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Birds on the bench? A lot of Tweeting going on
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Coaches everywhere beware: players are being encouraged to use their cell phones and computers during a match!
Women's Professional Soccer announced the various events that will surround its inaugural match between the Washington Freedom and the Los Angeles Sol on Sunday.
Among the events will be the expected - Mia Hamm will deliver the match ball and Commissioner Tonya Antonucci will give a speech during the game. However, the most interesting announcement is that a player from each team will provide live "tweets" throughout the game.
What?
For those who are unfamiliar with Twitter, it is a social networking website that allows users to update each other on what they are doing in a few words. Each post is called a tweet.
Though the details are still being worked out, including which players will participate and when, fans will be able to receive real time thoughts from players participating in the game on their cell phones and computers.
Imagine it now: Abby Wambach steps out of bounds in order to post a quick tweet on the last offside or foul that got called.
Well, maybe that will not quite happen, but the door is in the process of being opened for just about all possibilities. Sunday's tweeters, will most likely be bench players, but they are still professional athletes being encouraged to be on their cell phones or computers during the game that they are getting paid to participate in.
If the league receives positive feedback from the event, it may endorse in-game tweeting beyond the inaugural match. Even the organizing of this one-time event makes WPS a pioneer in endorsing the use of Twitter.
Recently, Charlie Villanueva of the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks was criticized for tweeting during halftime of a game with the Celtics. Shaquille O'Neal also recently posted on Twitter during halftime of a game, though to less scrutiny.
The use of Twitter as a form of releasing news and information is a rising trend in sports, but is it a good thing? Will athletes be more focused on how to keep their halftime Twitter post within the allowable word limit or on the game they are paid to play?
This could develop into a very controversial topic. Sky Blue FC already uses WPS Fan Corner regularly to update its fans on the latest happenings, and Red Bulls Reader is a common destination for New York Red Bulls fans to look for updates and in-game commentary. Could this be the future source of press releases and news beats?
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