Cincinnati Bengals WR Chad Ochocinco called out San Diego Chargers LB Shawne Merriman on Twitter earlier this week and the resulting exchange begs the question: will athletes use Twitter to trash talk?
Here’s the exchange between Ochocinco and Merriman on Twitter as well as Merriman’s response video from 12 Seconds.tv.
Players know fans and the media are following along on Twitter so is this exchange any different from trash talk via the traditional media? Do you think this will be the first of many similar incidents on Twitter? Why or why not? What do you think?
The Los Angeles Kings have announced that they tweet live updates during next week’s 2009 NHL Draft in Montreal. Select members of the Kings front office, including General Manager Dean Lombardi, Assistant General Manager Ron Hextall and Kings legend and President of Business Operations Luc Robitaille will be among the five people tweeting draft coverage from Thursday, June 25 to Sunday, June 28.
The full list of Kings personnel tweeting during the draft include Lombardi, Hextall and Robitaille as well as Co-Directors of Amateur Scouting Michael Futa and Mark Yannetti. Each tweet will be signed by the author using his initials. The Kings’ use of Twitter during the draft marks the first time an NHL franchise has live-tweeted during the league’s annual draft.
The Kings will also host a Tweetup and Draft Party on June 26, the first day of the draft, at the ESPN Zone in Los Angeles. Heidi Androl, host of Kings Vision, will be tweeting during the event.
Update- The Vancouver Canucks will also be live-tweeting during the NHL Draft. Canucks assistant coach Ryan Walter will tweet updates on the team’s official Twitter account during this weekend’s draft. Fans can also enter to win prizes including a team signed stick.
Our 2nd Sportsin140.com sport management Q & A will be with Jason Romano, a Talent Producer at ESPN. This Q & A will follow exactly the same format as our first Q & A, with Watkins Glen International’s Paul Hemingway. You may submit questions to Jason via the comments section here or by sending them to him directly via Twitter. You can also submit questions directly to the Sportsin140 Twitter account with the #Q&A hashtag.
Jason Romano has worked as a high level producer since 1997, including spending the past nine years at ESPN. He has been a Talent Producer since 2003 working on such shows as SportsCenter, Outside the Lines, NFL Live, College Football LIVE, ESPNews, ESPN2′s First Take/Cold Pizza and has booked, coordinated and pre-interviewed the biggest names in the worlds of sports, politics, news, and entertainment. He has won a Sports Emmy as a SportsCenter producer.
Jason has also been a lead producer for the show Outside the Lines with host Bob Ley. He has helped coordinate, lead, and direct a staff of 13, producing both 30 minute, and 60 minute live studio shows. Jason has produced more than 50 Outside the Lines live shows.
Jason has handled intricate roles coordinating broadcasts at major ESPN events including the Super Bowl, MLB All Star Game and the NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four.
We will accept questions for the Q & A for one week until Wednesday, June 24. We will publish Jason’s Q&A answers shortly thereafter. Thank you for participating!
Jason,
1. Do you see ESPN covering any non-mainstream sports in the future such as Ultimate Frisbee, skateboarding, or rugby?
2. Where ... Tommy Riggs
We’re looking for a volunteer to answer questions from students and young professionals about the sports industry and social networking for our next sport management Q & A. Our first Q & A with Watkins Glen’s Paul Hemingway went so well that we’re going to continue the series. If you are an industry professional and are willing to field 10-15 questions from those interested in the industry, please drop me an email.
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