Exclusive: Villanueva and Shaq Not Only Twits In NBA

By now, you've definitely heard about Charlie Villanueva's little twitting adventure during halftime of a recent Milwaukee Bucks game. 

The mercurial forward snuck away for a moment, and posted a Twit, that read as the following:

In da locker room, snuck to post my twitt. We're playing the Celtics, tie ball game at da half. Coach wants more toughness. I gotta step up.

This drew a range of reaction, from Scott Skiles (who outlaws any and all forms of fun) reprimanding Charlie V, to people questioning how he even had the time, to people just not caring.  Personally, my favorite reaction came from the man himself (who goes by the moniker, @CV31).  Essentially, while he wasn't going to go against his coach's wishes, he didn't get what the difference was between taking a minute to tweet (or, is it, to twat?) or taking time at half to talk to a television reporter. Must say, I see your point Chuck.

Anywho, we here at BERNing decided it's time the rest of the Twittering world outs itself.  Thus far, we have @the_real_shaq and @CV31.  From a source who requested anonymity, we received a list of players, their Twitter names, and twits they've sent recently during practices or games.  Apparently, this epidemic is spreading faster than anyone could imagine.  Without further ado, we present some of this list.  

@the_real_jamal_crawford -- sent 9:15 pm pacific, march 25th 2009 -- coach nelson and i dont like each other.  dont tell no one but im not playing ne more this season.  (expletive) him.

@youngsuperman (dwight howard) -- sent 9:25 pm eastern, march 25th 2009 -- i got away with one there.  no way i didnt foul paul at da end.  def a foul.  wonder if svg will defend me still.

@rajonrondo (apparently, he doesn't have a nickname) -- sent 6:15 pm eastern, march 22nd 2009 -- steph has to go.  dudes gonna tattoo my name on my head in my sleep if i dont watch out.  he tried it on mikki last night, mik(e) slapped him.  

@twolvescoach (kevin mchale) -- sent 7:15 pm central, march 13th 2009 -- why is anyone still watching our games?  they cant still be charging for tickets.  can they?

@stevie_novak -- date and time unknown --  how am i still in the league?

@bdiddy#1 (baron davis) -- sent 10:15 pm eastern, march 18th 2009 -- GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!!!!!!!  I IMMEDIATELY REGRET MY DECISION.

@truwarrior (ron artest)  -- sent 11:15 pm central, march 24th 2009 -- tooth fell out tonite.  thought about usin it to stab kyle korver.  didnt think coach would like that.  poked abrooks with it instead.

@maskandagun (jerome james) -- sent 12:15 pm central time, march 20th 2009 -- sittin down 4 lunch.  back to da future 2 is on.  some1 has the afternoon off!

@agentzero -- sent 4:15 pm eastern time, march 4th 2009 -- the league needs me.  the nation needs me.  dc needs me.  barack obama needs me. i think im gonna dedicate my first game to him.  hed like that.

Now, legally we can't continue to reproduce any more of the Twits, as the rest seem to get a bit more graphic from here on out. They range from the sexual  (Adonal Foyle's twit about a magical vixen in a poem he's working on) to the crazy (Chris Andersen's decision to have George Karl's face tattooed over his own face) to the metaphysical (Darius Miles questioning the meaning of it all [that one's not all that bad, in retrospect]).  

If we receive any more of these wild Twits, we'll certainly update you as soon as is possible.  Stay tuned.

Baseball Is Fine, Steroids or Not

Of all the talk over the past 48 hours about A-Roid and his positive steroid test in 2003, there's one thing that I just don't understand: this notion that somehow this news will deter people from watching baseball or that the steroid era will cause people to stop following baseball.

That's never going to happen. People will continue to watch baseball, just as they always have.

The steroid problem in baseball is bad. There's no question of that. And there's no question that this most recent era of baseball has had more villains than heroes. But baseball will survive, just like every sport survives scandal and scrutiny. People love sports, and they're not going to stop watching them just because controversy and scandal surrounds it.

Think about all the problems in sports just over the last few years. An NBA referee was caught fixing games for the betting line. Ron Artest jumped into the crowd in Detroit and brawled with fans. Countless NFL players have been arrested on criminal charges. One of the game's biggest stars in Michael Vick, went to jail for criminal dogfighting. Somehow basketball and football have survived.

And in the past: college basketball survived a point shaving scandal. Baseball has survived many players corking bats, applying too much pine tar to bats and hats, and most importantly, Pete Rose's admission that he bet on the game. Football has survived having players at the scene of murder and actually committing murder (Rae Carruth). And hockey, basketball, and baseball have all had lockouts over the last twenty years that have either shortened or cancelled full seasons. All these leagues, of course, have survived.

So let's all stop claiming that somehow baseball will lose fans due to the steroid scandal over the last ten years. The only "fans" the game will lose are people that aren't truly baseball fans to begin with.

Sports have survived many difficult scandals and many PR nightmares as bad or worse than this. The integrity of every sport has been question at some point or another, but fans continue to watch the games and enjoy them with the same passion despite the games' pitfalls.

Sports fans love the games they love because they are live entertainment that helps us escape our everyday lives. As long as they continue to serve as just that, no matter what the problem, we'll all keep coming back.

No matter who else gets named for taking steroids over the last few years in baseball, whether the names are as big as A-Roid's or not, we'll all be back on opening day, loving every minute of it. Baseball is fine, steroids or not.