U.S. Open and NFL: anti-Twitter?

With the U.S. Open beginning this past Monday and the NFL regular season just around the corner, both tennis and football have taken steps in the "anti-social website" direction. So, you won't be getting tweets from Andy Roddick (an outspoken "member" of the anti-Twitter policy). Chad Ochocinco and T.O. won't be tweeting either, at least for awhile, on gameday.

In New York, site of the U.S. Open, the International Tennis Foundation (ITF) instructed players to not tweet anything that could be deemed as "sensative material". That material could be about themselves, an opponent, even weather conditions. This rule does not only apply to players, but it also applies to their coaches, agent, families and anyone associated with the tournament.

The ITF's official stance is as follows:

"Tennis's governing bodies felt that it was appropriate to issue these guidelines as a precaution in light of the increased use of the various social networking sites by players," Jeff Rees, director of the ITF's Tennis Integrity Unit.

Roddick posted on his Twitter account his take on the ruling:

"i think its lame the US Open is trying to regulate our tweeting.. i understand the on-court issue but not sure they can tell us if we cant do it on our own time.... we'll see"

"i definitely respect the rule about inside info and on court, but u would seriously have to be a moron to send "inside info" through a tweet ... not very subtle/smart ..... come on"

Roddick makes excellent points in showing his displeasure. Who would give that "inside info"? Anyone wanting to make an extra buck, that's who. And that's unfortunate. But that's exactly why the rule is in place.

The NFL has taken a stricter approach to social websites and their use before, during, and after games. On gameday, coaches, team personnel, anyone "representing" a player, and media must cease using any social networking site (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) 90 minutes prior to gametime. Those same individuals will not be able to resume using those same sites until after all postgame activities are deemed finished.

The rule is intended to enforce a long standing policy of "prohibiting play-by-play description" of games in progress. In addition, there could be a fear that reporting such activity might be constituted as gaining an advantage over another player and/or team.


Why the harsh rules? It is possible that the NFL is using Chad Ochocinco as the poster boy of the rule. Ochocinco publicly stated (on a chat via Ustream) that he would tweet during a game which could challange the enforcement of the new rule. The league will no doubt monitor player accounts for any activity. But what if a player were to create a dummy account? How would the league know beyond a doubt that any player is associated with it? I'm sure that will be tested as well.

It's a shame that we won't be able to catch a glimpse of what athletes are thinking during play, but I can understand why the ITF and NFL have instituted such policies.

But no tweets from Chad Ochocinco? Child, please.