Landon, what were you thinking?

It all started, two days ago. Landon Donovan, a former player for the United States Men's Soccer team, went on Twitter and tried to rally support for Americans to root for Southern neighbor, Mexico, in the World Cup. This raised a lot of eyebrows. If you pay attention to soccer, or any international sporting event, you would know there is a heated rivalry between the US and Mexico.

Still need an example to understand? Use this: Julio Jones was a great player at the University of Alabama,, and now a member of the Atlanta Falcons. If Alabama missed getting into the College Football Playoff but Auburn University, their rival, gets in that is one thing. Now, if Jones went on Twitter and threw support behind Auburn? There's no telling how crazy it could get.

Former American teammates, and media members, questioned Donovan for this decision.

ESPN Soccer Analyst Taylor Twellman went to Twitter stating, "I'd rather cut off my left toe, than root for Mexico". Everyone chose a side of the line to be on. Most everyone was confused was the most prolific goal scorer in United States history, would go for ararguably the most intense rival. According to an article on USA Today, Mexico fans still don't like Donovan for choosing them.

Honestly, if it had stopped there, the whole story would've been swept under the rug. Donovan received money from Wells Fargo, who is the sponsor for the Mexican team, and people would have accepted it. Consider, Donovan spent most of his professional career in Los Angeles, and the past year as a member of Club León of Liga MX.

Then Donovan made the worst mistake. He took a simple sports advertisement, and made it political. In response to criticism from, former teammate and captain, Carlos Bocanegra.

Donovan has deleted the tweet, but he questioned Bocanegra, "You grew up in SoCal and owe much of your soccer skill to playing with Mexicans. Your father is of Mexican descent (🤦🏻‍♂️). Look around our country, are you happy with how we are treating Mexicans? Open your mind, stand for something & remember where you came from ✌🏼❤️"

This is where I draw the line, and A LOT of people did too. No one is dumb enough to not realize Donovan was paid for the advertisement. Leave it in the sporting sphere, and you're fine. But, come on. Using this idea, to pitch rooting for a soccer team is fine. Leave it there. People know you're getting paid, and let it be.

He made the absolute worst decision possible. He made it political. It made no sense to question someone, who is from Mexican descent, about the reasons. Actually, Donovan didn't even touch the subject of "Why?" and went straight to problems happening in American society. There's no reason to even approach the subject. Numbers of former teammates on the USMNT questioned him, with his only response being that one.

As the Knight in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" said, "You chose poorly." Yes, you did, Landon.

Sure, how he handled it was wrong. I actually questioned it myself when I first learned of it. But, everyone needs to take blame on this. I get that we live in an age of social media, where putting our thoughts out there leaves us open to criticism.

I just don't understand where the vitriol comes from. I can't quote, nor do I, want to mention any of the comments that were posted on the deleted Tweet. You can still see some of the comments in the original Tweet Donovan (@landondonovan) posted. Some are still pretty bad, and kids should not be reading any of this.

It still baffles me to see the anger, just because people can do it. We have no horse in the race, yet we want to offer our opinion. Why? Is the power of anonymity that strong?

Let's face it, Donovan may (or may not have) considered the full scope of rooting for Mexico, that's unknown. He stepped too far with bringing politics into the equation. People went too far with their comments attacking him.

It was just a mess that didn't need to happen in the first place.

Add this to the mess surrounding Phil Mickelson at the US Open, and the sports world has started this week with more controversy than I can remember. Rather than highlight the start of the World Cup, or Brooks Koepka winning the US Open, the sports world focuses on drama.

Living up to the age of Journalistic saying, "If it bleeds, it leads.