Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Hard Knocks No. 2: Bengals Players Behind the Scenes
Chad doesn’t drink…who woulda thunk it?
The second episode of Hard Knocks explored the behind the scene view of several Bengals.
Chad OchoCinco Bengal wide receiver and creator of term “child please” was shown at a club in Cincinnati acting quite mellow. He ordered a red bull and cranberry and acted like a professional. More so than he does on the football field, kind of backwards if you ask me. Chad complains of his unexciting existence:
"See how boring my life is? All I have is Twitter."
The show also focused on his not-so-good diet, which has always included a lot of McDonald's. According to his QB Carson Palmer, 60-to-70 percent of what Ochocinco says is just hot air. Palmer says he tunes out his top target most of the time. They sound like an old married couple.
Palmer has some funny moments. He complains that his center Kyle Cook needs to shower more. He tells Laveranues Coles that he isn’t 29; he is in his “mid-20’s”. Why? So people will assume that he is only 27.
Palmer also reveals his love for Gatorade. He considers himself a “connoisseur” and sometimes the Bengals put in too much water or too much mix. This team’s faculty can’t do anything right!
Lots of footage of receiver Chris Henry’s potential and antics. Owner Mike Brown reveals that he is “quite fond” of Henry. Another reminder of who decided to re-sign him after all his legal troubles going into last season. He gets into a shoving match with safety Roy Williams and both players talk some trash. Palmer tries to explain to him a route that was messed up.
During the coaches' evaluation meeting, you had coaches Mike Sheppard and Marvin Lewis talking about Chris Henry: "he doesn't play smart football”.
At the first preseason game in New Orleans, Henry catches a touchdown and proceeds to do a dance by the Saints sideline. Lewis becomes furious and gives him an ear full when Henry returns to the sideline. Looks like the same story, loads of potential (had 100 yards and a TD), still doesn’t act like a professional.
One of my favorite scenes was Tank Johnson trying to put together the bunk bed set for his two girls. The set had about 1,000 screws. When finished he tested it by laying his 305 lb body on it. The bed held up.
My favorite scene also involved Tank. He asks a P.R. rep during a meeting if it’s possible if google can do something about making sure the charges against him aren't the first thing that comes up when his name is searched. These are issues at Bengals camp.
The coolest story was of safety Cory Lynch aka the guy for Appalachian St. that blocked Michigan’s last second field goal attempt two years ago. On father’s day he was the first to arrive at the scene of an accident. He helped the lady who was pinned in her car and unable to breathe get out safely and basically saved her life.
The women and her family visited Lynch at training camp and expressed her gratitude and labeled him her new hero. That’s a Bengals story you aren’t used to hearing.
Rookie tight end Chase Coffman continues to draw criticism. His nickname is Crash Dummy because he's knocked around so much.
Tight end’s coach Johnathan Hayes said, "If you don't use your hands, you will never play in this league. You move like old people screw".
Good background on the relationship Hayes has with Coffman. Hayes played with Coffman's dad in the NFL.
Two amusing Lewis moments:
At one point Lewis said that Mike Brown told him “Child Please”. I wonder if Brown has any idea what the phrase even means…doubtful.
After the mock game Lewis ends his speech with a few words “Be smart tonight...no drinking and driving”. Actually Marvin I would rather them be smart every night.
The show ends on a very frustrating note for Bengals fans. Mike Brown’s daughter and future owner of the team Katie Blackburn was shown talking to the agent of sixth overall pick Andre Smith. They debate slotting based on the deal the seventh pick Hayward-Bay received. Neither accepted the other's point. Clearly the Bengals don’t understand the slotting system of the NFL draft. They were about $10 million apart.
The Bengals are not new to draft holdouts and this scene is proof. The way Blackburn handled the situation has to be absolutely freighting to Cincinnati. The prospect of her owning the team someday is equally horrifying.
The second episode of Hard Knocks explored the behind the scene view of several Bengals.
Chad OchoCinco Bengal wide receiver and creator of term “child please” was shown at a club in Cincinnati acting quite mellow. He ordered a red bull and cranberry and acted like a professional. More so than he does on the football field, kind of backwards if you ask me. Chad complains of his unexciting existence:
"See how boring my life is? All I have is Twitter."
The show also focused on his not-so-good diet, which has always included a lot of McDonald's. According to his QB Carson Palmer, 60-to-70 percent of what Ochocinco says is just hot air. Palmer says he tunes out his top target most of the time. They sound like an old married couple.
Palmer has some funny moments. He complains that his center Kyle Cook needs to shower more. He tells Laveranues Coles that he isn’t 29; he is in his “mid-20’s”. Why? So people will assume that he is only 27.
Palmer also reveals his love for Gatorade. He considers himself a “connoisseur” and sometimes the Bengals put in too much water or too much mix. This team’s faculty can’t do anything right!
Lots of footage of receiver Chris Henry’s potential and antics. Owner Mike Brown reveals that he is “quite fond” of Henry. Another reminder of who decided to re-sign him after all his legal troubles going into last season. He gets into a shoving match with safety Roy Williams and both players talk some trash. Palmer tries to explain to him a route that was messed up.
During the coaches' evaluation meeting, you had coaches Mike Sheppard and Marvin Lewis talking about Chris Henry: "he doesn't play smart football”.
At the first preseason game in New Orleans, Henry catches a touchdown and proceeds to do a dance by the Saints sideline. Lewis becomes furious and gives him an ear full when Henry returns to the sideline. Looks like the same story, loads of potential (had 100 yards and a TD), still doesn’t act like a professional.
One of my favorite scenes was Tank Johnson trying to put together the bunk bed set for his two girls. The set had about 1,000 screws. When finished he tested it by laying his 305 lb body on it. The bed held up.
My favorite scene also involved Tank. He asks a P.R. rep during a meeting if it’s possible if google can do something about making sure the charges against him aren't the first thing that comes up when his name is searched. These are issues at Bengals camp.
The coolest story was of safety Cory Lynch aka the guy for Appalachian St. that blocked Michigan’s last second field goal attempt two years ago. On father’s day he was the first to arrive at the scene of an accident. He helped the lady who was pinned in her car and unable to breathe get out safely and basically saved her life.
The women and her family visited Lynch at training camp and expressed her gratitude and labeled him her new hero. That’s a Bengals story you aren’t used to hearing.
Rookie tight end Chase Coffman continues to draw criticism. His nickname is Crash Dummy because he's knocked around so much.
Tight end’s coach Johnathan Hayes said, "If you don't use your hands, you will never play in this league. You move like old people screw".
Good background on the relationship Hayes has with Coffman. Hayes played with Coffman's dad in the NFL.
Two amusing Lewis moments:
At one point Lewis said that Mike Brown told him “Child Please”. I wonder if Brown has any idea what the phrase even means…doubtful.
After the mock game Lewis ends his speech with a few words “Be smart tonight...no drinking and driving”. Actually Marvin I would rather them be smart every night.
The show ends on a very frustrating note for Bengals fans. Mike Brown’s daughter and future owner of the team Katie Blackburn was shown talking to the agent of sixth overall pick Andre Smith. They debate slotting based on the deal the seventh pick Hayward-Bay received. Neither accepted the other's point. Clearly the Bengals don’t understand the slotting system of the NFL draft. They were about $10 million apart.
The Bengals are not new to draft holdouts and this scene is proof. The way Blackburn handled the situation has to be absolutely freighting to Cincinnati. The prospect of her owning the team someday is equally horrifying.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Never Ending Cycle of Farve and Vick
The NFL season is till three weeks away and already two stories have been covered to the max, even by ESPN’s standards. Michael Vick and Brett Farve need to be cut off the media radar.
Ironically, neither of the two will even be a factor during the 2009 season until at least mid-October. Vick finally signed with a team and is now practicing with the Eagles.
Is it really necessary to have Sal Paolantonio attend every Philly practice, giving us an update on Vick’s wind sprints? The speculations over what team would take the massive P.R. hit and sign him are over.
The man is out of jail and is now just another player in training camp. This does not merit the continued coverage. Talk to me in week six when he is ready to play. I can already predict the Vick stories over the next two months:
Vick looks in shape, Vick gives Eagles a wildcat option, other teams must now worry about the Eagles running the wildcat, McNabb and Vick get along and are friends, McNabb and Vick will be on the field together, the protests, the angry headlines and of course the livid dog owners.
Does any of this have relevance to the first month of the 2009 NFL season? Why can’t this story go on the back burner till Vick can actually make an impact ON the field?
Sports Illustrated football writer Peter King already has a prediction:
“I think I'm setting the over/under on Sal Paolantonio's days spent reporting from Eagle headquarters or Eagle games this season, and I'm doing it right now. There are 139 days between today and the end of the regular season. Over/under: 140.”
I’ll take the over.
Then there is Brett Farve. He just simply will not get away from my T.V. It has been the most painfully slow death of an NFL career since Emmitt Smith went to the Arizona Cardinals.
After two agonizingly dull months of Farve to the Vikings talk, he decided to stay “retired”. I want the collective 24 hours of Farve updates of my life back please. So finally we all thought he would drift off into the sunset. But wait there’s more!
Yesterday some “unidentified” Vikings player was quite convinced Farve was coming when he said, "I'm telling you it's already done. I don't think anyone here doesn't think that."
Today a Mississippi T.V. station reported that Farve had boarder a plane in route to Minnesota. Here we go again… ESPN reports he will sign a $10-12 million deal.
Now we will be subjected to a whole new round of speculation amongst the talking heads. They will rehash the same arguments that have been used since the spring. Once again the focus will not be about X’s and O’s, but on a guy with a gray whiskers who may or may not be too old.
Knowing Farve, he might even change his mind four or five more times in the next month. The Sage Rosenfeld era might end before it even gets started. So much for that impressive first preseason game, he’s getting bumped by a Wrangler jeans wearing 39 year-old diva.
The running game will dictate the Vikings season, not Farve. So why doesn’t ESPN talk about Adrian Peterson everyday? How did Palmer and Brady look in their first games back after major injuries? Which rookies look to have early success? How will Cutler and the Bears compare to Orton and the Broncos? Will the Steelers offensive line hold up for big Ben?
Unfortunately this is all second fiddle to the media empires. We will continue to get bashed over the head with Vick and Farve well into the season. The funny thing is that there is a chance that neither player makes any sort of impact on the field. But clearly that is irrelevant.
You have been warned, be prepared for a loooong couple of months of the same old stories.
Ironically, neither of the two will even be a factor during the 2009 season until at least mid-October. Vick finally signed with a team and is now practicing with the Eagles.
Is it really necessary to have Sal Paolantonio attend every Philly practice, giving us an update on Vick’s wind sprints? The speculations over what team would take the massive P.R. hit and sign him are over.
The man is out of jail and is now just another player in training camp. This does not merit the continued coverage. Talk to me in week six when he is ready to play. I can already predict the Vick stories over the next two months:
Vick looks in shape, Vick gives Eagles a wildcat option, other teams must now worry about the Eagles running the wildcat, McNabb and Vick get along and are friends, McNabb and Vick will be on the field together, the protests, the angry headlines and of course the livid dog owners.
Does any of this have relevance to the first month of the 2009 NFL season? Why can’t this story go on the back burner till Vick can actually make an impact ON the field?
Sports Illustrated football writer Peter King already has a prediction:
“I think I'm setting the over/under on Sal Paolantonio's days spent reporting from Eagle headquarters or Eagle games this season, and I'm doing it right now. There are 139 days between today and the end of the regular season. Over/under: 140.”
I’ll take the over.
Then there is Brett Farve. He just simply will not get away from my T.V. It has been the most painfully slow death of an NFL career since Emmitt Smith went to the Arizona Cardinals.
After two agonizingly dull months of Farve to the Vikings talk, he decided to stay “retired”. I want the collective 24 hours of Farve updates of my life back please. So finally we all thought he would drift off into the sunset. But wait there’s more!
Yesterday some “unidentified” Vikings player was quite convinced Farve was coming when he said, "I'm telling you it's already done. I don't think anyone here doesn't think that."
Today a Mississippi T.V. station reported that Farve had boarder a plane in route to Minnesota. Here we go again… ESPN reports he will sign a $10-12 million deal.
Now we will be subjected to a whole new round of speculation amongst the talking heads. They will rehash the same arguments that have been used since the spring. Once again the focus will not be about X’s and O’s, but on a guy with a gray whiskers who may or may not be too old.
Knowing Farve, he might even change his mind four or five more times in the next month. The Sage Rosenfeld era might end before it even gets started. So much for that impressive first preseason game, he’s getting bumped by a Wrangler jeans wearing 39 year-old diva.
The running game will dictate the Vikings season, not Farve. So why doesn’t ESPN talk about Adrian Peterson everyday? How did Palmer and Brady look in their first games back after major injuries? Which rookies look to have early success? How will Cutler and the Bears compare to Orton and the Broncos? Will the Steelers offensive line hold up for big Ben?
Unfortunately this is all second fiddle to the media empires. We will continue to get bashed over the head with Vick and Farve well into the season. The funny thing is that there is a chance that neither player makes any sort of impact on the field. But clearly that is irrelevant.
You have been warned, be prepared for a loooong couple of months of the same old stories.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
HBO's Hard Knocks Hits Bengals Camp
It's the hard knock life, for us!!
Steada treated, we get tricked
Steada kisses, we get kicked
It's the hard knock life!!
Whether you think of Annie or Jay-Z these four lines represent HBO’s pick for the series Hard Knocks.
The Cincinnati Bengals have been getting tricked and kicked for 18 years since owner Mike Brown took over for his legendary dad Paul. One winning season is all Bengals fans have received since 1991.
What else have they been given? Akili Smith, Dave Kingler, Peter Warrick and Ki-Jana Carter. Add it up and Mike Brown’s record as owner of the Bengals is 101-187-1.
After a forgettable 4-11-1 2008, optimism is budding all around the training facilities in Georgetown Kentucky.
Franchise QB Carson Palmer is healthy again. The loss of WR T.J. Hoshmanzadeh was quickly addressed with the signing of another hard name to spell in Laveranues Coles. RB Cedric Benson has been saying all the right things and has had a full off-season of practice with the team.
The defense, highlight of ’08, is still improving. They picked up rookies with loads of potential in the second round with LB Rey Maualuga (USC) and third round with DE Michael Johnson (Georgia Tech). They also added two ex-Cowboys in S Roy Williams and DT Tank Johnson.
But with all the anticipation fans forget about the most important factor that is still a disaster in the making. The offense line has absolutely horrendous last season.
The biggest issue facing the Bengals is the O-Line. So much so that the Bengals used the 6th pick in the draft to take OL Andre Smith. Now, two days before the first preseason game and a week into camp, Smith hasn't been signed.
At last check the Bengals and Smith were at least 7-million dollars apart. In fact, the Bengals were offering 5-mill less than what the Raiders gave the next pick at #7.
So protecting the franchise player isn’t a top concern to ownership. Its like putting Carson Palmer and his $15 million contract underneath your pillow and hoping burglars don’t find it, instead of just putting it in a bank.
Andre Smith wont appear on at least the first couple of shows but guess who will be all over it? Mr. Chad OchoCinco will be chirping to the cameras throughout training camp. Hopefully the opening scene of the show isn’t Chad running shirtless on the beach like a certain ex-Cowboy last year.
Marvin Lewis will get the chance to show America that he is indeed a competent NFL coach, which has certainly been questioned lately. Michael Lombardi of the National Football Post released the worst game manager’s among NFL coaches and Lewis was the worst. It remains to be seen if the cameras will catch the multiple eye-rollings that Chad creates for Marvin.
As for position battles…punt returner is up for grabs. Antonio Chatman, who has narrowly held on to the job, could be out for most of the preseason with an ankle injury, which hampers his chances. That means Quan Cosby, Bernard Scott and Tom Nelson will see action throughout the pre-season.
Benson will be the starting running back, but his back-up is up for grabs. Brian Leonard, DeDe Dorsey, Kenny Watson, James Johnson, Bernard Scott and Marion Lucky all are fighting for their chance to play. One of them was already cut, I wont spoil it for you, but it was kind of a surprise.
Tight End will be a good competition. Projected starter Reggie Kelley tore his ACL in the first couple of days of camp and now it is up Daniel Coats, Ben Utecht and rookie Chase Coffman. Should be a fierce competition between the veterans and the rookie Coffman.
HBO will also cover the hilarious antics of the website WhoDeyRevolution.com. It is a site that was developed by big time Bengals fans that are sick and tired of Mike Brown’s ways. Their “Project Mayhem” has produced a billboard in Cincinnati pleading to hire a GM, and “Put your yellow on our Brown” where pictures of Brown were put on the urinals of Paul Brown Stadium during a game against the Redskins last year.
This year they have a small plane flying over camp with different one-liners such as: “101-187-1…hire a GM!” and “When is Training Camp for the Front Office?”.
Brown was sitting on a patio next to the press box, watching the scrimmage, when the banners flew overhead. HBO is sure to provided an in-depth view of Brown. It will certainly be a first. Citizens of Cincinnati don’t even know what he sounds like because he talks to the media approximately ONE time a year at the kick-off luncheon in July.
ONE TIME A YEAR! IF nothing else the show will provide viewers some sort of idea about the man that pulls ALL the strings for the franchise.
For the first time in a long time all-eyes will be on the Bengals. There are some heated position battles, a diva of a wide receiver and an evil owner. Add it up and it should be some compelling T.V. Tank Johnson, whom was on the show last year with the Cowboys, thinks this year the show will be more realistic.
“Camp doesn’t have all the glitz and glamour that Dallas had. Its just basic football,” Johnson said.
Bengal fans can only hope. They have had enough distractions over the past couple of years. It's the hard knock life tonight at 10.
Steada treated, we get tricked
Steada kisses, we get kicked
It's the hard knock life!!
Whether you think of Annie or Jay-Z these four lines represent HBO’s pick for the series Hard Knocks.
The Cincinnati Bengals have been getting tricked and kicked for 18 years since owner Mike Brown took over for his legendary dad Paul. One winning season is all Bengals fans have received since 1991.
What else have they been given? Akili Smith, Dave Kingler, Peter Warrick and Ki-Jana Carter. Add it up and Mike Brown’s record as owner of the Bengals is 101-187-1.
After a forgettable 4-11-1 2008, optimism is budding all around the training facilities in Georgetown Kentucky.
Franchise QB Carson Palmer is healthy again. The loss of WR T.J. Hoshmanzadeh was quickly addressed with the signing of another hard name to spell in Laveranues Coles. RB Cedric Benson has been saying all the right things and has had a full off-season of practice with the team.
The defense, highlight of ’08, is still improving. They picked up rookies with loads of potential in the second round with LB Rey Maualuga (USC) and third round with DE Michael Johnson (Georgia Tech). They also added two ex-Cowboys in S Roy Williams and DT Tank Johnson.
But with all the anticipation fans forget about the most important factor that is still a disaster in the making. The offense line has absolutely horrendous last season.
The biggest issue facing the Bengals is the O-Line. So much so that the Bengals used the 6th pick in the draft to take OL Andre Smith. Now, two days before the first preseason game and a week into camp, Smith hasn't been signed.
At last check the Bengals and Smith were at least 7-million dollars apart. In fact, the Bengals were offering 5-mill less than what the Raiders gave the next pick at #7.
So protecting the franchise player isn’t a top concern to ownership. Its like putting Carson Palmer and his $15 million contract underneath your pillow and hoping burglars don’t find it, instead of just putting it in a bank.
Andre Smith wont appear on at least the first couple of shows but guess who will be all over it? Mr. Chad OchoCinco will be chirping to the cameras throughout training camp. Hopefully the opening scene of the show isn’t Chad running shirtless on the beach like a certain ex-Cowboy last year.
Marvin Lewis will get the chance to show America that he is indeed a competent NFL coach, which has certainly been questioned lately. Michael Lombardi of the National Football Post released the worst game manager’s among NFL coaches and Lewis was the worst. It remains to be seen if the cameras will catch the multiple eye-rollings that Chad creates for Marvin.
As for position battles…punt returner is up for grabs. Antonio Chatman, who has narrowly held on to the job, could be out for most of the preseason with an ankle injury, which hampers his chances. That means Quan Cosby, Bernard Scott and Tom Nelson will see action throughout the pre-season.
Benson will be the starting running back, but his back-up is up for grabs. Brian Leonard, DeDe Dorsey, Kenny Watson, James Johnson, Bernard Scott and Marion Lucky all are fighting for their chance to play. One of them was already cut, I wont spoil it for you, but it was kind of a surprise.
Tight End will be a good competition. Projected starter Reggie Kelley tore his ACL in the first couple of days of camp and now it is up Daniel Coats, Ben Utecht and rookie Chase Coffman. Should be a fierce competition between the veterans and the rookie Coffman.
HBO will also cover the hilarious antics of the website WhoDeyRevolution.com. It is a site that was developed by big time Bengals fans that are sick and tired of Mike Brown’s ways. Their “Project Mayhem” has produced a billboard in Cincinnati pleading to hire a GM, and “Put your yellow on our Brown” where pictures of Brown were put on the urinals of Paul Brown Stadium during a game against the Redskins last year.
This year they have a small plane flying over camp with different one-liners such as: “101-187-1…hire a GM!” and “When is Training Camp for the Front Office?”.
Brown was sitting on a patio next to the press box, watching the scrimmage, when the banners flew overhead. HBO is sure to provided an in-depth view of Brown. It will certainly be a first. Citizens of Cincinnati don’t even know what he sounds like because he talks to the media approximately ONE time a year at the kick-off luncheon in July.
ONE TIME A YEAR! IF nothing else the show will provide viewers some sort of idea about the man that pulls ALL the strings for the franchise.
For the first time in a long time all-eyes will be on the Bengals. There are some heated position battles, a diva of a wide receiver and an evil owner. Add it up and it should be some compelling T.V. Tank Johnson, whom was on the show last year with the Cowboys, thinks this year the show will be more realistic.
“Camp doesn’t have all the glitz and glamour that Dallas had. Its just basic football,” Johnson said.
Bengal fans can only hope. They have had enough distractions over the past couple of years. It's the hard knock life tonight at 10.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Twitter Is Nothin' but Trouble
It’s a craze that has captured the inhabitants of the sports terrain.
Athletes have fully embraced the new social media and now the bulk of athletes have an account. Shaq introduced me to this phenomenon waaay back in November. At the time somebody had been using Shaq’s name in his account and was saying un-Shaq like material.
So the Big Aristotle or Cactus or whatever he calls himself decided to set the record straight and create his own profile. The_real_shaq was born. Now he has plenty of company.
Not a day goes by in the summer of 2009 where the words “twitter” or “tweet” isn’t uttered by a sportscaster or writer. From the athletes perspective it is a great self-marketing tool, a terrific way to get out the real story. Too many times sports figures claim the media is miss-quoting or fabricating information about them.
Sounds good in theory.
But the problem is that it has become a case of too much information. Do you care what Chad OchoCinco had for breakfast (child please!)? Do you care that Lance Armstrong ran into the Austin mayor at dinner? Or that Baron Davis enjoyed a Beyonce concert?
More often than not the info is completely useless. And recently a lot of players have been getting in trouble through Twitter. Kevin Love of the Timberwolves broke the news that coach Kevin McHale was fired the day before Minnesota made an announcement. Whoops that’s a fine.
Charlie Villanueva caught some heat for tweeting during HALFTIME of a NBA regular season game. Sure sounds like he’s focused on winning. Have fun with the Rasheed Wallace clone Detroit!
J.R. Smith just shut his Twitter account down after speculation he was tweeting gang related talk. The controversy is due to the way he’s presenting some of his posts — spelling words with a “k” in place of a “c,” or removing the “c” altogether, which is commonly associated with the Bloods street gang. Doesn’t he play for a team with BLUE JERSEYS???
San Diego Chargers Antonio Cromartie was just fined $2,500 for using Twitter to complain about the food served at their training camp. Sources say the tweet associated the food quality with the Charger’s failure to reach the Super Bowl the past few seasons.
After hearing about the fining, Kawika Mitchell of the Bills defended Cromartie in his “tweet”: “It’s bullsh!t that the league is scared of twitter. We have opinions. We sit back and listen to all the bullsh!t media, coaches and fans have to say, so if the chargers food sucks. It sucks. Please! B mad at real sh!t.”
Numerous NFL teams have now banned them from using the site.
But the athletes aren’t the only tweeters catching heat from a higher power. In an attempt to contain its employees “worldwide” power ESPN laid the hammer down on NBA beat writer Ric Bucher. He had some “informal” thoughts on the NBA and got busted.
“The hammer just came down, tweeps: ESPN memo prohibiting tweeting info unless it serves ESPN. Kinda figured this was coming. Not sure what this means”.
Even when you're not working, you're still part of the World Wide Leader.
I am curious how long twitter will survive amongst celebrities and athletes, as it appears to be the root of recent problems for athletes who do not hold back their personal opinions and feelings.
Twitter lends itself to quick thoughts, quick reactions.
For some athletes, that might not be a good idea. Social networking like Twitter and Facebook have followers who will be willing to pounce on anything an athlete does.
Everyone -- non-athletes, too -- has to remember that anything that goes out over Twitter or Facebook is public domain and can go to anyone, even people who are not followers or friends.
Schools have started using Twitter and Facebook to recruit athletes. Or find out information about them. The social networks are not the best way to keep track of people. Stalkers unite.
Beware athletes, this problem will only grow worse.
Athletes have fully embraced the new social media and now the bulk of athletes have an account. Shaq introduced me to this phenomenon waaay back in November. At the time somebody had been using Shaq’s name in his account and was saying un-Shaq like material.
So the Big Aristotle or Cactus or whatever he calls himself decided to set the record straight and create his own profile. The_real_shaq was born. Now he has plenty of company.
Not a day goes by in the summer of 2009 where the words “twitter” or “tweet” isn’t uttered by a sportscaster or writer. From the athletes perspective it is a great self-marketing tool, a terrific way to get out the real story. Too many times sports figures claim the media is miss-quoting or fabricating information about them.
Sounds good in theory.
But the problem is that it has become a case of too much information. Do you care what Chad OchoCinco had for breakfast (child please!)? Do you care that Lance Armstrong ran into the Austin mayor at dinner? Or that Baron Davis enjoyed a Beyonce concert?
More often than not the info is completely useless. And recently a lot of players have been getting in trouble through Twitter. Kevin Love of the Timberwolves broke the news that coach Kevin McHale was fired the day before Minnesota made an announcement. Whoops that’s a fine.
Charlie Villanueva caught some heat for tweeting during HALFTIME of a NBA regular season game. Sure sounds like he’s focused on winning. Have fun with the Rasheed Wallace clone Detroit!
J.R. Smith just shut his Twitter account down after speculation he was tweeting gang related talk. The controversy is due to the way he’s presenting some of his posts — spelling words with a “k” in place of a “c,” or removing the “c” altogether, which is commonly associated with the Bloods street gang. Doesn’t he play for a team with BLUE JERSEYS???
San Diego Chargers Antonio Cromartie was just fined $2,500 for using Twitter to complain about the food served at their training camp. Sources say the tweet associated the food quality with the Charger’s failure to reach the Super Bowl the past few seasons.
After hearing about the fining, Kawika Mitchell of the Bills defended Cromartie in his “tweet”: “It’s bullsh!t that the league is scared of twitter. We have opinions. We sit back and listen to all the bullsh!t media, coaches and fans have to say, so if the chargers food sucks. It sucks. Please! B mad at real sh!t.”
Numerous NFL teams have now banned them from using the site.
But the athletes aren’t the only tweeters catching heat from a higher power. In an attempt to contain its employees “worldwide” power ESPN laid the hammer down on NBA beat writer Ric Bucher. He had some “informal” thoughts on the NBA and got busted.
“The hammer just came down, tweeps: ESPN memo prohibiting tweeting info unless it serves ESPN. Kinda figured this was coming. Not sure what this means”.
Even when you're not working, you're still part of the World Wide Leader.
I am curious how long twitter will survive amongst celebrities and athletes, as it appears to be the root of recent problems for athletes who do not hold back their personal opinions and feelings.
Twitter lends itself to quick thoughts, quick reactions.
For some athletes, that might not be a good idea. Social networking like Twitter and Facebook have followers who will be willing to pounce on anything an athlete does.
Everyone -- non-athletes, too -- has to remember that anything that goes out over Twitter or Facebook is public domain and can go to anyone, even people who are not followers or friends.
Schools have started using Twitter and Facebook to recruit athletes. Or find out information about them. The social networks are not the best way to keep track of people. Stalkers unite.
Beware athletes, this problem will only grow worse.
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