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Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Great Moments In Sports Tweeting

Twitter has become the next big thing. People's attention span are so short now that 140 characters of information is all we can handle in one sitting. Twitter has changed the way a lot people get their information and the way a lot of people give their information or idle thoughts or removal of all doubt of their status as a fool. However, almost nothing has felt Twitter's affect more than the sporting world.

For as long as I can remember sports teams and their coaches have tried to keep a tight leash on their athletes. Let's face it, athletes aren't known for their intelligence, eloquence or discretion. So keeping them away from microphones and making sure they just toe the company line was the norm. But Twitter has changed all that.

Now big time athletes have an unfiltered public forum named Twitter and I couldn't be happier. Giving athletes a direct line of communication to the entire world via Twitter is like grafting a rocket launcher onto the back of a rhinoceros: You have no idea what's going to happen...but you're pretty sure it's going to be awesome.

We've already had some great sports tweeting moments. There was the time Boston Celtic Ray Allen attempted to privately tweet some hoochie (who was not his wife) but accidentally sent the message to the entire world. Sure he claims his account was hacked but I think a hacker’s dirty tweet would have made a little more sense.

Then there was Michael Beasley (at the time a member of the Miami Heat and now with the Minnesota Timberwolves) who decided to tweet a nice picture of his new tattoo. He was also obviously planning to hone his culinary skills after the picture was taken as evidenced by the small plastic baggie filled with what can only be assumed to be oregano in the corner of the picture. I generally don't like oregano in my brownies but with Beasley I might just make an exception.

Though, quite possibly my favorite sports tweet occurred last Sunday. Bills wide receiver Steve Johnson flat out dropped what would have been the game winning touchdown. In his post game press conference Johnson said he'd never get over it. However, it was after the press conference where the real magic happened. That's when he decided to tweet...

"I PRAISE YOU 24/7!!!!!! AND THIS HOW YOU DO ME!!!!! YOU EXPECT ME TO LEARN FROM THIS??? HOW???!!! ILL NEVER FORGET THIS!! EVER!!! THX THO..."

That's right, Steve Johnson is pissed at God and the way God "did him."

Now some people are criticizing Johnson for blaming God for the dropped pass instead of, you know, himself. But I think it's a refreshing change of pace. It's about time someone called out the big (wo)man in the sky.

How many times over the decades have we seen a player hit a home run or catch a touchdown pass or make a buzzer-beater and then point to the sky? How often do we hear a player getting interviewed after winning a big game and the first thing they do is thank God? Well, if God is responsible for helping you win big games, shouldn't God also be held accountable for when you lose big games? So, good for Steve Johnson for finally holding God responsible.

Now let's hope he doesn't get struck by lightning.

But that tweet wasn't even the zaniest thing to happen in the NFL last weekend. Even crazier was when this happened...and the fact that neither player got suspended!

6 comments:

  1. First off let me say that I find people's stupidity equally amusing and absolutely frustrating. We've all done "stupid" things that we wish could be hidden away for no one to ever discover. Nowadays, technology has granted us the opportunity to solidify our mistakes in many memories around the globe.

    I'm not quite sure what Steve Johnson's mindset was when he wrote what he did (if he was being sincere or sarcastic or what) but I can respond to a misguided argument -

    "Well, if God is responsible for helping you win big games, shouldn't God also be held accountable for when you lose big games?"

    The praise and thanks most people give to God in different situations stems from the belief that he has granted them the abilities (mental, physical, emotional, spiritual) and the opportunity to succeed in a given situation. There lies the "responsibility".

    We have free will and we have control over our bodies to perform the actions we wish to attempt. For hundreds of different reasons, things may or may not work out the way we desire them to.

    Holding God "accountable" is refusing to accept the notion of free will.

    People like to do this with many human actions such as murders and other heinous "crimes".

    But I believe God does still perform miracles and take an active role in all of our lives.

    Look at the "helmet catch" from Giants/Patriots super bowl!

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  2. It took Johnson this long to realize God hates the Buffalo Bills?

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  3. Aw, boots, way to suck the fun out of the room. ;)

    Giving athletes a direct line of communication to the entire world via Twitter is like grafting a rocket launcher onto the back of a rhinoceros: You have no idea what's going to happen...but you're pretty sure it's going to be awesome.

    That's quite possibly the best analogy I've ever heard.

    That's right, Steve Johnson is pissed at God and the way God "did him."

    Yeah, that's what makes it hilarious to me; not that he's blaming God, but the way he's expressing that blame.

    My favorite God related football moment came after a particularly embarrassing Vikings loss to the Lions. This was back in...oh, probably 2007 and I think T-Jack was the QB.

    From Jim Souhan's writeup of the game: "Lions starter Jon Kitna gave God credit for the win. Secular Humanists suspect it had something to do with the Viking's quarterback.

    Even crazier was when this happened...and the fact that neither player got suspended!

    That was, indeed, quite crazy (the lack of suspensions; the fight was pretty awesome). Being a huge fan of conspiracies involving the self-interests of giant corporations, I love the idea that nobody was suspended in order to improve the ratings of the Thursday night game.

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  4. boots~ - Really, my enjoyment of Steve Johnson blaming God comes from the fact that we see athletes praise God for their big wins and I'm always grumble to myself "Yeah, yeah, God helped you win this game...but do you ever blame him when you lose?"

    Well, it doesn't take much psycho-analyzing to figure out why it annoys me so much. It's because I root for Minnesota teams!

    Usually, whenever I see someone pointing to the sky or thanking God for their big win it's when I'm watching a Minnesota sports game....which obviously means that that guy was on Minnesota's opposing team.

    So, even though logically I know this isn't what they mean, the implication to me is that God loves their team and hates Minnesota teams....and after watching the Twins lose their 12th straight playoff game...well...let's just say that's a statement that's getting harder to refute.

    ~Teebore - Although I love conspiracy theories I never actually believe them....unless they involve sports leagues. Sports league conspiracies are all about making money but with no harm done to people...so it's easier to believe people would keep their mouth shut when they occur.

    But the NFL has nothing on the NCAA/BCS. They've got a star quarterback who shouldn't be playing but they're all (temporarily) looking the other way:

    http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2010/11/15/starting-11-cam-newton-will-eventually-be-declared-ineligible/

    It's a long article, but you can focus in on points 8 and 9...and point 3 is fairly humorous.

    Jeff - Yes...Zing...zing indeed.

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  5. They've got a star quarterback who shouldn't be playing but they're all (temporarily) looking the other way

    Yeah, that is crazy. Thanks for the link. I barely follow college football, but I'd heard vague things about Newton and the eligibility issue, so it was nice to get a full rundown of the situation.

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