Editor’s Blog

Tweet Storm

By Steffie Corcoran
May 14, 2012

I have a love-hate relationship with Twitter, mostly hate. On the love side, my purest and most unconditional fondness for the social media network that presents bazillions of points of view a maximum of 140 characters at a time occurs almost exclusively during high-stakes sporting events. Keeping one eye on the TV and the other on the iPad or laptop as thousands of pundits—some sports insiders, many more fans—weigh in on every shot or flop or assist or foul is wildly entertaining to a sports-loving info junkie with ADD like me. 

I’m sure you already know where this is going. NBA playoffs, baby! The Oklahoma City Thunder takes on the L.A. Lakers in Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals tonight at 8:30 at the Peake in downtown Oklahoma City, and for the next few games, fans of the team inside and outside state lines will come together with one purpose: to defeat World Peace. 

The Artest Formerly Known as Ron (I confess, I stole that from Allen Brown’s Facebook page), Kobe, Gasol, and the rest of the experienced (some might say geriatric) Lakers team will be squeaking up and down the court (some might say creaking) in just a few hours in what will hopefully be a vainglorious and futile effort to keep up with the young men we've grown to love: KD, Perk (heal, Perk!), Nick, Russ, Fish, the Beard (fear it!), and the rest. If you, like me, can’t make it through the game without partially digesting thousands of rapid-fire bits of commentary, analysis, and/or cheering, follow these Twitter feeds. 

@dailythunder: Royce Young of Oklahoma City is the man behind the tweets here. His blog of the same name is so awesome it earned him a full-time gig as an NBA writer for CBSSports.com. Young’s tweets during Thunder games are frequent, insightful, and strike the right balance between fan and sports professional. Plus, Young is the person who tweets gate information prized by hundreds (sometimes thousands) of airport-bound fans who live for a high-five from players like James Harden. 

Thanks to Royce Young's @dailythunder tweets, fans like Chad Stowe of Yukon, who shot this video with his iPhone after the Thunder's sweep of the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the NBA playoffs, can capture their own footage of postgame airport mayhem.

@DarnellMayberry: Mayberry is the Oklahoman’s NBA beat writer, and he’s as good as KD on a 30-point night with 12 rebounds. His postgame notebooks are things of beauty that always contain a few unexpected courtside observations. 

@thelostogle: What was once an “obscure local social blog” has become anything but, and Patrick’s tweets during Thunder games are hilarious, profane, and hateful, sometimes simultaneously. 

@NewsOKThunder: This feed aggregates Thunder-related content from the Oklahoman's columnists and sports writers, including Mayberry, John Rohde, Jenni Carlson, and Berry Tramel. 

@cackiness, @baldryan, @andrewrice, @suzywampus, and @SethFSpillman: The tweets of these fans (Cacky Poarch, Oklahoma Today contributor and OklahomaRock.com mastermind Ryan LaCroix, former Oklahoma state senator Andrew Rice, Forward Foods co-owner Suzy Thompson, and Seth Spillman, respectively) always get me fired up for a big old Thunder storm. 

Yours truly will occasionally be tweeting—and more often retweeting—during games: Rally! THUNDER UP! and Russell!!!! are among my most recent thought-provoking observations. If you're truly desperate for people to follow, I'm at @steffiecorcoran. 

Have a favorite Thunder tweeter not mentioned here? Let me know—I'd love to follow them. Meanwhile, Thunder Up and Stop World Peace!

<<<Previous Entry: “Pig of the Litter” by Megan Rossman