Tweeters, twitterers or twits

In the course of researching sports and Twitter, I’ve started following about 75 athletes, coaches, owners and leagues on Twitter. My cellphone is constantly beeping as new updates come in from Lance Armstrong, Shaquille O’Neal, Steve Nash, Andy Roddick, Nastia Liukin, Shawn Johnson, Barry Zito, Mark Cuban, Pete Carroll. I could go on and on, but I won’t. In fact, now that the story is finished, I’m banishing some from my list. It’s just too hard and you become an object of derision when you are at dinner with friends and stop just as the soft-shelled crab has arrived and yell, “Lance Armstrong just tweeted with a picture of his broken collarbone!” Dinnermates? Not impressed. But here are five I will continue to follow and five, maybe not so much.

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ON THE MUST-FOLLOW LIST:

Lance Armstrong: He’s calculating and news-imparting. If Armstrong’s teammate wins a race, he’ll tweet. If doping control arrives at his rented house for the 24th time, he’ll tweet.

Steve Nash: He tells you interesting stuff. His favorite sports books? “Fever Pitch,” “Into Thin Air,” “A Season on the Brink,” “Four Iron to the Soul,” “My Losing Season.” I haven’t read two of them. I will now.

Kevin Love: He can’t help himself. He has no filter. This after he appeared on Jim Rome’s show. “Bout to Jim Everett Rome if he calls me ‘Stan’ one more time..table is gonna be flipped and he’s fallin over his (darn) chair.” Makes you laugh, promotes his media appearances. Excellent double usage.

Andy Roddick: Talks on his twitters the way he does in person, with a smart-guy edge. For example today: “was too lazy to drive . . . just brewed a mug at home.”

Dara Torres: Swimmer/mom/author and reluctant tweeter is a hoot. “In Atlanta! Being interviewed by TJ Holmes (hot hunk) at 12:30 to air on Sat morning CNN. Need food rt now!” Love ladies who call a hunk a hunk and will publicly ask for food.

ON THE DELETE NOW LIST:

Nastia Liukin: Sweet girl, faithful Twitterer but too many “Up early, gonna be a great day” posts. No, they all aren’t.

Pete Carroll: Enough already with the song of the day. “Imagine” by John Lennon? We’ve all heard it.

Serena Williams: If she’s writing her posts, well, she can’t be. Almost all promos such as: “Hey Guys! So, I am currently having my make-up & hair prepared for the Live Launch of my Signature Statement tonight at 10pmEst.” Thanks, PR person.

Jose Canseco: Sharing this: “Please contact my agent Bernie Gernay at PSI Marketing Group for appearances, advertising, promotions, TV, etc.” That’s no better than the guys who stick fliers under your windshield that get tossed to the ground as trash.

UNDECIDED ON :

Shaquille O’Neal: I understand about half his tweets. But then, that’s kind of like talking to Shaq in person. About half of what he says makes sense.

-- Diane Pucin