This morning on my weekly segment on the Dave and Carole morning show on WKLH, we talked about the newest OnMilwaukee.com feature, "The Social Circle." The topic was about picking our favorite all-time Wisconsin athletes.
Without giving it a second thought, I selected Robin Yount, and I stand by that. But social media is quickly changing the way people interact with their sports heroes.
Case in point: Brewers closer John Axford and Twitter. Axford is one of only a few Brewers who tweet, but he does it exceptionally well. He apologizes when he blows a save. He answers fans' questions. He even picked his intro music based on fans' votes, through Twitter. He allows average Milwaukeeans to connect with the man behind the mustache, and he readily reveals his outside-the-lines personality.
And I think it's great.
Fickle Brewers fans came to Axford's defense after his last blown save, tweeting words of encouragement. I didn't see those kind of sentiments for Derrick Turnbow or Eric Gagne. But then again, they weren't tweeting their sincere thanks for fans' support when things were going well, either.
Before Axford, former Brewers pitcher Seth McClung was active on Twitter, too, and that's how I met him and ultimately convinced him to start blogging for us.
Two hours north, several Packers are active in social media, too, and guys like Clay Matthews (167,000 followers) and Aaron Rodgers (221,000 followers) have turned Tweeting into an art.
I've heard some talk radio types yap about banning athletes from using Twitter, but that's ridiculous. Granted, players shouldn't tweet during games (though how cool would that be?), but when they're not playing, and during the off season, it's an amazing way to connect. Never before have fans been able be a part of their heroes' lives, and in a way, vice versa.
And don't even get me started on the fake Twitter accounts out there like @Tony_Plush and the @MillerParkHawk.
That's a blog for another day.
Andy is the president, publisher and founder of OnMilwaukee. He returned to Milwaukee in 1996 after living on the East Coast for nine years, where he wrote for The Dallas Morning News Washington Bureau and worked in the White House Office of Communications. He was also Associate Editor of The GW Hatchet, his college newspaper at The George Washington University.
Before launching OnMilwaukee.com in 1998 at age 23, he worked in public relations for two Milwaukee firms, most of the time daydreaming about starting his own publication.
Hobbies include running when he finds the time, fixing the rust on his '75 MGB, mowing the lawn at his cottage in the Northwoods, and making an annual pilgrimage to Phoenix for Brewers Spring Training.
