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BY ANDREW GREENBLATT

In print | Published October 29, 2009

Sports fanatics, rejoice, for our time has finally arrived.

They can charge us $6.00 for a soda and schedule night games in the dead of winter, but they will never take our spirits!

Never again must we depend on ESPN’s mind-numbingly repetitive analysis to feed our insatiable desire for sports knowledge.

No longer must we suffer boring and stale highlights to stay connected to our favorite athletes.

For years, fans have depended on meaningless talk from “experts” who are really just intelligent observers on the periphery of the action.

Sure, there were interviews and the like, but if you sort though the clichés and general BS, you’ll find there wasn’t much substance.

SportsCenter and friends are starting to feel like a whole lot of noise that just adds up to nothing.
Athletes’ true opinions were fading as fast as our patience for Kanye West.

Athletes are so used to the constant hyperactive media barrage that they censor themselves to the point of dreadful banality.

But, if you’re as bored as I am, it’s okay, because a revolution is brewing in Fan Nation…

Twitter has arrived and it offers the most intimate and dynamic fan experience short of hanging out in the team locker room.

The site has given our favorite athletes the forum to talk to each other and even talk to us, all in tiny bits of 140 characters or less.

I was skeptical at first. It seems kind of stupid. Why would I want random updates from your day? Even if you are Lance Armstrong!

But little did I know, and what’s so surprising about Twitter is that these athletes are hilariously candid and overly revealing.

You get a bunch of athletes obsessed with personal branding, convinced that “you are what you tweet,” and all of a sudden, a medium is born.

For example, did you know that Kevin Durant had a bunk bed with Power Ranger sheets and Ninja Turtle pillows?

Didn’t think so.

Or that Serena Williams’ favorite thing to do right now is to look online for price-friendly furniture and light fixtures. Fascinating!

Twitter can be funny, but don’t let these tweets fool you into thinking Twitter is a joke.

Just ask Chargers cornerback Antonio Cromartie if he’s laughing about his $2,500 fine after his gripes on training camp food via Twitter.

Although Mark Cuban was laughing when he got busted for $25,000 over a tweet.

Two days later, Cuban was back at it, tweeting, “Just found out got fined 25k by NBA. Nice.”

He wasn’t done: “How much fun would it be if I could Twitter whatever I wanted during Mavs game. Fun, but expensive.”

And again, “Can’t say no one makes money from twitter now. the nba does.”

A media revolution is upon us, and unfortunately, there must be casualties. Sorry, Mark.

Aside from some extreme cases, athletes are subjected to little scrutiny on Twitter. And it’s all there for us, the fans, to enjoy.

In five minutes, you can see pictures from Reggie Bush’s party (he had a cool ice sculpture and had break dancers in attendance).

From there, you can bounce to a Yo Momma joke contest between Shaq and Ashton Kutcher.

Keep clicking and you’ll find a back-and-forth between Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco arguing over who has more haters (it’s probably TO).

Say what you want about how silly you think Twitter is. It’s the most fun I’ve had on the Internet since, dare I say it, Facebook.

And don’t pretend Twitter’s beneath you either. Everyone has voyeuristic tendencies.

No need to talk smack about Twitter in public then scurry back to check Facebook for the 25th time today. Just embrace it and have fun.

If you’re a sports fan, how could you not love it? This is what we’ve been waiting for: a place where athletes can keep it real.

Round-the-clock updates from thousands of athletes, plus pictures of and links to anything and everything. This is a sports fan’s dream.

All I have to do is type “@” and some athlete’s Twitter name and my comment will be sent directly to their Twitter.

I can say anything to almost any athlete through a medium that they regularly check.

And guess what! They actually respond.

What else gets you that kind of access?

Just this past week as I was watching Monday Night Football, I used Twitter as my own personal color commentator.

As good as John Gruden is, I think I’d rather hear what TO, Ochocinco and Larry Fitzgerald have to say.

All of them were watching the game and commenting live on Twitter.

It’s not just athletes either. Twitter is the best gauge of public opinion out there right now.
Don’t believe me? There are 500 tweets a second.

Instead of watching ESPN’s pre-game coverage of the World Series, just search it on Twitter.
You will be inundated with opinions. By the time you finish reading 15 of them, there will be 100 fresh ones for you to peruse.

Instead of seeing the same highlight for the tenth time, you’ll be directed to 20 fresh links about the Yanks or the Phils.

Twitter will open the door to the broadest and most comprehensive Internet search you’ve ever seen.

The biggest thing to realize is that Twitter isn’t reinventing the Internet; it’s making it more personal and easier to use.

It’s not just a networking site overflowing with triviality; it’s the most personal conversation tool and information aggregate that exists.

So as fans, I encourage you to check it out. Searching your favorite athlete is a great way to start. I can guarantee you won’t be bored.

A lot of excitement can be packed into 140 characters or less. Just check out the paragraphs in this column.

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