Kentucky, Louisville Are Monitoring Their Athletes' Social Media Use

Universities are taking precautions to monitor their athletes' social media use. (cosida.com)

University of Kentucky and University of Louisville athletes are free to tweet whatever they want. They don't, however, have a say in if their tweet will still be there the next morning.

Both Kentucky and Louisville athletes have agreements with their schools to have a monitoring system set up on their social media accounts. If an athlete tweets or posts one of the more than 400 banned words and phrases, the school is notified and can decide if the post needs to be removed.

What are these words? Many are references to alcohol, sex and drugs; some generic and others brand names. Blow, chronic, crunk, benjamins, stoned and breasts are all included. Names of alcoholic drinks and drugs — both kinds (Ale, whisky, cocaine, K2) and brands (Budweiser, Crown Royal and every other alcoholic drink imaginable) — as well as references to being drunk or under the influence are all covered. One of the gems on the banned phrase list is, "act a fool." So players, don't be quoting any DMX lyrics in your social media posts.

In an effort to keep players out of a different kind of temptation, Kentucky also has banned the names of 370 sports agents - as well as words like extra benefit, agent and contract - all of which referencing could compromise the athletes' amateur status.

Players are going to tweet. They are going to post statuses and comment on photos on Facebook and check in on Foursquare. Most athletes will be fine, but there will be those to tweet and post inappropriate subjects, ones that can get them, and the school, into trouble.

(socialmediacoachforathletes.com)

The power of social media was proven once again when multiple cases arose during the 2012 Olympics, where a Swiss soccer player and Greek track athlete were kicked off their national teams for racist tweets.

The monitoring system allows school officials to see and handle situations before the words become national news. With more and more cases of issues involving social media and athletes, it will be interesting to see if more universities take the "watchdog" approach to their athletes' social-media lives.


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Welcome to Twitter, Kendall Marshall

The winner of basketball Twitter. (hornets247.com)

When the Phoenix Suns drafted North Carolina point guard Kendall Marshall in the first round of the NBA draft back in June, the front office knew the team was getting a pass-first player who would happily facilitate for teammates. What Suns brass probably didn't know is that the No. 13 pick would be a revolutionary.

OK, "revolutionary" may be a bit much, but whoever wrote the Wikipedia entry about Marshall using the acronym "BTB" on Twitter used the word "groundbreaking."

For those not in the know about "BTB" — a group led by us all, at one time or another — it stands for "Been there, bro." The shortened term has been embraced by the basketball community on Twitter, where numerous bloggers and armchair pundits use it as a response to the thoughts of others. That sentence cannot do justice to the entertainment that BTB can bring, but the appropriate digging on the subject is not hard to do, and the discovery is a fun part of the journey.

As TrueHoop's Sean Highkin tweeted, "We have entered the twilight zone." By virtue of being the first to ask for a definition, Marshall became the first professional basketball player known to engage in BTB bandying. It is another example of how engrained social media is becoming in the world of pro sports and the increased interactivity of the celebrity/everyman dynamic in the new age of media.

Marshall's on-court performances during his rookie season, and perhaps several years into his career, will receive leeway from those in the BTB circle. He's part of the club now. One of his self-admitted detriments is trying too often to make The Big Play, but Marshall's already endeared himself to a swath of his new, pro-level audience.

As for that risky pass? btb.

(AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

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NBA Social Media Awards: Winners & Watermarks

 The New Jersey Nets' Gerald Green throws down -- and snags The Social Slam Award.

The digital carpet rolled out this week for nominees of the NBA’s inaugural social media awards. Honors were doled out for 13 categories by hosts Rick Fox and Shaquille O’Neal, with additional entertainment coming from SLAM magazine’s Lang Whitaker and stalwart Canadian bloggers J.E. Skeets and Tas Melas of The Basketball Jones.

Marked by a one-hour telecast on NBATV, the official NBASMA press release states that nominations were dependant upon “which [moments] resonated with fans and sparked the most social engagement this season” – meaning which plays received the most attention on Twitter and numerous other social networking avenues.

The Los Angeles Lakers were the night’s biggest winners, claiming “The Social MVT (Most Valuable Team)” award as Kobe Bryant received individual recognition by winning the “#Trendsetter” and “Thumbs-Up” awards, which both tallied mentions and likes on their respective social networks.

The Lakers did have to revisit their Feb. 12 meeting versus Jeremy Lin, though, as the sophomore’s 38-point performance was named “Epic” by fans voting for their favorite regular season game.

A full list of winners can be seen at the official NBA website, and while the awards are a fun addition to The Association’s programming, they’re also something more. They’re a watermark for social media and how pervasive it has become to society. As athletes become increasingly willing to share personal thoughts, daily routines and behind the scenes peeks with fans – and as the NBA continues to be the savviest sports league in social media – how far behind can other organizations be?

Whether it’s brilliant or merely the beginning of equalization between national sports leagues and, say, the local Lion’s Club, the NBA Social Media Awards are definitely one thing right now – unique.

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