SMQ spent all of Thursday in disconnected travel mode, and so missed the swift reaction to the petty vandalism ordered by the Worldwide Leader's Colin Cowherd, who out of fear, thin skin, megalomania, basic meanness or other, more likely collaboration of every demon of his worse nature called on his thugs to trash the place at The Big Lead. Don't bother clicking that link, actually, because that site remains down this morning from the intentional, artificial server overload orchestrated by ESPN's hatchet man. The Big Lead, as well as being an important personal endeavor for its author and a daily destination for a relatively large number of higher-minded readers than Cowherd's vitriol could possibly draw, is a site with a proprietor who in this case draws ad revenue from its operation, which makes it a small business. Which in SMQ's mind makes Cowherd's insipid order, from his unfathomable vantage point of corporate-supported public influence, an actionable offense. Vandalizing a business is some degrees worse than plagiarism.

The Big Lead will be better for this in the long run. It's easy to think of ESPN as the lion and puny bloggers the laughing hyenas picking among the scraps. But Cowherd's sadistic outburst is the culmination of the loud, jerkish indignity that's defined the bulk of the Leader's more and more irrelevant coverage and non-analysis for years. SMQ couldn't give the slightest crap about Colin Cowherd or anything he said on his stupid show. SMQ's never heard it or considered listening by any means. And Colin Cowherd doesn't care, or pretends he doesn't care, what SMQ writes on this site. We live and let live. But when that code is broken, and obliterated in such exceedingly antisocial fashion - Cowherd apparently vowed to wreck a different "annoying" Web site every day - in the end, it's always public opinion that reveals itself as the real king of the jungle:

SMQ is engaged in a strange city and traveling again these next few days, but he supports every effort to smack that content-stealing bitch up.

Have a great weekend.