Leigh Griffiths has tonight readied himself to leave Twitter after another foul mouthed, disgusting, attack on his children.
The Celtic striker, still reeling from last night’s disgusting messages, was subjected to exactly the same type of attack tonight, with much the same language, and with much the same response from every decent Twitter user.
Griffiths himself has reported tonight’s incident to Police Scotland, and you would think that this will be the last time someone stoops so low.
You would think.
What’s become increasingly clear, however, is that Twitter is so absolutely full of gutter scum – I’ve had to block a few myself, which I bet is easy to believe – that just when you think you’ve hit bottom someone else comes along and sets the bar lower.
Friends of this particular individual have speculated that her Twitter feed might have been hacked; the police can sort that one out, and decide the issue, but that’s neither here nor there. Someone out there decided, for the second night running, that this was a legitimate line of attack against the best striker currently plying his trade in Scotland.
And that says it all.
I wouldn’t blame Leigh if he did decide to give social media a miss.
The mind-bending malevolence on there is simply atrocious.
Today, the renowned American feminist, writer and activist Lindy West, writing in the Guardian, detailed just some of the abuse she’s had to put up with in recent years and she’s the latest in a long line of internationally renowned bloggers and writers who have attracted their own special little brand of haters.
In recent years, politicians, celebrities, sports stars and even scientists have had to endure comments online that are almost beyond belief.
But we who operate in the context of Scottish football have a peculiar, and particularly virulent, problem with this stuff, and the level of hatred and viciousness to be found in all parts of the debate right now is breath-taking, and that’s a subject I fully intend to visit over on Fields sometime in the next couple of days.
But in the meantime, for the second night straight, I despair of the kind of people who think somebody’s kids are fair game, and I have the utmost sympathy for Leigh Griffiths and his family, especially his kids, who, on another note, The Daily Record saw fit to name today, for reasons passing understanding …
Maybe I’m the only person who was uneasy reading that.
Leigh, I hope you stay on Twitter as your stuff is always entertaining and your passion for the sport and for the club shines through.
YNWA.