By now we're all deathly familiar with ESPN's travails trying to moderate comments with little ####ing success. And if ESPN opts not to be the bastion of uncensored response in user-generated content among network giants, where else do we turn? Fox Sports? Try again.
A tipster sent in a year-old blog post residing on the Fox Sports website about the worst trades in baseball. It elicited substantial giggling, not for what the post says (although it's comprehensive and interesting), but because of what the censor doesn't want you to read:
November 13, 2003 - The San Francisco Giants trade pitchers Joe Nathan, Francisco Liriano, and BLEEP Bonser to Twins for A.J. Pierzynski
I had no idea "Boof" was a swear word, even though it's certifiably dirty, according to Urban Dictionary, and who can disagree with the ironclad thumbs-up-thumbs-down method? As silly as the censoring is, at least I can give Fox Sports style points for incorporating onomatopoeia into their content moderation. But that wasn't the best instance of BLEEPership:
They were tradinBLEEP oung player who had put up some nice numbers,
To quote the GEICO Caveman: "Uh, what?"
Thankfully, Fox Sports gives the reader the option to turn the censor off (you reading this, ESPN?). After daring to give the censor a ten-minute smoke break, I re-read the sentence and the phrase read "trading a young player." Note the succession of letters it BLEEPed out. It says... oh, god, that's obscene! Moreso for John Nash from "A Beautiful Mind!" Get it away from me! Abort, abort!
Well, that's the last time I get caught readinBLEEPear-old blog post.
Worst Trades In Baseball [Fox Sports/Morisato's Blog]