Warning, this post contains many embedded tweets. My apologies for going slightly Buzzfeedy/Deadspinny on everyone, but I'm not doing this to poke fun at random clowns on the internet. I promise.
In case you don't do the tweets or follow Dom Brown on twitter or care much about giant dudes smashing into each other and in the process likely turning their frontal lobes into Swiss cheese, yesterday afternoon Domonic Brown became History's Greatest Monster.
How is that even possible, you ask? Easy, he simply posted this:
Go boys pic.twitter.com/RGSjojx8Kj
— Domonic Brown (@dom9brown) October 20, 2013
Yes, that's Dom Brown in a Dallas Cowboys jersey, rooting for the Dallas Cowboys*. When they were about to play the Philadelphia Eagles! The horror! A traitor of the highest order! Or maybe just a guy who isn't from the Philadelphia area and is a fan of teams he grew up rooting for. Yeah, probably that last one.
By this point, you should know what comes next. The scholars and gentlefolk who make up some small portion of Philadelphia fans responded, and responded with vigor.
The illustrious @4for4Phillyfan had some thoughts for Dom on how he might raise his Q score in the city:
@dom9brown you wonder why Philly fans don't embrace you. Maybe bc you post dunbass pictures like that.#momshouldhaveswallowed
— Brian (@4for4Phillyfan) October 20, 2013
Sage advice. One should not post dunbass pictures. A truly valuable contribution.
The lumpencommentariat continued...
@dom9brown I don't care how good you are, you're not a Philly. You make me sick, I will cheer for your failure.
— Larry Weikle (@LarryWeikle) October 20, 2013
@dom9brown u suck hope you break an ankle..
— Frank Holmes (@allstatehs) October 20, 2013
Those two seem odd. If Dom fails the Phillies are worse off for it so...they're rooting against the Phillies? One doesn't need horse sense to sign up for a twitter account, I suppose.
@dom9brown hope you take a fastball between the eyes.
— Hank Chinaski (@DewDew302) October 20, 2013
Ah, the old, I hope you suffer bodily harm for liking a sports team I don't like line! Seems reasonable, no?
Anyway, there are plenty more but you get the general tenor of the posts. But fret not, for I have not forgotten my promise to you, kind reader. This post isn't about the unlettered but vocal minority. It's about two other things. First, and this something that doesn't get nearly the press that the nattering nabobs of negativity get, is that if you go over to Dom's twitter mentions (the messages that people have typed that include his Twitter user name), you have to wade through at least an equal number of supportive messages and messages castigating posters like those above. These are the things you never see in those tabloid-style lists of collated ignorance.
@dom9brown The amount of hate received for this is ridiculous. Root for who you want but just bring it on the diamond in 14! #GoPhils
— Adam Shafer (@Ashafe24) October 21, 2013
Here's a thought... Who gives a fuck if @dom9brown is a cowboys fan. It's a free country right?! #PeopleSuck
— JB W (@jwawrzy288) October 21, 2013
@dom9brown The amount of hate received for this is ridiculous. Root for who you want but just bring it on the diamond in 14! #GoPhils
— Adam Shafer (@Ashafe24) October 21, 2013
Just as the silliness above continued, so do the supportive tweets. In fact, a few wonderful people even enjoyed what Dom was doing.
I hope before he goes to bed , @dom9brown tweets, "Yeah, and I don 't like cheese steaks, either, fuckers."
— mrsloctastic (@mrsloctastic) October 20, 2013
@Ut26 It's epic trolling. He knows exactly what he's doing and it's hilarious.
— Zeus Moscow (@LOLPhillies) October 20, 2013
(WholeCamels!)
While others pointed out that a certain segment of Philadelphia may be acting a tad hypocritically.
"I love Mike Trout because he still roots for his childhood team despite being in California, but Dom Brown JUST DOESN'T GET IT"
— Dan Schmidt (@3DPhillySports) October 21, 2013
The cognitive dissonance; it hurts!
When you see those kinds of posts liberally sprinkled among the vitriol, it's a reminder that most people aren't cretins and have a little perspective on things. Which brings me to the second point I wanted to make. You know who has the right attitude toward the ignominious thoughts that inevitably emerge on social media platforms? Domonic Brown. See, Dom knows exactly what he's doing. This isn't his first time running afoul of Eagles fans, and HE'S AMUSED BY IT. Let's go back to September 8th, when Dom tweeted this:
Big win for my boys tonight . Great times . With my bro @benrevere9 #cowboys #nfl #football pic.twitter.com/wo2ZQVLubU
— Domonic Brown (@dom9brown) September 9, 2013
His very next tweet, two days later:
I love it guys . This is y Philadelphia the best sports city in the world . I can't stop laughing . Love u guys
— Domonic Brown (@dom9brown) September 9, 2013
So it should be no surprise that Dom posted this Friday, before posting the picture at the start of this article.
@Greg_Lewis12 I love it. Can't wait to post my cowboys pics. Me and my boys laugh so hard at the comments lmao
— Domonic Brown (@dom9brown) October 18, 2013
Domonic Brown isn't this guy:
He's this guy!
via data2.whicdn.com
In case there is any lingering doubt as to Dom's intentions we can just look to his timeline. He posted that original picture around 1:30 Sunday afternoon. Shortly thereafter Phillies beat writer Matt Gelb took notice of the twitter fallout and fired off a tweet about it, to which Brown replied:
— Domonic Brown (@dom9brown) October 20, 2013
Yes! A winky face! Perfect response. Dom knows, and he wants us to know that Dom doesn't give a crap.
I love it. I'll admit, I'm a little off sometimes, and I find myself being contrarian more than is probably necessary. I'm the guy who likes when movies don't have a happy ending. It's why once the Phillies were eliminated I hoped the Yankees would win the World Series with A-Rod as the MVP. I wanted to watch Bud award Rodriguez that trophy. It's why I want Yasiel Puig to flip his bat into the stands and somersault into first after a grounder up the middle. As long as no harm comes to anyone, anything that challenges people to defend their mores and preconceived notions of what constitutes acceptable behavior is, in my mind, great. Thus, I really love what Dom did yesterday, and I love the Philly fans who embraced him for it.
As the cherry on top of this trolling Sundae, Dom left us with this, posted more than six hours after that original incendiary tweet, and the hundreds of ripostes:
Go boys pic.twitter.com/ap6JWBpDzk
— Domonic Brown (@dom9brown) October 21, 2013
This is the way it's done. Don't delete tweets when people predictably hate what you have to say. Don't pretend you got hacked. Don't shy away from posting anything that might be seen as controversial, and don't be dispirited by the blathering hordes. Brown is (possibly inadvertently) following what I consider to be some of the best famous-person twitter advice I've come across. It comes from the 17th century Bishop of Geneva and noted social media consultant St. Francis DeSales, who said, "Be who you are, and be that well." You'd be hard pressed to find an athlete simply being themselves and doing it so expertly as Brown has this weekend.
Dom Brown, everyone. Quickly rocketing to the top of the list of my all time favorite athletes.
*Those with a keen eye may have noticed someone who looks an awful lot like Mike Adams over Dom's right shoulder in that original photo. Adams clearly needs to step up his tweet game. Few internet commenters berated him and he actually had a disappointing, injury plagued season.