Athletes tweet away

Credit to Morpurgo

There are plenty of examples of athletes getting into trouble on social media sites, such as Twitter and Facebook. Most of the time, an artificial, insincere apology follows. Then, the story fades away into the bellows of the past within the next couple of days. As more athletes get into trouble over what they say, more coaches and agents are banning their players from Twitter or filtering what they post.
 

Athletes have said stupid things on Twitter since it first became popular, and they will continue to say such things on Twitter until it fades away (if it ever does). A lot of the time, they do not realize that seconds after they post something on Twitter, thousands of fans can see it and it could be damaging to their reputation or image.

Stupid or insulting things posted on Twitter rarely damage a professional athlete’s image permanently. When an athlete posts something offensive on a social media site, all they have to do is say “Sorry” with an explanation afterward which mostly consist of something like “I wasn’t thinking” or “I realize now that what I said could have been offensive”. After that happens, most of the time the story is over and everyone is forgiven.


With all the players who have gotten fined for what they tweet, there has only been one well-known instance of someone losing their job. That person is Larry Johnson, former Pro-Bowl running back for the Kansas City Chiefs. After lashing out at one of his coaches and insulting one of his fans with a gay slur, he was released from the team after 32,000 fans signed a petition asking the Chiefs to fire him. No amount of apologies could have gotten him out of that situation.


Social media rarely has a permanent, negative effect on an athlete’s image. If anything, it draws more publicity to them and makes them have even more followers because everyone wants to see their post.

Was Jonathan Baldwin a good choice?

Jonathan Baldwin, a rookie wide receiver playing on the Kansas City Chiefs, graduated from the University of Pittsburgh where he led his team to the top. Baldwin was a first round pick in the 2011 National Football League Draft, and now plays for the Kansas City Chiefs. He comes from a family filled with former football players such as his father, Jeffrey Baldwin and his cousin, Charles Fisher.

Teammates, along with the coach of the Chiefs complain Baldwin is not able to get open for catches and not only that, but he is very cocky. This is leading him to a restricted amount of play on the field. Nick Wright of 610 radio in Kansas City said, "What I'm hearing on Baldwin: 'He's as advertised. Diva, spoiled, doesn't wanna listen. Can run a go and a slant, and doesn't wanna work.” Baldwin got into a fight with Thomas Jones, running back of the Chiefs in the locker room, and suffered a broken wrist causing him to miss the whole preseason.

Despite his negative behavior, Baldwin showed his capability when playing against the San Diego Chargers. Throughout this game he caught five passes for 82 yards and had one touchdown. In those five catches, two of them put his team in the field goal area. Baldwin played in another game against the Denver Broncos on November 13th, where he caught an amazing pass. It would've probably been the offensive catch of the day, if it wasn't a penalty. This shows he isn't just a cocky ‘new kid,’ who doesn't know what he is doing.

Baldwin needs to show some sign of improvement in his ability to get open as well as being more humble. If he does show some of these signs then he will have more appearances in games. Baldwin should also try to stay out of fights so he doesn't influence his fans as well as the coach.

What Does Losing Feel Like?

         When you play a football game on someone else’s field the odds are against you: a new climate, unfamiliar territory and a hostile crowd. If you are motivated by the love of your city, however, anything is possible. September 23rd was going to be a rough day. Just two weeks earlier two American jet liners had slammed into one of the most iconic buildings in New York City, the World Trade Center. Both the Giants and the Jets had lost their previous games and were really in a slump, but they needed to win this one for New York City.

         The Giants had always been a good team, but the Chiefs would be one tough team to beat, and the emotions running through the player’s heads wouldn’t make it any easier. Many people thought that they wouldn’t even be able to emotionally pull it together. Hank Gola for the New York Post predicted that the Giants would lose to the Chiefs 17-14. The odds were seriously stacked against them and there was no doubt that it would be an intense game.

         However, when the Giants took the field, they saw something different; the terrorist attacks had sent shock-waves throughout the country, and it showed. Kansas City residents were holding up signs saying “KC loves NY,” and they are not known to be the friendliest of crowds in the country. This was something that the Giants did not expect, and maybe it helped them, because when they took the field, they crushed the Chiefs 13-3.  The crowd erupted in applause; Chiefs fullback Tony Richardson said, “They deserved the applause [because] it was their backyard, they actually saw it, they’ve been down to the site. Some of these people were their friends, their neighbors.” The Chiefs knew very well that this victory would mean a lot to the Giants, and all of New York City. “They were playing for their city and their state,” said Chiefs defensive end Eric Hicks.

         All of the players were ecstatic, and proud that they had won one for New York. Kerry Collins of the Giants said, “It was nice to know that, on some level, we had a positive influence for the events going on.” Shaun Williams for the Giants added, “It was important for our city to have something to smile about. It was important for them to have something to feel good about again." The Giants knew that this had meant something for New York City, and so did the Kansas City Chiefs, but the Jets winning the same day made the taste of winning even better.

         Coming out of a slump is no easy job, especially when bad emotions are raging, and on top of that, they had been crushed by the Colts just two weeks earlier. It would be tough for the Jets to come out ahead of the Patriots, but somehow they won. The Jets coach Herman Edwards definitely had something to do with it. Prior to the game he told his team, “People who can deal with inconvenience, those are the guys who are successful.” Taking the field equipped with their coach’s advice, and with their pride and passion for their city, the Jets were able to extract a 10-3 victory out of the Patriots.

         Winning the game was no easy task. However, the Jets did it using key defensive elements. The Patriots had turned the ball over four times during the game; two of these times were when they were in the red zone. On the Patriots last drive, perhaps the most important play of the game, Jets’ linebacker Mo Lewis crushed quarterback Drew Bledsoe as he tried to scramble for extra yards. This forced him out of the game and gave the job to the Patriots’ backup quarterback, Tom Brady. Brady failed to score and the Jets ended up conquering the game.

         The Patriots knew that this was a sensitive game. During the game, the Patriots honored the firefighters and police officers that had died during the terrorist attack. They even had Joe Andruzzi’s father and three brothers, New York City firefighters that had participated in the rescue operations at the World Trade Center, on as honorary captains. During the game over 60,000 American Flags were given out to all of the fans, and many people donated to the Red Cross. The Patriots played this game light-heartedly, "You've got to have fun playing this game, or it doesn't mean anything. No matter how much you get paid, you've got to have fun," said Patriots cornerback Ty Law. Football was one of the many ways that Americans would learn to cope with the unspeakable tragedy of September 11th.


Contributed to by: Greg Sakas, Timothy Jacobs and Amora Meas