I once had a plagiarist steal my work---and it sucked big time. [View All]

I've been writing a sports blog for the last couple of years and I love it. I love it because I love to write. I love everything that goes into writing a great piece. The research, the thought process that goes into setting up the piece, and then of course how I feel after I'm finished writing the piece.

A great piece is like your baby. It's your art... It's yours.

One day, a couple of months back, I was scanning other sports forums and I came across the name of a guy who regularly participates in my comment section. His name is Tommy.

I clicked on Tommy's post at this forum and began to read what he posted. Well--he posted a piece that I had written just a couple of days earlier. No problem-- I thought at the end he would acknowledge that it was my piece. Nope--- no acknowledgment.

But here's what he did that had me steaming. He added several sentences to my piece and acted as if he wrote the piece.

I was pissed. I then went on my blog and posted exactly what he did. Needless to say, my readers were just as pissed. I think there's two kinds of plagirisim... One way is to cut and paste whole paragraphs of other writers work and add it to your piece... The other way is to steal the whole piece from another writer and then add your words to that piece. I think the second way is the most egregious.

Tommy--the plagiarist emailed me and said he meant no harm and that he only added the words to make the story better. If I was able to reach through the internet super highway with my hands, I would have strangled the dude right there on the spot.

I was surprised at how pissed off I was. It wasn't like the guy shot me.... But in a weird way I felt that I was violated. I know that sounds goofy, but that's how I felt. To me it was like some dude broke into my house and ripped me off---even worse.

It may be hard to explain to non-writers. BUT plagiarism is just plain fucked up.

This is why the Post needs to fire Ben Domenech. He has broken one of the most important codes known to writers throughout the word. Plagiarism.