Glimpse of pro athletes’ lives through Twitter
September 7, 2010
When I first joined the social media network Twitter, I found it absolutely useless. I couldn’t understand all the hype. It’s essentially just a bunch of Facebook statuses, but shorter. Honestly, how can anyone fit what they want to say in a 140 character message?
However, after I heard that Shaquille O’Neal had a Twitter account, I instantly found a reason to fall in love with the website. Indeed, everyone and their agent is on Twitter these days. It makes for some interesting reading and adds a little insight into the lives of athletes. The following are some of the funnier sports-related Twitter accounts, and why you should follow them.
The Big Diesel himself provides instant Twitter hilarity on his account at www.twitter.com/THE_REAL_SHAQ. Whether he’s trash-talking, talking about his reality show “Shaq vs.” or just telling jokes, following him is the quickest way to turn into a Twitter addict. His often misspelled tweets are delightful. Here is an example: “old cupple walks n to the emergency n the drsays 2da the husband! I need a urine smple n boo boo sample! The wifes goes, give him ya draws.”
Any KU fan can appreciate this Twitter account, which is tied in with the Rock Chalk Jay-Blog at http://rockchalkjayblog.wordpress.com/. This account offers not only great coverage of Kansas athletics, but also commentary on college basketball and football that will cause you to die from laughter. His favorite topics to rant about include the East Coast bias in college basketball, Kentucky head coach John Calipari, the inadequacies of every other Big 12 team and the New York Yankees.
As a Minnesota Vikings fan, I really came to appreciate this account during Brett Favre’s rendition of “The Decision.” It capitalizes on the perceived character of Favre at the time of being an arrogant, selfish flip-flopper, and it’s good stuff. Some lovely examples of Fake Favre’s larger-than-life Twitter persona:
“I told Chilly that if we sign Javon, I’m out. Theres nothing worse than playing with a whiny little bitch…”
“I should write a book. No, I shouldn’t. Maybe. Maybe not.”
“Every Viking QB that doesn’t wear a 4 just isn’t good.”
Another fake account, this one pokes fun at O.J. Simpson as he serve his time in prison. His Location is listed as “Lovelock Correctional Center” and most of his tweets are jokes about prison life and the murder case the real O.J. was acquitted from. Here are a few examples:
“I watched the Miami/Florida A&M game last night. That was the second-worst massacre I’ve ever seen.”
“Prison Tip #11 Metamucil (orange flavor) is just the ticket for the irregularity caused by jailhouse food.”
“Close to giving up on eHarmony. Women seem much more picky these days than they used to.”
This time, a real account. Collison, a former Kansas Jayhawk basketball player and current Oklahoma City Thunder NBA player, adds his sense of dry humor to his tweets. It’s definitely good for an occasional laugh, plus it’s interesting to get some insight on his life. In 2009, one of his tweets caused controversy with Oklahoma radio personality Jim Traber, who called him out for saying Oklahoma City was “too hot.” Traber accused Collison of favoring Seattle, where the Thunder franchise was originally located and where Collison still owns a home. Collison called in to the station and had a conversation with Traber about the ridiculousness of his accusations. Here’s another example of Collison’s Twitter humor:
“DECISION 11′ has officially begun!!! 365 days until Nick Collison announces his free agent decision in a one hour special live on PBS!!!”
Another fake account, so to speak. This account takes the identity of Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant’s right knee, which underwent arthroscopic surgery in June. Other than ripping on athletes in all realms of sport, this account often makes jokes about Bryant’s heavily-publicized rape case. Here are a few examples of what to expect from this account:
“Kobe’s decided to take his talents to the restroom for the next 10 minutes.”
“Kobe’s rectum reports that he hasn’t been this clenched since Kobe got booked in Eagle County.”
“I need to have a talk to Andy Bynum’s knee about being a man and playing through pain.”
While not everyone is big into sports, there are other reasons to join Twitter. Here are some other accounts that are useful for Washburn students: @wureview, @wureviewsports, @reviewargo, @weloveWSGA, @wusports, @WUGetALife, @washburnalumni, @washburnlaw, @WUFinaceOffice, @VisitTopeka and @WUBodTalk.