X Suffers Cyberattack On Worst Possible Day For Sports Fans: Day 1 of NFL Free Agency
Elon Musk says X is undergoing a "massive cyberattack" that caused the app to be out of service for most of Monday.
"There was (still is) a massive cyberattack against đ. We get attacked every day, but this was done with a lot of resources. Either a large, coordinated group and/or a country is involved," Musk explained.
Whoever is responsible for the attack has caused a great degree of angst in the sports world. Of all the days for X to go out, football fans would consider Monday among the worst.
The first day of NFL free agency is one in which fans notoriously and incessantly scroll X for updates to see where the top available players land, hoping to see their favorite team attached next to their names.
Sorry, Bengals fans â you don't get the thrill.
Without X, fans have had to â wait for it â rely on websites and television shows to bring them all the free-agency signings on Monday.
As strange as it is, the industry measures the success of NFL reporters by who posts a scoop first on X, knowing they are usually only seconds apart. ESPN pays Adam Schefter $10 million because he, on average, posts free agency news quicker than all of his rivals.
Thus, the X outage has been just as aggravating for reporters as it has for fans.
NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport called the day "the weirdest free agency frenzy day in the history of the world" during an appearance with Pat McAfee. The reason: Rapoport can't post his scoops on X.
Rapoport said he has had to send his scoops to a staffer â who, for some reason, is one of the few users with access to X â so that he can receive proper credit when the app returns.
Other NFL reporters have turned to alternative apps like Bluesky, the woke X for those who demand their social media overloads censor speech with which they disagree.
"Well guess we will break news here today," New York Times writer Dianna Russini posted on Bluesky.
Look, we are thankful to Elon Musk for turning X into a safe haven for free speech. The country needed that. But of all the days to fall victim to a cyberattack, today shouldn't be one of them.
Where is Aaron Rodgers going? What is the latest scuttlebutt? Tough to say.
Heck, most of us missed that the Detroit Lions signed cornerback D.J. Reed, who could change the team's entire defense next season â until they all suffer season-ending injuries like last season.
Let's hope Elon can avoid any such cyberattacks during the NFL Draft, a day in which reporters spoil picks well ahead of the event on X. If fans are mad today, just imagine how they'd react to having to wait until draft picks are announced on television.