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It’s time to address the elephant in the room.
Or, er, the shark, rather.
The belated response from Alligator Army to this non-story non-controversy nonsense should indicate just how stupid Andy and I think this is.
The “this” that I am referring to is, of course, the speculation that one Jim McElwain, coach of the Florida Gators football team, was the person in a photograph of a smiling naked man laying on top of a dead shark which widely circulated the Internet (and which I will not be posting here).
Of course, the fervor over the possibility of McElwain being the one “humping” (as some have categorized it) the shark in the photo, caused the real Jim McElwain to have to answer questions as to the identity of said person in said photo.
Gotta love the Internet, where trolling and a vague likeness force someone to answer this question. https://t.co/5iZvpZXwzs
— Alligator Army (@AlligatorArmy) May 9, 2017
McElwain denied being in the photo, stating that he did not know who it was but noted that “it isn’t me.” He was then asked about being a part of this “story,” to which he replied, in part, “In the world we live (in), what is a story?”
Alas — for Internet trolls and rival fans with social media accounts, anyway — the individual laying prostrate astride a shark is reportedly not the Gators’ head man.
As mentioned, McElwain already repeatedly denied being the subject of the photograph — and now, David Pingalore of WKMG reports that he has identified the man as a retired law enforcement officer from New York, and that the photo was taken two years ago off of Long Island. He was reportedly contacted by a friend of the man, and made contact with the photographed individual, who is fearful of reprisal and does not wish to be publicly identified. (You can read all the details of that saga in the linked article, if you so choose.)
In other news, it’s the 50th installment of our open thread series. And it’s about a photographic resemblance, a nude man, and a sea creature.
What is a story, indeed.
As always, this Weekly Open Thread is for any and all comments on any and all topics, with the rules of commenting decorum still in full effect.