Much to my chagrin, I woke this morning to a text. Never a preferred way to be roused from slumber, particularly given that said text was deeply offensive. It was a photo sent by a prominent (at least in his mind) winery executive in Sonoma County. By sending it, he appeared to approve of the desecration of a beloved national monument, a treasure visited by tens of thousands of people yearly.

Here is the photo:

Yes, that is the famous Rocky Statue, at the base of the Philadelphia Art Museum steps, just a few blocks from where I used to live, shamefully adorned with some propaganda by a “fan” of the San Francisco 49ers.

The texter in question, who shall go unnamed so as not to give him any of the attention he so desperately seeks, included another wine blogger/writer who currently lives about an hour outside the City of Brotherly Love. Apparently, the Whiner fan does not believe in research since the well-known PA writer is actually a die-hard Pittsburgh Steelers fan.

To his credit though, the Steelers fan cam to the defense of the team at the eastern edge of Pennsylvania. What resulted was a 5-10 minute text barrage which will likely not age well for the Californian involved.

I have decided to publish the text chain here, but I have blocked out the last names of the other two involved since there will undoubtedly be an FBI investigation of the crime and I do not want to adversly affect the case. (My texts are in green, naturally.)

The exchanges get a tad more heated after that, but even without those texts, I think it is clear for even the most casual observer, why I now must boycott ALL California wines!!

(At least for this weekend.)