This Democrat and Chronicle (NY) feature on Syracuse men's basketball Twitter usage shows both the growing reach - and pitfalls - of social networks.
Last week, Syracuse University basketball guard Scoop Jardine flamed the fire on a baseless rumor on three Orange players being involved in a point-shaving episode. Read what happened next - including one sports reporter fired for repeating the Jardine Tweet in his social media channels.
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Another example of how social media is altering the sports landscape: Faulty Syracuse basketball tweets bring social media problems into focus
by Jeff Diveronica, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
"Ooo yea, that's hot."
It's a phrase some Syracuse University men's basketball players, particularly guard Scoop Jardine, have posted on the social networking site Twitter so much over the past year that the slogan is on T-shirts.
But last week Jardine fanned the flames of a baseless rumor about three Syracuse players being involved in a point-shaving scandal by taking to Twitter to respond to an allegation by an anonymous post on a gambling website forum.
The ensuing furor shows both the growing reach of social networks, particularly in the world of sports, and the potential pitfalls in its use.
When Andy Adamson, a weekend sports anchor for YNN Rochester, mentioned the gambling site's post on his personal Facebook page and Twitter account, a few sports blogs picked up on the rumor, figuring it now had credibility because a mainstream media representative mentioned it. Suddenly, in the midst of a rare four-game losing streak, SU basketball seemed headed for a full-fledged controversy.
But within 24 hours the anonymous poster recanted his allegation, saying it wasn't true and he never meant for it to leave the gambling's site's forum. Within 48 hours, Adamson, who said he deleted his Twitter profile and Facebook post within 90 minutes of mentioning the rumor, had lost his job.
"Mr. Adamson's actions violate YNN's standards and he no longer works for YNN," Anthony Proia, YNN's senior director of news operations said in a statement.
When reached by phone on Wednesday night, Adamson reflected on the potential dangers of social media.
"As a journalist, no matter what capacity, whether TV, news or online, credibility is all you have," Adamson said. "You have to be careful no matter what medium. Maybe social media seemed a little more casual in the past, but it doesn't matter how or what context you mean something. In this age of technology you can see how things can blow up in a second and spread like wildfire."
This controversy is another example of how the Internet has shrunk the world. Tweets and Facebook posts can move faster than the wind and today's social media networks often can have a powerful impact on college and professional sports.
"It's something that scares me," said Georgetown coach John Thompson III, whose 11th-ranked Hoyas won at No. 12 Syracuse on Wednesday.
Twitter was the genesis of the only real controversy during the week leading up to the Super Bowl and also sparked the
debate over Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler's toughness after being injured in the NFC championship game last month.
Though it revolves mostly around people following the comments and actions of high-profile athletes such as LeBron James, Terrell Owens or celebrities, NCAA coaches and administrators are more cognizant about what messages their athletes post in the public domain. Some Big East basketball coaches such as Villanova's Jay Wright and St. John's Steve Lavin forbid their players from posting to Twitter, or "tweeting," during the season.
"It's a phenomenon and it's here to stay," said Lou Spiotti, athletic director at Rochester Institute of Technology, which has only Division III programs except for Division I ice hockey.
"We monitor (posts) — not that we want to peer into our students' personal lives. We trust them. But they are still growing and maturing adults and we want to protect them as student-athletes."
Spiotti said RIT athletes are advised to be careful what is posted on their own and friends' Facebook pages, especially in pictures. Most colleges have eligibility and conduct policies.
"We wouldn't want anything to compromise their eligibility because sometimes things can be taken completely out of context," Spiotti said.
Jardine, a redshirt junior in his fourth year at SU, has received the university's speech about being careful with social media so often that he can almost recite it. He was only defending himself and his teammates, but his response on Twitter last week made the rumor a little hotter.
The irony is that the Syracuse coaches and SU sports information director Pete Moore warn the players each year about certain off-court dangers, including discussing personal or team matters in public forums. Jardine, who is in his fourth year at Syracuse, has heard the speech many times.
“I’ve been here for so long, I can go in and do the talk myself,’’ Jardine said. “But I still messed up. I tell the young guys that you’ve really got to listen because it can come back on you.’’
- from Tweet this, not that: College student-athletes navigate world of social media, by Mike Waters, the Syracuse Post-Standard (link to this article is under "See Also," upper right)
It's not the first time he's been involved in a "Twitterversy." He had a tweet go awry in December that some viewers perceived alluded to an incident a few years ago involving Jardine and two other SU players and a female student. The players were cleared of any criminal wrongdoing in the incident with the student, but Jardine and his teammates were placed on probation by a university judicial hearing board.
After catching heat about the tweet from some of his Twitter followers, Jardine apologized in a tweet and shut down his account and started a new one under a different screen name.
"You've got to be careful what you say," Jardine told the Syracuse Post-Standard. "People can take a lot of words and twist them up and read it whichever way they want. If I say something to (former SU star) Jonny (Flynn) and we've got an inside joke about, but you all don't know what we've got going on."
Coach Jim Boeheim doesn't like to censor his players, but obviously he'd rather not have to deal with any social media controversy involving them. He told the
Post-Standard last month that like any other college students, players should be allowed to express themselves and, if they make a mistake, learn from it.
But after SU's win over Connecticut last week, the day after the Internet rumor erupted and then dissolved, he referred to it in his postgame remarks. He wasn't critical of Twitter or his players, just the way the social media world turns.
"If people go on those blogs and take stuff at face value, they're idiots," Boeheim told the newspaper. "It's a rumor. There have always been rumors out there every day that I've coached for 35 years. I never remember people writing about rumors, and the rumors went away. Now, for some reason, we're making something of a rumor and it's wrong."
What can make a tweet or Facebook post dangerous is its immediacy and lack of a filter. Posts can be deleted, but if they've already been seen and re-tweeted, often the damage has been done.
When Cutler came out of the NFC title game, several current and former NFL players tweeted about it during the game with no knowledge of the severity of the injury other than what they saw or heard on TV.
"When the going gets tough ...... QUIT," tweeted Jacksonville Jaguars back Maurice Jones-Drew.
"Fox haven't showed any trainers looking at Cutler, UMMM," tweeted former NFL linebacker Derrick Brooks.
Last week, two Packers players complained in tweets that they'd miss the team picture because they wouldn't be in Texas in time. Even though coach Mike McCarthy called it a "poor decision" by the players to comment publicly, the photo shoot was moved back to accommodate all.
The
NFL adopted a social media policy in 2009 that prohibits players, coaches and football
operations personnel from posting comments on personal social media sites from 90 minutes before kickoff until after the traditional postgame media period. The league fined Chad Ochocinco of the Cincinnati Bengals $25,000 for tweeting during a preseason game last August.
Buffalo Bills wide receiver Stevie Johnson also drew attention to himself when he used his Twitter account to ask why God allowed him to drop a winning touchdown pass in overtime against the Pittsburgh Steelers back in November.
"What you put out there, you can't take back," Thompson III said. "You have a bad practice, the whole world can know about it. You're mad at a teammate, a coach, yourself, parents, a girlfriend, the whole world can know about it. So it's something that's very dangerous."