We really don't have to do this

I'm of the opinion that 10-year-olds should get orange wedges and encouragement for playing sports as opposed to credulous reporting of the parent's promotional efforts.

Up until Wednesday of last week I was blissfully unaware of the social-media invention that is Baby Gronk.

Oh, those were the days.

Then I noticed a series of references about Baby Gronk “rizzing up”¹ Livvy Dunne, a collegiate gymnast from LSU who has made a great deal of money from sponsorships owing in large part to her wildly popular TikTok account. I discovered — through this helpful explainer — that Baby Gronk was neither a baby nor actually a Gronk, but a 10-year-old who was purported to be very good at football and also had a social media account featuring recruiting-style promo pictures in which he was clad in the attire of various college programs.

Being someone who sincerely wants to be an upstanding member of society, I vowed to have no opinion on this. He’s 10, and if he and/or his family found this to be an enjoyable activity, go with the Lord, young man. May you “rizz up” many a charming lass for photo opportunities in the course of your travels.

That desire for neutrality was interrupted on Friday afternoon:

Now even before I clicked on this story from The Athletic, I had a fairly strong idea that I wasn’t going to like what I read.