a global pandemic. And most importantly, don’t give college football fans a reason to be mad at you. They’re already mad enough at everybody.
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