By David Thompson
Twitter, the online social network, has become popular over the past year and a half because it allows people to see what Miley Cyrus ate for breakfast or to find out to which song Ashton Kutcher is listening.
Twitter's impact on the sports world, however, reaches much further than providing a stage for Chad Ochocinco. Twitter, when used appropriately, gives fans an inside look at what their team is doing on a daily basis.
There is not a better example of this than Portland's own men's head basketball coach Eric Reveno. Reveno, or coachreveno as his Twitter fans know him, has captivated fans ever since his first "tweet" from May of last year.
Reveno was even named "the West Coast Conference Twitterer of the Year" by Digital Hoops Blast, a blog dedicated to how technology is used in reaching student-athletes.
Among Reveno's favorite subjects to tweet about are practices, scouting and inspirational quotes. Every once in a while he even throws in some humor. When Reveno was watching Gonzaga film and tweeted, "Can't take it anymore. Turning off volume on Fox's Heister and Ehlo and listening to a little 'Train' while I watch Gonzaga film. For sanity."
Andy Pawlowski, the writer of Digital Hoops Blast, gave Reveno the distinction of best "tweeter" in the WCC based on his originality and use of the site.
"Coach Reveno is one of the best in the country on Twitter. To do well on Twitter isn't to amass the most followers, but rather to do a great job of building relationships with the right followers," says Pawlowski on his blog.
The "right followers" to which Pawlowski is referring are potential recruits and fans. While the NCAA has made rulings prohibiting public contact between a recruit and a school, Twitter allows a recruit to see the personality of a program without direct contact. "(Twitter) has offered a way for a recruit to be a fly on the wall of their potential college. What is the coaching staff like? What are practices like? And what's the dynamic between coaches and players?"
Digital Hoops Blast ranked all eight West Coast Conference school's use of digital media as a source of communication to fans and student athletes. Portland came in second behind Santa Clara. Pawlowski credited Reveno's Twitter to be the strongest aspect of the resume which looked at everything from the athletics' web site portlandpilots.com to the athletics' YouTube channel.
So does having the second best digital marketing plan even mean anything? Pawlowski thinks so. Technology, Pawlowski argues, lessens the gap between the mid-majors and the power conferences.
"Web sites and digital marketing are the great equalizer - a place where every program can share what they stand for," Pawlowski says. "I'd argue all of this is even more critical for the mid-majors."
When it comes down to it, the digital media that the University of Portland athletic department provides is more than just for potential student-athletes. It's a great resource for the fans as well. This is another quality that makes Reveno "one of the best in the country on Twitter ... He lets you feel like an insider by following him," Pawlowski said.
More information on Pawlowski's Digital Hoops Blast is available at digitalhoopsblast.com.
More of Reveno's tweets are available at twitter.com/coachreveno. Don't forget to follow The Beacon on Twitter at Twitter.com/thebeaconsports.
