Jim Rome, host of The Jim Rome Show, is a sports commentator who regularly tweets his opinions. This past Thursday, though, he went a step too far.
His penchant for comedic references during his commentary on various sporting events and athletes has been verifiably established. However, calling people dorks isn’t really funny. The Washington Post shared College Marching Bands’ reply to Rome’s demeaning tweet, which he deleted after quite a bit of backlash from various marching bands across the country, among others.
Rome was bombarded with replies, many of which were noteworthy. Some explained the dedication, hard work, and hours of practice involved in marching band performance. Others made connections between marching band participation and STEM-based majors, such as engineering. Yet others pointed out that many marching band members are also members of the military, and serving our country is not a dorky thing. In the following tweet, the army field band weighs in with their opinion:
Notice the #romeisburning hash tag (a double entendre that references both his former ESPN show by that title, as well as the hostility felt towards him.) #MarchOnRome was the main trending hash tag. Once the comment came under public scrutiny, Rome replied with an apology implying that his name calling was a form of bullying.
Sporting News points out that it was the marching bands that taught Jim Rome a lesson. Although they set out to prove that marching band performers are not dorks, there is a simple moral lesson to be learned by all here: Think before you tweet!