On Feb. 25, former MLB pitcher Curt Schilling wanted to let his Twitter followers know just how happy he was that his daughter Gabby was going to play softball for Rhode Island’s Salve Regina University.
What he got back was reminder of just how cruel the world of social media can be. On his blog, 38 Pitches, Schilling shares the thoughts that were running through his head as people on Twitter started to say the most offensive and obscene comments about his own daughter. "With that tweet I expected a response. Some congrats for sure, but absolutely the smart ass college kid and likely many of them from RS to reply," Schilling writes. "And I was not disappointed."
After receiving some of the more alarming tweets, like “I’ll take care of her” and “Can’t wait to date her!" Schilling tried to protect his daughter with another tweet.
Not only did his attempt to strike fear into these trolls not work, it got worse. "And tweets with the word rape, bloody underwear and pretty much every other vulgar and defiling word you could likely fathom began to follow," Schilling shares. To give you an idea of what Curt is talking about, take a look at the image below.
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Again, this is his daughter they are talking about! And while Schilling does try to emphasize that he's been a jock his whole life and knows what comes with that world, there is a line and those guys crossed it. But, instead of being the "deranged protective dad [who] could have been face to face with any of these people in less than 4 hours," he gets even, airing out some of the personal laundry of @Nagels_Bagels (who has his account suspended) and @primetime227 (which no longer exists).
All of this is to say that Schilling knows where this type of abuse can lead and it's sad and unacceptable. “The amount of vitriol I’ve heard is not an issue. I am sure I’ll hear more,” he writes. “But I have to ask, is this even remotely ok? In ANY world? At ANY time? . . . The ignorance and pathetic lack of morals or of any integrity is astounding.”
To read his piece in its entirety, click here.
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[via 38 Pitches]
