If you’re a sports fan and not on Twitter, or if you are on Twitter but not using your feed to follow sports, then you’re really missing out. Twitter is huge among athletes, teams, and sports journalists at all levels. According to Navigate Research, a Chicago sports research and marketing company, sports fans are 67 percent more likely to use Twitter as a second-screen viewing experience than non-sports fans.
Twitter’s up to the second unfiltered 140 character feed is tailor made for the fast paced world of sports. It is THE social media platform for in game analysis and up to the second news. And its appeal is not limited to professional and college sports, often it is the ONLY place to get instant scores, highlights and analysis of local high school sports while they happen.
Here are some of the best accounts that need to be in your Twitter feed:
NATIONAL SPORTS ACCOUNTS
ESPN – @espn
How can you write about sports authorities without including ESPN? They have conquered and dominated the sports coverage scene and for good reason. ESPN’s coverage has no limit and their method of display to the avid follower has set the standard. Throughout any day you can rely on ESPN to tweet every 20 minutes or so on a wide range of topics. Whether it’s a video of Steph Curry’s dirty crossover from last night, or a statistical update on Jordan Spieth’s success at the U.S. Open, ESPN will provide consistency and variability to your sports following needs.
Bleacher Report – @BleacherReport
Ranked #2 behind ESPN is impressive itself in the sports world, but Bleacher Report is an impressive online newspaper. B/R is the only other sports source not named ESPN to boast over 2 million followers on Twitter. B/R tweets just as often as ESPN with just as much variety and detail. Constant updates and available, in-depth articles makes Bleacher Report a top sports tweeter. Plus they like to have some fun sometimes…
- NOTE The difference between these two sports titans lies solely from what they provide off of Twitter. ESPN has a host of sports writers with stories about every event and sport, but ESPN limits the availability of these stories to their “insider” members which requires purchase of membership. Bleacher Report allows free membership and brings in stories from other websites/newspapers, but there are ads bordering its stories.
Sportscenter – @SportsCenter
While ESPN is the top account to follow, Sportscenter has its own account that relies solely on tweets with clips or videos of top plays and more updates rather than links to stories. So while ESPN itself provides sports information, Sportscenter should be given a follow as well.
Atlanta Hawks – @ATLHawks
As one of the most socially active professional teams, the Atlanta Hawks are a must follow for any fan of basketball and the NBA, even if the Hawks are not your favorite team. Whether enticing giggles with their creative names based off of their team’s play or picking fights with other accounts, they are bound to keep you up to date with anything and everything NBA (and Hawks). Check out the tweet below and the tweets it replied to for an example of the Hawks antics.
Stephen A. Smith – @stepenasmith
Skip Bayless – @RealSkipBayless
Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless come as a package because they co-host their own show on ESPN, called First Take. Bayless and Smith constantly report their opinions on twitter and they often clash. While the clashing of opinions can get annoying both analysts show different sides to the world of sports. Being highly opinionated and overly biased drops this twitter tag team, they do provide constant information about the world of sports.
Bayless is an avid sports fan who loves his Dallas Cowboys over anyone else. He can get very heated with Stephen Smith or at others who he feels are forming bad opinions. Both Bayless and Smith are excellent reporters of sports. While you may get mad at their opinions or simply ask yourself, “What the heck are they mad about?” You will be updated in all things sports in the U.S. with a couple opinions to contemplate or absorb.
LOCAL AND REGIONAL SPORTS ACCOUNTS
PENN STATE
Onward State – @OnwardState
There honestly might not be a better source for Penn State sports info anywhere than this Twitter account. Onward State is a student run newspaper that covers literally every Penn State sport. Hockey through golf receive the same treatment and even the events on campus are covered by this widespread news outlet. You can expect multiple tweets between quarters of games and even more depending on the sporting events.
PENN STATE & ALTOONA CURVE
Cory Giger – @CoryGiger
Cory Giger is a sportswriter for the Altoona Mirror and hosts a local sports radio talk show weekdays 4-6 pm on ESPN Radio 1430 Altoona/1450 State College. His main focus is Penn State sports and the Altoona Curve but on occasion he covers anything from Pitt to high school sports to things happening on the national scene. Heck, he even covered the Eagle Eye’s protest over the “retirement” of Steamer!
STEELERS
Ed Bouchette –
Bouchette has covered Steelers for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette since 1985. He can also regularly be heard on KDKA radio and TV doing pre and post game interviews. As a Steeler insider, Bouchette often has breaking news and commentary about the Steelers on his twitter account before you hear it anywhere else. A must follow for Steeler fans.
PIRATES
Pat Lackey – @whygavs
During baseball season Pat Lackey is a great follow on Twitter for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Lackey runs and writes his own blog about Pirates baseball called “Where Have You Gone, Andy Van Slyke?” For those who don’t get the unusual name, Lackey started his blog in the darkest days of the Pirate’s 20 year losing streak. Andy Van Slyke was the Pirates star center fielder during the Pirates last playoff runs in the early 1990s. Lackey adds new stories to his blog two to three times a month but is more active during baseball season and on Twitter, where he will often provide an interesting perspective on stats and match ups during and between Pirate games. While there are lots of Pirate Twitter accounts that post much more frequently, none do it with better insight or humor than Lackey.
LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS
Western Pennsylvania Football – @WPAfootball
WPA Football is THE follow for District six football. They update scores and follow athletes from all over the region. If you need a Friday night score or want to know who in the area is being recruited to D1 schools, this is your follow. Moreover, they Eagle Eye has had two interns (Mark Lewis and Adam Zook) have been writing for the WPA website for the past two seasons. If you follow local high school football, get these guys in your feed.
Eric Knopsnyder – @eric_knopsnyder & @KnopsKnotes
Wrestling may not get as much coverage as it should in central PA, but Eric Knopsnyder does a great job of covering it. Knopsnyder does a little bit of both high school and college throughout the area. If you’re a wrestler or a wrestling fan then be sure to give both Knopsnyder’s personal account and his @KnopsKnotes account a follow.
Jaime Baker – @JBaker_WTAJ
The reigning queen of local sports tweeters used to be Ashley Chase (@AshleyChaseTV) from WJAC. However, since Chase became the media director for Robert Morris Hockey, her presence on the local Twitter scene has been greatly diminished.
Fortunately, WTAJ’s Jaime Baker has picked up the slack and claimed the crown as the best local high school sports tweeter. Baker has covered Tyrone sports multiple times this school year including the Backyard Brawl and Tyrone basketball. She is constantly reporting sports scores and funny comments in general across central PA. Baker links to stories or videos about various sports and news stories as well. Baker’s charisma, intellect, and humor makes her a great account to follow. And she does a great job covering the Golden Eagles!
Alex Cawley – @Cawley_WTAJ
While Jamie Baker is usually the one on the scene at Tyrone sports, her colleague Alex Cowley is also a player in the local sports twittersphere. He tweets about high school football, basketball and other sports throughout the school year.
Jeff Reinhart – @JeffReinhart77
Reinhart is the girls basketball beat writer for the Harrisburg based Penn Live network. While his main focus is the center part of the state, his coverage of high school girls basketball is statewide. This season he tweeted about Tyrone, Portage, Bishop McCort and Bellwood as all were ranked among the top girls teams in the state.
BA Blue Print – @BA_BluePrint
Last but not least, we have our friendly student news rivals from down the road. They may be our Backyard Brawl opponent, but they still should be on any Tyrone fan’s shortlist of Twitter follows. Not only is it good to keep up with our arch rivals by following the BluePrint, with the existence of cooperative sports like soccer, tennis and swimming, the Blue Print also does a good job of covering several Tyrone High School sports.
