Pick your subject, any era, and it’s always the same techno-savvy improving progress. We’re good at this, we Americans. And if we can’t invent it, we borrow the best ideas, tweak them and call them our own.
Emerging technology never retreats, never takes a day off. And we like it that way.
But here’s how every coach at all levels should treat Twitter: Just say no.
For all the wonderful interaction and insight this relatively new social media has given us, it’s countered by piercing heartache. I liken it to blog postings: A great idea that can quickly careen into the absurd, rendering it useless and totally avoidable.
We poke fun at the inane tweets by celebrities. But we follow nonetheless. Different ballgame for athletes, and too often not in a good way.
In just four quick years since its first 140-character message, Twitter has become the Lindsay Lohan of silent communication. It’s mostly fun to watch, but the innocence was lost long ago. Now, it’s an oncoming train wreck. You know it’s out of control; just a matter of where and when.
Too much can go wrong — to undermine the best laid coaching plans — when athletes turn to Twitter. It’s the far-reaching and self-serving microphone with no off button.
And it won’t stop. It’ll only increase and get more embarrassing, because we’re that way, too. We can’t help ourselves; never could.
It’s cliche but it’s worth repeating, especially in this infant age of Twitter: Some things are better said on the field.
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