The two faces of social media

Social media is a convenient way to talk to others and stay connected even if you are miles away from them. It is great tool and people all over the world use it everyday, but athletes have to be on their guard whenever they post something. Social media can turn the player's life upside down in a second, but if the they learns how to use it effectively it will be one of their greatest weapons.

With amazingly fast internet speeds and fans that follow the player 24/7, any information the player releases will spread over the internet within a few minutes. A single misinterpreted post can lead to a world of trouble for athletes and it will usually end up in losing popularity.

Keeping feelings inside is actually not as easy as it looks especially when you are furious at someone else. A player may lose a game and just flip out on the other team and post insulting comments. Even if they just yell something insulting. someone in the stands might be recording the game and even post what they heard. Players have to be careful of what they say and post both on and off the field.

In high schools and colleges, the school and the coach will try to limit the use of social media. They aren't trying to stop the use of social media, but they will so what they can to stop it from becoming a problem. "We don't want to dictate to them what they can do on a daily basis," Coach Steve Pederson from Pittsburgh University said. "These are smart, young people we are dealing with. We just try to educate them on making good decisions, how to make good judgments."
 
In certain cases athletes are to download an app that allows the school/coach to see what they have been posting online. If something inappropriate is found on the athlete’s page he/she is usually asked to immediately take it down. Sometimes the coach will even take away the athlete’s privilege to use social media and ban him/her from using it at all.
 
Social media plays a huge role in an athlete’s life as it can both hurt and help him/her. Depending on how well the athlete can manage social media he/she can become more popular without any trouble. Kevin Long, the CEO of MVP Sports Media Training and U Diligence said "If it's not something that would be OK with your mother if someone sent her a link to what you wrote, then there is probably a better way of saying or not saying it at all.” Social media can be a helpful tool or it can be a life changing problem depending on how you look at it, but as long as athletes are smart and careful they won’t have any trouble using social media.

"J-Rich's" Back to Back Successes

Jason Richardson / Keith Allison (Wikimedia Commons)

Jason Richardson, also known as “J-Rich” is among one of only five men to win the NBA Slam Dunk Contest more than once in the 27 years that is has taken place. The former Golden State Warrior clinched the victory in February 2003 while withstanding great pressure from his competitors. Richardson's victory required extra innovation in order to top the behind-the-head two-handed windmill dunk that made him winner of the 2002 Slam Dunk Contest. 

For the 2003 competition, he brought out a powerful windmill off of a bounce dunk to outdo Amar’e Stoudemire’s nearly perfect score of 49. Richardson advanced to the final round with Desmond Mason who quickly became the crowd and judges favorite to win after executing a left handed under-the-leg dunk. J-Rich responded with a reverse between-the-leg, behind-the-head dunk to seal him a perfect score of 50 from the judges. Mason gave Richardson a run for his money throughout the contest though by keeping the score close and ended with 93 compared to Rich’s score of 96.

In 2005, an NBA.com poll qualified Richardson’s 2003 winning dunk as the number one dunk of all time. This acclaimed success placed the rising athlete above legends such as Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Spud Webb in the eyes of basketball fans around the globe. Richardson credited Gilbert Arenas in an NBA.com interview as the one who gave him the idea for the winning dunk that has been praised countless times. Interestingly enough, the first time that Richardson actually did it perfectly was in the Slam Dunk Contest itself.

Richardson had not always been so well known and he faced the task of distinguishing himself despite being a new player at the time. He was the fifth overall pick of the Golden State Warriors in the 2001 NBA Draft and became a Rookie Challenge MVP the following year. Despite his recognition, Richardson failed to meet expectations in 2003, averaging about 15 points per game. It is Jason Richardson’s body of work in the dunking arena; however, that has made him immortal in the NBA’s list of legendary dunking champions.