Fang's Bites

People You Should Follow On Twitter, Part 9 & The Last One

Ok, this is the final installment of this mini-series that took much longer than I thought. I began this on July 17 and with a few stops and starts, finally finishing this in August. You’ve had quite a few categories, sports media, sports business, sports TV PR, MLB, NFL, NHL, Tennis, college basketball, college football, and Olympics. You can check out my previous installments here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

Today, I’m calling this the Best of the Rest. I’ll provide some of my favorite tweeps in sports and those outside of sports. This will be rather long, but I want to finish and get on to other projects I have planned for the blog. I hope you find this useful.

BEST OF THE REST — SPORTS

ESPNBook — This is the official Twitter account of the co-author of the book “Those Guys Have All The Fun: Inside the World of ESPN”, James Arthur Miller. When the book was coming out, Jim was tweeting very good information and as he prepares for the paperback edition, he’s still churning out good stuff. And he engages with tweeps who ask questions about ESPN. This has 9,923 followers.

kevinspaul — Kevin Paul is a freelance writer having written for FoxSports.com. He currently maintains the site, The Wife Hates Sports which is devoted to all sports and to guys whose wives control the TV remote. Kevin is a funny guy and a person who will tweet about anything. Follow him, ok? Kevin has 980 followers.

SBJSBD –The official account of the sports industry magazines Sports Business Journal and Sports Business Daily, this provides links to articles that are published in both publications. Some articles are behind paywalls as both are subscription-based, however, there are times when articles are opened to the public and if you follow sports media, sports business, sports arenas and stadiums, agents or other industry news, then this is for you. It’s one of the most influential sports industry publications. This has 20,636 followers.

JimmyTraina — The editor of SI.com’s Hot Clicks page, Jimmy Traina is like The Godfather of the Internet. Treat him nicely and you can get your blog or site linked in Hot Clicks and get increased traffic for days. Or you can anger him and not get linked to at all. A link in Hot Clicks can increase pageviews tenfold or even twentyfold. I’ve had the pleasure to be mentioned several times in Hot Clicks. While Jimmy is a Yankees fan, I can overlook that. He has some good observations in his Twitter account. He has 19,007 tweeps.

BobsBlitz — This represents Bob’s Blitz, a site that is a mix of sports, pop culture, videos and anything Bob wants to publish. Bob constantly posts videos from New York sports radio station, WFAN and keeps up with the station 24/7. I don’t know where Bob gets the pictures of hot chicks on his site, but I’m not complaining. It’s a very good blog and do yourself a favor and follow Bob. Be part of the 2,060 and more who follow him.

blogswithballs — This is for Blogs with Balls, an event for sports bloggers that has been held three times since 2009. The 4th incarnation will be held this fall. I follow this for news, projects and general tweets regarding BwB. This is a very good account to follow. Blogs with Balls has 2,312 followers.

asportsscribe — Jason Clinkscales was one of my first friends on Twitter. He maintains A Sports Scribe, a general sports blog and he also co-hosts The Exchange on Blog Talk Radio with Sumit Dasgupta. Jason’s claim to fame was being misidentified by Tom Jackson as a student at Eli Manning’s press conference on C’mon, Man on ESPN. C’mon, Man! Anyway, Jason is a very good writer and provides excellent observations on his Twitter account. And listen to The Exchange every Tuesday night at 9 Eastern time. Jason has 654 followers. Do your part to increase that.

kathleenhessert — Kathleen Hessert is the CEO of Sports Media Challenge and Buzz Manager. Kathleen helps her clients understand the power of the media and social media. She steered Shaquille O’Neal to Twitter to take control of several fake Shaq accounts and he has been an extreme Power Tweeter ever since. I had the pleasure to hear Ms. Hessert speak at Blogs with Balls 1.0 in 2009 and have followed her account ever since. If you’re looking to get into social media management, Kathleeen is a must follow. She has 7,295 followers for good reason.

katrinakaye — This is the account of Katrina Younce, a founder of Pro Sports Communications, a sports public relations firm, and one of the authors of the Pro Sports Communications blog. Katrina’s account has plenty of links to the blog and other sites in regards to sports media, sports PR and sports social media. Katrina and her firm’s partners are always updating the blog writing articles and giving advice to readers. Katrina has 2,022 followers.

SportsTVjobs — A former sports TV insider, Brian Clapp maintains the site, Sports TV Jobs, which provides advice from professionals on how to get a job in sports television. Brian also blogs at his site and interviews current TV insiders on the state of the profession today. His Twitter account has good observations as well. This has 693 followers.

StacyCason –Stacy is a Production Assistant at Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic and a Digital Media Producer at CSN’s two websites, CSNBaltimore and CSNWashington. She’ll post links to videos on both sites and preview what’s coming up on CSN Mid-Atlantic. If you live in the Baltimore-Washington area, then follow Stacy to see what’s going on. And she also provides some personal observations too. Give Stacy a follow. She’s at 343 followers.

ttiana — The very sexy Ttiana is part of ESPN’s NASCAR technical crew. She provides pictures and insights on each ESPN NASCAR stop whether it be during the Nationwide Series or the Sprint Cup Series. The things I love about Ttiana’s account is that she’ll talk about traveling to each NASCAR destination, engage her followers and give some behind the scenes information on the ESPN telecast. One of the nicer people on Twitter, she’s also not afraid to mix it up if someone pisses her off. I’m surprised she has 1,404 followers because that number should be much higher.

texas_gal — A transplanted Texan now living in Boston, Texy as she’s known on Twitter is a huge Red Sox and Bruins fan. She knows her sports and is a very quick study. She’s been all over the country attending baseball and hockey games. Texy has been a regular at both Fenway Park and TD Garden. And she’s well-known by many of the hockey tweeps I recommended you follow a couple of weeks ago. Oh, and if you want to remain on Texy’s good side, don’t ever rag on her Texas Longhorns. She has 1,645 followers and counting.

Stefmara — For equal time, I’ll put a Yankees fan in here. Actually, Jimmy Traina’s a Yankee fan too. I think I need to equal that out with another Red Sox fan. Anyway, if you’ve followed the news, then you know Stefanie Gordon for the famous Space Shuttle launch picture she took from her airplane seat. I knew Stefanie on Twitter long before she took that picture and she’s a very good follow. She loves her Yankees and New York Rangers. I don’t fault her for this. And if you’re in the sports industry, hire Stef. She has 4,928 followers.

Jackie_Pepper — For former Comcast SportsNet New England anchor Jackie Pepper. She keeps tabs on her former New England beats and she’ll also exchange tweets with followers. And Jackie will tweet general observations as well. And if you’re in TV, view her video and hire her. You’ll get a hard worker. Jackie has 1,519 followers.

bruceallen — Why I’ve omitted the webmaster of Boston Sports Media Watch is beyond me. Bruce Allen should have been on my list weeks ago. I’ve been associated with Bruce doing a mirror site at BSMW since 2009. One of the inspirations for Fang’s Bites, Bruce’s media links on Boston sports plus acting as a check on the beat writers has made Bruce’s site a must visit for New England sports fans. He tirelessly puts out his links way before I do and is a very good clearinghouse for Boston sports links. Bruce is a diehard Patriots fans, but I don’t hold this against him. He has 1,665 followers.

BobLeyESPN — Another oversight. Mr. Ley is a tremendous follow. While he hasn’t tweeted since July, Bob has been on vacation since hosting the Women’s World Cup in Germany so he’s given a pass. Bob has tweeted about soccer, Bruce Springsteen, news events and so much more. He’s very well-read and I’m sure when Bob returns to work, he’ll be tweeting once again. Bob is a very good person to exchange tweets with. He has 39,972 followers.

That will wrap up the sports tweeps and with the 17 I’ve recommended tonight, overall that makes 165 accounts I’ve recommended.

Now let’s move to non-sports. There will be a lot more when all is said and done here.

NON-SPORTS/NEWS/TV/ENTERTAINMENT

johnsberman — A general assignment reporter for ABC News, John Berman is also an avid Red Sox fan. He tweets a lot about the Red Sox, but he’ll also tweet about the stories on which he’s reporting, but his account is mostly sports. A very good follow, John also has his own Facebook page which you can “like”. John has 16,794 followers.

brianstelter — Brian Stelter reports on TV and digital media for the New York Times. He contributes to the Media Decoder blog and appears on various cable news shows when there’s a big story like the News Corp. phone hacking scandal. He’s well connected and uses Twitter to compliment his reporting. Brian also has a personal Twitter account which discusses his 90 pound weight loss. His professional account has 70,808 followers.

michaelausiello — He loves Snapple, the Smurfs and Lauren Graham. Overall, Michael Ausiello, the Editor-in-Chief of TV Line is one of the best and entertaining TV beat writers. His Ask Ausiello column is widely read by fans. His Twitter account is always chock full of information. If you don’t like spoilers, then by all means, don’t read his columns, but Michael’s always on top of the industry. He has 1,149,569 loyal tweeps.

tdogmedia — The T Dog Media Blog follows Chicago TV and Radio and quite well. Terence Henderson keeps on top of all things in the Chicago market. Because of the competition in the Windy City among radio and TV stations, there’s always plenty of news to write about. Terence’s stories are well-written and well-thought out. His Twitter account is full of TV industry news. Only 280 followers so you can help increase that to a higher number.

bostonradio — This is for the excellent blog, Boston Radio Watch, which you can imagine follows the Boston radio scene. The blog is constantly being updated and so is the Twitter account which not only contains Boston radio news, but personal insights. Boston radio has 1,813 followers.

radioinsight — Lance Venta runs the very good sight Radio Insight which like Boston Radio Watch follows radio, but on a national level. The account has links to the site, and also engages with followers. I’ve found Lance to be a very good resource on ownership changes, format flips and the latest news on a medium that remains very near and dear to my heart. This has 2,181 followers.

ShandiMissUSA — For former Miss USA, Lingo co-host and Quiznation host Shandi Finnessey. A lot of people use Twitter for angst and complaints. Shandi’s account is very positive. I love her tweets. Plus, Shandi has her own site. She’ll engage with followers and be very supportive. Shandi has 4,283 followers.

chrissyteigen — For Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Chrissy Teigen. She’s an avid sports fan and will tweet about sports, but she will also tweet about anything that comes to mind. She’s constantly mixing it up with tweeps. Chrissy has her own blog as well. Chrissy has 59,262 followers.

kayhanley — I love Kay Hanley. The former Letters to Cleo lead singer and Boston native is now out in Los Angeles. She’s a big Red Sox fan and will tweet about the game she’s watching. And when she gets angry about the Red Sox, look out! I love following Kay Hanley. You can find her music on MySpace. Kay has 9,514 followers.

rajskub — If you’ve followed this blog for a while, then you know that I needed to get a 24 tweep somehow on this list. If you watched 24, you’ll know Mary Lynn Rajskub played “Chloe” from season 3 until the end of the series. And she’ll most likely be in the movie whenever it comes out. A comedian by trade, Mary Lynn tweets very funny thoughts and she’ll give some aspects of what happened during her time on 24. Mary Lynn has 65,102 followers.

allialexander/amomknowsbest — These are the Twitter accounts for former WLNE-TV anchor Allison Alexander and the lead writer and editor of the Mommy blog, A Mom Knows Best. Allison became a popular anchor during her time in Providence and started her site shortly after becoming a mother. Unfortunately, a management change at WLNE led to her being let go, but I’m sure Allison will be getting a gig soon. A very positive person, her accounts are full of good tweets from her site and her own thoughts. Allison’s account has 3,275 followers while A Mom Knows Best has just over 1,500 tweeps.

ebertchicago — The official Twitter account of Pulitzer Award-winning Chicago Sun-Times movie critic Roger Ebert, this isn’t just about movie reviews. Roger tweets on a whole plethora of subjects. Sometimes they can be political, other times he’ll link to interesting stories. It’s a very good account and the tweets are high quality. Roger has 510,879 tweeps.

GailSimone — This is the account for DC Comics writer Gail Simone. The former head writer for Wonder Woman, Birds of Prey and Secret Six, this is full of tweets to her fans talking about her characters, links to interviews and personal observations. Gail will be taking over the Batgirl series as DC Comics does a massive reboot of its entire line. I became familiar with her writing for the Birds of Prey series. If you’re into graphic novels, Gail is a good account to follow. She has 15,824 followers.

SU2C — For the cancer research fundraising organization, Stand Up 2 Cancer, this provides information on the latest news the group and retweets followers who do their part to spread the message about cancer. While founder Laura Ziskin recently lost her battle to cancer, it doesn’t end her efforts to wipe out the disease. Stand Up 2 Cancer has 64,107 followers.

mariamenounos — For the extremely lovely Access Hollywood host and sometimes NBC News reporter (and soon-to-be Extra co-host) Maria Menounos, a Massachusetts homey. Maria’s tweets are not full of entertainment gossip. There are other accounts for that. This is for Maria’s personal tweets about her dog, personal pics of various appearances and for taunting Lakers fans as Maria is a huge Celtics fan. Maria has 130,322 followers.

And that’s going to end this series. It’s finally done. With an additional 15 non-sports tweeps, this make for a total of 180 accounts you should follow. I’m finally glad this is over. Now I can move on to another project that I hope to finish before the NFL preseason begins.

On To The Tuesday Links

Let’s get your Tuesday linkage up and posted today. Good stuff to get to.

Variety’s Stuart Levine talks with NBC Sports Chairman Mark Lazarus about the Versus rebrand to NBC Sports Network and other subjects.

The Associated Press has Lazarus hopeful that he can make former NBC Sports Emperor Dick Ebersol proud.

Brian Steinberg at Advertising Age writes that NBC’s rebrand of Versus plus having the Super Bowl this season puts the network in position to be a real challenger to ESPN.

Marisa Guthrie in the Hollywood Reporter’s Live Feed blog says NBC’s top brass was never worried about losing NFL games this season.

Etan Vlessing of the Hollywood Reporter writes that Canada’s Rogers Communications will stream live video of Toronto Blue Jays games online and on smartphones starting this month.

Georg Szalai of the Reporter notes that Fox Sports is protesting a plan to sell the Los Angeles Dodgers’ media rights. Fox says it agreed to a long-term extension of its current deal with the team, but MLB has rejected it.

To Adweek and Emma Bazilian who says Fox is going to war over the Dodgers’ media rights.

Todd Spangler at Multichannel News writes about AT&T U-verse suddenly dropping ESPN3D citing the high carriage fees and lack of subscribers.

George Winslow of Broadcasting & Cable notes that ESPN has promoted one of its executives.

Marcus Vanderberg of SportsNewser notes that Chicago sportscaster Mike Adamle was cleared of DUI charges.

Cam Martin of SportsNewser looks at Awful Announcing’s Joe Morgan Memorial Tournament that left Craig James as its “winner”.

Ken Kerschbaumer at Sports Video Group wonders if 3-D will have a role in the 2012 London Olympics.

At Outkick The Coverage, Clay Travis says it’s Yahoo! that’s poised to be ESPN’s true sports media rival in the 2nd decade of the 21st Century.

The Sports Biz Miss, Kristi Dosh in the Business of College Sports explains why BCS Automatic Qualifying conferences are not knocking down Boise State’s doors to have the school join their leagues.

Kristi also looks at how the Pac-12 Network will be distributed to several Top 100 media markets within the Conference footprint.

To Yahoo’s Puck Daddy where Sean Leahy talks with ESPN’s John Buccigross about his NHL guilty pleasures.

Jose Martinez of Complex speaks with ESPN’s Erin Andrews about her country music and Saturday Night Live obsessions.

USA Today’s Mike McCarthy also talks with Erin, this time about Twitter and her assessment of her first year on the anchor desk at College GameDay.

All Access reports that Fox Sports Radio is hooking up with Mastercard for a Stand Up to Cancer promotion.

Greg Bordonaro of Hartford Business writes that ESPN plans to take advantage of a Connecticut tax break incentive offer to add more jobs in the state.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union looks at NBC/Versus NHL voice Mike “Doc” Emrick receiving another honor.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call catches up with iconic Philadelphia Eagles radio voice Merrill Reese.

Paul Farhi of the Washington Post speaks with outgoing local sports anchor Brett Haber about his decision to leave his local station.

Adam Kilgore of the Post writes that MASN has not exercised the option on Washington Nationals TV voice Bob Carpenter’s contract, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that he won’t be back next season.

ESPN3.com will be streaming a Georgia rivalry high school football game later this month.

Jimmy Burch of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram says Big 12 schools decided to compromise on the Longhorn Network for one season.

Randy Riggs of the Austin (TX) American-Statesman writes that means no high school football games on the Longhorn Network for now.

Mike Finger in the Houston Chronicle says the Big 12 did leave open the possibility of having a conference game aired on the Longhorn Network this season.

Anthony Schoettle of the Indianapolis Business Journal says an NBC Sports Group deal to put NFL games on Versus would be a big help to the channel’s IndyCar package.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel notes that NFL Network and companion RedZone were picked up by Charter Communications.

Bob says Chicago Cubs radio voice Pat Hughes regales in telling stories about the late Marquette coach Al McGuire and their time calling the school’s games together.

In OnMilwaukee, Andy Tarnoff goes behind the scenes during a Brewers game production with the Fox Sports Wisconsin crew.

Aaron Barnhart of the Kansas City Star writes that NBC’s Sunday Night Football crew is ready for the NFL season to start.

Shad Powers of the Desert (CA) Sun says MLB Network came through on Sunday.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News discusses the rebranding of Versus to NBC Sports Network.

In the Daly Planet, John Daly notes that ESPN NASCAR analyst Rusty Wallace has a conflict of interest when calling Nationwide Series races.

Toronto Sports Media says Sirius and XM in Canada might be pulling the plug on The Score radio channel.

The Canadian Sports Media blog has some thoughts on the last week in Canadian sports media.

Sports Media Watch notes that ESPN has brought in former Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Hugh Douglas as a studio NFL analyst.

Dave Kohl at Major League Programs looks at the moves to rebrand of Sporting News Radio and Versus.

And we’re done with the linkage for today.

MLB & Stand Up 2 Cancer Announce A New Virtual Initiative

I’m always a proponent of Stand Up 2 Cancer and anything that brings us a step closer to beating this horrid disease, I’m always in favor. MLB which has been a partner with Stand Up 2 Cancer for the last few years has announced a new program in which fans can buy a “virtual” piece of their favorite stadiums, a base, a suite, or a pitcher’s mound and dedicate them to a loved one. Here are details from MLB and SU2C.

DEDICATE A VIRTUAL PIECE OF A FAVORITE BALLPARK AND STAND UP TO CANCER WITH “STAND UP STADIUMS” ON MLB.COM

Fans Can Pay Lasting Tributes To Loved Ones Touched By Cancer And Support Innovative Cancer Research

July 27, 2010 (Los Angeles/New York) – Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C), the charitable initiative supporting groundbreaking research aimed at getting new cancer treatments to patients in an accelerated timeframe, and MLB.com, the official Web site of Major League Baseball, announced today a new online program for fans to contribute directly to cancer research while honoring loved ones touched by cancer with customized baseball virtual goods from their favorite ballparks.

“Stand Up to Cancer is thrilled to continue our long-standing partnership with Major League Baseball, through MLB.com and Stand Up Stadiums. It’s a platform that allows baseball fans everywhere to help make real progress against cancer,” says SU2C co-founder Laura Ziskin. “As a person living with cancer, I also know that this tribute space will make a personal difference in the lives of patients, survivors, and all of us in the fight.”

The program, MLB.com Stand Up Stadiums, will be supported at launch by a public service announcement created by MLB.com and SU2C that will be shown on ballpark video boards and available at MLB.com and Club Web sites. This initiative will give fans the opportunity to make a donation to SU2C online at MLB.com/standupstadiums and receive virtual seats, suites, bases and pitcher’s mounds from any of the 30 Major League Baseball ballparks, each with customized branding and personal messages to honor loved ones impacted by cancer.

After choosing their favorite team and ballpark, fans can select the virtual piece of the stadium they’d like to dedicate. The minimum donations will be tiered based on the items available, including $5 per ballpark seat, $100 per suite, $200 per base and $500 per pitcher’s mound. Individual donations at each tier may be increased as desired.

Before completing the donation, fans can enter a dedication name, write a personal commemorative message and upload a digital photograph to customize their virtual items.  Fans will be able to preview their items before ordering in a special team-branded gallery page. The donor will have a unique web page link to display and share the virtual item with friends, families, co-workers and others touched by cancer via e-mail and across social networking platforms.

Major League Baseball was the founding donor to contribute to Stand Up To Cancer in 2008 when Baseball Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig pledged the industry’s resources to support this innovative cancer research model.

“Stand Up Stadiums present a compelling online vehicle to honor loved ones and rally fans in the fight against cancer,” said Dinn Mann, executive vice president, content, MLB.com. “The virtual ballparks provide a convenient way to donate, to spread the word interactively, and as an extension of Commissioner Selig’s, and the industry’s, commitment to the cause.”

And MLB Network will join several other networks in airing the 2nd Stand Up 2 Cancer Special on September 10 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.