Baseball Seams with Twitter

The Internet has had such a huge impact on “my generation”, I’m not sure where to begin. Things like AOL/AIM created the first versions of social networking with instant messaging. Then MySpace blew everybody away. Facebook currently wears the crown. Something else will pop up in the next few years and be the “it” thing.

All the things I have previously mentioned have been fantastic in their own way. They were also all great for keeping in touch with friends and family at all times of the day. But when I discovered Twitter, I found something fresh.

I’ve been a diehard sports fan my entire life. There’s a difference between fans and superfans; I definitely fall into the second group. Not to give myself some mighty praise or toot my own horn, but I never had a friend growing up that was “into it” as much as I was. I had friends that could hang, but I always felt as if I dominated the convo with stats and just a little bit more strategy/awareness.

I didn’t do it because I wanted to be Mr. Smarty Pants; I did it because I love talking about sports. The same way an aspiring musician hears a song and attempts to play it back repeatedly until they figure it out.

So I would struggle at times to find great sports fans at my level. I’ve had friends over the years whose sports opinions really meant a lot to me (shoutout to CaseTines) and some… well, let’s just say it was like nails on a chalkboard. But again, Twitter changed that for me. Through Twitter I’ve found other bloggers, other superfans, other people that love sports just as much as I do. Simply put, it’s amazing.

We can all read an article and spit it back out in our own terms. We can all watch a game and discuss strategy. We can all pretend as if we all know how to play 3rd base better than Jose Lopez. We can all pretend we have the slightest idea of what sabermetrics are. Through Twitter, where you can put in as much and as little as you want, a Seattle sports community has been born.

Maybe the common person out there would find it kind of “weird” to make friends through a social networking site such as Twitter, but until you’ve given it an honest effort, I don’t think anybody should knock it too hard. I have been fortunate enough to meet people over the last few months at baseball games and other functions that I’m blessed to say I now know. Without Twitter, none of this happens.

For many, we started with our mutual opinions about the Seattle Mariners and went from there. As with many things in life, you gravitate towards others whom have common interests. Well, from the day I was born until the day I die, baseball will always be a part of my life. So when I can surround myself with others who agreed with my last statement, it makes your “superfandom” not seem as crazy as some may think it is. (Sorry mom, I have 6 Fatheads surrounding my living room).

So if I have to leave you with a simple way of expressing what this blog post means to me, I’d say it’s this: Thank you, Twitter. Thank you for allowing me to find other sports fans just like me that live it, breathe it, and celebrate it the same way I have been for years.

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