This Week in the Twitterverse Comment Count

BiSB

We’re back from last week’s foray into the Pit of Despair. Unfortunately for you, I’m on vacation next week, so you’ll get Round Two of the search for the height of ennui. And I think it will be harder to stomach than the first bunch. Armanti Edwards will feature prominently, as will Rich Rodriguez. Just remember: this will hurt me more than it will hurt you. In the meantime, as usual if you come across any social media happenings worth noting, send them to @Bry_Mac.

Michigan rules the Twitterverse

A Michigan Man remains connected to his community. Very connected.

MichiganFootball

(via Business Insider)

Michigan football (@umichfootball) is the most followed official team account in college athletics. Michigan basketball (@umichbball) is the fifth most followed official team account in college athletics. Between the two accounts, they have, uh… math… a lot of followers. Like thousands. So bravo to Michigan’s digital media folks. I award you one (1) Internet.  Michigan State’s football and basketball accounts are next in the B1G at #13 and #15, respectively. I guess the rest of the conference really needs to get its crap together. /Urban’d

Reporters suspect college student may have gotten drunk and slept in one time

Johnny Manziel was in the news this week when he was reportedly sent home from the Many Manning Men Passing Camp for showing up late and hung over. The whole topic has been done to death, so I don't really want to talk about it, but there is one reaction worth noting. Mark May has had enough of Johnny Football's disgraceful actions, and isn't afraid to say so.

You may think "SHAME TO THE GAME" is a little harsh, but you've gotta respect a guy who won't tolerate people disregarding the social norms while purporting to represent the greater football community...

...anymore.

May1979MayDUI

(H/T to A&M’s SB Nation site, Good Bull Hunting, on the find)

In case you missed the fun part of that, May was charged during his college days with, among other things, "inciting to riot" and "terroristic threats." He apparently went on a Will Campbell hood-destroying escapade, except that BWC's shenanigans were cheeky and fun while May's shenanigans were, to use a technical legal term, "light terrorism." Some people (read: all people) might think this makes Mark May look like a gigantic hypocrite when he gets all huffy when a college student shows up to something hung over. But May responded, pointing out that (a) only people who have DONE bad things can CRITIQUE bad things, and (b) f*** your punctuation and logic.

Hard to disagree with that kind of logic, because by the time you find the logic, it’s next Tuesday and we’ve moved on to other things. It's worth noting that he hasn't tweeted a single thing about Aaron Hernandez or Jeremy Hill, and I haven't seen him comment publicly about them. Murder* and battery** don't bring shame to the game. That distinction falls to being a self-indulgent, self-important immature prima donna and/or typical college student (again, not a debate worth having AGAIN), because lord knows football can't survive with one of THOSE in its ranks.

*Allegedly.

**Not allegedly. He did that. That's assault, brotha (but not really, but there's no applicable Adam Sandler quote for battery so we'll just pretend).

[A jump, after which either sharks or Bacari Alexander will fall out of the sky.]

HALOL again

After a haitus of several months, one of the Athletic Department’s most prolific  tweeters rejoined the ranks last week.

His stuff ranges from the informative

To the corny

To the… the this.

Welcome back, coach.

ESPNado

Some of you missed the SyFy made-for-TV movie Sharknado last week [ED: Per the comments below, it was apparently actually made for distrubution, which, yikes], I can’t really explain it. It was a terrible movie, but it garnered a huge buzz on Twitter. Like a geeky awkward guy trying to join a dance-off, ESPN tried to get in on the action. It backfired.

Sharknado

Stop trying to be at the cool table, ESPN. You’re The Man now.

In somewhat related news, Awful Announcing did an interesting piece on the disconnect between social media and society at large. They point out that while Sharknado was huge on Twitter, its ratings were actually pretty mediocre, even for a SyFy movie. The gist:

The truth is that as popular as the service is, Twitter represents a small portion of the actual population.  The United States had an estimated 22.9 million active users as of last year.  That's a mere 7.3% of the population that's active and engaged on Twitter.  So while trending topics may be all the rage and so many television shows and sporting events look to incorporate Twitter into their broadcasts, keep in mind only a small section of the population is actually using the thing.  For all the people tweeting about the awesome wonder of the Sharknado, there were another 7 people that were already watching The Big Bang Theory - they just weren't tweeting about it.

They point out that Twitter is heavily dominated by the coveted “18-29 year old urbanite” demographic, so commercial interests might give more Twitter more sway than a typical 7.3% swath of the country. I also think you can’t forget about the externalities of events like this; the first run ratings might have been poor, but I’d bet this kind of buzz might earn them more eyeballs than usual on subsequent viewings. All things considered, social media isn’t a bunch of dorks in their parents’ basements, and it isn’t a perfect representative sample of American life. This should not be shocking news to anyone.

Save the Endangered Tigers

Missouri football had a tough year last year, and Mizzou football coach Gary Pinkel is under some pressure.That'll happen when your team goes 2-6 in the SEC East, which, for those of you who don't know, is the decidedly less Alabama-y division of the SEC. So, fair or not, he's on the proverbial "hot seat" (maybe they're getting this SEC thing down afterall). But before anyone could create the coaching version of the Presidential Exploratory Committee (i.e. the "Fire Gary Pinkel" website), Pinkel beat them to the punch by creating www.garypinkel.com, presumably because www.PleaseDontFireGaryPinkelHeSeemsLikeADecentDude.com was taken. They just posted some stuff from SEC media days, but for a while the only thing on a site was a video featuring a rousing endorsement from a former player, two ESPN anchors, a BTN anchor, and post-vision-quest Don Draper.

Hamm

I’ve seen some things, man. But yeah, Jerry Pinkett is great.

If nothing else, watch at 0:33 where Linda Cohn gives the kind of strong endorsement you'd hear for the neighbor kid who mows your lawn every week and does an okay job:

I think stabilty in coaching is very important. And there are so many, from year to year... there is forward progress. And the development of players is taking place at Mizzou. So I think... it's always easy as a fan - and that's why they call us fans, you know -  to think it's, the grass is always greener somewhere else, that we should bring in this guy, and this program has this guy, and we get kind of full of ourselves thinking we're all that. There's something to be said for a stable force. And I think he's doing a fine job. Like I said, he's developing players and you guys are competitive.

Somewhere Kirk Ferentz is having this made into a motivational poster for Iowa's football facilities.

Ferentz

 

Marshall Henderson vs. Erin Andrews

There was a little disagreement between Erin Andrews and Marshall Henderson Twitter this week, which...

Erin Andrews

Wait... disembodied voice? What are you doing here? We haven't heard from you for months. And this isn't even your feature.

Don't care. Had to weigh in. Erin Andrews

But you haven't even heard the...

ERIN ANDREWS.

Yeah, well, for everyone else's sake, here's the story. Marshall Henderson was suspended indefinitely from Ole Miss. This was met by college basketball fans with emotions ranging from self-satisfied glee to... nope, that was pretty much it. Erin Andrews, a well-known Gator fan, tweeted her satisfaction at the karmic turn of events, and Henderson responded.

AndrewsHenderson

His response feels a little like Doctor Claw promising to get Inspector Gadget next time. Sounds menacing, but you know it won't actually happen. So…

Can we please just declare "Erin Andrews" and move on?

But Marshall Henderson made Bo Ryan sad. Surely that's worth something.

That's it. I'm outta here. I'll be waiting in the Central Michigan UFR. Brian gets me.

/All by myself…

 

Your weekly Roy Manning

Hey, Smokey... if you see Jon Hamm, let us know. We're getting a little concerned.

Comments

GoBlueInNYC

July 18th, 2013 at 7:47 AM ^

Not to be "that guy" (aw hell, let's face it, it's the internet, we all love to be "that guy"), but Sharknado was not made-for-TV. It was produced by knock-off factory The Asylum (i.e., home to such films as Transmorphers and the forthcoming Atlantic Rim), and sold at Sundance*, of all places.

*Note: It sold at the Sundance marketplace; it was not in competition.

olivia222

July 22nd, 2013 at 6:17 PM ^

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Tater

July 18th, 2013 at 10:49 AM ^

Sharknado didn't get ratings because it didn't look interesting to anyone beforehand.  However, those who watched it blew up social media.  That is why tonight's ratings will be a lot higher than the original ones were.  

I thought the movie was terrible, but it was gloriously terrible, and entertaining from the first minute to the end.  I heartily recommend tonight's replay to anyone who hasn't already downloaded it from one of the pirate sites.  

Sometimes, "bad" movies can be the most fun to watch.  No matter how bad the premise, how insipid the plot, and how ludicrous the special effects were, I felt compelled to continue watching, once I turned it on. 

GoBlueInNYC

July 18th, 2013 at 11:58 AM ^

"Made-for-TV" makes is sound like it was made by the SyFy channel, which it wasn't. SyFy channel, much like Lifetime, does produce its own movies. Both channels tend to show two kinds of movies: those that were produced by the channel itself and those that were cheaply made by others for direct-to-video sales and picked up by channel for distribution.

It is a fine but noticeable difference to the discerning eye. You can tell it's direct-to-video when there are obviously boobs being edited out.

M-Wolverine

July 18th, 2013 at 12:17 PM ^

By in-house production companies. (Heck, regular tv shows are made by other studios, and sometimes switch tv networks). So made for tv hardly has to infer that it was made by that network. Though it is commonplace. If it was stated in the sense that it was made to go straight to tv, whoever they shopped it to (and it's readily apparent that have a tradition of dealing with SyFy) and not made for theaters like a traditional movie, it's made for tv. Now maybe more accurately made for DVD, but with this style of movie they're producing they have a pretty good idea that it's going to end up on SyFy.  It's not like they're expecting it to get picked up by HBO or the Hallmark channel.

(Though I wonder about letting it air on tv for free first because, even if you don't get the boobs and curses.  Because really, if you're buying this DVD for boobs, you have issues).

GoBlueInNYC

July 18th, 2013 at 12:48 PM ^

The Asylum, in particular, has an interesting and notorious business model. They plan revolves around essentially tricking people (on top of your usual outlets, such as DVD sales and selling to cable channels). They name their movies and design their covers to try and get people to accidentally purchase their movies in stores on via PPR services. Basically, you're checking your VOD/PPR service, type in "TRANS-" and see Transmorphers pop up, which you select without thinking. By the time you realize what you've purchased, it's too late. You've been charged and they get their money. Or your typical grandmother is buying her granddaughter that High School Musical that all the kids love, sees Sunday School Musical at her local Walmart and buys that, not knowing the difference.

But broadly speaking, if SyFy or Lifetime is producing a movie for their own channel, it will conform to the standards and practices of their channel (e.g., no boobs, limited swearing, etc). If an independent production company is cranking out cheap movies, they'll load it up with boobs and swearing to help with rentals and DVDs sales, which can later be edited out for sale to cable channels. Basically, why would a cheap production company not stick a bunch of nudity, swearing, and violence into their movies, when that stuff can be edited out later for cable distribution but is probably the only stuff that would get someone to actually buy the DVD?

Don

July 18th, 2013 at 12:52 PM ^

of Spielberg's War of the Worlds, which was released that same year.

In 2010, Blockbuster declared bankruptcy. Maybe the internet and Netflix were going to kill the big rental houses regardless, but when you spend that amount of cash on absolute crap that even 12-year olds are going to make fun of, you're only hastening your own oblivion.

MGoManBall

July 18th, 2013 at 8:24 AM ^

It makes me giggle inside knowing Mark May is an alledged terrorist. From now on, when he's on ESPN, I'll imagine him having 50 pounds of TNT strapped to his podgy torso.

 

M-Wolverine

July 18th, 2013 at 9:43 AM ^

I've been dreading all morning the inevitable agony of the oncoming Pit of Despair post, and now it's delayed a week? I have to go through all these emotions again?!? WWhhhhhaaaaaaaa!!!

BTW, I think WTKA basically ripped off your Pit topic with a "what Michigan game would you most like to change the outcome of" this morning. (Or more accurately, whoever posted the idea on the Scout message board stole the idea from you and they took it from him while attributing it.)

jmdblue

July 18th, 2013 at 11:29 AM ^

often intolerable blowhard?  Sure.  Does he also dismiss Coach Lou like a tiny scabbed over pimple on his ass?  YES!  He gets a pass from me.

snoopblue

July 18th, 2013 at 11:16 AM ^

I won't give the Michigan AD internet media folks credit for the massive Twitter following, if they were really responsible for it there would be a $5 "donation" to follow. It's the loyalty and devotion of the fans. It's the tradition of Michigan and the effect being in Michigan Stadium with 110,000 others leaves. 

Wisconsin Wolverine

July 18th, 2013 at 11:24 AM ^

To be fair to Mark May, discrediting his opinion based on his failure to previously behave in accordance with his own stated position is a logical fallacy towards hypocracy.  Just because he was formerly a terrorist doesn't mean his views on Johnny Football are immediately dismissable.  Instead, we should dismiss Mark May on account of his views being stupid in and of themselves, which they totally are.

Njia

July 18th, 2013 at 11:59 AM ^

Like "ha-ha" funny or "the milk smells" funny? Either way, I find it totally logical, cause she's HAWT.

And Mark May is more than just your run-of-the-mill douche, although being an accused terrorist, I'm sure there is absolutely no truth to the rumor that he also killed 5 hookers, since he's never even lived in Texas.

BOOM. Craig'd

BiSB

July 18th, 2013 at 11:47 AM ^

It would be a fallacy if used to diminish the validity of his argument; in other words, it'd be a fallacy if I said, "Mark May is wrong about Johnny Football because May did the same stuff" (though again, I think "SHAME TO THE GAME" is a little strong). It ISN'T a fallacy if it's used to point out the ridiculousness of the speaker in question raising said point.

To wit: a pot calls a kettle black. It doesn't mean the kettle isn't black. It means the pot needs to shut its pot-hole.

Wisconsin Wolverine

July 18th, 2013 at 11:51 AM ^

I'd agree with that 100%.  It's pretty silly for him to even be chirping up.  In the words of the Dude (directed towards Mark May), "You're not wrong, you're just an asshole!"



... except Mark May might also be wrong.

Profwoot

July 18th, 2013 at 12:52 PM ^

Good point. There is something to be said, however, for encouraging good behavior in a vaccuum. A parent might want to try to keep his or her kids off drugs, even having previously used drugs themselves.

But yeah, Mark May lacks any special position (or insight), so this is a case where me might have recruited someone else to say it.

EGD

July 18th, 2013 at 11:30 AM ^

You know, I really have to agree with Mark May on this one.  I mean, if you go to all the effort to get drunk and get yourself kicked out of a QB camp, you gotta bring something stronger than just the old "I overslept cuz hangover bro" saw.  At least do something that entails some mug shots and property damage.  Look at May: he could have quit when the cops found him stomping on cars and shouting drunken threats.  But did he stop there?  Hells no.  

I realize it's a different ballgame today, what with the internet and criminal background checks and whatnot. But I don't think what Manziel did is punishable by confinement even in Texas. That's weak, no matter what day or age.

RebelWolverines

July 18th, 2013 at 11:59 AM ^

was the kind of guy who, once forcefully attached to your university, you have to try to like and regard with such comments as "as least he's on our side."  I could never really get on the Henderson boat save that moment he disrespected all those Auburn fans, that was great.

zachary_carson

July 18th, 2013 at 12:49 PM ^

Can just continue to be part of the scripted empire that is ESPN.  Let's all continue to read and pay attention to actual news.  JM may have done this and done that, but so be the fact that he is only a child (he is only 20 though, keep that in mind Mr. Hungover). 

Mark May...

What Is a Gooseberry?

PB-J Time

July 18th, 2013 at 1:39 PM ^

Am I the only one who tried the link for Gary Pinkel...and not the short one?

I'm genuinely thinking of creating this website...It'll be fun for when he's fired at the end of the year

gmoney41

July 18th, 2013 at 1:43 PM ^

Every time I see anything on the Scyfy channel, I always see Lou Diamond Phillips on the screen, am I right to assume tat he is in this "movie".  If so, I am there!!!

jsquigg

July 18th, 2013 at 4:39 PM ^

So you're saying the Sparties follow football MORE than basketball?  Kinda debunks the whole "we care more about basketball" argument, doesn't it?

WolverBean

July 18th, 2013 at 4:51 PM ^

except that BWC's shenanigans were cheeky and fun while May's shenanigans were, to use a technical legal term, "light terrorism." 

Did you just combine a Supertroopers reference, a Michigan football reference, and an Arrested Development reference in a single sentence, all while making fun of Mark May? I believe you may have just achieved nirvana.

#InsertAmazedBacariAlexanderMadeUpHashtagHere