Perhaps this is old hat, but if you haven’t seen it, it’s new to you. Normally, when the thought of defacing Internet profiles come to mind, one looks to Wikipedia for the fallout; but now, perhaps we should look to Facebook whenever the subject is brought up.
Just ask Andrew Bynum of the Los Angeles Lakers. During the deciding game of the Dallas Mavericks/Los Angeles Lakers series, the Mavericks were well on their way to dismantling the defending world champions when things got a little chippy. Apparently, the Lakers didn’t like being swept, and so, in the fourth quarter, they started taking these frustrations out on their Maverick counterparts. First, Lamar Odom — better known to many has the other half of E!’s Khloe & Lamar unreality television show — threw a should block into Dirk Nowitzki, a move that resulted in Odom’s ejection.
But the fun didn’t stop there. After Odom was shown the door for letting his frustration get the best of him, Lakers center Andrew Bynum did Odom one better by throwing an elbow into a driving J.J. Barea, a play that commentator Mike Tirico referred to as “bush league.” See for yourself:
While the reaction to Odom’s foul — see here — is one that acknowledged frustration, the reaction to Bynum has been downright brutal. Not only is he being raked over the coals by the national media, the trashing of Bynum has extended to his Facebook page, and it’s grown into a life of its own. Perhaps such a reaction is expected, especially in today’s world of social media obsession, but seeing it jump off the Bynum’s page is rather impressive.
Granted, if Bynum was a more prolific Twitter user, the battle may have been fought there, but alas, Facebook is the chosen ground for Bynum bashing. An example of the reactions, put into a SFW format. The vitriol, however, does not get reduced:
Bynum your the definition of a ghetto loser!! Why don’t you back to the hood where you belong, you no class loser!!! I would gladly spit in your face you ain’t nothing but a CHUMP!!!
It continues:
wow, acts of sore losers…… yall already have won championships, but acts like that de-classify you as a champ. u embarrased magic, and not even phil jackson wants to continue witnessing such disgust. taking off your jersey after the game on the court? what a sore loser.
And:
You should retire from basketball and go to Smackdown! Play with respect and be a professional you incompetent piece of trash.
One more:
I just read what you said about the cowardly punch on the ribs to JJ Barea and I just wanted to tell you FU** YOU
So yeah, it’s clear Andrew Bynum is a hero to the people… Oddly enough, Bynum does get some defenders on his page, but they only make things worse with bits of genius like the following (all [sic]’d up for your enjoyment):
Hang in there Bynum You are one of my favorites. Mistakes happen and there is next year and Im looking foreward to it’
And no, your editor did not add those mistakes. With Facebook, you don’t need to. So while this isn’t the level of fallout Rashard Mendenhall faced, Bynum still received the social media equivalent of being tarred and feathered.
Internet defacing. It’s not just for Wikipedia anymore.