Tiger Woods has refused a police interview for the third time today. Smart move. He's under no obligation to talk to them. His traffic accident is under investigation and the Fifth Amendment applies as much to celebrities as anyone else.
He also put a statement on his website taking full responsibility for the accident and saying his wife did nothing but come to his aid after seeing he was injured. As of now, his website is taking comments.
Until a couple of years ago, social media did not exist, and professional athletes had to go through the media to show their personalities and communicate with their fans. But recently, sites like Facebook and Twitter have given pro athletes the ability to be themselves and speak for themselves. I know I would have liked to have social media during my career, but I’m happy to have it now. Here are five athletes who, for various reasons, really would have benefited from having social media during their careers. It would have been fun to see.
What social media app would have been most suitable for The Champ? I could see Ali having been great on Ustream. He had a personality that shined best in person, and an unforgettable voice. Ali was a man with deep political and religious beliefs, and he would have used Ustream to share them with the world.
Ruth would have been king of Twitter in his day. I can only imagine some of the tweets and Twitpics that would have come from his account. I’m not sure the Red Sox or Yankees would have been too happy about it, but then again, Ruth was pretty open about his extracurricular activities and I don’t think anyone cared as long as he kept playing the way he did.
Being a bit of a flirt and a ladies’ man, Wilt would have been a champ on Flickr. I could see him creating albums and albums full of all of the women he met. Also, he loved the camera. Like I said, he was a big man with a big personality and a lot of confidence, and he loved the spotlight. Flickr would have helped Wilt shine.
In his playing days, Deion Sanders would have had some great tweets. His would be similar to the style of current NFL player and Twitter aficionado Chad Ochocinco; a lot of trash talking, calling out his opponents, and confident self-promotion. My only concern is that he would not have been able to limit his comments to 140 characters!
Rodman actually has a Facebook Fan Page, but it’s pretty tame now that he’s retired — imagine what he could have done with Facebook while he was a player. He was known to throw and attend a lot of parties, and could definitely have taken advantage of Facebook Events. Rodman would have been able to exhibit his personality through videos and photos, and it sure would have been interesting to see some of the status updates that came from his Fan Page!
Images via Walter Huang on Flickr and the Wikimedia Commons.
Tags: fab five, jalen rose, List, Lists, social media, sports
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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the NBA's all-time leading scorer.
Now, though, he's facing a challenge more daunting than any fight the Boston Celtics ever put up on the court of play: the former Lakers center has been diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia.
The 62-year old was informed of his disease a year ago, following bouts of hot flashes and sweats. He's expected to enjoy a regular life span.
'When the doctor told me I had cancer, I was scared,' said Abdul-Jabbar. 'My grandfather and my uncle both died from colorectal cancer, my dad almost died from it and I have the gene for it. It's in my family, so I thought this was something else along those lines, but it's not.'
Abdul-Jabbar, a father of five, has guarded his privacy over the years.
But he went public this week in order to send an important message:
'I want to help people who are confronted with this type of situation, just to let them know it doesn't have to be a death sentence.'
We wish the NBA legend all the best.
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Washington prosecutors drop pot charges against Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum:
Prosecutors in Clark County, Wash., and Tim Lincecum have reached an agreement in which the pitcher will pay a $250 fine relating to his possession of a marijuana pipe with the drug possession charge being dropped. Lincecum also must pay a $122 fine for speeding.
[. . .] 'Any Joe Blow would get (this deal),' [Clark county prosecutor Grant] Hansen said. 'The way we see it, we can do something to him or we can do something for him. If we can give him a little leniency the first time, in my opinion, it goes further for being law-compliant in the future than if we kick him in the teeth.'
Lincecum was cited by the Washington State Patrol for possessing 3.3 grams of marijuana and the pipe, both misdemeanors, during a traffic stop on Interstate 5 one week ago.
Bill Walton’s body betrayed him as a player, and it betrayed him once again, causing him to retire as a TV basketball analyst due to a bad back. And Phil Mushnick of the New York Post will miss Walton.
Mushnick wrote, “Walton had a rotten, modest habit of obscuring the important things he had to say with extreme declarations and put-ons, often heard and confused as his version of the truth. But for those who could distinguish the silly from the sage, Walton, every telecast, left important messages.”
For the complete story, click here.
"Last night's game was ugly, but still provided plenty of star power at the opener of the World Series. No, we're not talking about A-Rod and Kate Hudson.
First Lady Michelle Obama and Vice President Joe Biden's wife, Jill, took the field during pre-game ceremonies to a big ovation, along with a Yankee legend.
Major League Baseball dedicated Game One of the Yankees-Phillies series, won by the NL champion visitors, 6-1, to the charity Welcome Back Veterans.
Mrs. Obama and Mrs. Biden escorted World War II veteran Yogi Berra - the Yankees Hall of Fame catcher - to the mound for the first-pitch ceremony.
All wore jackets with 'World Series' on the front and their names on the back. Iraq war veteran Tony Odierno threw the first pitch to Derek Jeter.
Odierno, who lost an arm in Iraq, works in the Yankees' stadium operations department. His dad is Gen. Raymond Odierno, the top U.S. commander in Iraq.
Yogi Berra receives - and gets - a hand from Michelle Obama and Jill Biden.
Jill Biden is a Phillies fan. Michelle Obama, unlike her White Sox-fan husband, grew up a Cubs fan. They high-fived fans as they walked down the tunnel.
Earlier that day, Obama and Biden honored wounded veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars at the James J. Peters VA Medical Center in the Bronx.
The First Lady's message was simple but profound: We can all do a little something to honor the men and women of the military. And please, Michelle emphasized, don't forget the families they often have to leave behind while serving overseas.
'You can do something as simple as offering to drive a car pool, or offering babysitting,' Obama told the room of veterans and staff members. 'Above all, each of us can simply reach out and do something really small - and say thank you.'
Click to enlarge more Michelle Obama pictures from yesteday ...
The defensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals in the National Football League, Mike Zimmer,53, found his wife Vikki,50, dead when he arrived home on Thursday evening.No details of her death have been revealed.
According to the Hamilton County Coroner’s office no foul place is suspected in the death of Vikki Zimmer but further comments are being held, pending an autopsy.Vikki and Mike have been married for 27 years and have three children.
Zimmer is in his second season as Bengals defensive coordinator. He served in the same capacity for the Atlanta Falcons in 2007, and with the Dallas Cowboys for the seven seasons prior to that. Zimmer was on Dallas’ staff between 1994 and 2006.Mike Brown said, “We are stunned and saddened to learn of Vikki’s passing. She was a warm and popular person in the Bengals family, and our immense respect and affection for Mike makes this especially hard. Our hearts go out to Mike and his family.”
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