I grew up in
New York, in a neighborhood that was located in the Bronx. I was a big sports fan. I followed all sports, but baseball was my
first love. I watched the great Yankee
teams of the mid 70's and the painful Bronx Zoo teams of the early 80's. I read magazines and baseball books. I read the paper every day, starting with the
sports section. New York was a great
place to grow up as a baseball fan.
When I got
older, I had the opportunity to work in baseball, however it was for the New
York Mets organization. But that is a story for another time. I also had the opportunity to watch the
Yankees go to the playoffs every year.
From 1995 - 2007, they made the postseason and won four World Series
Championships. They missed in 2008, but
won the World Series again on 2009 and made the playoff each year since until
this year. Considering the injuries,
specifically to Derek Jeter and significant major components of their lineup, they did remarkably well and came incredibly
close. A couple of games here and there
they would've made the playoffs and possibly won the division.
The end the
season brought to a close the careers of two great Yankees. I had
the opportunity to witness a lot of great Yankee baseball my lifetime and take attend
a number of the games that they honored the team's legends. I was in attendance when they paid tribute to
Joe DiMaggio right after his death and the day they celebrated Yogi Berra when he came back into the Yankee
fold. It was also the day the David Cone
threw his Perfect Game. The pomp and circumstance of what is Yankee
baseball is truly an experience all its own.
The legends that played for the team line the walls of Hall of Fame and
the team's own Monument Park. The two
men that retired at the end this year, rank among the team's best. Andy
Pettitte was one of the best left-handers to ever pitch for the team. He holds
a number of records with this remarkable team, a remarkable post season performer, and, best
of all, he was developed from the team's farm system.
Mariano Rivera was also developed in the
Yankee system and became the greatest closer of all time. I had the privilege
of watching his major-league debut on TV and being in attendance 60-70 games
where the doors swung open, the sounds of Enter Sandman blared from the
speakers and he took the mound to shut down the opponent. He was
truly remarkable, not only has a baseball player but as a human being and it
was an honor to watch him play.
The reason I
bring this all out is because of how I participated in his ceremony at Yankee
Stadium on September 22nd. If I still lived in New York, I would have been in
attendance. However as a father of three that now lives in
Jacksonville, FL, I spent those moments at The Bolles School football field
watching my two sons play in their soccer league games. So I
was unable to even watch the ceremony live.
Using the technology in front of me, I used my smart phone and the
DirecTV app to record anything and everything I could have been able to watch. That
would be great for later, but I wanted to feel it live. So I logged on to Twitter and became a part
of the ceremony.
The people
in the ballpark tweeted. The news media
tweeted. Those involved in baseball who
have a love and reverence for Mariano Rivera tweeted. Not only did they tweet, but they provided
pictures and video. They provided live
commentary of this amazing event going on so I was able to see the activity and
feel like I was part of it. Even though
I was in Jacksonville, FL.
Twitter, and
social media in general, have become tools that are necessities to my daily
activity, that of 1010XL and the daily activity of companies around the country. It is also an important distribution vehicle for
sports information to be generated. Whether it's the news reporter tweeting out
information teasing his upcoming broadcast, or an announcement of a player
injury. Whether it's commentary from
people watching games and giving their analysis or used by teams to sell tickets and merchandise. Whether it's just for branding and marketing
purposes, teams, media outlets, fans are tweeting about games and major sports
activity minute by minute.
Hashtags are
set up for specific games and events.
Athletes tweet their feelings and thoughts and interact with the
fans. You get raw exposure. Real personality. Some very funny and behind the scenes
pictures.
At 1010XL we
use Twitter on a daily basis and will tweet out information about guest that
are coming on the show, big stories that we put on to our website and fun
observations to have our listeners respond to.
Our on air hosts have their own twitter handles and tweet throughout the
day. And the station will then retweet
them and interact with them. We also use Twitter as a marketing tool to
extend the relationship we have with our partners and for them to get
additional exposure through our 4000+ followers.
What is more
remarkable is the amount to Twitter activity that takes place during a major
sports event. A playoff game, a
championship game. Sports Illustrated just published this list of
the five most tweeted sports events of 2013.
They are:
Super Bowl -
26,131,270
NBA Finals
Game 6 - 7,796,860
NCAA Final Four
- 4,592,598
BCS
Championship - 3,989,642
Stanley Cup
Finals Game 6 - 1,075,234
yes, those
numbers are in the millions...
So...are you
tweeting? Are you following me or our
station? I am @hwolpoff and the station
is @1010XL.
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