The Modern Athlete and the Internet

One of the greatest advantages to having the Internet at our fingertips at all times of the day is the ability to stay in touch with friends and family. And now with the advent of Twitter, everyday people have a legitimate way of contacting with their favorite celebrities and athletes.

For example, because of Twitter, I'm now very close friends with Kanye West and Conan O'Brien. Well, not really. But it's fun to think so because I send them a tweet every now and then.

That communication goes both ways. Now these celebrities and athletes have an unfiltered form of getting their message out.

This past weekend during the much-vaunted NFC Championship game between the Packers and Bears, Jay Cutler suffered a grade-II tear of his MCL and while he tried to play with the injury for the first offensive series of the 3rd quarter, the medical staff advised him to sit out the rest of the game. According to head coach Lovie Smith, Cutler wanted to come back. But he didn't. And while the hopes of the 2010 Bears seemed to get more and more desperate with Todd Collins and Caleb Hanie under center, Cutler sat on the bench, occasionally going on a stationary bike, but mostly looking despondent with the patented Cutler Face (see: above).

Fans were upset. He didn't look hurt, so why wasn't he coming back in? Without knowing the full extent of his injuries, people went on Twitter to blast Cutler, hoping that he somehow would see the outpouring of hate and get his ass back in the game.

But what made this situation interesting was that among the people blasting Cutler were current NFL players. Darnell Dockett. Derrick Brooks. Maurice Jones-Drew (incidentally, with his team's playoff fate dependent on winning their final two games of the regular season, sat out with injury).

How often do athletes cry foul when the media jumps on them without fully knowing the facts? Too often. And here we are with the Cutler situation-- with the ability for athletes to play faux-journalists with Twitter, they do the exact same thing. Talk about a double-standard.

Jones-Drew has since cited his tweet as a "joke." Whatever. If you have a tool like Twitter and choose to use it like that, beware of the consequences.

The Internet has give a voice to fans and players alike. And what pisses off players is being practiced by the players themselves. Score one for sports journalists.

(And as a quick aside, I too jumped down Cutler's throat. But it wasn't for not coming back. It was for being a terrible leader for the team. If you're one of four Bears to wear a "C" captaincy patch on your jersey, you better act like a leader. Pouting on the sidelines with ZERO energy is not the way to help your team if you can't do it on the field. Regardless of the fallout that comes from this, Cutler will never be looked at the same way.)

Hi, my name is Justin and I'm addicted to Google

Do I have a Google problem? No way. I could totally live without Google.

Except when I jump on computer and peruse the web via Google Chrome.

Except when I head to YouTube for a stupid video.

Except when I go to work and need a number for a PR lady and use Google web search.

Except when I need directions to their office for an on-camera interview and use Google Maps.

Except when start fooling around on Google Earth and lose an hour of my life.

Except when I start to write "reccommendation," and go use Google's instant search results to find out it's actually "recommendation."

Except when I'm using Blogger to write this at this very minute.

Okay. Well maybe I couldn't actually live without Google. It would drastically change my everyday life. This is so sad. But at least I'm not the only one.

Nearly every site I visit features a "search" function that allows the user to search within the site. It's Google-branded. Of course. My friend just bought a new phone. It's super fast and features all kinds of snazzy features, and on the back it says, "Powered by Google." Of course. Just now, I was thinking of other anecdotal evidence of Google permeating our culture's everyday life. I instinctually open up a new tab for some research and type in google.com. Of course.

It could be worse, though. As we talked about in class, some people don't really use browser bookmarks, instead choosing to just type in "facebook" into Google and going from there. At I use bookmarks. So unlike my Dad, I don't go to Google to type in "aol" to get to my AOL webmail. C'mon Dad-- really? You should be the one making this blog post.

Also, I have an iPhone. No Android for me.

So yes, everything in the world revolves around Google and if it falls, it would cause mass hysteria and bring about the worst parts of the Bible. Maybe that's what 2012 is all about.

Hi, my name is Justin and I'm addicted to Google.

Blog Prompt #1 (Bruce Schneier)

I found the evolution of Schneier's blog to be interesting. I almost found it analogous to the evolution of the newspapers, who have been doing things in a certain style for so long, and had to transition their style, even just a tiny bit, for online distribution. Schneier started his monthly email newsletter and had so much time to perfectly craft his intended message. But he had to transition his style, even just a tiny bit, for a more blog-like style. That includes more immediacy, shorter posts, and probably more interaction with readers (i.e.- comments).

In the end, the advent of his blog changed the way he writes. Of course, he still writes some longer, essay-like blog posts that are similar to the way he used to write his monthly newsletter, but I really do think that if one gets used to micro-sized blog updates (that include only a link and some additional thoughts), it changes the way one writes. More shorthand. Shorter sentences.

Kind of like this.

Also interesting-- the brick wall that a blogger has to put up against unnecessary negative comments. I think constructive criticism is good for anyone putting their work out there in the public forum, but I suppose bloggers (or more to the point, popular bloggers) can get their fair amount of abuse and stupid comments from the naive or uneducated. But Schneier just ignores the abuse. He tells new bloggers to "just do it." Don't worry about being interesting or too boring-- just do it. What I get from this is just to do something that you're proud of and feel is interesting. Not everyone is going to view a situation in the same light. But that's the beauty of blogging and the internet in general-- everyone has access and everyone has their own opinion.

The first post in a series of greatness.

My professor is telling me to write a few sentences, so here I am-- writing a few sentences. Hopefully the rest of the posts are uphill from here. LINKS YO.