Twitter trouble: Players told to tweet no more

September 29, 2009

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FILE - In this Aug. 24, 2009 file photo, New York Jets wide receiver David Clowney catches a touchdown pass under pressure from Baltimore Ravens cornerback Frank Walker during the third quarter in a preseason NFL football game in Baltimore. Clowney was benched by an angry coach Rex Ryan for the team's game against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, Sept. 27, 2009, after Clowney complained on Twitter about a lack of playing time. (AP Photo/Gail Burton, File)

(AP) -- @davidclowney Rex is watching. He's not the only one.

New York Jets receiver David Clowney was benched after his Twitter message riled coach Rex Ryan. The Texas Tech team was banned from tweeting after a player criticized the coach. The Miami Heat was told no more messages from the arena.
Not such a sweet tweet Monday for social networking in sports.

It's "a bunch of narcissists that want to sit and type stuff about themselves all the time," Texas Tech coach Mike Leach said. "We'll put mirrors in some of their lockers if that's necessary but they don't have to Twitter."
So, what got him so worked up?

A day after the Red Raiders lost to No. 12 Houston 29-28, Leach was running late to a meeting. According to the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, linebacker Marlon Williams asked on his Twitter account why "the head coach can't even be on time."
Plus, the Texas Tech captain Brandon Carter was suspended indefinitely Sunday for violating team rules. After the loss, he tweeted: "This is not how I saw our season."

Clowney sat out the Jets' 24-17 win over Tennessee on Sunday. His offense? After the Jets beat New England the previous week, he tweeted: "1 play in the 1st Half, 4 plays in the 2nd half ... A bit disappointed about my playing time but very happy and satisfied about the win."

"I was upset with him, yep," Ryan said Monday. "For a couple of reasons. One of them is you'll hear things if a guy's unhappy or whatever. I'm not a big Twitter guy, but you hear different things."

The Heat sent a message to its players: No more tweets from the arena, home or away, practice or gametime.
Star guard Dwyane Wade sounded OK with the edict.

"When you come to work, you come to work," he said. "You can tweet before, you can tweet after. It's not addicting like where I'm going to take a bathroom break, go downstairs and tweet. I think people take it a little too far with that."

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