CLEVELAND, Ohio -- As a sports arena, Twitter makes the Black Hole in Oakland look like a playground.
Brett Myers, whose Twitter handle is Outlaw39, didn't think Yankees closer Mariano Rivera deserved the All-Star MVP.
How dare Myers have an opinion, especially one praising Rivera with words such as "respect" and class?" We'll have none of that, sir. Restrict your thoughts and insights, please, to things that ruffle no feathers.
Like:
"I'm just trying to stay within myself" ... and "Go Tribe!!!!"
Myers went on to say he thought the award should've gone to the "guys that drove in the runs to get Mariano the chance to be a hero in his last All-Star game." The response to that was, as expected, well-considered and sophisticated. What you expect from Twitter.
You can always count on Twitter to sharpen the focus of any discussion.
To challenge pre-conceived notions and do it in a way that leaves both parties richer for the discourse.
"Are you even a major league pitcher ... because I've never heard of you."
I suspect people follow athletes on Twitter to connect with them. To hear what they have to say not only about fans' favorite teams but life in general. To get a better glimpse of the person behind the name. Until they read an opinion or watch a performance they don't like.
In person, they might boo. On Twitter, they boo your mother for having you.
This is fairly understandable when Rashard Mendenhall tweets about Osama bin Laden, or -- more recently -- when Victor Cruz and Roddy White got carried away in frustration over the George Zimmerman verdict.
But the MVP of an exhibition game?
Doesn't matter. Twitter is the Wild West. The posse always travels with a rope to facilitate dragging you through town behind a horse.
In Myers' defense -- and some actually came to it on Twitter -- no one is quite sure what the All-Star Game is supposed to be these days. And the MVP going to Rivera was obviously a lifetime achievement award.
Players are asked to take the game seriously. So, too, managers. It is not the high-stakes game of Bud Selig's imagination. The commissioner ridiculously attaches home field advantage in the World Series to the outcome while preserving the format that requires every team be represented, Little League style.
It's silly to give so much legitimacy to the outcome when the starters are mostly gone. Also long gone is the intrigue that once accompanied the AL vs. NL before interleague play. It's an exhibition. It's a celebration of baseball. It is not to be taken seriously.
Selig should go in the opposite direction, and let a fan/viewer poll decide the MVP. That might not have changed Myers' opinion or spared him grief. Nobody is spared when Twitter muscles flex.
Apparently it's not as embarrassing following someone with only 5,000.
SPINOFFS
? Steelers' center Maurkice Pouncey unveiled a "Free Hernandez" hat -- a reference to former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez who faces murder charges in an alleged execution-style killing.
If 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick didn't already wonder what the big deal was when he donned a Miami Dolphins hat and took heavy criticism for it, he can, with some accuracy, now say, "Hey, nobody died."
?"I regret that my actions appear to make light of (a) serious situation," said Pouncey.
Appear?
? San Francisco linebacker NaVorro Bowman told NFL Total Access that Kaepernick made a mistake wearing the Dolphins cap but that young players "like to match our snapbacks to our outfits."
Something tells me Dick Butkus never matched anything to an "outfit."
? Baseball commissioner Bud Selig insists the sport is cleaner than ever. Don't know how impressive a statement that is when Lindsay Lohan is making the same claim.
? Mike Brown says No. 1 overall draft choice Anthony Bennett will play the power forward position to start out, which seems to put him in a select group of everyone except Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters.
? Joe Torre says baseball will likely widen the scope of instant replay next season. "We want to improve what we've done with the home run," said Torre.
He meant beyond laser surgery for Angel Hernandez.
? Sprinter Tyson Gay tested positive for a banned substance in a compassionate attempt to make cyclists and baseball players feel like they're not alone.
? It's not surprising that Pat Riley would like to see the salaries of Chris Bosh, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade considered "legacy contracts" because they were negotiated before the new collective bargaining agreement made going over the luxury tax so punitive.
Every team in the league knew the changes were coming when Riley added Bosh and James. The amnesty clause allowing teams to throw a player overboard without salary cap ramifications was created to help teams like Miami.
And just when you were ready to hold a telethon for the Heat.
? Johnny Manziel left the Manning Passing Academy. He either partied too hard or, according to his father, was suffering from dehydration. Manziel said at the SEC Media Day that he simply overslept.
He apologized to his A&M coaches. So we can assume he wasn't saying he was sorry for drinking too little.
Manziel, a sophomore, acknowledged mistakes, dropped Justin Bieber's name, and said, "I'm still going to live life to the fullest."
That will apparently include taking classes on campus instead of online as he did last year to avoid, you know, a college life at its fullest.
? After winning the Heisman Trophy as a freshman, Manziel admits he over-extended himself with travel and other distractions. "I continue to meet people and do things that were on my bucket list," he said.
A bucket list? He is, for the record, 20, not 70. But if being the talk of SEC Media Day was on his list, he can cross it off.
? Major League Baseball continues to award home-field advantage in the World Series to the league that wins the All-Star Game. So this October, the American League representative will open the World Series at home.
Somehow, the NBA and NFL have failed to embrace the pure silliness of this idea.
? Nike pulled a T-shirt from the production line. It featured the Carolina Panthers logo inside the outline of South Carolina. The Panthers play in North Carolina.
Once we get this geography thing down, we're coming for ya, China.
HE SAID IT
"I've never sent an email and I never will." -- Selig.
Don't get excited U.S. Postal Service. At age 78, Selig was speaking on behalf of carrier pigeons and ponies everywhere.
YOU SAID IT
(The Expanded Midweek Edition)
"Hey Bud:
"After watching the video of Carly Rae Jepsen throwing out the first pitch at Tropicana Field, I feel the need to pose this question ... Carly Rae Jepsen or Ubaldo Jimenez?" -- Larry Rose, Diamond
The one with the least number of moving parts in her delivery.
"Bud:
"I'm willing to believe Dan Gilbert when he says Andrew Bynum could make the Cavs a better team ... his guarantee that we'll get that new casino?...maybe after Hopalong wins the MVP." -- Frank Bruno, Westlake
Give Gilbert a break. When has he ever guaranteed something that didn't happen?
"Bud:
"Did they vote for the All-Star MVP before the game?" -- Joe S
I believe they decided to give it to any player coming into the game to "Enter Sandman."
"Hey Bud:
"Did I miss it or was there a 'I'm taking my talents to the North Coast" show?'" -- Russ
I think the quote was "I'm taking my talents to Buckeye Lanes."
"Bud:
"If Major League Baseball were to write its own Bible, would the first book of this new Bible be "Bio-Genesis"? -- Jim Corrigan, Fairview Park
Maybe. We already have seen the equivalent of changing water into wine and raising the dead. A Prince Fielder triple.
"Hey, Bud:
"Did you realize that when Jason Kipnis caught the final out in the All Star Game, he also secured home field advantage in the World Series for your Cleveland Indians?" -- Tim, Twinsburg
I'll have what you're having.
"Hey, Bud:
"So the Indians have a pitcher named C.C. Lee. Does that mean he?ll win the Cy Young Award twice before they trade him?" -- Keith Jameson, Fairview Park
First-time "You Said It" winners receive a T-shirt from the Mental Floss collection.
"Bud,
"Do you think Grady Sizemore will share his Cleveland "to do list" with Andrew Bynum?" -- Nick
Repeat winners don't even get a cup of coffee.
Source: http://www.cleveland.com/budshaw/index.ssf/2013/07/cleveland_indians_brett_myers_1.html
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