Tweet, Tweet not music to officials' ears

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By Matt Muncy, October 2, 2009

Twitter has become a portal for anyone to advertise themselves or their business in 140 characters or less. Twitter is basically just multiple status updates used to let your “followers” know what you’re up to. 

 

At first it seemed harmless, not to mention a fun way for athletes to connect to their fans, but it soon opened the door for athletes to express their feelings anytime they wanted -- including during games. Twitter became a problem for sports and league officials decided to take a closer look at it.

 

For the sports leagues the trouble started when former Milwaukee Bucks forward Charlie Villanueva tweeted at halftime of a game last season. He opened Twitter to a new market and fans into a part of sports they never had access of before.

 

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco decided to follow in Villanueva’s footsteps and announced before the start of the 2009 NFL season that he would tweet during a game.

 

The NFL stopped that thought mid-sentence.

 

It immediately looked into ways to hinder the use of Twitter during the game. They did not want players to be able to tweet while on the bench or in the locker room. They decided players, coaches and other members of the organizations could not use Twitter 90 minutes before a game, during a game or until the postgame interviews were completed.

 

The media themselves were also barred from using the social networks while attending the games.

 

If the NFL let Twitter flourish among the teams, it would possibly bring more fans into the games and open them up to a new aspect of the games.

 

Twitter essentially unlocked a door into the jobs of sports organizations.

 

The NBA followed suit and began formulating rules around Twitter. The rules have not been completed yet, but spokesmen for the NBA have stated the rules would be less strict than those of the NFL.

 

Leagues should embrace the new technology, not find ways to ban it. If Shaquille O’Neal can find success on Twitter, how hard can it be for the NFL, NBA, MLB or NHL to get a piece of the action?

 

O’Neal was one of the first athletes to use Twitter as a way to promote himself. He handed out free tickets to his game by having people find him via his Twitter updates. O’Neal has been able to give the fans a look into his life that they may never have been able to see before.

 

As much as I think sports Leagues should be adopting Twitter, I understand why they have a hard time coping with its consequences.

 

For some people, Twitter is just another way to express their frustration. Dallas Mavericks owner, Mark Cuban, decided he would let his fans know how he felt about the officiating after a game against the Denver Nuggets.

 

“How do they not call a tech on J.R. Smith for coming off the bench to taunt our player on the ground?” posted Cuban on his Twitter account.

 

Those 99 characters cost him $25,000.

 

Villanueva, Ochocinco and Cuban only add fuel to the fire for the leagues to push away from Twitter, but if the leagues were able to reproduce the success O’Neal has had so far, it would only help their brand.

 

If officials decide to let Twitter into their sports, they need to make sure players and coaches are not tweeting their plays. You never know when Bill Belicheck may be following.