The Final Whistle

With our final Social Media class right around the corner, it appears that the final whistle will soon blow, ending what has been a great first semester of grad school.

In the three months since beginning, I’ve taken a ton of notes, written a dozen or so blog posts and even learned a thing or two about social media. Below are a few closing thoughts on my rookie season as a blogger.

If I had to isolate just one aspect of blogging that I’ve enjoyed most this semester, I’d have to say it’s the flexibility of blog posts and topics. I’ve found that, much more than in other writing styles, blogging allows writers to use conversational and often informal tone to relay their thoughts. While I’m not advocating against technical writing or even suggesting that all blogs are slang or casual or even loose, I’ve found in numerous blog examples that, as long as there is thought put into the writing, posts can start as rants but end up effective and appropriate chapters. I like that I can come into an entry and only know what I want to say, but not how I want to say it. After starting, the means by which I’m getting my messages across become clear and it all magically works out OK.

My biggest challenge in blogging, however, has most definitely been remaining consistent with a blog theme. I think because blogs are so free-moving, they often times encourage writers to become too inconsistent in their writing, ending up with random rants and posts. By focusing on a somewhat broad topic, however, I think I’ve been able to navigate within my theme without going too far away in any given week.

The semester is nearly over and it's time to celebrate; it's a shame only athletes get to use Gatorade.

Looking forward, I’m sure I’ll continue blogging after the semester is over. While I’m not entirely sure if I’d like to keep this blog going or start another, with a different underlying topic, I know that I do truly enjoy regularly writing and blogging is certainly the best way to do so. Before this class, I penned a few blogs, but none managed to reach its six-post birthday. Each died prematurely because I got bored and moved on to something else. Through this class, I learned how to adapt a blog to a number of seemingly separate topics and ensure the whistle doesn’t blow early with time left still on the clock.

Home Field Advantage

In the sports world, the term home field advantage can be explained as the edge, whether small or large, the host team gets by playing in its own arena in front of its own fans. In American football, the home field advantage is so powerful that the betting line is generally pushed 3 points in the direction of the home team. So if, on a neutral field, the Unicorns were favored by 2 points against the Yetis, then the Unicorns would be 5 point home favorites.

I reference the term  because this week I decided to compare my own wonderful and new, but small, blog to one that is slightly more established. And when looking for a comparison, why not stack it up against the cream of the crop? How about taking a look at what kind of blog “the worldwide leader in sports” has to offer.

While ESPN plays host to a number of blogs, ranging from a look at different jerseys to a fantasy reality television league, the No. 1 sports media brand likely gets the most out of its NFL Nation blog, which covers all 32 NFL teams through mini-blog communities, each dedicated to one of the league’s eight divisions (East, North, South, West for both the AFC and NFC).

Differences
Besides subject matter, in which my blog usually takes the social media angle and NFL Nation is more comprehensive, ESPN’s blog and my blog are quite different. For starters, my prized possession of Moving the Chains has only one author while NFL Nation is home to beat reporters, spread across the country each with their own focus of a four-team division. Almost all of the beat reporters come from backgrounds in print journalism and, while I was the sports editor of my high school paper, I do not.

One other variable which the two blogs do not share is voice. Likely because of its relatively young age and informal subject matter, Moving the Chains is much more conversational in language style, whereas NFL Nation is formal and tends to read, as you’d expect, like a column in your local newspaper.

You can’t ignore ESPN’s quality of reporting (+1) and quantity of posts (+1). But maybe if I had a similar staff and a compound in Bristol, I’d put out something just as good. I’d like to think that my casual voice tends to read easier as a blog than traditional print reporting.
Score: ESPN 2, Me 1.

Credibility
Despite my recent experience in the world of social media and blogging, I don’t have nearly the amount of street cred, or online cred, as any of the countless bloggers on ESPN.

With access to players, coaches and owners and an entire stasticis and information department, ESPN can incorporate quotes and stats with the snap of a finger. When I snap my finger, no such magic occurs.

I do, however, have some credibilty in the sense that I’m a Georgetown graduate student taking a class in Social Media, so I’m likely more up-to-date in terminology and history than your average Joe.

It’s not a complete shutout, but ESPN’s resouces (+1) and long-tenured writers (+1) have the sarcastically smallest edge over my brief existence in the blogging world (+.5).
Score: ESPN 4, Me 1.5

Transparency
Following in the positive trend of blog transparency, neither the beat bloggers of NFL Nation nor myself hide our identities on our respective sites. If there’s one thing I don’t like about many brand blogs out there, it’s that they lack transparency and make no effort to identify their voices.

NFL Nation makes no attempt at masking its writers and even goes to qualify each with brief biographies and resumes. By allowing readers to get a sense of where the writers are coming from, ESPN shows that they get it; blogging is not just about reporting, it’s about a community all passionate about the same topic and interested in who is saying what.

From the beginning, I made it clear that the author of Moving the Chains was not some anonymous computer voice and I’ve tried to incorporate bits of my personality here and there. While I haven’t disclosed everything, I do want my transparency to come through as I think it’s vital to any successful blog.

Even in the often personal category of transparency, ESPN discloses plenty about its bloggers (+1), making sure that readers know who is behind the curtain and even how to get in touch with them. Not wanting to be outdone, Moving the Chains also makes its author known and available for contact (+1).
Score: ESPN 5, Me 2.5

Engagement
It all comes down to this. In NFL Nation, ESPN utilizes its web power and taps into its vast community by playing host to serious community conversation. Under each blog post is a ‘Comments’ section, which usually gets pretty popular thanks to the thousands of passionate fans rooting for each of the NFL’s teams. NFL Nation also incorporates a chat component which allows readers to submit questions to ESPN’s writers, illustrating the blog’s strong two-way communication model.

In just an hour's time, this post accrued more than 200 comments.

At Moving the Chains, occasional comments appear after posts, though there is no strength in numbers like over at ESPN. In my post on Penn State’s Sandusky “situation”, I utilized a reader poll, but received less-than-stellar numbers, probably due to my lack of blog publicizing.

As it has been throughout the comparison, ESPN is able to utilize its powerful fan base in order to demonstrate its ability to communicate to readers (+1). Moving the Chains doesn’t go down without a fight, however, as the comments section is active (+1). I could, and should, do a better job though of responding to comments i(-.5) in order to replicate ESPN’s successful model.
Final Score: ESPN 6, Me 3

All in all, I highly recommend ESPN’s NFL Nation blog. It is comprehensive, full of fan conversation and probably the most credible source for NFL news. But, if you want weekly updates on the intersecting world of sports and (sometimes) social media, there is still no better Georgetown student-managed blog created for MPPR850 than Moving the Chains.

Speaking of the NFL and social media, check out this little fan-compiled video that shows the progression of social media in the world of sports.

The Real Thanksgiving Menu

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I wanted to use this post as an opportunity to share my love for Thanksgiving– most notably– the menu. As a few of my Georgetown PR/CC classmates pointed out in their own blogs, there is much to enjoy about the courses offered on such a joyous holiday. I too would like to highlight some delicious treats which are feasted upon on my favorite holiday of the year.

Thanksgiving: the only holiday that endorses elastic-band sweatpants.

This year, there will be three main courses spread evenly throughout the day to provide the maximum level of satisfaction. Each individually capable of filling me up, these three entrees will combine to form a trio of sumptuous nirvana. What makes it all even better is that, combined with pre and post-meal sides, Thursday will truly be an all-day affair of football.

Wait. Did you think I was talking about turkey legs, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie?

Nope. Although I do love Thanksgiving for the types of food I get to feast upon and society’s acceptance to completely overeat as if we might not know when our next meal would be, I truly love the holiday because of football…and NBC’s airing of the National Dog Show, of course.

There's no better halftime entertainment than watching Marmaduke Jr. rally to take Best in Show. (Photo credit: NBC)

What joy others gain in pre-meal bread and cheese appetizers, I acquire in pre-game commentary and speculation by sports analysts on ESPN, CBS, FOX and the NFL Network.

What pleasure others intake in delicious cuisine, I pick up in Thanksgiving football games. And this Thursday, we have before us a healthy offering of three games, all arguably better than the match ups to be held this Sunday.

Because some of my classmates used the following space to break down recipes and lists of their favorite foods, I will allot for a brief primer for Thursday’s games that will help even the least-informed readers turn into know-it-alls just in time for your big Thanksgiving dinner.

Packers at Lions (FOX, 12:30 p.m.)
For the first time in a while, the Lions will field a good team for the Thanksgiving classic. Matt Stafford (2,843 yards with and a 93.4 quarterback rating) and Calvin Johnson (974 yards plus 11 touchdowns) combine to make one of the most feared QB-WR duos in the league. Despite an injury to speedster RB Jahvid Best, the Lions offense is running on all cylinders thanks to the triumphant return of former starter Kevin Smith (two touchdowns on 159 yards rushing last week). Unfortunately Detroit is up against the undefeated, defending champion Green Bay Packers who boast the frontrunner for MVP in QB Aaron Rodgers (3,168 yards, 31 touchdowns, and a quarterback rating of 128.8). [For anyone who doesn’t know what those stats mean, he’s far and away the most dominant quarterback (guy who throws the ball) in the league]

Rodgers is the league's best passer with a QB rating of 128.8. The next highest: Tom Brady at 102.5. (Photo credit: NFL)

Prediction: While the Lions will receive a small boost because of home-field-advantage, the 10-0 Packers will get the victory. Green Bay 34, Detroit 24

Dolphins at Cowboys (CBS, 4:15 p.m.)
In Thursday’s second serving of smash-mouth football, we get the suddenly resurgent Miami Dolphins on the road against the Dallas Cowboys. Heading into Week 9, the Dolphins were keeping up with the Colts in the Andrew Luck (Stanford QB) lottery. Both Indianapolis and Miami had yet to pick up a win and, to make matters worse, Miami’s starting QB Chad Henne was knocked out with a shoulder injury. Enter backup Matt Moore, who started his career on Dallas’ practice squad and then lost the starting job in Carolina, and the Dolphins are riding a three-game win streak. While on its run, Miami has seen great play out of Moore (QB rating of 133 or better in two of last three starts) and former Saints RB and Kim Kardashian accessory Reggie Bush (4 TDs in last three games). After barely struggling to top the streaking Washington Redskins (six straight defeats), the Cowboys return home to Dallas somehow in first place in the NFC East thanks to an offensively offensive performance by the New York Giants. The Cowboys have the NFC’s No. 3 defense and plenty of weapons on the offensive side of the ball. With Tony Romo throwing to star-in-the-making Dez Bryant and the always reliable TE Jason Witten– along with the arrival of rookie RB Demarco Murray (747 yards rushing on 125 attempts)– Dallas is in good position to put Miami back in its place.

Free of Kim Kardashian, Bush has scored four rushing touchdowns in his past three games.(Photo credit: GQ)

Prediction: Miami keeps it close-ish in the first quarter, then the offense in the Big D is too much for the fins. Dallas 27, Miami 13

49ers at Ravens (NFL Network, 8:20 p.m.)
Full-Disclosure: Living outside Baltimore, I’m a pretty passionate Baltimore Ravens fan. The good news for this blog is I won’t be biased in the sense that I’ll be over-hyping the Ravens. The bad news is I’m a hometown pessimist and I always assume the worst.

But back to the game..In Thursday night’s showdown, when nearly everyone will be so bloated from too much food, we get a clash of the NFL’s current No. 2 teams (according to conference standings). To make matters more interesting, we get a Harbaugh family reunion as San Francisco’s rookie coach phenom Jim meets his older brother John, the Ravens sideline leader. Even wackier is the fact that Jim was a former Ravens QB, but that might only appeal to the biggest football nerds (Hi, me).

Anyway, San Francisco is 9-1 and a force not to be toyed with. Former first overall pick Alex Smith paces the offense, which features RB Frank Gore (870 yards rushing and 5 touchdowns) and superhuman TE Vernon Davis, a University of Maryland alum. The Niners are also very impressive on defense with LB Patrick Willis moderating the league’s top rushing defense. Thankfully, the Ravens will get San Francisco at home (flying from coast to coast can take its toll) and Baltimore has found a true vertical threat in WR Torrey Smith, who just set the franchise record for most receiving yards (590) by a rookie. Smith, also a Maryland Terrapin, has helped QB Joe Flacco (2,576 yards) improve the passing game and lead the 12th-best passing attack. The Ravens defense, while still very good, is not what used to be and Ray Lewis’ turf toe injury certainly doesn’t help.

Instead of fighting with your family on Thanksgiving, why not watch another family fight? (Photo credit: NFL)

Prediction: In what is pretty much guaranteed to be a great game and finale of an amazing day of football, I unfortunately have to give the slightest of edges (and perhaps a reverse-jinx) to San Francisco, which boasts the healthier defense and sounder offense. San Francisco 23, Baltimore 17

More Than a Game

(Preface: the following is purely speculation. I am only commenting on allegations, rumors and prior testimonies)

Reality check. Life isn’t all about sports. Though I sometimes don’t admit it, sports are– at the end of the day– just a form of entertainment. But as we’ve seen in the past week, some people, organizations and even entire communities appeared to become drunk with fandom and forget true priorities.

I don’t need to begin a rant on former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky.

Instead, I could talk about how social media has come into play in this situation. A-List celebrity and tech savvy Ashton Kutcher recently made a Tweet condemning Penn State’s decision to fire Joe Paterno for his (lack of) involvement with Sandusky. Kutcher received a lot of hate-Tweets in response and apologized to the online community after reading through the grand jury report. Instead of keeping quiet afterwards, Kutcher then decided to hand over his ignorant comment. I think this is an odd strategy and this great article by EConsultancy brings out some good points.

I understand that Kutcher uses Twitter as a way to publish his unfiltered comments, and nine times out of 10, I don’t see a problem with such a utlilization. However, I don’t blame anyone for backlashing at a user (who has over 8 million followers) who question’s a university’s decision to fire an administrator who failed to report a child molestation case to the police.

I’m not even going to get into the case for or against anyone who failed to report Sandusky’s suspicious (put it lightly) behaviors to police after 12 years of highly questionable (again, trying to stay neutral…it’s not easy, though) actions.

If any of my readers (Hi, MPPR850 and Grandma) would like to chime in on the matter, please take the poll below. On Facebook and television, I found a few brave souls who attempted to defend Penn State (weird coincidence that they were wearing Nittany Lions hoodies and had their profile pics next to the Joe Paterno statue), but beyond them, I’m not sure what people think.

To offer an opposite end of the Twitterverse’s opinion over Sandusky, I encourage you to check out @JayGlazer. Glazer, an NFL commentator for FOX Sports and– more importantly, a parent– took a less than delicate (but effective: one PSU-related tweet was posted yesterday and has already been re-Tweeted over 100 times) approach at unleashing his anger against Penn State.

I don’t want to give this subject too much time because it really has been talked about too much, though I always encourage people to become more aware of abuse (check out RAINN, the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, if interested).

Tying this all back to public relations, here is the video clip of Bob Costas’ interview with Sandusky. I intended on making this an audio clip but I was told (by WordPress’ guide) that I couldn’t upload .mp3 files without a space upgrade. So, here is the video version (watch at your own risk).

P.S.
After listening to this interview, how would you, as a public relations professional, handle representing Sandusky? Feel free to add comments below.

Under Review: ESPN Passport App

Take Four Square -a wildly successful app which caters to 3 million check-ins per day- and cater it specifically to smartphone-carrying sports fans, and what do you get?

My most recent app addition, ESPN Passport.

The concept is fairly simple. With Passport downloaded, any fan can check-in to a sporting event and become part of an ever-growing sports community at one of thousands of different venues.

Users can designate whether they’re attending the game, from the field/court/ring/rink of play, or watching it via television, radio or internet broadcast.

From there, fans can instantly upload photos to a game gallery, converse/trash talk with other fans in attendance and, perhaps most importantly, accrue medals, badges and stats, all the while moving up the fan leaderboard.

Having just downloaded the app this weekend, I didn’t have the opportunity to use it at a live game (I’ve been to two Ravens games and various University of Maryland sporting events this semester), but from just playing around with it, Passport seems worthwhile.

The mobile app allows fans to 'check-in' to any sporting event and interact with thousands of other fans.

The mobile version seems to have been designed specifically for the iPhone, a valuable app quality as discussed in my Social Media class. On my iPhone I can review games I’ve attended, log in to Facebook Places, and connect with friends over other networks.

On the full web version, I can retroactively check in to games I’ve attended in the past, explore my ranking among the thousands of other users and look over tons of user-snapped game photos.

The Bottom Line: All in all, I’d say this is a must-have for die hard sports/social media fans. For anyone that enjoys Four Square and sports, ESPN Passport is a home run.

The Good: ESPN Passport is easy to use on a mobile smartphone and offers a lot of exploring opportunities on its computer-based platform. It is simple, yet allows its users to get as much as they’d like out of it.

The Bad: It’s probably much more useful to fans that actually attend games versus sitting at home and watching them on television. The community is still growing so, compared to Four Square, it’s just a rookie.

Gameplan of Champions: Google’s Playbook

Most likely, they run your e-mail, web and image searches, chat messaging, and– for those of you who took a leap of faith with them this summer– they run your social networking. Most likely, Google runs your life. I know it runs mine, at least.

If I’m curious what the Kansas City Chiefs-San Diego Chargers spread is, I go on Google search (it was San Diego -3, by the way). If I want to see if my personal schedule would allow me to catch every Terps football game (**Just a hypothetical* they stink this season and at this point, I’d rather fold laundry), I go on Google Calendar. If I’m hosting a Ravens tailgate and want to organize who is bringing what type of food and drinks, I go on Google Docs. The list continues and it certainly need not only apply to sports. The point is that while it started as a way to ‘crawl’ the internet, Google has become incredibly versatile.
Beyonce might argue that girls run the world, but I’d put my money on Google.

But perhaps most impressive is Google’s ability to take every piece of internet data and, in a way, publicize it, allowing for any Joe Shmo to find it only after typing a few keys and clicking ‘Search’.

Which brings me to Google’s mission: “Organize the world‘s information and make it universally accessible and useful”.

Ten years ago, most people were just getting introduced to Google. Five years ago, there was no SEO job position.

Through the incorporation of fresh content and the utilization of interconnected tags and links, developers and PR pros alike are using everything available to ensure that their respective sites rise to the top of the search results.

Taking a page out of Google’s playbook, I can call plays in my blog’s huddle which will boost my site up the statistical standings. Listed below are a few:

• Make sure to tag each blog post with relevant buzz words which are synonymous with clicks within the online sports community.
• Link websites, images and videos within my posts to not only better illustrate my thoughts but create an advanced level of connection.
• Be an expert at different. Be the first to post a new scoop, be the master of whatever you’re blogging about. The more you set your site apart from others, the higher a Google rank it will reach.

Despite the fact that it may soon brush your teeth and sing you lullabies, Google is currently the top tool/site/barometer for your site’s search success.

Wide Left: When Tweeting Goes Wrong

**Warning: While initially well thought out and organized in my head, this post might/(editor’s note: will definitely) turn tangent-like due to my dislike for a certain type of Tweeter**

One of the biggest mistakes I think people, myself included, make when starting a Twitter account is following any and every celebrity that they like in movies, music, television, sports, etc…

As I realized firsthand, and Deadspin’s Kevin Collier delicately points out in his piece on Trolling on Twitter (a topic for another day, perhaps), not all superstar athletes are as talented on the keyboard as they are on the playing field.

Of course everyone who follows LenDale White wants to see the retweet of a poorly constructed Tweet, created by a phony female user. Note to self: follow LenDale White ASAP.

While I may be a little old-fashioned when defining the means by which users communicate on Twitter (to microblog and communicate in ways not previously possible), I think there is no possible justification for anyone’s Tweets to solely or even primarily consist of mindless re-tweets, follow-backs and mentions.

As Collier discusses early in his story, many Twitter users following athletes because they’re interested in what they have to say, are presented with a rude awakening instead when “Said player tweets incessantly at strangers, wishing them happy birthday, retweeting their random platitudes, responding to their embarrassingly servile compliments.”

In the perfect world, Twitter provides fans with an intimate, inside look at the lives, opinions and musings of their favorite athletes. In the perfect world, fans follow athletes on Twitter and are rewarded with otherwise unheard of virtual access to players. Maybe Michael Vick Tweets about how his favorite movie is The Notebook or maybe Peyton Manning Tweets about how he hates waiting in line at the bank. But in the perfect world, athletes have an opportunity to be real, likeable people. And for players like Vick, who certainly could use some extra damage control, Twitter seems like a great venue.

But the problem comes when Twitter is mishandled and turned into an packed stadium of the same annoying fan, only this time, all he does is repeat himself over and over, seemingy retweeting just for the sake of making a post.

As we’ve seen since its inception, Twitter has certainly changed with the times. Most notably, the hashtag function was created almost by accident, by users seeking to link stories together. Just like football, Twitter has moved the chains and adapted to fit the demands of the users. But in this case, the play definitely went for negative yards, and perhaps resulted in a fumble only to be recovered by the opposing team.

The good news is, football is a 60-minute ballgame, and there are always chances for redemption. Here’s to hoping those terrible Tweeters put down the computers and stick to what they do best.

Personal Foul

As I’m sure I mentioned throughout this blog, the blending of social media and sports has been a definite game changer in the way fans and athletes interact.

Now more than ever, fans can get inside looks at how collegiate and professional athletes behave off the playing field. By Following their favorite players on Twitter and Liking them on Facebook, fans are provided sneak peeks at the real lives of many athletic superstars.

Unfortunately, sometimes these sneak peeks become a bit too revealing.

Though they’re not normally initially transmitted through social media sites, several very personal pictures have become online fixtures, with social media sites like Twitter and Facebook serving as the method of exponential views and shares.

And like anything else you post on the internet, once it’s online, it isn’t coming down.

It really is strange just how often an NBA, MLB, or NFL player accidentally leaks his particulars to the world wide web. While I’d normally at least consider an internal leak for “celebrities” like reality stars and opast-their-prime child actors, I don’t think any of these guys are doing it on purpose or with purpose.

Despite the saying that all press is good press, a blurry image of an athlete’s personal business is not the best way to get attention. From the team’s perspective, negative attention that spotlights a specific player is the worst scenario possible, and only stains the overall team image and message of unity.

Which is why whenever I see a pixelated cell phone picture or mirror-shot on both sports entertainment and social media sites, I optimistically conclude that it was an honest mistake rather than a cheap attempt at publicity.

After retiring twice, Favre joined the Minnesota Vikings and “allegedely” sent inappropriate picture text messages to a team masseuse. [photo:helmetpadsrequired.com]

In reviewing this unfortunate recent trend, I really can’t stress enough just how interesting I think social media trends are. Ten years ago, if hockey player Joe Shmo took a picture of something he shouldn’t have, it’d get out to the public, but over the course of weeks or months. If that same Joe Shmo, took that same picture today, it’d have the potential of being out in a matter of seconds. And once it was out, it could go from one individual hit by one individual viewer to hundreds, thousands and even millions of both hits and viewers thanks to Twitter, Facebook and link sharing.

In the Huddle: Sports Social Media Sites

With more and more interest being placed in the field of social media relating to sports world and its athletes, alternative social media sites and other web pages are popping up more frequently than defensive touchdowns in Week 4’s Jets vs. Ravens game which I was fortunate enough to attend.

At the forefront of the sports & social media intersection is, in my opinion, Twitter. There is no easier and faster way for fans, and athletes as well, to chime in on their thoughts on what just happened on the court or field of play. What makes Twitter the industry leader is its ability to facilitate conversations not only between fans and other fans, but fans and beloved athletes as well.

An excellent example of two-way online conversation is the Twitter account of Baltimore Orioles centerfielder Adam Jones. Jones constantly interacts with fans and allows his supporters to see an inside look at the life of a professional ballplayer.
While on the topic of Twitter, another alternative social media site I just recently stumbled upon (without using StumbleUpon), is Tweeting Athletes. Perhaps more of a directory than anything else, Tweeting Athletes boasts one of the largest collections of professional athletes’ Twitter accounts. With the ability to search for a specific player by league or team, users can access his or favorite players’ accounts at the click of a button. The site also ranks the top 10 accounts in terms of popularity and updates fans on new sports social media trends with its blog.

The largest gathering of sports fans, however, are found on the countless message boards and fan forums roaming the internet. From news outlets like The Baltimore Sun or even ESPN, to unaffiliated for-profit sites focusing on a specific sport or team (I prefer InsideMDSports for all of my University of Maryland Terrapin info), browsers can chime in on an infinite number of topics and join an ever-growing community of voices.
Though there might not be (or I have yet to find, at least) an more official sports social media site, I think that the message boards and other forums, as well as the Twitter and Facebook fan pages are more than sufficient in providing insight and a communal opportunity to converse about all things sports.

Speaking of Twitter, I linked my account to my blog (should be to the right of my posts), so be sure to check me out and, if you think I’m worthwhile, hit me up with a follow. You (probably) won’t regret it.

Before I end this post, I wanted to point out an interesting example of sports and social media which has just occurred tonight. During Monday night’s Colts-Bucs game, Indianapolis’ Eric Foster was involved in an incredibly gruesome play in which he most likely shattered his leg and abruptly ended his season. A few seconds after the play, Foster’s Colts teammates realized what happened and called out for team doctors to examine Foster. Probably only one or two minutes after the initial accident, Eric Foster was trending on Twitter and, through a simple Google search, his accident was prevalent in the top results.

It should go without saying that my thoughts go out to Foster, who courageously appeared calm as he was carted off, but I find it so interesting that the millions comprising the sports virtual community are so plugged in during games. It is not uncommon to have specific news or players to be trending throughout games, further reinforcing the idea that the sports fans are among the most connected online communities on the world wide web.

PTL: Professional Tweeting League?

When charged with the question of how my personal interests and personality have influenced this blog, I think it is pretty clear: I love the wide world of sports and I find it very intriguing how social media has recently influenced it.

In first deciding what my blog underlying theme should be, I pondered only for a few moments. I’ve been a pretty die-hard sports fan since middle school, when I had the great opportunity to watch the Ravens win the Super Bowl and Maryland Terrapins, the NCAA Championship in basketball.

Ten years later and I’ve watched thousands of Orioles, Ravens and Maryland basketball and football games and as most of my friends can reveal, I’ve probably become too attached to each and every game. The point is, however, that sports have played a huge role in my teenage life. In my opinion, the best thing about being a sports fan is that there’s always something to root for. Football season (sans lockouts) begins in the summer and ends in February, right when college basketball really heats up. The college basketball championships, notably called ‘March Madness’ ends in early spring, right when baseball spring training begins, and the cycle continues.The point is, as a sports fan, you always have something to watch and enjoy.

But just recently, being a sports fan has become exponentially more interactive. With the unveiling of social media tools, most importantly Twitter, a large portion of professional and collegiate athletes have become mini-bloggers, posting 140-word Tweets on topics ranging from his or her thoughts after playing in a great game or his or her thoughts after watching a great movie: they Tweet about everything, giving fans an inside-look at their on-the-field and off-the-field lives.

Yes, not all athletes are created equal in the realm of Tweeting, but in a world of sports where information is constantly updating and changing, the utilization of Twitter makes it move at a much faster pace.

Which brings me back to why I chose to blog about sports AND social media: they’re becoming increasingly connected and I find said mix to be very entertaining. Media outlets such as ESPN are even dedicating large segments to the discussion:

As I hope I’ve explained, I love the ever-evolving intersection of sports and social media and to me, it was a no-brainer on what to blog about. When it comes to how I plan on incorporating my personality, I’m a very visual person, so I’ll be using plenty of links to explain my points through images and videos.

Until next time…