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#ThrowtheSnake poisons Twitter’s puck talk

Al Sobotka

Joe Louis Arena building manager Al Sobotka swings an octopus before Game 7 of an NHL hockey Western Conference semifinal series between the Detroit Red Wings and the Anaheim Ducks, Thursday, May 14, 2009, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

AP

My lord, Twitter, you’ve done it again. I know it’s weird and inaccurate to personify a non-thinking social network that more or less serves as a glorified Facebook Status Update Web site, but sometimes it’s difficult to process the oddness that the Internet can offer. Odd is exactly how I’d describe the currently-building #ThrowtheSnake movement.

Forgive me for any errors here, but from what I can get gather, the idea originated as a joke-based mission to counter the Detroit Red Wings’ long standing tradition of a fan throwing an octopus onto the ice. Five for Howling blogger Travis Hair joked that it would be funny to throw a snake onto the ice as Arizona’s answer to the octopus. If you know anything about how Twitter trends explode (particularly when something meme-heavy occurs), well - that’s exactly what happened. (Note: Travis gives @felixpotvin much of the credit for the Twitter explosion. My head hurts.)

Here are a few of the (not too offensive, profane or euphemistic) highlights from the Twitter movement as of this moment. Hockey fans are weird. This post might be updated with other entries. Maybe.

DownGoesBrown: Detroit chose the octopus because each leg symbolized a playoff win. Maybe a snake would be more appropriate for the Leafs. #ThrowTheSnake

hockeenight: #throwthesnake so Bertuzzi won’t be the only one out there.

DownGoesBrown: It will be nice for Arizona sports fans to see a snake-related throw that isn’t intercepted. #JakePlummer #ThrowTheSnake

capskremlin: @wyshynski the PHX fans need to scream SNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKEEEEEEEE when it hits the ice #throwthesnake

coreygoodie: @wyshynski You’re forgetting about Jake “The Snake” Roberts #ThrowTheSnake

starsscene New movie idea: Snakes On A Red Wings Goalie #throwthesnake (Editor’s note: This is the only publishable “Snakes on a Plane” reference I’ve seen. Here’s a cleaned up version of the joke: Tapeleg: If he takes it to Detroit, would we have MF snakes on a MF plane? #throwthesnake)

CanadaIsCold: Where else? http://www.fakerubbersnakes.com/rattlesnake.htm #ThrowTheSnake

criseyde: Because Kerry Fraser just retired, leaving a serpent-shaped hole in the NHL. #ThrowTheSnake