We know some athletes use Twitter as a medium for connecting with their fans, while others use it to post nonsense and share their ridiculous thoughts with the world. However, I can’t ever remember hearing an athlete credit Twitter for their success on the field. If anything, you would think it would be a distraction. That is not the case for Brandon Phillips, who claims being active on Twitter last year helped him have a productive season.
“(Twitter) helped me as a person and it also helped me as an athlete,” Phillips said during an appearance on The Jim Rome Show. “I had to go out there and just keep on proving myself. The thing is, when you get home and you check your Twitter and you have people saying how sorry you are and ‘You ain’t gonna do nothing against those Cardinals’ and all that other crap — that’s like motivation. You’re throwing gasoline on the fire.”
If you’re the type of person who is bothered by what other people say, I guess it makes sense. Oftentimes in sports we hear analysts and coaches talking about “bulletin board material.” Typically they’re referring to newspaper headlines or opponents talking trash, but if the stuff people write on Twitter gets under your skin there’s no better place to find motivation.
Photo credit: Charles LeClaire-US PRESSWIRE
