Twitter is a disaster for NCAA sports

Free speech isn?t absolute. Actually, it?s anything but "free."

There remains this misguided notion that the Constitution somehow guarantees no consequences when our words are disruptive, hurtful or reckless.

Twitter has become a needless headache for college football coaches. It?s challenging enough for them to monitor 100-plus players at 11 p.m., but now they also must worry about what incendiary missives players might send into unfiltered hyperspace.

Michigan and Michigan State should ban all football-related tweets from players - and strongly consider banning all tweets. Many tweets serve no purpose but to inflame or potentially embarrass. And if a player objects on the grounds of personal rights, he should be reminded that the opportunity to represent a quality institution is a privilege - one that could be revoked.

Urban Meyer has restricted Twitter usage among his Ohio State players to non-football topics. It?s the proper tack, considering that some players either don?t realize or don?t care that Twitter is accessible to all.

College coaches and administrators don?t like prying eyes. They insist upon control. And control often demands privacy.

Had Michigan receiver Roy Roundtree called to congratulate high school recruit Mike McCray for verbally committing to the Wolverines, nobody would?ve found out. But because Roundtree and linebacker Kenny Demens tweeted their congratulations, Michigan probably will be hit with a secondary NCAA violation for inappropriate contact with a recruit.

Michigan confirmed Wednesday that the school?s compliance office was notified of the players? tweets and will investigate accordingly. NCAA rules prohibit social-media messages to recruits through accounts affiliated with the institution.

Secondary violations occur frequently at every - repeat, every - institution. They aren?t a big deal. The NCAA defines them as "an isolated or inadvertent (action) that provides, or intends to provide, only a minimal recruiting, competitive or other advantages."

Now, how offering congratulations translates into some form of subterfuge is beyond me. But I?ll cut the customarily insipid NCAA enforcement police a little slack this time, if only because it?s still figuring out how to best handle Twitter?s increasing role in pretty much every aspect of college athletics.

Brady Hoke reportedly backed off of recruiting New Jersey defensive back Yuri Wright this winter after Wright authored some misogynistic and homophobic tweets. His high school expelled him. It would have been bad public relations pursuing him further. In the aftermath of the Wright controversy, a website called Chat Sports looked at the Twitter accounts of recruits from several high-profile football programs, including Michigan.

Let?s just say that the tweets I read from some Michigan recruits, as well as many more from other schools, were as disgustingly tasteless as anything Wright wrote.

Twitter is in-your-face, but is that really the face that coaches want the public seeing?

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bostonherald/sports/~3/ZUHstjBZ8Lg/view.bg

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