“This is a good opportunity to relate with anyone
else going through cyber bullying, to tell you that you aren’t
alone and that it sucks.”
The Californian surf star, Olympian and, previously, a
world title contender, Griffin Colapinto, has used former Prez
Teddy Roosevelt’s famous Man in the Arena quote to strike
back and what he says has been a “relentless” campaign of
cyber-bullying.
In a post to his 338k fans, Griffin, who turns twenty-seven in
July, ran a screenshot of Teddy’s quote along with this
message.
Hey friends :), so those of you that have followed me over
the years know I can be very open with my personal life and my
feelings. My hope when I do that is for other people that are going
through challenging moments, don’t feel alone.
So I wanna share what’s been happening in my world the past
month or 2. I’ve been dealing with relentless cyber bullying from a
few different accounts spreading false rumors about my personal
life. I feel grateful that over the years I have developed the
perspective and tools that allow me to look past this low frequency
decision making. But when I see how it affects my family members
and close ones, that definitely makes it harder to handle. I do
feel this is a good opportunity to relate with anyone else going
through cyber bullying, to tell you that you aren’t alone and that
it sucks.
But if we can get anything good out of it, it would be to
use this as an opportunity to challenge our self love and self
belief. Focus on the people that truly love you. Don’t let anyone
else determine your happiness. We have control of how we
see the world! Stay positive and know that all storms will
eventually pass. My compassion goes out to anyone else going
through cyber bullying or any kind of bullying in general.
The quote, if y’didn’t know, although you should you dang
Philistines, comes from Teddy Roosevelt’s 1910 speech “Citizenship
in a Republic” delivered in Paris.
Teddy said that true credit belongs to the person who strives,
dares greatly, and persists despite setbacks, not the critic who
merely points out flaws (ie. BeachGrit).
Teddy Roosevelt was a helluva man in the realest sense, lightly
toxic, loved a clean kill, man, bird or elephant, and which he
described as a mix of exhilaration and pragmatism.
He wrote of the Battle of San Juan Hill, where he killed a
Spanish soldier, noting, “I had to do it.”
He expressed thrill in the chaos of battle, calling it “bully”
(a favorite term for splendid), but didn’t dwell on the emotional
weight of killing.
To friends, he admitted the grim reality—war was “savage
work”—yet saw it as necessary for national honour.
Back to Griff, some sharp replies below the line.
“This internet thing is a real hive for low frequency pond scum.
Well played sir!” writes Jed Smith.
“Fly high above the miserable scrubs,’ writes ageless Shane
Dorian.
And from history buff, Matt Biolos, “Teddy Roosevelt is an
American God.”
Ol Griff has long copped it from online pilots, usually from
Brazilian surf fans after he’d put one or three of their favourites
to the sword.
A few years back his mammy Camille
reported “Violent, gruesome threats” from the
Brazzos.
“What I meant to convey is that the win doesn’t matter, it
shouldn’t matter, at least not matter so much people want to turn
violent. BTW Griffin is receiving violent, gruesome threats to his
life and no one is doing anything to address the seriousness of the
situation.
“Am I hysterical? Am I unhinged? Yeah, probably, but I am not
going to apologize for raising hell. If I embarrass Griffin it
certainly isn’t the first time, I assumed he got used to it. As
most will now know, he got none of his chill from my DNA. I am not
chill, have never been chill and don’t mind letting people know if
I not happy with something.
“If people still think the comment to his post was motivated by
ego, take a look at his stuff…did anyone even know Griffin and
Crosby had a mom? I am busy with my own work/life. My comment was
motivated by a mix of intense fear and anger.”
Question to the crowd. How do you think Teddy Roosevelt would’ve
reacted to unkind comments on Instagram? With shotgun drawn or with
tears?
Also, while we’re here, who else dreams of dying on the
battlefield or while shielding children from a shopping centre
jihadist?
