All-Twitter Team

Twitter has changed the athlete-fan relationship. Twitter provides a closer connection between fans and big-time athletes. When athletes share details of their most routine tasks, joys and frustrations, fans are interested. It gives the average Joe that feeling of “Hey, that guy is on TV but, other than being rich, athletic, and having more abs than I do fingers, he’s really no different than me.”

Twitter allows athletes to speak on their own terms in a 140 characters or less. Athletes like Shaquille O’Neal (Twitter ID: THE_REAL_SHAQ), Chad Ochocinco (OGOchoCinco), Serena Williams (serenajwilliams) and Lance Armstrong (lancearmstrong) all have over 450,000 followers. These four tireless tweeters make my All-Twitter team. But before this award ceremony gets too serious, let’s start by playing a game: Match the tweet to the athlete who wrote it!

The Tweets:
1. Did a short ride around NYC. Headed to Borders at penn station for a Comeback 2.0 signing. Last one in the city.
2. Yo momma so dumb that she went to an L.A. Clippers game to get a haircut.
3. Morning! I don't celebrate tksgiving, but I hope everyone has a great day today!!! X S
4. OCNN SPORTS NEWS: just got off the phone with Manny Paquiao, due to the fact I couldn't understand a word he said I can't report a damn thing.


The Athletes:
A. Shaquille O’Neal
B. Chad Ochocinco
C. Serena Williams
D. Lance Armstrong

Answer Key:
1-D, 2-A, 3-C, 4-B (Best tweet of all-time).

Lance Armstrong is an extraordinary athlete and individual. He beat cancer and then went on to win seven Tour de Frances. Even so, does that warrant an army of 2,000,000 Armstrong followers on Twitter? Perhaps fans are fascinated that he recently went for a bike ride, left a yoga class and –brace yourself— went to Borders for a book signing.

But beyond staying current with Armstrong’s bookstore appearances, why would anyone really want to be one of Armstrong’s 2 million followers? He will probably never read, reply, or follow your tweets. Rather, it is because twitter gives you a behind-the-scenes look at his life. Now you can tell your friends stories about Armstrong’s wacky Borders excursions. And knowing that Armstrong goes on bike rides on chilly days might make you feel better (or worse) about yourself.

“It keeps me updated with all the information flying around about them. It makes you feel like you know them a little more as an actual person and not just a public figure,” said Laycee Schmidtke, a 21 year old student who follows athletes on twitter.

Twitter is a convenience for athletes as well. Why get mobbed at Denny’s when you could charm millions in the comfort of your own mansion?

Chad Ochocinco might be the single most amusing tweeter. Ochocinco has turned himself into an athlete reporter. On Twitter, Ochocinco created the Ocho Cinco News Network (OCNN); you can now download the app to your I-phone. Ochocinco tweeted this OCNN news update “OCNN. Breaking News--the ROC is in the building, I ain't talking about Jay Z either, true followers know the news I'm breaking<--POW.” Followers of Ochocinco would have been the first to know that the Bengals signed free-agent RB Larry Johnson.

Ochocinco has even threatened to update twitter during games. At the beginning of this season the NFL addressed the twitter issue. The NFL issued a policy in a written release that says “coaches, players and football operations personnel are permitted under league policy and with club permission to use social media on game day during specific time periods before and after games... up to 90 minutes before kickoff and after the game following media interviews,"

Twitter can become an excellent marketing tool for professional sport leagues. And while the leagues must be wary of letting Twitter become a distraction, ten seconds of using their thumbs is not going to take away from an athlete’s performance. This is an opportunity for cash-conscious leagues to engage fans without paying a penny.

Twitter will change athlete-fan relationship forever. Our relationships with athletes are now strengthened, if only in our own little cyber fantasy worlds.