Former MLB great Curt Shilling did what many people that have been trolled on social media sites have wanted to do, but haven’t been able to, which is to beat them at their game. On February 25, Shilling’s 17 year old daughter, Gabby, received an acceptance letter to the Salve Regina School. The news got even better for her, because she was informed that she would also get to pitch for the school’s softball team.
Curt Schilling wasn’t at home when his daughter received the good news, so he did what many proud fathers have done in the past, which was to congratulate his daughter, and he posted the news on Twitter. A few hours after posting the message on Twitter, Schilling began to receive some very rude messages regarding his daughter. A lot of the messages were sexual in nature, and some even went as far as to suggest rape, which is something not too many fathers would put up with.
Anyone that has used social media knows that there are a lot of people who feel they can get away with saying anything because they are protected by the anonymity of the internet. Unfortunately for two of the trolls that decided it was a good idea to make lewd comments about Schilling’s 17 year old daughter, Curt Shilling isn’t the type of person that takes things like that lying down.
The retired pitcher turned the table on the trolls by Googling the handles they use on Twitter, and using their friends to track down their Facebook and Instagram pages, which apparently is pretty easy to do.
In a little over an hour, Schilling had found nine of the people that sent him lewd messages about his daughter, he also found out which schools they attended, and some of their parent’s email addresses. After he got their information, Curt Schilling decided to reach out to them, and did not name any of the people that apologized to him for their behavior. He did identify two men responsible for the most vulgar tweets.
One of the men, who had used the Twitter handle “TheSportsGuru,” was identified as Adam Nagel, a student at Brookdale Community College, and the other man used the Twitter handle “Hollywood,” was identified with the help of some of Schilling’s fans as Sean MacDonald, the vice president of a fraternity at Montclair State University, and a part time ticket salesman for the New York Yankees. Since Schilling publicly identified them, Nagel was suspended from school due to his behavior, and MacDonald was fired by the New York Yankees.
Internet trolling and cyber bullying have been going on for years, because there are so many social media platforms available, but Schilling’s actions just showed a lot of these trolls that there can be consequences for their actions, and future trolls will think twice before messing with him or any of his family members again.
Get away with saying anything because they are protected by the anonymity of the internet. Unfortunately for two of the trolls that decided it was a good idea to make lewd comments about Schilling’s 17 year old daughter, Curt Shilling isn’t the type of person that takes things like that lying down. The retired pitcher turned the table on the trolls by Googling the handles they use on Twitter, and using their friends to track down their Facebook and Instagram pages, which apparently is pretty easy to do.
In a little over an hour, Schilling had found nine of the people that sent him lewd messages about his daughter, he also found out which schools they attended, and some of their parent’s email addresses. After he got their information, Curt Schilling decided to reach out to them, and did not name any of the people that apologized to him for their behavior. He did identify two men responsible for the most vulgar tweets.
One of the men, who had used the Twitter handle “TheSportsGuru,” was identified as Adam Nagel, a student at Brookdale Community College, and the other man used the Twitter handle “Hollywood,” was identified with the help of some of Schilling’s fans as Sean MacDonald, the vice president of a fraternity at Montclair State University, and a part time ticket salesman for the New York Yankees. Since Schilling publicly identified them, Nagel was suspended from school due to his behavior, and MacDonald was fired by the New York Yankees.
Internet trolling and cyber bullying have been going on for years, because there are so many social media platforms available, but Schilling’s actions just showed a lot of these trolls that there can be consequences for their actions, and future trolls will think twice before messing with him or any of his family members again.
