Twittering Athletes

Thanks to Ashton, Oprah, and CNN, 2009 was the year Twitter really went mass.  And with more celebrities and stars joining in daily to reach fans directly, 2010 will likely bring some interesting changes in the way we receive news and information, particularly in sports.

In the past, athletes and teams had agreements with the press, giving certain press outlets exclusive access to athletes for a given period of time before and after a game or match.  It was easy to control – if you have the right press pass, you get access.  If not, you don’t.  And team management, agents, and the sports press are all looking to protect that exclusivity, which they they feel is in jeopardy particularly due to the immediacy and ease of use of Twitter.

The NBA and NFL both created regulations about Twitter in 2009.  NBA athletes are prohibited from tweeting during games, starting 45 minutes before tip-off until 45 minutes after the final whistle is blown.  Even so, the Phoenix Suns’ Amare Stoudemire (@Amareisreal)  and Charlotte Bobcats’ Tyson Chandler (@tysonchandler)  were each fined $7,500 because their Twitter accounts were updated during games.  And it doesn’t matter if neither athlete posted the tweet himself – their accounts may not be updated by anyone during that prohibited time.

The NFL policy is similar – a player is in violation of league rules if he uses a social media platform within 90 minutes of kickoff or the standard postgame media time.   Running back Larry Johnson (@toonicon) was even fired by the Kansas City Chiefs, despite having a paltry 2000 fans, after making a post-game complaint about his coach and a gay slur.  But don’t feel too badly for him – he was picked up by the Cincinnati Bengals, where he joins prolific uber-tweeter Chad OchoCinco. (@OGOchoCinco)

The tennis federation has even gotten into the act, barring athletes from tweeting during the 2009 US Open and frustrating Andy Roddick (@andyroddick) in particular, who has developed quite the Twitter following.

It will be interesting to see how Twitter in particular and social media in general will increasingly figure in contractual negotiations going forward, as athletes aim to speak to their fans directly while team management, agents, and the sports press work to keep the type of control they’ve enjoyed until now.

Which gets me to thinking…. While today’s athletes certainly have no shortage of things to say, I can’t help but wonder how entertaining some of our famous athletes of yester-year would have entertained us with their tweeted rants and comments.  If we could take Twitter back in time and enable a handful of athletes to access it during their primes, who would be on your Twitter Dream Team?  For me, it’s easy:

John McEnroe, tennis – tweets of rage and fury! “Do you have any problems, other than that you’re unemployed, a moron, and a dork?”

Jimmy Connors, tennis – just to try to get back at Johnny Mac:“People don`t seem to understand that it`s a damn war out there.”

Dennis Rodman, basketball – pure insanity! “I’ve jumped off a building, jumped off a cliff in a car. I’ve been in bedrooms when women came in with knives and guns.” or “Fifty percent of life in the N.B.A. is sex. The other fifty percent is money.”

Muhammed Ali, boxing – poetic tweets!  “A rooster crows only when it sees the light. Put him in the dark and he’ll never crow. I have seen the light and I’m crowing.”

Joe Namath, football – Broadway Joe would surely have some solid gold tweets: “When we won the championship, all the married guys had to thank their wives for putting up with the stress and strain all season. I had to thank all the single broads in New York.”

Yogi Berra, baseball – stating the insightfully obvious: “Baseball is 90% mental — the other half is physical.” or “You can observe a lot just by watching.”