Trash talking over social media websites

It has been awhile since I wrote on this blog. Something that has interested me has been the evolution between social media and professional sports. Prior to the use of the Internet and, now the social media websites, trash talking between teams and players have been during the games and through reporters. Now the game has moved online and fans are getting a front row seat to all the action. The first insistence I saw teams taking the trash talking to the Internet was a few weeks ago between the Dodgers and Angels. The Angels' Josh Hamilton hit a home run against the Dodgers in a preseason game and he and the Angels started trending on Twitter. The Angels' official Twitter account acknowledged the trends, and it said "I wonder why is that." Then the Dodgers' official Twitter account replied to the tweet saying "It remembers the first time the Dodgers were trending on Twitter." It was a nice chuckle to a good rivalry between the two. A few days later the Atlanta Hawks beat the Utah Jazz and Lakers fans were excited that the Jazz loss. The Hawks' official Twitter account saw that and tweet to Lakers fans saying they won't be happy on Sunday night when the Hawks will beat their Lakers. Now, that was a shot! Days later everyone watches the viral video of the Miami Heat doing the Harlem Shake, which was pretty cool. But after that video came out, the Minnesota Timberwolves' official YouTube channel released a video titled "Timberwolves Harlem Shake." What the video turned out to be was a guy in a Heat jersey dancing, then the mascot of the Wolves comes out with a plastic bat and beats up the Heat fan. At the end the mascot shakes his finger no and walks off. That was unexpected but pretty hilarious! But I enjoy the trash talking over social media websites. It is a new element to sports trash talking. It gives fans a chance to be a part of the culture and as of now, it seems harmless. Let's hope it gets better!