Olympic Obsession: Day 3

The 2012 Olympics may go down as the Twitter Games.

The use of social media platforms has become part of many people’s daily routine, and that includes the athletes at this year’s games.

So, not only can you log on to get news from your favorite news source, from the official to the snarky, but also you can read messages from the athletes and other dedicated followers.

And, well, things are getting a might bit interesting.

From Hope Solo’s rant against commentator Brandi Chastain, to the current push by athletes to have social media regulations softened to the fact that at least two athletes – the latest a Swiss soccer player -- have been removed for their words on Twitter, it’s rapidly becoming clear that Twitter is becoming the story of these games.

(Heck, a critic of NBC’s coverage had his Twitter account suspended because he posted an NBC exec’s e-mail address.)

I’m a bit amazed at how much of the Games have revolved around Twitter. Sure, the microblogging site was around in 2008, but then it was still new and its viability as a news source was still in question. Now, stories are broken, dissected and shared in 140 character spurts.

The athlete’s fight against the International Olympic Committee’s rules on social media is based on the participants’ wish to thank their sponsors on Facebook/Twitter – which steps on the toes of the IOC’s major sponsors.

I get the IOC gets billions in funds from multinational companies, and they don’t want athletes promoting some competitor. But in most cases, we’re not talking about the Kobe’s, LeBron’s and Phelps’ of the world. We’re talking about athletes such as Ariel Hsing, who rose to significance due to some of her famous supporters.

But for every Hsing who breaks through into the mainstream media, there are hundreds of others who train in anonymity with the support of family, friends and generous bosses, who give them time and money to be able to chase their dream.

(And this wouldn’t be the first time American athletes got themselves in a sponsorship flap – remember Michael Jordan and other Nike Dream Teamers draping an American flag over their Reebok warm-up logo during their gold-medal ceremony?)

Besides the athletes, Twitter can be a good tool to see what your favorite celebs are watching. Samuel L. Jackson identified himself a big Olympic fan this weekend. “Chuck” star Zachary Levi is tweeting from London, where he’s trying to soak in as much of the atmosphere as he can, including finding a new appreciation for field hockey. Even “Modern Family” co-star Eric Stonestreet is following along (and bringing some snark). (Oh, expect salty language aplenty from these three.)

ARE YOU BLUE? Tuned in Monday morning and saw that they were showing live field hockey, and had to blink a couple of times.

When did they move the field hockey competition to Boise State?

For those who haven’t seen it, the field hockey playing surfaces is a nice shade of blue, with pink sidelines. Yes, it stands out.

And that apparently was part of the point. In an Olympic field filled with sports trying to grab your attention, another green field would just blend in with the rest of the tennis courts, soccer fields and archery/cricket grounds. So, we get blue.

As I watched the Great Britain-Argentina match, the color commentator was talking about how the sport hasn’t been able to gain footing in America as it does in the rest of the world – where she said it was No. 2 to soccer in popularity.

Um, hate to tell her, but she answered her own question. Field hockey equals soccer in the eyes of most American sports fans, and well, we all know how soccer is treated by our NFL-loving middle-American sports fan.

OF COURSE: That doesn’t mean some of those ignorant sports fans can’t discover and enjoy new games.

ESPN’s “Sports Guy” Bill Simmons is in London, and in a fit of laziness, went to watch a pair of the women’s team handball games and was entranced. And he wondered, like I have at various times throughout Olympic watching, why the U.S. isn’t good at this sport?

It plays much like basketball, has elements of ice hockey and would fit in the American sports fan’s attention span. Throw in a couple of TV timeouts and maybe a shot clock, and it would earn a following.

Anyway, Simmons is a good read. And it's a good place to get the conversation started again. At least for a couple of weeks until it fades back in obscurity for another four years.

QUICK RANT/RAVE: Did some more live watching on my phone Monday afternoon, and had a good enough connection to get a clear picture for about a minute on a team handball game before going to pixilation. Had a decent WiFi connection while my son played at McDonald’s.

UPCOMING: Riverside Poly High School grad (and Redlands native) Tyler Clary will compete in the finals of the 200-meter butterfly about 11:45 a.m. local time against Michael Phelps (among others). Earlier this month Clary found himself backstroking from controversy after he called out Phelps and his training habits in an interview with his hometown paper. Should make for interesting television when NBC shows it Tuesday night (in between women’s gymnastics).