A pair of Dallas sports teams got into a pretty bizarre, petty spat on social media this week -- a bit embarrassing for them but funny for the rest of us. And you'd better call up the burn ward, because "America's Team" just got put in check.
The tiff started when when the NFL Cowboys posted a since-deleted tweet to its 500,000 followers referencing pro hockey's extended lockout and reading: "Similarly in the category of nobody-cares…the NHL is back!"
The Stars, Big D's NHL franchise, were non-plussed with the Cowboys' unprovoked dis and fired back with their own Twitter post on Tuesday morning:
At least our #9 got the job done..... RT:" @dallascowboys Similarly in the category of nobody-cares…the NHL is back!" twitter.com/DallasStars/st…— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) January 8, 2013
The post references Mike Modano, who wore the number 9 jersey for the Stars and led the team to the 1999 Stanley Cup title. It contrasts that achievement with Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, who also wears number 9 but is well-known for bungling big games.
The Stars' rebuttal became a hit with many fans on Twitter with more than 14,000 retweets, and showed once again that standing up for oneself is often the best way to deal with a bully. The Cowboys soon backtracked, calling the post an accident, and apologized for the #shotsfired tweet:
Apology accepted“@dallascowboys: @dallasstars our sincere apologies for the inappropriate tweet posted accidentally. Good luck this season.”— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) January 8, 2013
Apology accepted, perhaps, but the Tony Romo dis is still live on the Stars' timeline. Well played, Dallas Stars, well played.
Do you think the Stars overreacted, or was it entertaining and appropriate? Give us your take in the comments.