This Week in the Twitterverse
Seems Legit
I’m sure by now you have all seen Brian’s startling admission from this weekend:
I know, right? But it gets even more disconcerting:
Welcome to the world of Lemme Tweet That For You, a site that allows anyone to spoof a tweet from the the Twitter user of his choice. And as you can tell, it looks pretty convincing. Apparently the site has been around for about a year, but has recently been rediscovered and has become a thing. It can’t send tweets to a user’s followers (in other words, I can’t make Heiko’s love of Twilight appear to his followers as if it came from him), but this could still cause plenty of problems for athletes. You can envision someone saying, “hey, check out this screenshot of this since-deleted tweet." And since people often delete their stupid tweets, it might seem plausible.
Or, for more advanced trolling, you can envision some fan saying to a particularly volatile college athlete, “hey, did you see what this dude tweeted about you?” The athlete then responds in kind, and before long the two are going at it, with each thinking the other started it. It’s basically the plot of The Sum of All Fears (the Tom Clancy novel, not the Ben Affleck movie that is okay as a standalone but completely ignores the entire Jack Ryan back-story).
Now all we need is a particularly volatile college athlete…
O HAI Marshall Henderson
I’m sure by now you’re all familiar with Marshall Henderson. He’s the Ole Miss junior who combines the shooting conscience of Allen Iverson, the people skills of Genghis Khan, and the personal aesthetic of Joe Dirt. He started out the NCAA tournament with a statement of questionable taste.
[after the jump]
That’s what you call a “red flag” when it comes to character analysis. Mike Bruesewitz. Swag. The mind tries to combine these words in some sort of Kevin Bacon-esque six degrees of linguistic separation, but no reasonable bridge can be made between these words.
But then things took a turn for the less cordial, when Kentucky sophomore Ryan Harrow took to Twitter to taunt Henderson. Henderson replied in kind:
Two problems. One, that’s not actually Ryan Harrow. That’s just a random dude pretending to be Ryan Harrow. And two, that’s just a terrible idea. It lacks a certain classiness, and while he may or may not have intended it, telling a black guy to get to the “back of the bus” is… dicey? Yeah, let’s go with dicey. But hey, why wouldn’t we give this kid the benefit of the doubt?
Oh. I see.
The Fort has been Breached. TO THE TREBUCHETS!!!
Spring practice has been going on for a little while now, but as most of you know, spring practice under Brady Hoke consists of 2-minute long practices in which guys hit blocking dummies for one minute, run one inside trap, complete two quick hitches, and some talk about preparation and teamwork.* On Tuesday, though, an interloper invaded Fort Schembechler and returned with fantastic tales of people doing things.
This is obviously encouraging on several fronts. First and foremost, it proves that Ross Douglas and Taco Charlton do exist, and are currently doing football things. It obviously bumps the Taco hype from "medium" to "spicy habanero."** It bumps the Kalis hype from [error: parameters exceeded]. It also matches most of the Brady Hoke Buzzword List: "offensive and defensive lines," "tough," "physical," "smashing," and "competition" all made an appearance. We were missing "hearing football" and "tremendous," but that's what spring ball is for: finding weaknesses and addressing them. You'll get there, Gerry.
It's also really hard not to like how positive DiNardo is overall. He isn't a 'blow sunshine up everyone's tight end' kind of guy; last year he pretty much said during the BTN's fall camp tour that Michigan wasn't a Top-10 team... and they weren't. Having a reasonably non-insane analyst give credence to the theory that to a team is turning the corner is nice, especially when that's the only thing anyone is saying.
The downside, though, and it is the inevitable ridiculous extrapolation. If DiNardo thinks Douglas and Charlton were the most impressive, then what's wrong with Dymonte Thomas and Kyle Bosch? There was no mention of Devin Gardner, so IS HE STILL THERE AND ALIVE AND IS HIS ARM STILL ATTACHED? Is "Michigan could have the two best offensive tackles in B1G" a polite way of saying that the interior line is a pile of grass clippings and copies of the Life section of USA Today?
September: perpetually too damn far away.
* SOURCE: Every MGoBlue practice video ever.
** Seriously, the Taco wordplay is going to be so much fun you guys
Gentlemen, You Can't Fight in Here
This week Brian tweeted his displeasure at the extent of the “we fought the good fight” coverage of the hockey team’s CCHA run at the end of a disappointing season. Children of Yost did not take kindly to this, and it was, as they say, so on.
Obviously this is a serious series of accusations leveled by CoY. We should address these individually for a full adjudication on the merits:
CHARGE: Brian forcequit on hockey coverage midseason.
For the prosecution: For the defense:
Brian DID forcequit on hockey coverage. He authored a piece to that effect in January. Moreover, he pledged that he was "not writing another word about this hockey team." And then he did. So he's a dirty, dirty liar. | Dude, did you SEE this team for the first 70% of the year? It was unwatchable. What was he supposed to write? "Yep, once again Michigan didn't appear to give two craps, and once again they got housed." As a former mod of the MGoBoard, I can attest that some topics just can't be discussed without jabbing Godwin in the groin with a hot poker. |
VERDICT: Guilty, but sentenced to time already served. Brian had to watch every home game of this season, which is punishment enough. Like my mother always told me, if you can't say something nice, stop talking before you start questioning the stances of a bunch of 18- to 22-year-olds vis-a-vis regicide and dolphin-punching.
-----------
CHARGE: Brian took to Twitter to complain rather than to compose his thoughts on MGoBlog.
For the prosecution: For the defense:
Brian has a widely-read and rather popular internet-based weblog thingy, yet he chose to Twitter-bait Michigan hockey fans. | Brian DID share his feelings on his blog (violating his pledge to not write about hockey, and making him a dirty, dirty liar). Just because I own a cornballer doesn’t mean I can’t make myself some hot ham water too, right? And just because Brian has one platform doesn’t mean he can’t use others. |
VERDICT: Not Guilty. Rage-baiting is what the internets are for, forum be damned
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CHARGE: Brian threw a water bottle at a guy at a football game.
For the prosecution: For the defense:
He, uh, did. | Tell me you didn't throw things after the Toledo game. Besides, he missed, so no harm no foul, right? |
VERDICT: Guilty. HE MISSED. Brian spends his life covering football. He has access to a greater wealth of football knowledge than most of us could hope to dream. He missed a middle-aged dude with a water bottle from TWO ROWS AWAY. Two rows at Michigan Stadium is, what, five feet? From a stationary target who was already distracted? Sentenced to attend the Michigan Men's Football Experience and train with the QBs.
As for the substance of the debate... I don't know if there really IS a debate. It seems like everyone agrees that (a) most of the season sucked, (b) CCHA run and general un-suckiness of the last month-plus were encouraging for the future, and (c) the death of The Streak meant that the objective goals of the season weren't met. I mean, we're really down to a debate over whether the season was a "failure" or a "disappointment." MY NEAR-SYNONYMOUS ADJECTIVE IS MORE APT THAN YOURS. LOUD NOISES!
You Know What Time It Is
I don’t know if I should sleep better or fear for the Universe. I’mma go with “probably.”
hear that Jose thinks it is okay, and I also think that Ace actually likes Nickelback!
Great work once again
March 28th, 2013 at 10:26 AM ^
I will not hesitate to ban you for such slander, nmumike.
March 28th, 2013 at 10:47 AM ^
Much like the ball, tweets don't lie. Even if they are fake.
March 28th, 2013 at 10:58 AM ^
You've got some explaining to do yourself, BiSB:
Your talents are better used for tweeting, general chaos induction, and hilarity. I've made this connection earlier, but I think it stands--
BiSB : mgoblog : : Caity Weaver : Gawker
BiSB: FULL ALERT. You have been infiltrated.
Immediate lockdown is required, YOU MUST PROTECT YOUR HOUSE.
My wife is a Sparty, and she dressed him like this today. It was either this or risk having her do this TOMORROW.
Random Thursday Sparty offspring >> Sweet 16 game day Sparty offspring
March 28th, 2013 at 10:06 AM ^
Nonetheless, one can't be too sure: move all matches, lighter fluid, and incideniary devices to a 3-feet height for today (unless you have an ikea couch, in which case burn that ish to the ground). Best be safe and prohibit him from playing with his wooden block set, lest the Sparty in him discovers the value of friction.
In all honesty, cute kid; he has your golden color, but somehow your wet black nose skipped a generation.
March 28th, 2013 at 10:27 AM ^
appears terrified by what has been placed upon him. God save this child.
MgoShirt idea!!!
IT WAS CRAZY Mgoshirts
WE HAD SUBS
IT WAS CRAZY
WE SHARPENED PENCILS
IT WAS CRAZY
WE ATE LOBSTER
IT WAS CRAZY
WE WENT TO MEIJER
IT WAS CRAZY
WE WATCHED TV
IT WAS CRAZY
WE TOOK A NAP
IT WAS CRAZY
I thought cornballers were only legal in Mexico?
March 28th, 2013 at 12:32 PM ^
How did Maggie Lizer have one then? HUH!?!?
...settles it. Everyone hug it out and prepare for board meltdown of one sort or another Fri night. Hoping for the Muppet variety vice the kittens and otters sort.
March 28th, 2013 at 10:03 AM ^
"Lighter than you thought"? How light did you actually think the higgs bosun was?
March 28th, 2013 at 11:09 AM ^
At least like 190 GeV.
March 28th, 2013 at 10:03 AM ^
did Brusewitz disguise himself as the most swag dude in the ncaa so that he could proclaim that Brusewitz (himself, remember) had swag, thus gaining swag?
take that, canseco!
March 28th, 2013 at 10:13 AM ^
Is very interested in this Cornballer you speak of...
March 28th, 2013 at 12:44 PM ^
WTF is a cornballer?
March 28th, 2013 at 12:47 PM ^
From Urban Dictionary: A dangerous machine invented and marketed by George Bluth Sr. on the hit show Arrested Development.
March 28th, 2013 at 10:20 AM ^
(For those interested, here's the video Jose linked:)
March 28th, 2013 at 10:40 AM ^
March 28th, 2013 at 10:42 AM ^
Brian couldnt hit the broad side of a library with a throw
2-rows-away-guy was never in any danger, your honor, unless of course Brian threw directly at the ground.
Oh yeah... wanna bet on it?
March 28th, 2013 at 10:42 AM ^
Once again an entertaining and informing post. I never knew Brian actually threw something at a guy in the Big House. Interesting. And I just tried to create a fake tweet for you but it didn't work for some reason. Bummer!
...they have so much to learn.
March 28th, 2013 at 10:54 AM ^
Every JCB pick I make on twitter that losses, I'll blame on somebody fake tweeting.
March 28th, 2013 at 10:57 AM ^
I don't know what this is and am more than a little afraid of googling it at work....
March 28th, 2013 at 12:11 PM ^
March 28th, 2013 at 10:57 AM ^
Always enjoy Twitterverse posts, but particularly apt ths week re: Marshall Henderson:
combines the shooting conscience of Allen Iverson, the people skills of Genghis Khan, and the personal aesthetic of Joe Dirt
That sir, is brilliance in description.
March 28th, 2013 at 10:58 AM ^
Seriously, now, who writes this stuff for Canseco? The tweets seem tongue-in-cheek, and I can't imagine he is that clever. Or maybe he is just totally insane and heard the term Higgs Bosun somewhere and just started to tweet stuff about it. I was at the game when a fly ball hit him on top of his head and bounced over the fence for a HR. I suspect it all goes back to that. And the 'roids, of course.
March 28th, 2013 at 12:21 PM ^
but it could also be that the guy has the personality of a door knob.
March 28th, 2013 at 11:05 AM ^
M. Henderson is the exact type of player I freaking hate, punk ass. I am typically a nice guy but I really wish he would get slapped in the face then pushed in some mud or something, then someone stand over him and say "oh...nice 21 pts against La Salle, oh thats right it took you 21 shots to get 21 points...doosh" then just walk away
Or something like that
March 28th, 2013 at 11:07 AM ^
Trebuchets would be more useful in the execution of a siege not the defense against one. They would serve no purpose once the walls were breached.
Just sayin.
March 28th, 2013 at 11:23 AM ^
I thought the same thing when I read that. I wasn't going to admit it, but since you've got the balls to point it out I have the balls to plus one you and then post redundantly about it.
March 28th, 2013 at 11:28 AM ^
But there are too few opportunities in life to make a good trebuchet reference.
March 28th, 2013 at 11:34 AM ^
While this may be true, you can't just trebuchet them into conversation all willy nilly. Irresponsible trebucheting is worse than no trebucheting at all.
/trebuchet
March 28th, 2013 at 11:08 AM ^
A patriot, a gentleman, a sportsman, a sociologist, phychologist, physicist, medical doctor, expert in biomechanics, nutritionist, lawyer, historian, and important member of the commentariat. The wealth of insight and the raw inspiration he inspires in only 140 characters is both remarkable and valuable for our culture.
March 28th, 2013 at 11:39 AM ^
March 28th, 2013 at 11:25 AM ^
"** Seriously, the Taco wordplay is going to be so much fun you guys"
^^Yepp
March 28th, 2013 at 11:35 AM ^
I wrote and erased an extra four paragraphs from the diary entry I posted about the hockey season this week that boiled down to precisely this:
MY NEAR-SYNONYMOUS ADJECTIVE IS MORE APT THAN YOURS. LOUD NOISES!
Well said, BiSB.
March 28th, 2013 at 11:45 AM ^
Nice job bringing Tommy Wiseau's film "The Room" to mgoblog.
It's about time. Genius.
March 28th, 2013 at 11:48 AM ^
March 28th, 2013 at 11:56 AM ^
this is rounding into a really good column.
March 28th, 2013 at 12:01 PM ^
Jose Canseco talking about "Higgs Bosun"
From the same man who brought us this:
Gravity had to be weaker to make dinosaurs nimble
— Jose Canseco (@JoseCanseco) February 19, 2013
March 28th, 2013 at 12:05 PM ^
Is there a way to add an -E-R at the end of the title of "This Week In The Twitterverse" just to make an amazing acronym? TWITT-Especiallyjosecanseco Rants
Creative juices- Spent.
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