The email from the principal had a lighthearted, friendly tone, but the news she delivered was alarming: Three more students at Creekview High School in Canton, Georgia, had tested positive for the coronavirus—the fourth such letter sent to parents that week. That out of the way, she then moved on to what she called a “distraction,” noting that the high school volleyball team would be playing in a tournament the next day. “Come to CVHS to see our lady Grizzlies play at 9:00 10:00 or 12:30,” she wrote. “Go Grizzlies!”Two days later, after 25 students tested positive and more than a quarter of the student body was placed in quarantine, the entire school was shut down.In the three weeks since school started in Cherokee County, Georgia, three of the district’s six high schools have temporarily shuttered due to coronavirus outbreaks. As of Friday, 2,000 of the 42,000 students in the district were in quarantine.But the county—once a heart of the Cherokee Nation, now a bastion of support for Donald Trump—has shown no sign of suspending in-person education or beefing up its policy of encouraging but not requiring face masks.Many parents and teachers in the district—where one school wanted students to disinfect classrooms—say they are terrified of what will happen if the status quo is allowed to continue. “I kind of feel like Cherokee County has been the guinea pig for the state, or the nation,” said Meg Du Plooy, a mother of two Cherokee County students. “Just an experiment to see what happens if we open all the schools and have everyone come back in.”Inside COVID U: Hoax Parties, Pissed Roomies, and Canceled ClassesAt a school board meeting Thursday, Superintendent Brian Hightower suggested for the first time that the now-shuttered high schools may move to a “hybrid model” in which students attend school in-person only a few days a week.“Right now we’ve got a few high schools where it’s so hot—or there’s such a cluster that seems to be following one school—that we’re not sure when we can get them open,” he said. “We want something better than coming, reporting, popping in, popping out,” he added. “We want to look at some alternatives, and we think these could be three great lab situations for us to utilize that.”Parents first started to worry this spring, when the district allowed graduation to take place in-person, inside a church auditorium. (Photos that were circulated among parents and obtained by The Daily Beast show school board member Kelly Poole standing with the graduates onstage, her mask folded in her hands.) But the real trouble started when the school announced its reopening plan. In an 85-page document—sent to teachers and parents one day before it was to be voted on—the district said it would not be pushing back the start of the school year or requiring masks in its classrooms. Despite the short notice, 6,000 people watched the school board meeting online, and a contentious question-and-answer session followed. Directly after, the board voted unanimously to approve the plan. Things only got worse from there. Though families were given the option to continue learning remotely, approximately 75 percent opted for in-person learning, meaning hallways and common areas were crowded and class sizes could not be meaningfully reduced. A viral photo taken the first day of classes at  Sequoyah High School showed dozens of students crammed together for a photo, none of them in masks. The photo was shared on—and later removed from—the school’s official Instagram account.> TAKE A LOOK: 2 Cherokee Co. Schools shared pictures of some students during their first day back in school. No social distancing, and very few masks, if any. I’ve received word that some teachers don’t feel comfortable but aren’t sure what to do. Is this safe? Thoughts? @cbs46 pic.twitter.com/EIvA1fNBVt> > — Iyani Lenice CBS46 (@iyanilenicetv) August 3, 2020Teachers who spoke to The Daily Beast said the few promises the district did make have not been fully kept. Bell schedules at some schools have not been staggered as planned, meaning teachers are given five minutes to disinfect their classrooms before the next class arrives. Despite assurances that additional cleaning would take place overnight, one teacher said she returned to her classroom after a “deep clean” to find the desktops had not been washed. One school even offered volunteer hours to students who spent 15 minutes wiping down desks after school, according to emails reviewed by The Daily Beast. (The offer was later retracted.)Whatever additional cleaning does take place, these teachers said, happens largely after hours, when both they and their students are out of the building."For two weeks, pretty much all that got done in our rooms was emptying the trash—or at least that's what we were able to notice,” said one teacher, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of losing her job. “In a pandemic, our classrooms need more than just the trash cans emptied.”In an email to The Daily Beast, CCSD’s Chief Communications Officer Barbara Jacoby said the district “continuously review[s] protocols to determine additional improvements” and had “implemented changes to initial protocols as a result of feedback,” including the provision of face shields to teachers who wanted additional protection.Jacoby said teachers were not required to clean their rooms between classes, and that cleaning supplies were provided so that teachers could wipe down frequently used surfaces “if they so choose.” She added that the district had spent an additional $4 million on safety supplies and that a “certified disinfection specialist” was placed on the custodial team at every school to focus on disinfection of high-touch areas. (Teachers interviewed by The Daily Beast said this mainly looked like someone walking around cleaning doorknobs.) The deep-cleaning process, Jacoby said, “includes disinfectant misting and which takes place after school hours.”Schools Touted by DeSantis Now in a Quarantine NightmareA number of teachers did commend their schools for such precautions as halving the number of students in each lunch period, providing extra hand sanitizer and cleaning supplies, and making the hallways one-way. But many of them also said they felt largely unsupported by the district as a whole.“My administration themselves have been great at trying to keep us safe,” said one teacher, who also requested anonymity for fear of retaliation. “But it seems like the people at the district level, they don’t seem to care if we live or die.”Some of this feeling stems from communications from the district itself. In one email sent to teachers at the beginning of the school year and reviewed by The Daily Beast, Superintendent Brian Hightower told teachers who were unhappy with facets of the reopening plan to “reflect on the best direction forward for you in your role with [the district]”—a comment some teachers saw as a threat to their employment. Hightower later apologized for the message in another email, writing that he “should have done a much better job of sharing my appreciation for both your efforts and concerns as it relates to our school reopening.”In a Q&A document posted online, one parent noted that some teachers’ social media posts made it seem like they were “afraid to return to work,” and worried that they would treat their children differently if they opted for face-to-face learning.“We apologize, as a school district, if a teacher has argued with you on social media or made you otherwise not have confidence in their ability to effectively teach your child,” the district responded, not addressing the comment about teachers’ fears. “All teachers are expected to follow our social media guidelines for employees, which make clear this should not occur online.”The message from the district, one teacher said, “has been loud and clear: Shut up and do your job.” Jacoby said teachers were encouraged to share safety concerns with principals or through an anonymous tip line.Parents who disagree with the district—a group of largely liberal residents in a town that went 73 percent for Trump in 2016—said they feel pressured to stay silent. In the wake of the decision to reopen schools, dozens of parents turned out to a rally to support in-person learning without a mask mandate. One participant arrived with signs promoting the outlandish conspiracy theory that the effects of the virus are being exaggerated to make Trump look bad. “Thank you CCSD! endtheelectioninfection,” one sign read.“Did you know that the coronavirus has a patent? Why is the government lying to us?” read a second, referring to another roundly debunked conspiracy theory.A more than 6,000-member “CCSD Positivity Vibes” group has formed on Facebook, the stated purpose of which is to support students and staff but which some parents say is being used to stifle dissent. (Several school board members belong to the group and post occasionally.) Lea Dearing, an adminisrator of the Facebook group, didn’t anticipate it would take off like it has. “It was not created for the purpose of pledging support to the reopening plan,” she told The Daily Beast. “It was created after the reopening plan was announced when we realized that our teachers and school staff and bus drivers were under extreme stress and needed extra support. No matter their personal views (and those vary widely) they were going to be back in the schools.”When the district announced that Creekview would be shutting down, one member encouraged others to comment on the Facebook post and “flood the comment section with love.” The announcement now has more than 750 comments, several of them comparing the fatality rates of the coronavirus to the flu and spreading misinformation about masks.“That can be a lot to handle when you’re progressive in this area,” said Miranda Wicker, a former Cherokee County school teacher who has been vocal about her concerns with the reopening plan. “It’s very hard to speak out in that environment and be heard, because there's just mass amounts of people so quick to shut you down.”Both teachers and parents said they felt the conservative bent of the town had influenced the school board’s decision to reopen without a mask mandate. The board is entirely Republican, and almost half of them—including the board chair—are up for re-election again this year.But at least one teacher was equally worried about how the parents’ views influenced their children.“The kids feel like they’re invincible,” she said. “Just hearing them talk and it’s like, everybody’s going to get it anyway and life goes on.”She added, “It doesn’t hit home until the reality is right in front of their face.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

The email from the principal had a lighthearted, friendly tone, but the news she delivered was alarming: Three more students at Creekview High School in Canton, Georgia, had tested positive for the coronavirus—the fourth such letter sent to parents that week. That out of the way, she then moved on to what she called a “distraction,” noting that the high school volleyball team would be playing in a tournament the next day. “Come to CVHS to see our lady Grizzlies play at 9:00 10:00 or 12:30,” she wrote. “Go Grizzlies!”Two days later, after 25 students tested positive and more than a quarter of the student body was placed in quarantine, the entire school was shut down.In the three weeks since school started in Cherokee County, Georgia, three of the district’s six high schools have temporarily shuttered due to coronavirus outbreaks. As of Friday, 2,000 of the 42,000 students in the district were in quarantine.But the county—once a heart of the Cherokee Nation, now a bastion of support for Donald Trump—has shown no sign of suspending in-person education or beefing up its policy of encouraging but not requiring face masks.Many parents and teachers in the district—where one school wanted students to disinfect classrooms—say they are terrified of what will happen if the status quo is allowed to continue. “I kind of feel like Cherokee County has been the guinea pig for the state, or the nation,” said Meg Du Plooy, a mother of two Cherokee County students. “Just an experiment to see what happens if we open all the schools and have everyone come back in.”Inside COVID U: Hoax Parties, Pissed Roomies, and Canceled ClassesAt a school board meeting Thursday, Superintendent Brian Hightower suggested for the first time that the now-shuttered high schools may move to a “hybrid model” in which students attend school in-person only a few days a week.“Right now we’ve got a few high schools where it’s so hot—or there’s such a cluster that seems to be following one school—that we’re not sure when we can get them open,” he said. “We want something better than coming, reporting, popping in, popping out,” he added. “We want to look at some alternatives, and we think these could be three great lab situations for us to utilize that.”Parents first started to worry this spring, when the district allowed graduation to take place in-person, inside a church auditorium. (Photos that were circulated among parents and obtained by The Daily Beast show school board member Kelly Poole standing with the graduates onstage, her mask folded in her hands.) But the real trouble started when the school announced its reopening plan. In an 85-page document—sent to teachers and parents one day before it was to be voted on—the district said it would not be pushing back the start of the school year or requiring masks in its classrooms. Despite the short notice, 6,000 people watched the school board meeting online, and a contentious question-and-answer session followed. Directly after, the board voted unanimously to approve the plan. Things only got worse from there. Though families were given the option to continue learning remotely, approximately 75 percent opted for in-person learning, meaning hallways and common areas were crowded and class sizes could not be meaningfully reduced. A viral photo taken the first day of classes at  Sequoyah High School showed dozens of students crammed together for a photo, none of them in masks. The photo was shared on—and later removed from—the school’s official Instagram account.> TAKE A LOOK: 2 Cherokee Co. Schools shared pictures of some students during their first day back in school. No social distancing, and very few masks, if any. I’ve received word that some teachers don’t feel comfortable but aren’t sure what to do. Is this safe? Thoughts? @cbs46 pic.twitter.com/EIvA1fNBVt> > — Iyani Lenice CBS46 (@iyanilenicetv) August 3, 2020Teachers who spoke to The Daily Beast said the few promises the district did make have not been fully kept. Bell schedules at some schools have not been staggered as planned, meaning teachers are given five minutes to disinfect their classrooms before the next class arrives. Despite assurances that additional cleaning would take place overnight, one teacher said she returned to her classroom after a “deep clean” to find the desktops had not been washed. One school even offered volunteer hours to students who spent 15 minutes wiping down desks after school, according to emails reviewed by The Daily Beast. (The offer was later retracted.)Whatever additional cleaning does take place, these teachers said, happens largely after hours, when both they and their students are out of the building."For two weeks, pretty much all that got done in our rooms was emptying the trash—or at least that's what we were able to notice,” said one teacher, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of losing her job. “In a pandemic, our classrooms need more than just the trash cans emptied.”In an email to The Daily Beast, CCSD’s Chief Communications Officer Barbara Jacoby said the district “continuously review[s] protocols to determine additional improvements” and had “implemented changes to initial protocols as a result of feedback,” including the provision of face shields to teachers who wanted additional protection.Jacoby said teachers were not required to clean their rooms between classes, and that cleaning supplies were provided so that teachers could wipe down frequently used surfaces “if they so choose.” She added that the district had spent an additional $4 million on safety supplies and that a “certified disinfection specialist” was placed on the custodial team at every school to focus on disinfection of high-touch areas. (Teachers interviewed by The Daily Beast said this mainly looked like someone walking around cleaning doorknobs.) The deep-cleaning process, Jacoby said, “includes disinfectant misting and which takes place after school hours.”Schools Touted by DeSantis Now in a Quarantine NightmareA number of teachers did commend their schools for such precautions as halving the number of students in each lunch period, providing extra hand sanitizer and cleaning supplies, and making the hallways one-way. But many of them also said they felt largely unsupported by the district as a whole.“My administration themselves have been great at trying to keep us safe,” said one teacher, who also requested anonymity for fear of retaliation. “But it seems like the people at the district level, they don’t seem to care if we live or die.”Some of this feeling stems from communications from the district itself. In one email sent to teachers at the beginning of the school year and reviewed by The Daily Beast, Superintendent Brian Hightower told teachers who were unhappy with facets of the reopening plan to “reflect on the best direction forward for you in your role with [the district]”—a comment some teachers saw as a threat to their employment. Hightower later apologized for the message in another email, writing that he “should have done a much better job of sharing my appreciation for both your efforts and concerns as it relates to our school reopening.”In a Q&A document posted online, one parent noted that some teachers’ social media posts made it seem like they were “afraid to return to work,” and worried that they would treat their children differently if they opted for face-to-face learning.“We apologize, as a school district, if a teacher has argued with you on social media or made you otherwise not have confidence in their ability to effectively teach your child,” the district responded, not addressing the comment about teachers’ fears. “All teachers are expected to follow our social media guidelines for employees, which make clear this should not occur online.”The message from the district, one teacher said, “has been loud and clear: Shut up and do your job.” Jacoby said teachers were encouraged to share safety concerns with principals or through an anonymous tip line.Parents who disagree with the district—a group of largely liberal residents in a town that went 73 percent for Trump in 2016—said they feel pressured to stay silent. In the wake of the decision to reopen schools, dozens of parents turned out to a rally to support in-person learning without a mask mandate. One participant arrived with signs promoting the outlandish conspiracy theory that the effects of the virus are being exaggerated to make Trump look bad. “Thank you CCSD! endtheelectioninfection,” one sign read.“Did you know that the coronavirus has a patent? Why is the government lying to us?” read a second, referring to another roundly debunked conspiracy theory.A more than 6,000-member “CCSD Positivity Vibes” group has formed on Facebook, the stated purpose of which is to support students and staff but which some parents say is being used to stifle dissent. (Several school board members belong to the group and post occasionally.) Lea Dearing, an adminisrator of the Facebook group, didn’t anticipate it would take off like it has. “It was not created for the purpose of pledging support to the reopening plan,” she told The Daily Beast. “It was created after the reopening plan was announced when we realized that our teachers and school staff and bus drivers were under extreme stress and needed extra support. No matter their personal views (and those vary widely) they were going to be back in the schools.”When the district announced that Creekview would be shutting down, one member encouraged others to comment on the Facebook post and “flood the comment section with love.” The announcement now has more than 750 comments, several of them comparing the fatality rates of the coronavirus to the flu and spreading misinformation about masks.“That can be a lot to handle when you’re progressive in this area,” said Miranda Wicker, a former Cherokee County school teacher who has been vocal about her concerns with the reopening plan. “It’s very hard to speak out in that environment and be heard, because there's just mass amounts of people so quick to shut you down.”Both teachers and parents said they felt the conservative bent of the town had influenced the school board’s decision to reopen without a mask mandate. The board is entirely Republican, and almost half of them—including the board chair—are up for re-election again this year.But at least one teacher was equally worried about how the parents’ views influenced their children.“The kids feel like they’re invincible,” she said. “Just hearing them talk and it’s like, everybody’s going to get it anyway and life goes on.”She added, “It doesn’t hit home until the reality is right in front of their face.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

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THIS WEEK IN SCHADENFREUDE, Texas is just hopping mad

Texas leads a wide-ranging tour of the angry college football internet after Week 9.

Welcome back to THIS WEEK IN SCHADENFREUDE, your weekly rocket ship ride through the most infuriated regions of the college football galaxy. Last week, this page focused exclusively on Ohio State, because that was the only logical choice. This week, we’re taking a journey around a small handful of furious fanbases on the internet.

Texas lost to Oklahoma State, knocking the Longhorns out of the top 10.

Though they remain in the thick of a chaotic Big 12 race, it’s a disappointing moment for Tom Herman’s bunch. Said one Longhorn fan afterward:

I don’t want to watch football anymore

That was the title of a message board thread. This was the profound body:

.

And there you have it.

A former Texas linebacker got into a fast-escalating online beef with a current Texas cornerback, who’d been suspended for the first quarter.

Ex-Horn Emmanuel Acho initially defended the suspended Kris Boyd, because Texas sitting down a starting cornerback had the side effect of helping OSU get lots of yards:

I understand all the, “teach your players a lesson” tweets, but YALL understand, if Saban benched players everytime they violated team or American laws, Bama might not have a single national title.

— Emmanuel Acho (@thEMANacho) October 28, 2018

But then Acho — who’s now an ESPN analyst — got rougher.

Bruh, you can’t be late to meetings THEN come out here and get mossed. Your team needs you. #Texas #OkState

— Emmanuel Acho (@thEMANacho) October 28, 2018

And then he used the “trash” word ...

I can’t watch this dude play defense anymore. It’s actually trash. If you know. You know. #Texas

— Emmanuel Acho (@thEMANacho) October 28, 2018

... and said he wasn’t talking specifically about Boyd, but, uh:

Naw I feel u, and I didn’t say I was talking about Kris, I would never put nobody on front street like that... but anybody who feels that tweet applies to them should probably step up. I played hella trash games in my day lol. U grow and move on u feel me

— Emmanuel Acho (@thEMANacho) October 28, 2018

How’d Boyd respond? Aggressively.

Boyd going straight after Acho on Instagram. Smart. pic.twitter.com/0LuqqMGzl4

— Burnt Orange Nation (@BON_SBNation) October 28, 2018

Fortunately for Boyd, INSTAGRAM ASSAULT is not a violation of team rules.

One fan had a spicy take about what should be done to the game’s officiating crew: They should all be handed over to the mob.

Refs are screwing us again

The offsides on that 4th down was f%<*¥ing criminal. Somebody send the mafia to threaten the refs to pay these dickheads back for 2015.

Texas fans were livid at the officiating in 2015’s OSU-UT game, when a few apparent officiating errors went against the Horns. Every other Big 12 fan in the universe thought it was deeply ironic to see Texas fans upset about refs.

(Texas actually had a legit beef about that offside call, yeah. Oklahoma State sent a bunch of guys in a “motion” that looked a lot like emulating live play, and refs didn’t call a false start, but instead penalized the Horns for jumping off. The Horns also probably got away with a penalty in their end zone later in the game. Either way, Sicilian crime families must get involved.)

This Horns fan was MAD and only got MADDER when nobody wanted to join in being EXTREMELY MAD.

User TexasHorn started this thread on the team’s 247Sports message board before Texas’ body was even cold, while it was still the second half:

A COMPLETE JOKE

Dan Neil, we have our answer, NO, Texas is not mature enough to handle success

Being destroyed on national television - not sure if the Horns can recover before next week because wvu has a better team than osu

Nobody responded, so they added:

Sorry for being honest - where am I wrong guys, seriously?

Any one thrilled with this performance?

Still, nobody responded, so they added again:

Explain the off sides guys - want to argue the complete joke comment?

So tired or posting without any response - gutless!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finally, someone replied:

We’re playing scared like a bunch of pussies. Coaches and players.

Persistence always pays off.

THIS WEEK IN SCHADENFREUDE is usually about fans, but Tom Herman is now the second head coach to make an appearance, thanks to the end of the game.

This is the sort of sprinting velocity that can only be generated by pure anger.

Recap of Tom Herman & Mike Gundy in the late scrap, their postgame handshake and Gundy's interview explanation pic.twitter.com/CMzJpKwzpw

— CJ Fogler (@cjzer0) October 28, 2018

(Herman and Mike Gundy are fine.)

Herman joins Jeremy Pruitt, who kicked a whiteboard and was thus included by rule:

Hey Knoxville... how's it going? #UFvsUT pic.twitter.com/HxplOn0uRQ

— Mike Gillespie (@MikeABCColumbia) September 23, 2018

Washington lost to Cal as a disappointing season became a total failure.

The Huskies are not even making a New Year’s Six bowl in Jake Browning’s senior year, two years after getting to the Playoff with him as a sophomore.

In some corners of the web, faith’s running short in Chris Petersen.

At HardcoreHusky.com, someone started a thread: People you have more faith in than CP, reflecting the fanbase’s growing impatience with Petersen, whose job titles are head coach, Guy Who Won a Million Games at Boise State, and Guy Who Got Washington to the College Football Playoff.

This was the only thing there:

Photo by Stephen Chernin/Getty Images

This was another fan’s measured response:

FUCK THSI PROGRUM IM FUCKING OUT

WE SUCK SND SHOULDNT LOSE TO CAL. WE ARE A LOSER PROGRUM. UPPER CAMPUS DGAF ABOUT WINNING. FIRE PEENERMAN. END TNIS FUCKING TEAM.I WANT DONG JAMES BACK. I WANT TO FUCKING WIN. NO JUAN IN THIS FANBASE HAS DTANDARS EXCEPT FOR THOS SITE. YOU GUYS GET ITZ PETERMAM DOES NOT. FUCK EVERYTHING.

Someone urged this poster to say calm:

Stay positive! Fuck Petersen!

But this blunt response to the loss pretty much summed it up:

We lost to cal

Lol I’m done. Fuck Husky football. Fuck Petersen. Fuck Browning. Fuck Haener. Fuck everything. Roll tide.

Maybe that sounds harsh, but UW fans have wanted Bama since early in 2016:

Settle down, Washington pic.twitter.com/4lnFCfcJ4i

— College Football by SB Nation (@SBNationCFB) September 3, 2016

Miami lost to Boston College, which means it’s time to look at how Hurricanes fans responded to the team’s official Twitter account in real time.

When Miami loses, checking Twitter’s important, because Canes fans are always the most direct in college football. The classic of this genre:

I’m gonna jump off a building

— Heat 3x (@Jbazo5D) September 3, 2018

As Boston College put a thumping on the Canes, fans responded well. Just follow along with various score updates and quarter breaks.

1. After the first Boston College score:

Already with the bs

— Howard Webster (@TbearCane17) October 26, 2018

2. After, um, a Miami score:

Right...embarrassing.

— Carlos Marante (@ItsACanesThing5) October 27, 2018

3. After another BC score:

Is this a retweet?

— Tucker McFall (@RealTuckMcFall) October 26, 2018

4. End of the first quarter!

pic.twitter.com/UqrP2scamn

— Brandon English (@BEnglish007) October 26, 2018

5. After some ostensibly good news?

Way to look at the bright side.

— Brandon English (@BEnglish007) October 27, 2018

6. After an actual good play:

Throw the ball in front of the receiver and it could've been 6

— Christopher Gray (@Barclayallday26) October 27, 2018

7. After a touchdown by Miami:

How on Gods green earth do you have a -5 yard punt return, inside the 10-yard line, with not one but TWO blocks in the back on the return? That's piss poor

— Tucker McFall (@RealTuckMcFall) October 27, 2018

8. After a defensive stop by Miami:

We must be trying to run the clock out....ridiculous

— umcane (@umcane26) October 27, 2018

9. Halftime!

Yes a dogfight with BC! Proud day for the Canes.

— Bryant Jensen (@Bjensen630) October 27, 2018

10. After another good play by Miami’s defense:

BC knows our QB can’t hit the side of a barn further than ten yards so they playing up on the line

— solidlifefitness (@solidlifefitnes) October 27, 2018

11. A little later:

This guy is worse than Jacory Harris

— The Bad Hombre (@jbjammin34) October 27, 2018

12. Things getting desperate:

Get Jimmy Johnson out of retirement

— John Bennett (@DirtyBirdz19) October 27, 2018

13. The Turnover Chain is out! This is good for Miami!

This is the most remedial offense I've ever seen

— The Bad Hombre (@jbjammin34) October 27, 2018

14. End of the third quarter!

Social Media dude.. let Coach know Malik ain't it. Thanks boss.

— Joey Inza (@JoeyInza) October 27, 2018

15. Game over.

Joke.

— Nick Alvarez (@NicksTake22) October 27, 2018

I’ve said it before, but Miami fans are the overprotective relative who will roast you all day but threaten to burn down the house of anyone else who criticizes you.

I respect and fear them in equal measure.

Ultimately, it was best to just step away.

recap, 3 stars, good, bad, and ugly up on https://t.co/W9gmsOyW7d i have nothing else to say. i'm going to play #RDR2 bye.

— StateOfTheU.com (@TheStateOfTheU) October 27, 2018

Florida lost to Georgia, ending the Gators’ dreams of winning the SEC East.

Gators fans were actually pretty reasonable about it. I don’t have jokes. I’m just making the note here so that you know I was as disappointed to learn this as you were. I checked.

In all kinds of weather, y'all, and go Gators pic.twitter.com/jTaaNcXnvS

— BUM CHILLUPS (@edsbs) October 27, 2018

And TCU lost to Kansas, thus earning automatic inclusion as the last team on this list.

Things are dark in Fort Worth.

Is this how Baylor Feels?

For the first time I am embarrassed to wear my TCU gear in public.

The last spot in this list is now just tradition, devoted to any team that might lose to Kansas in a given week.

In Week 3, a Rutgers fan asked after losing to KU: “What stage of grief are you in?”

They have grinded me down into not caring about college football at all just like the Knicks and the Mets have done in basketball and baseball respectively. In a way it’s good. I can enjoy my kids without having to give a hoot about the scores on Saturdays.

Before that, in Week 2, a fan of the MAC’s Central Michigan wrote this:

Fire Bonamego

I know I’ll hear a lot of the usual “it’s too soon in the season” and “MAC play hasn’t even started”, but I’ve been a die-hard supporter of the football program and I EXPECT us to compete against the power teams every year. There’s no reason that we can’t be like Boise State or better. We need to strive to be better and we shouldn’t settle for mediocracy.

Again, that was a MAC fan distraught about losing to a Big 12 team.

Congrats to the Horned Frogs and their fans on joining this prestigious club.

15 internet moments in 2018 that made us scream 'NOPE'

*unintelligible screaming* 

We're only halfway through 2018, but it already appears to be the year of loudly yelling at the internet every 20 minutes or so.

From insensitive YouTube videos and mortifying viral challenges, to disturbing makeup trends and abhorrent tweets, the online world has truly tested our patience these past six months.

SEE ALSO: Elizabeth Warren got a new puppy because everything else is bad

Here are 15 of the biggest NOPE moments the internet had to offer this year. They'll be tough to re-live for sure, but let them inspire us all to be better online contributors in the future.

1. Terrible, horrible, no good, very bad Logan Paul saga

YouTuber Logan Paul kicked off 2018 in one of the worst ways imaginable. On New Year's Eve, Paul shared a video with his 15 million subscribers that contained footage of an apparent victim of suicide he found in Japan's Aokigahara forest.

After the video received a serious amount of backlash, Paul apologized, claiming he "intended to raise awareness for suicide and suicide prevention," but in the weeks that followed the situation only grew worse.

Dear Internet, pic.twitter.com/42OCDBhiWg

— Logan Paul (@LoganPaul) January 2, 2018

A supercut of Paul's trip to Japan, which showed him severely disrespecting Japanese culture, went viral. He was dragged for an insensitive comment he left on Cardi B's Instagram, and admitted he wasn't making content with his younger fan base in mind. 

In wake of the vlog backlash, Paul did make an effort to advocate for suicide prevention by pledging to donate a total of $1 million to various suicide prevention organizations, but that didn't erase all the pain and disgust his careless video caused viewers. 

2. The painfully embarrassing Tide Pod Challenge

The year has already birthed a number of viral challenges, but none have proven to be as foolish and potentially deadly as the Tide Pod Challenge.

After teens started recording and sharing videos of themselves frying and "eating" poisonous soap-filled pouches known as Tide Pods, YouTube had to step in and take action. Tide Pods videos were pulled from the site, but the damage was done. 

Tide Pod inspired pizza, doughnuts, sushi, and shots were created, and things wound up getting so out of hand that stores had to LOCK UP THE DELICIOUS LOOKING DETERGENT. UGH! Humans sometimes, honestly! 

y’all really joked around so much that tide put their tide pods in plastic boxes...smh pic.twitter.com/Z44efALcX5

— ㅤnavid (@NavidHasan_) January 13, 2018

3. Meals cooked in a MOUTH

The first half of 2018 was also when we learned about this chef who cooks meals using only her freaking mouth. She preps turkey stuffing, steak tartare, pancakes, and even a smoothie using her teeth and saliva, then uploads the videos to YouTube. We don't care if it's "performance art," it's A LOT to comprehend, so can we get a NOPE over here? 

4. When someone tried to make teeth nails a thing

Some bizarre beauty trends have popped up in 2018, but teeth nails took things way too far.

Instagram user @nail_sunny cursed feeds everywhere by sharing a video of regular old nails being transformed to resemble human teeth. The cringeworthy footage was set to Drake's "God's Plan," and IDK about you but I prefer the original music video a whole lot more.

A post shared by Nail Sunny Loves FIFA 2018 (@nail_sunny) on May 8, 2018 at 9:07am PDT

5. Kanye West's tumultuous Twitter return

In 2018, Kanye West decided it was time to tweet again and fans had NO idea what they were in for.

Since April 13, 2018, when Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey welcomed the rapper back to the platform, Kanye has taken his 28 million followers on a dramatic roller coaster filled with tattoo designs, fashion photo shoots, the deepest of musings, album release dates, controversial comments on slavery, and a whole lot of love for Donald Trump.

pic.twitter.com/YyUw0mCKov

— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) April 25, 2018

Watching Kanye's feed over the past few months has truly been exhausting, even for his IRL friends.

6. Pelican takeover

A real-life horror film was shot at the 2018 Pepperdine University graduation when very large pelicans swarmed the ceremony and wreaked havoc on attendees.

Things got so intense that security had to step in, and, after all their intruding, the birds didn't even get diplomas.

7. Elon Musk hating on journalists

Grimes' boyfriend gave President Trump a rest and decided to share his own thoughts about the media via Twitter. Musk announced he plans to create "a media credibility rating site" that will allow the public to review the truth of individual articles, journalists, editors, and publications.

Going to create a site where the public can rate the core truth of any article & track the credibility score over time of each journalist, editor & publication. Thinking of calling it Pravda …

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 23, 2018

Despite the fact that his girlfriend's mom is a journalist, Musk carried on with his anti-media rant, explaining his belief that the journalist's lack of credibility is the reason Trump was elected in the first place. 🙃

8. The Nukebook

Japanese graphic designer Shusaku Takaoka shared a horrifying recreation of the iconic image from The Notebook that will probably ruin your life.

Normally, the photo from the romantic film, based off a Nicholas Sparks novel, shows stars Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams embracing in the rain. But Takaoka replaced the actors with Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un to give the internet the following painful sight.

A post shared by shusaku takaoka (@shusaku1977) on Jun 12, 2018 at 6:50pm PDT

2018, please be nicer to us!

9. BBC imagining the "perfect body"

In a terrifying video shared by BBC, anatomist Alice Roberts examined an advanced model of the perfect human body. It had enlarged eyes and ears, a chimp's lower back, emu legs, a breast-less chest, the heart of a dog, and lungs of a swan. And oh yeah, did we forget to mention A BABY POPPING OUT OF A MARSUPIAL POUCH? NOPE!

10. The IHOb hype

The International House of Pancakes (aka IHOP) really tested everyone's patience in 2018. The chain  restaurant, best known for its breakfast food, decided to unleash a long, drawn out, and very secretive marketing campaign in which it would re-brand from IHOP to IHOb.

Mashable figured out the "b" stood for burgers before the big announcement, but IHOP made everyone wait an entire week before officially revealing the burger news. So extra.

For 60 pancakin’ years, we’ve been IHOP. Now, we’re flippin’ our name to IHOb. Find out what it could b on 6.11.18. #IHOb pic.twitter.com/evSxKV3QmT

— IHOb (@IHOb) June 4, 2018

11. Millie Bobby Brown leaving Twitter

Twitter hit an especially low point when Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown left the platform in June after becoming the subject of a hateful meme.  

It all started when the hashtag #TakeDownMillieBobbyBrown — which was started in 2017 by the now suspended Twitter user @KelsFiona — resurfaced online. In response, people began sharing false stories, negative memes, and fake Snapchat photos claiming that Millie is homophobic. 

i think it’s time i share my #TakeDownMillieBobbyBrown story... i was at my local starbucks, and milky boobie brown comes in so i asked her for a picture. then she PEES in my drink! then she called me a “fat chicken dyke” and put a straw in my nose! i’ve never been so ashamed.

— Laurane :) (@Laurie________) June 5, 2018

After the 14-year-old anti-bullying advocate — yes, she has an entire side Twitter account dedicated to spreading love and kindness — endured a substantial amount of trolling she deactivated her account. How are those anti-harassment plans coming, @Jack?

12. BBQ Becky, Permit Patty, and Pool Patrol Paula

Meme's don't always stem from lighthearted events, and 2018 has proved that with BBQ Becky, Permit Patty, and Pool Patrol Paula. 

In May, an Oakland woman named Jennifer Schulte called the police on two black men who she believed were grilling in a park without a permit. After a video, which captured the woman's interaction with the men and phone call to the police went viral, Twitter users slammed her for racial profiling and she came to be known by meme-makers as "BBQ Becky." 

A month later, Alison Ettel called the police on an 8-year-old girl for selling water on a sidewalk. Ettel was also transformed into a meme, dubbed "Permit Patty," and her harsh actions against a child of color were condemned by many.

We gotta new meme tho y'all #PermitPatty pic.twitter.com/DW3TFjRzn4

— Racist Raj 🌹 (@_ethiopiangold) June 23, 2018

Less than a week later, a third white woman — 38-year-old Stephanie Sebby-Strempel (now known to the internet as "Pool Patrol Paula") — was charged with assaulting a 15-year-old black boy at a public pool after reportedly yelling racial slurs. A video showing part of the confrontation was posted to Facebook, and the #PoolPatrolPaula hashtag was started to raise awareness of her unacceptable behavior.

In light of this utterly disappointing trend, Mashable created a list of 5 things white people can do before calling the cops on a black person. Please read it.

13. Roseanne's racist remarks

In June, actress and comedian Roseanne Barr tweeted a racist remark about President Obama's former black female advisor, Valerie Jarrett.

Barr's tweet received a serious amount of backlash. In response, the actress deleted the tweet, claimed she was just joking, and then tried to blame Ambien for her actions. Ultimately, the tweet led to her show being cancelled, her agent dropping her, and a her taking a short leave of absence from the social media platform.

14. Marco Rubio complaining about the fucking "F-word"

After a shooting at the Capital Gazette left five dead, staff writer Selene San Felice appeared on CNN where she said the following: "I'm going to need more than a couple days of news coverage and some thoughts and prayers, because it's our whole lives have been shattered. And so thanks for your prayers, but I couldn't give a fuck about them if there's nothing else."

Instead of tweeting support for the press, Marco Rubio decided to rage tweet about people using the f-word a little too freely.

Sign of our times... the F word is now routinely used in news stories, tweets etc It’s not even F*** anymore. Who made that decision???

— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) June 29, 2018

"Sign of our times... the F word is now routinely used in news stories, tweets etc It’s not even F*** anymore.  Who made that decision???" Rubio tweeted on June 29.

Always nice to see a man who has his fucking priorities straight. Isn't it?

15. A whole lot of Donald Trump

In the first half of 2018 Donald Trump has had a LOT of not so great moments online.

Early in the year "girther" memes examining Trump's physique spread after the White House announced he's 6 feet, three inches tall, and weighs 239 pounds. There was that time he tried to convince everyone he's a "genius," tweeted incorrect facts, attempted to host the failed Fake News Awards, insulted many — including but certainly not limited to Jay-Z, Alec Baldwin, and Maxine Waters.

Crazy Maxine Waters, said by some to be one of the most corrupt people in politics, is rapidly becoming, together with Nancy Pelosi, the FACE of the Democrat Party. Her ranting and raving, even referring to herself as a wounded animal, will make people flee the Democrats!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 3, 2018

Not to mention the mess of typos and deleted tweets the president's Twitter followers have had to endure.

So yeah, as you can see the internet is occasionally a digital portal to hell. But the online world hasn't been all bad this year. Check out 16 of the best internet moments in 2018 to restore your faith in humanity.

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WATCH: This moon blob meme was the only good thing on the Internet this week

6 Instagram Rules You Kinda Need To Know About

Truth time. Have you read the Instagram terms of use? Be honest with me. Yeah. Up until I sat down to write this post I hadn’t either… They aren’t exactly fun light reading. Plus, by the time I started using Instagram, I’d already signed my first born over to Facebook Rumpelstiltskin anyway…

It turns out that Instagram has some pretty strict rules about certain things.

Unless you are on Instagram. Then there are rules.

If you break these rules, you can get shadowbanned or have your account suspended. But enough with the suspense! Let’s take a look at what these Instagram rules actually are.

1. Use a third party posting app at your peril

Instagram has a closed API– it doesn’t allow third party apps to post directly to Instagram. You can still use a social media dashboard like Agorapulse to manage your Instagram account but the process is a little bit more complicated than for Facebook or Twitter.

Most legit social media management apps work around the challenge. For example, you can log into your Agorapulse account and schedule an Instagram post.

When the time comes, you’ll receive a notification. You can then log into the Agorapulse app which will take you to Instagram where you can hit publish. The key is that you have to be the one that hits publish.

But, while that’s how we do it, there are some apps like Schedugram that post directly to Instagram for you, using your user name and password to access your account. This is a big Terms and Conditions no no. Jumping through a few extra hoops can be frustrating but it keeps your account safe.

2. Don’t use banned hashtags

Not all hashtags are created equal. Using one of Instagram’s banned hashtags can land you in hot water and ignorance is not an excuse.

While some banned hashtags are pretty common sense and align with Instagram’s terms of service, others aren’t so obvious. According to the HuffPo, the banned list includes #adulting, #citycentre and #eggplant. Research the hashtags you use carefully, make sure that they are relevant for your audience and don’t have a secret, urban dictionary or emoji meaning you didn’t know about… (Not that this has ever happened to me!)

How do you check if a hashtag is banned? Simple. Just type it into the search box.

If you get the “No results found” page then the hashtag is banned and you are best off staying away from it.

3. Don’t post too much

Instagram favors real, human posters and all the do’s and don’ts are meant to prioritize them over spammers and bots. Whereas Twitter has apps like Social Quant that can automatically follow and unfollow a bunch of people to build up your following, Instagram frowns on that kind of behavior. That’s why they have an unofficial cap on account activity.

What exactly are those numbers? While Instagram hasn’t released official numbers Ana Gotter did some in depth research and came up with the following:

Following and unfollowing over 60 people an hour

Liking more than 300 posts an hour

Posting over 60 comments an hour

As long as you use your account normally and don’t pass off the responsibility to a robot butler you should be ok! Speaking of robot butlers…

4. Stay away from the robots

Look. In any other circumstances, I’ll be the first to point out the potential of bots in automating your marketing process but that’s not what Instagram is all about.

Bots that auto comment and follow/ unfollow people can be a tempting way to grow your account. You’ll be the kind of person that uses them responsibly, right? But, going back to rule 3, this kind of behavior will get you noticed for all the wrong reasons. Keep your interactions human.

5. Reposting comes with its own rules

Retweeting or sharing a post on Facebook is pretty easy. Add your own insights, hit that share button and users can see who the original poster was. Instagram makes it a bit harder. As a result, a lot of us aren’t sure what the rules and etiquette surrounding reposting are.

It’s pretty simple. Make sure you’ve got permission from the original poster and attribute the content to them. When you post the photo include the hashtag #regram or #repost and tag the original content owner. Now you can repost UGC without breaking the rules!

Beefeater does a pretty good job of re-sharing a user generated photo while sticking to the rules.

6. Don’t run illegal contests

Running an Instagram promotion or contest is a great way to get new followers, engage your existing followers and promote your brand. But, before you jump in, make sure you are playing by the rules.

You are fully responsible for the way the contest is run and for compliance with any government rules in your area as well as regulations related to any prizes you give away. So, if you make craft beer and you are running an exclusive contest, it’s up to you to make sure all contestants are of legal drinking age and that the contest doesn’t break any rules. Instagram squarely puts all the responsibility at your doorstep.

The not quite rules rules

Ok. So we spoke about some of the actual rules that can get you shadowbanned or worse. But, like with all social media platforms (and generally just with any social interaction) there are the other kind of rules. Breaking those rules will decrease your effectiveness on Instagram and lead to a drop in engagement rates.

No one wants that. So, here are some of those other rules worth staying on the right side of.

Don’t ignore the comments: If someone’s taken the time to interact with you, engage with them! Otherwise this won’t turn into much of a two-way relationship.

Come up with a posting schedule: If your Instagram account is just for friends and family, you don’t need an official schedule. But, if you are using it to grow your brand and business, you need a solid posting plan to maximize ROI.

Create a theme for your posts: This makes it easier to post regularly because you know what’s coming next. It also builds a branded look for your account.

Be human: Instagram’s best practices really come down to how a real person is likely to interact with an account versus how a bot/spammer/troll would. Using your common sense will get you a long way!

Sticking to those rules…

I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t always read the terms and conditions when I sign up for a new platform. I’m pretty sure I’ve signed my soul over to Apple several times over by now.

But, breaking Instagram’s rules, even if you aren’t aware of them, can negatively impact your brand and marketing strategy. You can get shadowbanned or your account can get suspended which costs money. Stay on the right side of Instagram!

The post 6 Instagram Rules You Kinda Need To Know About appeared first on Agorapulse.

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