Twittering The Bucs
July 29th, 2011
OK, it’s the 21st century. You are already online so why not utilize the quickest, best news service there is, Twitter?
In Joe’s eyes, there have been few inventions in recent years better than Twitter. Joe can honestly say he’s never been more informed about the game he loves, football, than he has since he started using Twitter.
Not only are you constantly fed information at all hours of the day (and night), but you have direct access to some of the top movers and shakers of the game at your fingertips, from Roger Goodell to Jim Irsay to Peter King to Ahmad Black.
(Sadly, very few coaches Twitter — none in the NFL that Joe is aware of — but in college football, JayPa is probably the biggest name who does and he sometimes will respond to your missive).
For those who are just joining Twitter or looking for people to follow, here are some of the best Bucs Twitters:
@HolderStephen The St. Petersburg Times Bucs beat writer in recent months has turned hostile to Joe, but that doesn’t mean Joe doesn’t admire his Twitterings. Holder really does some inventive things with Twitter like once holding a Live Twitter chat. Holder often is interactive and he Twitters about the Bucs year-round.
@LedgeronBucs Rick Brown of the Lakeland Ledger, during the season, gives Holder a run for his money as far as being the best Bucs Twitterer. Sadly Rick, during the offseason, goes into hibernation. During the season his Twitterings are at the top of the game.
@sgw94 Former Bucs defensive end Steve White is a Twittering machine and he may very well have the most insightful, intelligent posts about the game of anyone Joe knows on Twitter, and Steve will respond to just about anyone so long as they are not trying to be an arse. The only downfall Steve may have — it’s not really a downfall — is that Steve spends so many hours on Twitter daily, football, specifically the Bucs, may make up 20 percent of this Twitterings. So if you follow Steve, you probably will get the best Bucs musings on Twitter, but you’ll get a lot of other opinions as well.
@royecummings The primary Bucs beat writer for the Tampa Tribune, Roy Cummings recently branched out from under the TBO Bucs Twitter feed to launch his own handle. As a result, he’s Twittering a lot more.
@TBO_Buccaneers This is the official Twitter handle of TBO, which includes the Tampa Tribune and WFLA-TV. Since Cummings branched out on his own, this is usually now handled by Anwar Richardson, with some input from eye-RAH! Kaufman. Sadly, like Brown, Richardson tends to go into Twitter hibernation once the season is over when Kaufman does the brunt of the Twittering.
@Commish620wdae Joe’s good friend Justin Pawlowski Twitters year-round about the Bucs and other sports as well as FGU musings (Fat Guys Unite). He also sprinkles in some USF football too, but mainly the Bucs.
@JennaLaineBucs The NFL.com blogger is a good source of Bucs information when she’s not behind a mic on the radio. Caution: she’s a baseball hound too so you may just get as many Rays musings as you will Bucs.
The guy that Joe is really trying to join the Twitterverse is Tom Balog of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Balog is a way cool guy who is very outspoken in his views. Twitter in general, and Bucs fans in particular, are losing out with Balog staying on the Twitter sidelines. Com’ on Tom, get with the program!
Oh, just in case, Joe’s Twitter handle is @JoeBucsFan.
As for general NFL Twitterers, here are a few Joe recommends:
@McClain_on_NFL Perhaps the most underrated NFL Twitterer outside of media circles. McClain is a long-time NFL writer for the Houston Chronicle dating back to the early days of the Houston Oilers. McClain is as plugged in as they get and he gives a refreshing take on the NFL, not just the cookie cutter northeastern view of things. McClain was one of the very few who was an intimate of the original draftnik, the late Joel Buchsbaum.
@PriscoCBS CBSSports.com columnist Pete Prisco often has insightful and strong takes on the NFL. Rarely a day goes by that he doesn’t offer up some views, largely at night.
@JasonLaCanfora The NFL Network insider is one of the coolest guys around and his Twitter avatar says it all.
@SI_PeterKing The preminent NFL columnist of our time is a Twitterholic who, when the mood strikes, will spend hours at wierd times of the day and night answering NFL questions from the masses.
@ClaytonESPN The Professor has only been on Twitter for a few days but the long-time ESPN NFL analyst has simply been killing it on Twitter.
@ProFootballTalk Mike Florio is the ultimate source for NFL news. An NFL fan who does not follow Florio is an NFL fan who enjoys wallowing in ignorance.
July 29th, 2011 at 12:09 pm
Thanks Joe I will add most of them!
July 29th, 2011 at 12:13 pm
I used to tweet but now I don’t care.
July 29th, 2011 at 12:15 pm
Might want to add @incarceratedbob as he is the one who is breaking all the stories before BSPN and Clayton starts running with it, therefore enabling Clayton to be “killing it.”
Mike Florio has been consistently wrong so far, so I wouldn’t really take what he says real seriously. LaCanfora picks up what incarceratedbob says too, so that’s probably your best bet.
July 29th, 2011 at 12:16 pm
I guess, Twitter proves the saying, “bluebird of happiness”!
July 29th, 2011 at 12:16 pm
Not sure if you intentionally left him out, but ESPN analyst @adamschefter comes through with constant insider updates.
July 29th, 2011 at 12:17 pm
According to @incarceratedbob, NYJ have won the race for Nnamdi. He also broke the story last night that a deal had been agreed to, so if the Jets end up with Nnamdi, every twitterer following the situation will know he was the first to have it. He’s been consistently calling deals 24-36 hours in advance. It’s ridiculous.
July 29th, 2011 at 12:17 pm
@ tony2cents…
Agreed, Schefter is very good.
July 29th, 2011 at 12:21 pm
@johnnyboy
Joe is not a fan of @incarceratedbob, despite Bob going 12 for 13 yesterday with signings and usually had the news an hour or two before “traditional media” members.
July 29th, 2011 at 12:25 pm
@HGO…
I don’t really know why Joe would be against him unless it’s something personal, he seems to be by far the best source of info. Also I’m sorry, but to say a fan who doesn’t follow Florio is doing it wrong is just an absurd and ridiculous statement.
July 29th, 2011 at 12:33 pm
Glad to see Holders tweet that Bowers is looking good. All eyes will be on him the next few weeks.
July 29th, 2011 at 12:33 pm
Hey Joe,
Could you list out the twitter accounts for the players- or at least your favorite buc players to follow?
-vegas
July 29th, 2011 at 12:57 pm
If you haven’t been on twitter the past couple days, you’re really missing what this platform was made for. It’s been great. You can pretty much cancel the ESPN Insider account. Rumors and possible deals are no longer locked behind a paywall. Everyone can get in on the fun.
@JoeBucsFan has been great the whole way.
July 29th, 2011 at 1:09 pm
Vegaslivin:
Joe doesn’t really have a favorite Bucs player to follow.
Picked_Off:
You are correct. The past few days was exactly what Twitter was made for. Same goes for major breaking news items (not sports).
July 29th, 2011 at 1:11 pm
Damn Joe, you inspired me to sign up to Tweeter. Finally. LOL
July 29th, 2011 at 1:19 pm
Joe, How do i get a list of players twitter feeds?
July 29th, 2011 at 1:22 pm
Posey99:
Just type in their names on the search function.
If Joe had a favorite Bucs player to follow, it was probably Stylez White. As Joe stated above, Joe doesn’t really have a favorite player to follow.
July 29th, 2011 at 1:57 pm
Other names you might want to add:
@AdamSchefter — Schefter gets a lot of NFL out there before anyone else does. Must follow for a football fan, IMO.
@realfreemancbs – cbssports.com’s Mike Freeman, who also has a lot of good insight on the NFL. Was a great follow during the lockout.
@FootballPost — National Football Post; good for headlines
July 29th, 2011 at 1:58 pm
Oh, and I love Stylez, but the dude blocked me after I sent him one @ comment stating that I thought both sides (players and owners) were responsible for the lockout equally.
Never said a word to him before. Guess he was having a bad day.
July 29th, 2011 at 1:59 pm
Steve White, rather. Not Stylez. My bad.
July 29th, 2011 at 2:26 pm
@Joe
Anwar is on 1010 and said he’s got to be careful what he says before “JoeBucsFan” is always listening, lol.
July 29th, 2011 at 2:27 pm
“before” = “because”
July 29th, 2011 at 2:29 pm
For those of you who don’t Tweet, you can go to Twackle.com/nfl and follow your team, player, etc.
July 29th, 2011 at 2:37 pm
Thanks Joe!
July 29th, 2011 at 3:50 pm
Thanks Joe. I’ve had Twitter for a while but never used it and didn’t have a very good idea on who to follow.