Football, Trolling, Hypocrisy, And Homophobia
Just a little good clean, all-American fun
Somewhere in the University of Massachusetts’ Sports Information Department is someone I’d love to buy a beer or six, for their irony game is strong.
UMass is one of the country's worst Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) programs. It regularly features in any number of “Bottom Ten” rankings, which are usually not done in a complementary fashion. The Minutemen know they’re the underdogs anytime they take the field.
On October 8, they'll again be an underdog when they play at home against Liberty University. But they’ll have at least one advantage. It will be Pride Day for the Minutemen, and Liberty (or “Jerry Falwell U.” as it’s often called) has a reputation for being one of the least LGBTQ-friendly campuses in the country.
UMass doesn’t have a particularly good football team, but they apparently drafted the finest trolls in the country.
Liberty, of course, has long been one of the most homophobic Christian schools in the country. Campus Pride ranks it among the “Absolute Worst Campuses for LGBTQ Youth,” a fair assessment given that the school will expel anyone in a same-sex relationship. It’s also the former home of Jerry Falwell, Jr. who allegedly enjoyed watching another man have sex with his wife, but whose sex life received a pass until his antics finally caught up with him.
So was the announcement purely coincidental or planned? Sure seems like everyone involved knew what they were doing but there’s no official word that this was done on purpose. (A request for comment from the school’s Assistant Athletic Director for “Marketing, Creative & Digital Strategy” went unanswered as of this writing.)
Was it also coincidental that, two weeks ago, Liberty posted a video on YouTube with the title “Pride Is Our Enemy”?
If we’re awarding prizes for trolling, I’d have to go with UMass. No one gets an award for homophobia or not being LGBTQ-friendly. Especially a Christian college based on the teachings of Jesus Christ, who was all about love, tolerance, acceptance, and inclusion.
Until recently, Liberty was the property and playground of its former President, Jerry Falwell, Jr., who, as laid out above, was something of a libertine and a hypocrite. Yes, that’s right…do as I say, not as I do.
Was UMass’ Pride Day purposely chosen to tweak Liberty for its reputation for homophobia and intolerance? Could anyone blame them if the choice was deliberate? Of course, if the Minutemen charge onto the field were rainbow or pink uniforms, that would be the cherry on top, but the Liberty video, while possibly coincidental, seems a bit classless under the circumstances.
Yeah, I know; what would Jesus do? However, I think he’d be a fair bit more accepting of LGBTQ students than Liberty University has been.
And given (now former President) Jerry Falwell Jr.’s sexual escapades, I’d suggest that Liberty University might want to think twice about being so judgmental about the tolerance of other schools.
Let he who is without sin post the first dick pic.
Liberty "University": we move the goal posts to where ever we want them.