San Diego State officials apologized last week for the extreme comments the student section “The Show,” made on its Twitter account about a University of New Mexico Lobos player.
Lobos freshman point guard, and son of head coach Craig Neal, Cullen Neal had an emergency appendectomy performed during a recent team trip to Sydney. A picture of Neal in his hospital bed was posted on Twitter, prompting a member from “The Show” to Tweet “fingers crossed for further infection.”
According to the Albuquerque Journal, Lobos fans were appalled at the comments “The Show” made despite both schools’ rivalrous histories.
In addition to the initial tweet, there were two others who expressed negative wishes upon the student. The first tweet stated:
“We’re not saying we’re rooting for the death of Cullen Neal we’re just saying that we are not God and we are at peace with whatever happens.”
After that @TheShowSDSU tweeted, “may your will be done in the life and death of Cullen Neal. Amen.”
The tweets were taken off the website a few hours after and SDSU officials formally apologized.
“This is a time where it crossed that line and we as an athletic department aren’t going to stand for that. We’re not going to tolerate that,” SDSU Athletic Director of Media Relations Mike May told 10News.
After deleting the tweets on its Twitter account, “The Show” said, “After conferring w/SDSU ath dept, we realized our tweets regarding UNM hoops were inappropriate. We apologize for the insensitive remarks.”
Shortly after “The Show” also posted that it wishes Cullen Neal “a speedy recovery.”
Students at SDSU had different views on the incident.
“It sucks that that’s an easy way to be remembered as a school. Glad the tickets and access were revoked,” communication senior Haylee Clay said.
A Twitter user replied to the “The Show’s” apology tweet and said, “I hate this tweet. It’s not The Show I know & love. #effUNM.”
The culprit’s identity hasn’t been revealed, but May said the former student will no longer have access to the Twitter account and will not be able to attend any of this year’s football and basketball games.
Read about other controversies involving “The Show.”
