Thread of reality is biting Liddell III in the back

And just like that we had controversy, all because a father was presumably pissed to the point of logging onto a message board where sometimes-loony fans -- and in many cases, often-times-loony fans -- tend to gather and be irrational with each other.

It's a fascinating thing, these message boards. But it's also a dangerous place for people who are known and truly in the know, because there's no way to win an argument and without anonymity you might as well be posting your thoughts on a permanent billboard by the time they are linked, forwarded, e-mailed or otherwise passed around the country.

That's how I learned of this, by the way.

(What, you thought I spent my afternoons trolling Billikens.com?)

Somebody called, asked if I had seen it, so on and so forth. Naturally, I was intrigued, and by the time I tracked down the post I found another from TDell where he was half-heartedly suggesting that maybe -- just maybe -- he didn't actually file the original post that was critical of Majerus, that perhaps one of his buddies used his password and did it. Of course, that's about as believable as Paris Hilton telling Larry King she has never used drugs despite there being pictures of her smoking weed.

Somebody posted under my name is the 21st century version of the dog ate my homework. It doesn't matter that Liddell Jr. didn't return the phone message I left at his home Monday night or that Majerus declined to discuss the subject through a school spokesperson. The damage is already done, as it were.

Tommie Liddell III is the player whose Dad blasted Rick Majerus.

Rick Majerus is the coach who got blasted by his player's dad.

So let this be another warning to everybody out there -- mothers, fathers, brothers and cousins. Be careful about what you write and where you write it, what you say and where you say it.

Technology is a beautiful thing, but it has also led to Nick Saban making headlines because he was recorded goofing on Cajuns, Kobe Bryant making headlines because he was videoed making an off-the-cuff comment about Andrew Bynum, Gilbert Arenas making headlines because he blogged about what he'd like to do to Mike Krzyzewski and TDell making headlines because he went on a message board and criticized his son's new coach.

As for me, I already understand why not to get involved.

And ChopShop, if you're reading, just know you're lucky.