The start of my day is a lot different than it was just a few years ago. Remember the good old days when you would catch the sports segment towards the end of the ten o’clock news? Read the sports section of the morning paper before work or school? That was pretty much how I got all my news. Like Derrick Rose, of the Chicago Bulls, pictured here – I’m still adjusting to the technology boom.
I didn't get my first cell phone until my sophomore year of college. I don't think I sent my first text message until a few years after that. I didn't have a Smart Phone until a year ago. Heck, I held on to tapes instead of switching to CDs until the bitter end. I can still name the first two CDs I ever received … The Presidents of the United States of America: Self Titled and Coolio: It takes a thief.
Things were so simple growing up, but I was also very limited in what kind of news I could get when it came to sports. I was lucky enough to get subscriptions to Sports Illustrated for Kids and eventually Sports Illustrated so I had more sports knowledge than some of my friends. And I recall watching hours of ESPN's Sportscenter at my grandparents house when I would stay with them when I was off-track (is there still year-round school?).
Today, my life is much different. This morning will consist of checking my gmail account, my yahoo account, my other yahoo account, my Facebook, my Twitter feed, ESPN.com, DenverPost.com, SB Nation blogs and other sports blogs. The crazy part … I don't even think about checking these various things as it is all now muscle memory from the daily routine or daily ritual you could say.
My favorite place to check out NBA news … my Twitter feed. I think I have about the perfect lineup of people I follow to get the key NBA articles and I also sprinkle in the right amount of player feeds as well as some non-NBA entertainment feeds. If people Tweet too much about nothing, I stop following them. I don't want my feed getting clogged up with stuff that might saturate my feed and stuff that might force me to miss the good stuff.
I also try to take my own advice and not Tweet too much so that the people who do follow me don't get too much garbage from me and click the dreaded "unfollow" button. At first, I hated Twitter. I didn't understand it and it confused me. But like my Smart Phone taught me, and my Sega Genesis years ago, you just have to give new technology a little time and then you can master it.
Am I a Twitter expert? No way! But I do feel like I have a good grasp on it and enjoy the crap out of it. Do I send out good Tweets and the right amount not to upset my followers? I have no idea … but I'm trying.
And in trying and monitoring my Tweets I have noticed I'm getting pretty close to 1,000 Tweets. I actually noticed this a couple months ago, but I don't Tweet that much so I'm still not over 1,000 Tweets. So, I decided I should do something fun for the people that follow me and maybe get a few people to venture out and give Twitter a try for themselves.
For my 1,000th Tweet I will post a trivia question and the first person to respond to me with the correct answer on Twitter (@Nate_Timmons) will win a gift card to NBA.com. The Tweet will indicate it's number 1,000 and will have a question. The crazy thing … you wont know exactly when the Tweet will happen, but you can track the amount of Tweets I've sent out. I'll drop some hints here the closer we get to No. 1,000 … the first hint … only about 45 Tweets to go!
Daily Links:
Napping on Game Day Is Prevalent Among N.B.A. Players – Jonathan Abrams, The New York Times
"Everyone in the league office knows not to call players at 3 p.m.," said Adam Silver, the league’s deputy commissioner. "It’s the player nap."
Notebook: Nuggets welcome four-day break – Aaron Lopez, Nuggets.com
"It’s nice to be in kind of a relaxed atmosphere in the middle of a crazy year," Karl said after a light practice Monday.
NBA Power Rankings: Heat Sink Fast, Lakers Rising – SB Nation
Go see where the Nuggets rank … they are hot on the heels of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Tallest players in NBA history to win scoring title – Joe Dorish, Yahoo! Sports
The answers here are not really surpsising …
Why Vancouver deserves the NBA (again) – Will Goldbeck, The Now News.com
Remember the Vancouver Grizzlies? It might happen again … hopefully with a new nickname.
Facebook users like the NBA. A lot. – Kurt Helin, NBC Sports.com
From the article, Nick Grudin for Facebook, "7.6 million fans "like" the NBA, compared to just 2.6 million for the NFL."
NBA CHAT WITH JASON FLEMING – HOOPSWORLD
I love a good NBA chat … various topics here.
Psychology: The next frontier in NBA talent evaluation – Michael Schwartz, Valley of the Suns
"Malcom Gladwell, the moderator of the headline panel at this weekend’s Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, touts a 10,000-hour theory from his award-winning book Outliers that basically states it takes 10,000 hours to gain master in a given field."
‘Anaheim’ comes first in name if NBA Kings move here – Eric Carpenter, The Orage County Register
I know one guy that is going to be heartbroken if the Kings move out of Sacramento … my friend Dax. Oh wait, my friend, a Sacramento native, jumped off their wagon and onto the Lakers wagon growing up because the Lakers were cool and the Kings were not. You can’t use your voodoo on me Dax, I know the truth. Anyway, would be sad if/when the Kings move … again (they came from Kansas City).
Nate_Timmons on Twitter
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