Sideline Scoop: First Take

So begins the first of a new installment called the 'Sideline Scoop,' highlighting multiple stories, graphics and everything in between from all corners of the Internet.

This week, we'll be taking a look at a previously mentioned article on fans' influence on the college recruiting process, athletes taking to social media to make major announcements and a look at how fans engage in social media.

1. Social distortion: Twitter has given fans direct access to recruits, for better or worse

 ESPN.com posted this article around a month ago, which talks about what athletes on Twitter currently deal when Signing Day approaches. The article gives readers a good idea of what it is like to be a recruit today and how they deal with all of the voices they hear on social media sites such as Twitter.

2. Richie Incognito returns to Twitter/Jeter announces retirement on Facebook

Two of the bigger stories in sports recently have been the Wells report on the interactions between Miami Dolphins teammates Richie Incognito and Jonathan Martin and Yankees captain and shortstop Derek Jeter announcing his retirement. The ESPN article looks at Incognito's final tweets before he quit the social media site and his first tweets when he returned to the site three days later. Meanwhile, Jeter's retirement alone would be a big story, but it became a big social media story when he made the announcement via his Facebook page. Who needs journalists to tell a story when you can do it yourself?

3. How Sports Fans Engage With Social Media

A PR firm called Catalyst put together an infographic on how sports fan engage with social media, showing that Google+ and YouTube are the fastest-growing social medias for sports fans. Find out more in this infographic via Mashable.