Tag Archives: CBS Sports

Feb 27 2012

Sports On TV: Twitter Power

50+ seconds left in the game.

Arizona needed the win.

UCLA needed the win.

It had been a back and forth game in the last few minutes when all of a sudden I hear this. BOOM! Another game came on my tv. Needless to say…..

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Slightly miffed comes to mind. Perhaps slightly stronger. Living in Pac-12 country, there should not have been a switch from MY game. Nevertheless, my tweet came with a quick response.

Craig Stanke is the deputy managing editor at CBSSports.com. While I was appreciative of his quick tweet reply, it actually was referring to a different game that CBS was airing. And so I replied:

Again. Immediate response from Mr. Stanke.

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I kid you not….within just a few minutes (an eternity in college basketball terms), the game was back on. Long enough for me to see Arizona win. (Woo Hoo).

Was it because of my tweet? I’d like to think so. In the old days, you’d have to call your local station to complain and hope that your complaint was actually heard. But with Twitter, fans have direct access to networks, sports media, teams, athletes, league officials and more. It gives fans a voice like never before.

I used my voice. CBS Sports responded. So I can think of no better way to thank them than…tweeting and posting about it:

Thank you Craig Stanke and CBS Sports.

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CadChica Sports

Sep 1 2011

Spanning the Twitterverse: #BruceFreed

Spanning the Twitterverse to bring you the constant variety of tweets
The thrill of the retweet and the agony of the unfollow
The human drama of the twitter timeline
This is CadChica’s Wide World of Tworts

#FreeBruce

A hashtag that has lived since July 14, 2011.

And today, it died a quick death.

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Just like that the sports Twitterverse exploded.

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The whole #FreeBruce saga is one that is probably confusing to most people; fans mostly. Unless you were on Twitter on July 14th, you probably had no idea what was going on. I touched on it in my post the very next day. To get the full gist of it though, I would recommend reading this story by the website that broke the news on Twitter that day.

Feldman did something that his then employer, ESPN, didn’t like; apparently with their full knowledge and approval. When that ‘something’ became a “problem”, ESPN allegedly lowered the boom and ‘suspended’ him. Twitter blew-up that day which I addressed in my post. Based on what I read, reaction thereafter, and Feldman’s near-silence since that day, it’s kind of hard to discount the story. Here was the SportsbyBrooks reaction:

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Here’s some reaction from folks at ESPN:

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I feel like sometimes I wish a story would end sooner rather than later. This one definitely didn’t end quickly. Bruce Feldman went on a “semi”-media blitz this morning. I think only one show is worth mentioning here and that is The Dan Patrick Show. Patrick, himself a former ESPN-er, asked all the right questions; you can listen to it here. Feldman came out on fire toward his former employer. He also touched on the subject in his first article on cbssports.com.

One of the things he said was regarding ESPN’s ombudsman, The Poynter Institute. The Poynter Institute, aka Kelly McBride, wrote about the Feldman firestorm in July. Feldman, to paraphrase what he said on Patrick’s show, said the Poynter response was filled with inaccuracies.

Okay, fine. Here is what I find interesting: ESPN’s Mike Soltys said they’d have no further comment. ESPN’s ombudsman from The Poynter Institute, Kelly McBride, couldn’t leave well enough alone. She wrote the ESPN ombudsman article on Feldman. Naturally, since Feldman said her article was “filled with inaccuracies”, she wants to set things right from her perspective. I get it.

But she takes to Twitter to confront Feldman about his comments. Think about that for a minute.

This is something that would never have come to light were it not for Twitter. That said, who in their right mind as someone in her position, calls someone out using social media. She’s not just a writer or reporter. She represents The Poynter Institute whose mission statement is:

The Poynter Institute is a school dedicated to teaching and inspiring journalists and media leaders. It promotes excellence and integrity in the practice of craft and in the practical leadership of successful businesses. It stands for a journalism that informs citizens and enlightens public discourse. It carries forward Nelson Poynter’s belief in the value of independent journalism in the public interest.

Where exactly does calling someone out on Twitter fit in that mission statement? Maybe it’s the “enlightens public discourse” part. Other than that, what could she gain by tweeting that? As the “ombudsman” for one of the most recognizable sports media companies, shouldn’t one have a better understanding of ‘think before you tweet’? From a sports fan’s perspective, I should hope so.

I can honestly say that I am learning more and more about the media business every day. Some days, are not very pretty. Nevertheless, this story is done. Bruce is “free” to write for CBS. The saga is over. Maybe. We can only hope right?  

But until then, we always have:

TWEET OF THE DAY

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CadChica Sports

Aug 24 2011

Spanning the Twitterverse: Mike Flanagan

Spanning the Twitterverse to bring you the constant variety of tweets
The thrill of the retweet and the agony of the unfollow
The human drama of the twitter timeline
This is CadChica’s Wide World of Tworts

Life often crosses into sports in ways that sometimes, we like to forget.

As yesterday’s post about Pat Summitt proved, part of the enjoyment of sports is relationship. Relationships between coach, players, fans and media are all intertwined, with what takes place on the field/court/pitch as well as off it. What happens to a team and those associated with it, often goes to the core of a fan’s heart. There was great reaction to the medical diagnosis of “early onset dementia” for Summitt. Those reactions, I believe, were brought on because of the relationship we have with Coach Summitt.

It’s not that most of us “know” her personally. It’s that we’ve seen her on television or at a game. We’ve seen or heard her at games or in interviews. We’ve read articles about her. It’s almost as if we “know” her through that and feel a connection or rather, a relationship with her. 

Relationships were on full effect today again in the Twitterverse.

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It was late today that the tweet below came across:

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Whoa. Shocking to say the least.

I remember watching him pitch on tv, growing up. I wasn’t an Orioles fan but I was a baseball fan. The Orioles were one of the great teams that you just “knew” about. If you were a baseball fan, you knew about Earl Weaver, their great teams & how fantastic their pitching was. As such, you knew who Mike Flanagan was. 

By the time many read this, we’ll know more details as to his death. Knowledge, in this case, doesn’t make it any easier, not that anything will. But maybe for the folks below and Orioles’ fans everywhere, the healing process can begin.

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TWEET OF THE DAY

Today’s tweet of the day, two actually, can come from none other than current Orioles’ pitcher, Jeremy Guthrie, who happens to wear the same #46 that Mike Flanagan wore. Surprising to nobody, he pitched for the Orioles tonight in their 6-1 victory over the Twins. Quite appropriate.

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CadChica Sports

Aug 11 2011

Spanning the Twitterverse: Friday Fun Tweets

Spanning the Twitterverse to bring you the constant variety of tweets
The thrill of the retweet and the agony of the unfollow
The human drama of the twitter timeline
This is CadChica’s Wide World of Tworts

The last couple of days have been quite a challenge for me. Today especially, I have been a bit under the weather physically and exhausted mentally. But, I will always make time for Friday Fun Tweets albeit an early edition. Friday Fun Tweets: a collection of tweets from the past week that made me smile, chuckle, laugh out loud or just made me go “HUH?”. Enjoy.

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NFL/PRO FOOTBALL

Admit it. You’ve thought exactly the same thing Chris Harris at some point in your life right?

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Hut-One Fish, Hut-Two Fish, Romeo and Juliet – HIKE!

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At first, I thought Twitter would enhance profiles of athletes and media. After this offseason, it’s doing the same thing for agents too. Very interesting.

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So this one isn’t exactly about football but if you can compare Mr. Irrelevant with Congress, you have my attention. ((Thought: wonder who would be Mr./Ms. Irrelevant in a Congress draft? All of them maybe?))

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UFL news this week. They are still going to have a season but with 4 teams. The best summation of this news?

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COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Above, there was Mr. Irrelevant & Congress, now we have Lady Gaga & Oregon. Truth be told though, Dan Greenspan did say later “@ocruscblog came up with the Oregon/Lady Gaga, so credit to him.”. Still funny.

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College football seems like a year-round job for media (just like other sports, I know). This is the first I heard of it interfering with nuptials. Too funny. Best wishes to him & his future wife.

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I have yet to hear a guy scream like a girl. However, I can imagine many guys around the country feel like this:

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GOLF

The PGA championship started today. Tiger was back. But not in old-Tiger form. Is it the end?

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To get the full effect of this tweet, click on the link in the tweet:

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Tiger-Stevie, Stevie-Tiger, will that story ever end? Not if CBS’ Gregg Doyle can help it.

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A Tiger-less tweet isn’t always the easiest to find when he’s playing but here’s one. US Open champ Rory McIlroy apparently hurt his wrist during the 1st round of play today. Best image I could find is on the New York Times website. I think i could take him.

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SOCCER

I could not pass up some soccer tweets, given that USA-MEXICO played a friendly. Oh and the Premier League is about to start. And La Liga. And Serie A.

Passionate fans out there to be sure. And Twitter can sometimes becoming a venting mechanism for some…..

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This one almost won for Tweet of the Week but I won’t do that. Read it & you can see why.

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And now to USA-MEXICO. It wasn’t exactly a stellar beginning for Jurgen Klinsmann’s coaching debut with the US Men’s National Team. In fact, it was downright ugly the first half. I wasn’t happy when I saw who the starting striker was. This tweet explains my feelings:

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In the 2nd half, Klinsmann brought someone on as a substitute and I’m still shaking my head about it. Ricardo Clark was on the World Cup team. Highly unimpressive to me than and now. So there is this:

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Never let it be said though that last night’s game wasn’t fun at least for a little bit. SI’s Grant Wahl has the Klinsy dance link in this tweet. Clink on the link.

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TWEETS OF THE WEEK

The first runner-up is Colts’ owner Jim Irsay. If you’ve never read his tweets, well, you’re missing out because sometimes they are just OUT THERE. But today, he made sense.

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And now our WINNER. You can see why the tweet above didn’t win. This one is classic Kurt Warner. Smile.

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CadChica Sports

Jun 24 2011

Spanning the Twitterverse: Friday Fun Tweets

Spanning the Twitterverse to bring you the constant variety of tweets
The thrill of the retweet and the agony of the unfollow
The human drama of the twitter timeline
This is CadChica’s Wide World of Tworts

Thank God it is finally Friday. My favorite day of the week. No, it’s not because it’s the last day of the work week (I work 7 days a week — seriously, I do). It’s my favorite because it is Friday Fun Tweets time. Today wasn’t as fun as last week but hey, it’s still Friday and there’s still fun to be found.

I spanned the Twitterverse and came up with these “gems” (or not):

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THE NAME IS JOHN?

The newspaper business isn’t what it used to be. But, you would think that a big sports story like winning golf’s U.S. Open, would bring about some close fact-checking but no.

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IS THIS LIKE, THE DOG ATE MY HOMEWORK?

I’m telling you, the easiest way to understand social media, be it Facebook, Twittter or whatever, is to use some common sense. Unless of course, you don’t have any and then, well…..all bets are off. This story just makes me shake my head.

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ONLY AT WIMBLEDON

This one doesn’t really need explanation, unless of course you don’t know who Serena Williams is. If that’s the case, you’re out of luck (Google it). Aside from that, who would ask this kind of question?

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SO YOU WANT TO BE A MASCOT

Ooh that could be a new reality show!!!  You heard it hear first. Okay networks, call me!!! It’s a brilliant idea. ESPN, are you hearing me? Unless of course you don’t want this to happen to you:

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NO JORDAN, I DON’T WANT TO SIT NEAR YOU

I’m guessing that the Seahawks’ Jordan Babineaux didn’t have Pepcid, Tums or any other antacid at home. Just reading the tweet make my gut hurt.

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I MISS PAUL

For those that don’t remember, Paul the Octopus was the German octopus that correctly predicted games during the 2010 World Cup. If an octopus could roll, I think he’d be rolling in his grave with this tweet:

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NFL: STAND AND _______

The lockout drags on. Negotiations are still ongoing. The Twitterverse is tired of it and so they try to make the best of it.

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TWITTER IS THE BEST FOR:

…facts you won’t get anywhere else. Okay, so you’re tired of me saying it but I LOVE TWITTER. Apparently, I’m not the only one.

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YOU KNOW WE’RE BAD…WE’RE BAD….

Arizona! Bear Down Baby!

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TWEET OF THE NIGHT

For the uninformed, during the basketball season, Klay Thompson thought he had lost his iPod at the hotel room and was late for the team bus. He was benched for the start of Washington State’s game against ASU in Tempe, Arizona. Thus,

CadChica Sports