A FAMILIAR beep on my phone interrupted a rare weekend off.
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It was a Twitter notification alert, informing Sporting Declaration that someone in the big, wide world of social media was trying to make contact.
Such events have become increasingly few and far between for this columnist, mainly because I lost interest in Twitter a long time ago, after eventually reaching the conclusion that an IQ test should be required to filter out who is or isn't entitled to open an account.
So I checked my phone, regardless, and discovered a question that immediately raised my eyebrows: "Did you make up the quote or is it legit?"
What's this bloke on about, I wondered.
Against my better judgement, I proceeded to sift through a conversation that was quite simply mind-boggling.
It started with a tweet from one of those soccer - sorry, football - tragics (you know the type) who had cut-and-pasted the link to a report I wrote last week, in which Wests Group chief executive Phil Gardner had expressed interest in one day adding National Basketball League and Super Netball franchises to a portfolio that already includes the Knights.
In particular, the round-ball aficionado objected to a sentence in my report that read: "He [Gardner] also said Wests would not invest in a rival football code, such as soccer."
Our man tweeted: "Here's something to consider Hunter football and @NewcastleJetsFC fans next time you go to a Wests Group club. Seems the mentality of wanting to keep Newcastle a 'rugby league town' is alive and well."
At that point things started to go downhill.
Another genius entered the conversation, observing: "Rob Dillon wrote that article ... take it with a pinch of salt. He hates the Jets."
The originally mentioned world-game devotee then provided a qualified endorsement, of sorts, by saying: "I doubt he would make that up".
To which his pal replied: "No quotes associated with it ... there is no quote direct from Phil's mouth. Rob Dillon is a league man and would do anything he can to bury the Jets. Given numerous Knights players have attended Jets games I don't think what Dillon has said is true."
All of which I was blissfully unaware of, until the third bloke entered the discussion to ask me directly, in effect, if I'd concocted a work of fiction and printed it on the back page of this paper.
So I sent my first tweet since I can't remember when: "Can't believe I am even replying to this conversation, which is as moronic as it is offensive. 1. I support the Jets and want them to do well. Why wouldn't I? 2. Wests have no intention of becoming involved in soccer, as Phil Gardner told me."
Apparently struggling to read between the lines, the third bloke responded with: "Thanks mate! Wasn't having a go, just thought you would be better to confirm because you were there."
No worries, champ. Feel free to query my integrity and ethics any time you like.
Honestly, how many levels of stupid are there?
Let's rewind to the point where I was accused of "making up" a quote. If a journalist did that, and it was inaccurate, what do you think the response would be from the person to whom the quote was attributed?
Phil Gardner and I spoke for half an hour. If I quoted every word he said, it would have filled a four-page liftout. So in some instances, the alternative is to paraphrase.
For the record, these are his exact quotes on the subject in question: "It [a franchise] has to be non-competitive to rugby league. The Knights and rugby league are our core business. People have come to me and offered me soccer teams, and I've said to them very clearly that it [soccer] is a competitor.
"You can only really have your heart in one of those sports. And it's 24-7. It's not just different seasons, it goes 12 months of the year. You're just as busy as you are in the off-season as you are during the season, and you have to be working at it all the time.
"Netball and basketball are different sorts of sports, different sorts of passions. And because of the nature of the revenue and the size of the dollars you need, they are different altogether."
So those are Phil's word, verbatim.
These are my words. I'm not attributing them to anyone other than myself.
Why would Wests want to become involved in soccer, or in particular, the Newcastle Jets?
I don't remember joint ownership working well for Nathan Tinkler. In fact, I don't remember the Jets ever breaking even in any season, under any owner, even when they played in grand finals.
Same goes for most A-League clubs, I would imagine. Why would Wests have any faith in investing in a competition run by the powers-that-be at Football Federation Australia?
And at a fundamental level, why would a club formed decades ago to support rugby league want to prop up another football code? How many of the massive soccer clubs around the world support struggling rugby league franchises?
NBL basketball and Super Netball, on the other hand, apparently appeal to Wests as viable operations, especially if the state government funds a new indoor stadium at Broadmeadow. It's not hard to imagine well-run Newcastle NBL and Super Netball franchises as being profitable commodities, as well as community services.
All of the above, I would have assumed, was a no-brainer. Twitter has reminded me again to take nothing for granted.