Monta Ellis: Fans Shouldn't Be Shocked by Ellis' Alleged Nasty Cyber Behavior

Here we go again, another professional athlete accused of dealing dirty with the their mobile device. In this case, it is allegedly an anonymous equipment room cell phone, allegedly used to send several lewd sexually charged messages and one picture message of Ellis' genitalia.

We don't know if these accusations are true or not, or whether there are more details that will change the perspective of what has or hasn't transpired. What we do know is that there are an increasing number of athletes finding themselves under scrutiny because of their actions with or in relation to their cell phones.

It isn't just athletes though. It is a problem many people have. The cyber world seems to bring about a level of audacity in them. Most of them would not convey these actions were it not for the cloak of anonymity or the shield from instant judgement mobile and online communication provides.

Monta Ellis and Brett Favre are professional athletes whose every action is under a microscope. So, of course we know about many of their transgressions, but tell me you don't know someone who has responded to or initiated something over email, text message or their preferred method of mobile communication in a more spirited and aggressive way than they would have in person. I call it "cyber courage."

In many ways, our communication online is like an accentuation of our personalities. 

Many will say, "with all that money, you would think he would know better." Well, he should know better, if indeed he is guilty of this, but athletes are people too. Comments like this one from the accuser's attorney are very short-sighted and target based:

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"On a micro level, my client has endured unwanted harassment, has suffered and continues to suffer emotional distress and trauma. On a macro level, this type of conduct, especially in the sports world, must stop.”

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So this is an athletes issue now? Some people have a genuine envy and distaste for athletes and want to attribute any isolated negative actions to them on a whole.

We deal everyday with people that make dumb decisions and prompt us to shake our heads, but generally, we don't give a second thought or attribute it to whatever group they belong to.

This is not an athletes problem. This is about an alleged lack of self control and poor decision making. Those traits can exist within those that make their living on the court or in the office.

Texting and tweeting is just the latest medium to display them.