Posts For Class: Twitter Ethics

- How do media use Twitter for "good"?
- How do media combat/reach readers who don't know the difference between gossip and genuine reporting?

Twitter is a tricky technology. I've used it on this blog as a documentation of the emotional roller coaster that I ride when I watch the Sox, and it's therefore helped me to create what I feel are some of my funniest posts thus far. On the other side of the coin, however, lies the recent Tiger Woods debacle.

We've all heard about Tiger's car crash, and the media storm that followed. There have been reports of his infidelity, abuse of alcohol, addiction to prescription medications and survival of domestic abuse; about the only thing that Tiger has NOT been accused of this week is fathering seventeen illegitimate children while in Argentina with Bobo the Epileptic Hobo. In short, the media has had a field day with something that, in my opinion, should have remained private.

What bothers me is not that a tree hit Tiger's car at two in the morning. That happens all the time, both to high-profile celebrities and to Joe Schmoe. What really bothers me is that ALL we know is that he was in a car accident. The rest--his cheating, boozing, pill-popping, et al--has thus far been speculation. This is where Twitter gets dangerous. Tweets happen at the drop of a pin, and you can write just about anything you want. This phenomenon has sparked the usual paparazzi-type speculation about Tiger's accident into a flame of debauchery and drugs surrounding one of sport's most pristine figures.

The problem is that people believe what they want to hear and, for reasons unbeknown to me, love celebrity gossip. When an athlete who is arguably the face of American sports gets in a car crash at two in the morning, people are going to talk and people are going to make up shit to legitimize why he was leaving his house when he should have been in bed. That's human nature, and that's the problem with Twitter. It gives everyone a forum, including people who really don't deserve one.

Yes, Twitter can be used for good; it helped expose the recent Iranian election scandal, for example. There can be no doubt that it's one of the fastest ways for news to reach the masses. There needs to be some barrier, however, between Tweets about how much my Red Bull cost in the Denver airport last week ($4.75) and something that actually carries some sort of news implication. I realize that this would mean the Iranian situation would not have had as much of an immediate impact, but that was a story that would have broken anyway because there were hard facts. The Tiger situation has yet to produce any real evidence that alcohol or pills were involved, and Twitter has only served to cause every cable news station in America to speculate. That's not news, folks.

I realize that the barrier would go against everything that Twitter stands for; it's a free forum for anyone to post whatever the hell he or she wants. At the same time, however, we must look at Twitter and realize that it IS a forum for EVERYone. Does EVERYone have a press pass that allows them to get the hard facts about Tiger's car crash? No. Then should we be taking our news from a forum where the vast majority of users really have no idea what they're talking about? No. Let Tweeters Tweet and let reporters report. I don't think we can take news seriously when it's on an open forum like Twitter; there's simply too much uneducated bullshit blurring the lines on the site.

Finally, to paraphrase Chris Crocker: Leave Tiger ALONE!!!!

Tweets From The World Series

For a Sox fan, there is only one thing worse than the baseball season being over. As of Wednesday night, the baseball season is over because the New York Yankees won the World Series. If that doesn't deserve a "FML," I don't know what does.

I hadn't been watching much of the Series prior to Game 6; as I've stated before on this blog, I hate watching the Yankees for any reason. I broke my own rule for Game 6, however, mainly because Pedro Martinez was pitching in a must-win game and Pedro is the only active player I would want to have in that situation. I'm a little biased towards the guy thanks to his time on the Sox (sub-par Game 6 performance aside, I'd have the man's babies in an instant), so I decided to break my Twitter boycott and bring back my Tweets From Game (Fill In The Blank) series for as long as Pedro was in the game.

I'll complain about the Series on another occasion (God knows I have a lot to complain about...damn Yankees and their 27 championships and their rich owner and their ridiculously hot WAGs), but for now, enjoy my Tweets From The World Series.
---
6:42 pm: Just realized Ozzie Guillen is a World Series analyst...bleepin' hilarious
--Does anyone else think it's ironic and awesome that baseball's answer to Bobby Knight was an analyst on FOX for the Series?

6:48: Someone step on a cat with bronchitis? Jesus that sucked
--Can someone please tell me how the hell Mary J. Blige earned a record deal? I've done better renditions of the National Anthem when I was singing in the shower and too drunk to remember the words.

6:54: Hard to believe this will be Pedro and Pettitte's first postseason matchup...go Petey!!!!
--FOX plays a promo that states that Game 6 will pit Pedro and Andy Pettitte against each other in the playoffs for the first time. Interesting for two guys who have been on so many playoff teams, particularly during Pedro's Red Sox years. Guess Pettitte was never an ace...oh, no I didn't!

7:07 pm: Mound meeting after one pitch? Wtf Pedro
--In all my years of watching baseball, I can't remember another time when I saw a meeting on the mound after one pitch (unless this was the pitch).

7:09: Matchup of the Idiots: Pedro 1, Judas 0
--Petey strikes out Judas with a 75-mph changeup. In case you're wondering, the answer is no: I have not referred to Judas by his given name since he betrayed the Sox.

7:28: Hey, Petey hit 86 mph...woot woot
--Pedro, who had been struggling with his velocity, finally breaks the 85-mph barrier for the first time all game.

7:29: 88? Hot damn
--...and on the very next pitch, he practically breaks the speed of light. Okay, not really.

7:32: Joe Buck thinks Pedro "could very well" get into the Hall...I think Joe Buck is an idiot
--Pedro has been the best pitcher in the Steroid Era; he is a LOCK to make the Hall of Fame on his first ballot. Joe Buck thinks he "could very well" make the Hall? Joe is, in my humble opinion, a...

7:43: When learn to speak English, Joe Buck will?
--Buck has this incredibly irritating habit of putting his subjects at the end of his sentences; "0-for-5, Francisco is." Stop it, Joe.

7:59: Matchup of the Idiots: Pedro 1, Judas 1
--Judas walks, and I die a little inside.

8:01 pm: Come on, Petey...you're supposed to hit JUDAS. Preferably in the face.
--Pedro hits the very next batter, Mark Texiera, with a pitch to load the bases. If you're going to hit anyone, please hit the traitorous sunofabitch with no morals, loyalty, or male genitalia.

8:05: That's why Pedro's the best pitcher in the 'Roid Era...he makes 'roiders look stupid
--Petey makes A-Roid look like, well...

8:12: Aww, did ickle Judas get a booboo? Grow a pair, douchebag
--Judas leaves the game with a hamstring pull. There's nothing I enjoy more than seeing Judas get hurt, but I really do prefer when it's something manly. Like what Randy Johnson did to that bird. That would be manly, Judas. Take notes.

8:46: I really hope that's not the last we see of Pedro...not his best stuff, but a champion nonetheless
--Pedro was pulled after five innings. It was the last appearance of his contract with the Phillies, and I don't have words to express how badly I want him to come back for another year. He's one of my favorite players ever; I'll even forgive him for the shitshow that was Game 6 (more on that in my next post).

Tweets From Game 3

I'm devastated. When Dustin Pedroia flew out to end the season, I went insane. I kicked over RoommateCoop's ironing board. I pulled a Bobby Knight and chucked my game-watching chair across the room. Finally, I collapsed to the ground and sobbed into my Curt Schilling jersey. I stayed like that for a long time.

I had hoped that my Tweet series would last longer than two posts, but I guess that wasn't meant to be this year. Still, I had fun doing it (especially when it looked like we would win Game 3; I mean, come on, we were one fucking strike away), so here are my Tweets from yesterday afternoon.

I'm going to take a while to heal and figure out where this blog is going to go now that the season is over. I'll still be posting regularly, but if you're looking for more level-headed and rational Sox analysis during my healing period, you should check out my friend Evelyn at What's Bruin In Beantown.

Also, you may have noticed that my last post came well before the end of the game. I was in no shape to Tweet after the final run. I was too busy panicking. Before the playoffs, I had no reason to use Twitter besides to occasionally talk about my breakfasts when I was especially bored. As such, I probably won't be updating my page for a long, long time. Twitter is stupid.

1:26 pm: Just realized the time difference means the Sox game is already half over...I'm such a bad fan.
--The Sunday game came just a few hours after the University of Iowa's Homecoming festivities ended, so I have to admit that I was asleep during the first six innings of the game. Still, coming in while we were up 5-2 made me kinda happy.

1:36: I'm starting to appreciate Bard a hell of a lot more.
--Daniel Bard strikes out two and enduces a groundout in his second inning of work.

1:40: Does Buck Martinez's voice make anyone else want to kick a baby, or is that just me?
--Don Orsillo was a nice choice as the play-by-play man for the series (but I might be a little biased). Martinez as the color man? Not so much.

1:51: Someone tell George Lopez that he's not remotely funny and to leave my baseball alone.
--The problem with TBS is that they plug the same damn shows over and over and over again. That's especially problematic when the show belongs to Lopez (although they played his spots much less frequently than Frank Caliendo's crap last year).

1:53: Social D makes a much better highlight song than Bon Jovi.
--"Reach For The Sky" vs. "We Weren't Born To Follow"? Bon Jovi was so 1985.

1:56: Something about Wagner's delivery bothers me...wont argue with the results though.
--Seriously, someone should shoot the guy who taught Billy Wagner his mechanics. They're just butt-ugly.

1:57: ...case in point. Siddown Hunter, you annoying bastard.
--Wagner strikes out Torii Hunter looking, and there was much rejoicing.

2:01 pm: C'mon, Wags...you cant walk Guerrero, thats impossible.
--Vladimir Guerrero, who literally swings at anything within 20 feet of the strike zone, draws a walk. I'll go ahead and blame Wagner's delivery.

2:09: Get some, Willits.
--Papelbon picks off Angels pinch runner Reggie Willits by a mile.

2:16: I love it when Bay strikes out without swinging once.
--I love Jason Bay, and think Theo pulled off the trade of the decade to get him, but a slugger can do a hell of a lot more for his team when he swings the fucking bat.

2:22: Yeah baby...no way Papi would have scored on that.
--Joey Gathright scores on a Mike Lowell single after pinch running for David Ortiz...Papi would have stopped at third and asked for oxygen.

2:26: Crunch time...we got this.
--Top of the ninth, two-run lead, Papelbon on the mound...how the hell did we not win this game?

2:27: It should be illegal to record a Beatles cover as bad as the one in the Blackberry ad...blasphemy.
--At this point, I was still optimistic enough to complain about commercials. Funny how quickly that changed.

2:33: I'd forgotten how shiny Terry's head is.
--Francona takes off his cap, and I'm temporarily blinded. Unfortunately, my vision returns in time for me to witness Papelbon's breakdown.

2:43: Pap takes too long between pitches...I'm having heart attacks here.
--It's one thing if you wait 37 minutes in between pitches and get positive results. It's a whole 'nother thing if you single-handedly end your team's season.

2:47: FUCK.
--Guerrero drives in the go-ahead run. It's about this time that I stop caring about Twitter and just start praying to the baseball gods for a miracle. Thanks for completely ignoring me, baseball gods. I'll send you guys the bill for my new game-watching chair.

Tweets From Last Night

So I finally figured out the best way to utilize my Twitter account that I've almost never used: I can use it to keep track of my thoughts during Sox games, woot woot! I'm pretty sure that last night's humiliating 0-5 loss (we still got this, don't worry Sox fans) gave me some pretty good material to work with here.

Editor's notes: Posts have been edited for punctuation and capitalization, both of which I am too lazy to consider while texting during one of the biggest nights of the year.

8:47 pm: It's only the second night of the playoffs, and I already want to beat George Lopez with an ironing board.

--TBS plays its first "Lopez Tonight" spot of the game; the station would plug the upcoming show four times during the game broadcast.

8:57: Guerrero, taking a pitch? WTF?

--Angels slugger Vladimir Guerrero doesn't swing at a pitch for the first time ever.

8:58: Marry me, Mike Lowell.

--Sox third baseman makes a beautiful diving play to rob Guerrero of a hit.

9:05 pm: Run out your fucking grounders, Papi.

--David Ortiz walks to first after grounding to Angels first baseman Kendry Morales. Lazy.

9:21: My girlfriend just witnessed my first angry outburst of the game...I think she's terrified.

--JD Drew watches a fat fastball for a strike, and I go ballistic.

9:34: I love when my mom calls during the game and I miss the Ellsbury interference call...love you too, Ma.

--I actually have no idea what happened on this play. Because I was on the phone. Grrr.

9:42: Really, Joe West? Was that REALLY a ball? You need to retire. Now.

--Home plate umpire West rules an obvious third strike to Torii Hunter a ball; Hunter then walks. And I go ballistic.

9:58: I hate these fucking umpires.

--First base ump CB Bucknor rules Angels second baseman Howie Kendrick safe at first, even though Youkilis clearly tagged him out. And I go ballistic.

10:02 pm: Way to fight, Jonny.

--Jon Lester records his fifth (and final) strikeout in his first four innings of work.

10:07: I want a divorce, Mike Lowell.

--Lowell grounds into a double play. And I go ballistic.

10:13: We need to get our throws to first on line, this is stupid.

--An easy throw to first base is off target for the third time in the game; Chone Figgins is safe on the play. You can probably guess how I react.

10:17: Girlfriend after Aybar reaches third: "You look sad..."

--Fairly self-explanatory.

10:19: Goddamnmotherfuckingshitballssonofabitch.

--Hunter hits a three-run homer for the first runs of the game.

10:41: I want full custody, Mike Lowell.

--Lowell throws away yet another out at first. And yes, I go ballistic.

10:46: Ellsbury makes me so happy, it's not even funny.

--Jacoby Ellsbury makes a gorgeous diving catch in center to save a run. And I go ballistic, but in a good way.

10:53: I want the house too, Mike Lowell.

--Lowell pops out behind the plate. Really not his night.

11:01 pm: At this point, Abeu should just bypass the batter's box and go straight to the basepaths.

--Angels right fielder draws his fourth walk of the game. And at this point, I just start getting depressed.

11:12: Just kidding, Mike Lowell, you can have the house.

--Lowell throws home and then receives the throw back at third to turn a double play that saves a run in a bases-loaded jam. And I smile a little bit inside.

11:15: I'm putting a hit out on you, Mike Lowell.

--Jason Bay's throw bounces off Lowell's glove and rolls away; two runs score, and I die a little bit inside.

11:34: Bard is making them look like they're swinging those swimming pool noodle thingies.

--Reliever Daniel Bard uses his 100-mph fastball to record a groundout and two K's in the ninth inning.

11:46: Goddamnmotherfuckingshitballssonofabitchskankasswhorevagina.

--Game over: Red Sox 0, Angels 5. And I go ballistic.