You Can Always Just Say Nothing
There’s a faux-stand up bit from Bo Burnham’s new special Inside where he asks:
“Is it necessary, is it necessary that every single person on this planet, um, expresses every single opinion that they have on every single thing that occurs all at the same time? Is that…is that necessary? Um, or to ask it a slightly different way, um, can…can anyone shut the fuck up? Can…can anyone, any, any…one, any single one…can any one…shut the fuck up about anyth-, about any single thing. Can any single person shut the fuck up about any single thing for an hour? You know, is that…is that possible?”
I can’t stop thinking about this, especially in the context of my job. This was a fun, strange, often frustrating, often exhilarating season. There was so much joy in covering the 2020–21 Brooklyn Nets, but it was soured at times by low-lifes and losers who don’t really know much about the team and the players on it, yet cannot find it in themselves to shut up for an hour. The Nets were a historically fun team and that’s sure to continue. Maybe just watch them and enjoy it? And when they lose, just take a beat before saying deeply regrettable things about strangers you’ve never met? It’s been such a difficult time for so many people, why add more negativity into our digital ecosystem about something as inconsequential as a basketball team? And why even choose to indulge pain and misery over something as inconsequential as sports? You can always just say nothing.
It’s taken me a lot of time and willful practice to be able to disengage from trolls and ill-intentioned actors—a fancy way of being able to say “haters gonna hate.” I’m sensitive and defensive about my and my team’s hard work and the people I represent, so I take that stuff personally. But three seasons in, I’ve gotten really good at letting haters hate, and instead of engaging, just reassuring myself, “I am glad I am not this person, and I am glad I don’t know this person” and moving on. But these people will continue to exist, and I can only hope that good-natured fandom grows and swallows it whole.
I am grateful for all the fans who engaged with this team with positive enthusiasm (there are plenty of you and I appreciate you all), my very talented and supportive coworkers, and everyone who’s ever had a kind word about our content. We work hard and it’s nice to be appreciated and validated (look, I wouldn’t be in this line of work if I wasn’t fishing for appreciation and validation).
Another thing I can’t stop thinking about or listening to is the song “Don’t Lose Sight” by Lawrence. It’s impossible for it not to make you feel good, which is why I’ve listened to it pretty much every day since it dropped. But it also provides me that sensation you get when you feel like a song was written specifically for you. Here’s the chorus:
This shit’s going to kill me
But I won’t let it
And I try to give them hell
But they don’t get it
So I tell myself when I sleep at night
Don’t lose sight
Baby don’t lose sight
And they try to get me up
But I won’t give in
And this light will get you down
But I keep living
So I tell myself when I sleep at night
Don’t lose sight
Baby don’t lose sight
And here’s another lyric that, I don’t know, felt just a little relevant to me, Person Who Does Social Media For the Brooklyn Nets:
Am I good enough
Does that even matter
Or is it luck
Anyway, I love that I get to cover this basketball team and get paid for it. I’m disappointed this is where the season’s story ends, but I’m also grateful to spend more time with my friends and family during a summer where every social gathering feels like a gift. I don’t know how long that feeling will last, but I know the Larry will still be up for grabs in 2022. I hope you know that too. Enjoy your summer and I’ll meet you back here in October.
