Sideline Scoop: Troll So Hard

With the rise of social media sites and messages boards, Internet trolls have also become increasingly popular. For those who do not know, a troll is defined by Wikipedia as "person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people by posting inflammatory, extraneous or off-topic messages in an online community with the deliberate intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion." For more information on trolls, check on the YouTube channel Gloves and Boots' informative guide on trolls and the levels of trolling.

This also means that trolls have found their way into the sporting world. And no, it's not just the fans. Even athletes, teams and general managers are starting to show signs of becoming trolls. Let's take a look at just three examples from the past few weeks.

1. Houston Rockets got jokes!

Meet Portland Trail Blazers center Robin Lopez, who is probably better known for his hair than his playing ability (though that is not shot at his skill level). The Trail Blazers are taking on the Houston Rockets in the first round of the NBA Playoffs and, during Game One of their series, the Rockets sent out of the following tweet, more or less comparing Lopez to Simpsons' character Sideshow Bob.

You know, I think they may be on to something...

Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller, who has given Michigan plenty of fits on the field, is now taking shots at the school off the field.

2. Aren't rivalries great?

It's the spring, which means it's the quiet downtime of the off-season for most football players.  It also means that college spring games are underway, and any chance a team has to take a shot at a rival is free game. Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller took the opportunity to send out a tweet comparing the spring game attendance's of his school to that of their biggest rival, Michigan.

Toronto Raptors' GM Masai Ujiri pumps up fans using some unique language.

3. Toronto Raptors' GM is not the biggest fan of Brooklyn. Apparently.

The Toronto Raptors are in the playoffs for the first time since 2008, so the city is understandably excited. The team is hosting the Brooklyn Nets, and prior to the first game of the series, Raptor General Manager Masai Ujiri was giving a speech to help pump up the fans. Thanks to Instagram, we have video of what transpired (WARNING: NSFW language). There has been somewhat of a rivalry between the two franchises ever since the Raptors traded Vince Carter to the Nets and Carter, who some believed was not trying his hardest in Toronto, suddenly became a star again for the Nets.

Tom Crean's Backfiring Tweet and What We Can Learn From It

Indiana head coach Tom Crean opened a can of worms with his recent tweet.

Poor Tom Crean and Indiana University's PR Department. All they wanted was to try to get fans involved and closer to the team.

So some back story first: Indiana University is one of the proudest college basketball programs in the nation, but one that has fallen on tough times lately (the team did not even make the NIT Tournament this year). Fans have grown tired of this and are beginning to sour on the team's head coach, Tom Crean.

Back to the present day. Tom Crean, who in the past has said that he doesn't read replies on Twitter (red flag right there), tweeted the following out to his 138,000+ followers:

So innocent. So simple. But left wide open for trolls.

Seems innocent enough. It's even a great idea, a way for fans to feel a part of their favorite team and try to inspire them daily. Unfortunately, this is the age of the Internet, and trolls thrive on things like this like never before.

Responses came in quickly to Crean's tweet, but none of them were what the team at Indiana was expecting. Most people brought up the team's recent poor play. Others took shots at the coach himself. Take, for example, @RealPhilS, who said that playing for Indiana meant "TO BE VERY TALENTED BUT HAVE YOUR SH*TTY COACH F*CK UP YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING" (On a related note, @RealPhilS should read this comic on typing in all-caps). More examples of responses can be seen here.

My fear from this response is that teams and schools will stop doing things like this altogether, which is the opposite of what they should do. Much like a white paper I recently helped write for class, schools needs to teach everyone, from their student-athletes to those who coach them, the proper way to use social media and how to respond to situations like this. And no, ignoring them is not the correct answer.

So what can we learn from Indiana's mistakes?

• Know your fan base 

Indiana is coming off a 17-15 (7-11 Big Ten) season that saw them fail to make a postseason tournament.. For a team with such a prestigious history, that is not a good season Fans are not exactly going to be in the happiest of moods right now. Therefore, it's probably not the best time to ask such an open-ended question on a site like Twitter, where trolls lurk around every corner just waiting for an opportunity like this.

• Take the good with the bad

Unfortunately, as Alfred in the movie 'The Dark Knight' pointed out, "some men just want to watch the world burn." Regardless of what you do or say, some commentators to online posts will always troll and post negative things. Do not let that discourage you from trying to interact with your fans and readers though. The loudest ones are often the minority.

• Develop a social media strategy beforehand

 It is best to develop a strategy beforehand of what you will post, when you will post it and how you will respond to both positive and negative responses to that post. I am sure that Indiana had a plan when they had Crean post the tweet (because I have trouble believing someone who has so openly criticized Twitter in the past would come up with this idea on his own), but I do not think they executed it as well as they could have. It may have been better to have the school's official Twitter account post the question as opposed to Crean's account. But every mistake is a chance to learn, and I am sure that Indiana and Crean have learned plenty from the tweet.