Ok, this is the final installment of this mini-series that took much longer than I thought. I began this on July 17 and with a few stops and starts, finally finishing this in August. You’ve had quite a few categories, sports media, sports business, sports TV PR, MLB, NFL, NHL, Tennis, college basketball, college football, and Olympics. You can check out my previous installments here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
Today, I’m calling this the Best of the Rest. I’ll provide some of my favorite tweeps in sports and those outside of sports. This will be rather long, but I want to finish and get on to other projects I have planned for the blog. I hope you find this useful.
BEST OF THE REST — SPORTS
ESPNBook — This is the official Twitter account of the co-author of the book “Those Guys Have All The Fun: Inside the World of ESPN”, James Arthur Miller. When the book was coming out, Jim was tweeting very good information and as he prepares for the paperback edition, he’s still churning out good stuff. And he engages with tweeps who ask questions about ESPN. This has 9,923 followers.
kevinspaul — Kevin Paul is a freelance writer having written for FoxSports.com. He currently maintains the site, The Wife Hates Sports which is devoted to all sports and to guys whose wives control the TV remote. Kevin is a funny guy and a person who will tweet about anything. Follow him, ok? Kevin has 980 followers.
SBJSBD –The official account of the sports industry magazines Sports Business Journal and Sports Business Daily, this provides links to articles that are published in both publications. Some articles are behind paywalls as both are subscription-based, however, there are times when articles are opened to the public and if you follow sports media, sports business, sports arenas and stadiums, agents or other industry news, then this is for you. It’s one of the most influential sports industry publications. This has 20,636 followers.
JimmyTraina — The editor of SI.com’s Hot Clicks page, Jimmy Traina is like The Godfather of the Internet. Treat him nicely and you can get your blog or site linked in Hot Clicks and get increased traffic for days. Or you can anger him and not get linked to at all. A link in Hot Clicks can increase pageviews tenfold or even twentyfold. I’ve had the pleasure to be mentioned several times in Hot Clicks. While Jimmy is a Yankees fan, I can overlook that. He has some good observations in his Twitter account. He has 19,007 tweeps.
BobsBlitz — This represents Bob’s Blitz, a site that is a mix of sports, pop culture, videos and anything Bob wants to publish. Bob constantly posts videos from New York sports radio station, WFAN and keeps up with the station 24/7. I don’t know where Bob gets the pictures of hot chicks on his site, but I’m not complaining. It’s a very good blog and do yourself a favor and follow Bob. Be part of the 2,060 and more who follow him.
blogswithballs — This is for Blogs with Balls, an event for sports bloggers that has been held three times since 2009. The 4th incarnation will be held this fall. I follow this for news, projects and general tweets regarding BwB. This is a very good account to follow. Blogs with Balls has 2,312 followers.
asportsscribe — Jason Clinkscales was one of my first friends on Twitter. He maintains A Sports Scribe, a general sports blog and he also co-hosts The Exchange on Blog Talk Radio with Sumit Dasgupta. Jason’s claim to fame was being misidentified by Tom Jackson as a student at Eli Manning’s press conference on C’mon, Man on ESPN. C’mon, Man! Anyway, Jason is a very good writer and provides excellent observations on his Twitter account. And listen to The Exchange every Tuesday night at 9 Eastern time. Jason has 654 followers. Do your part to increase that.
kathleenhessert — Kathleen Hessert is the CEO of Sports Media Challenge and Buzz Manager. Kathleen helps her clients understand the power of the media and social media. She steered Shaquille O’Neal to Twitter to take control of several fake Shaq accounts and he has been an extreme Power Tweeter ever since. I had the pleasure to hear Ms. Hessert speak at Blogs with Balls 1.0 in 2009 and have followed her account ever since. If you’re looking to get into social media management, Kathleeen is a must follow. She has 7,295 followers for good reason.
katrinakaye — This is the account of Katrina Younce, a founder of Pro Sports Communications, a sports public relations firm, and one of the authors of the Pro Sports Communications blog. Katrina’s account has plenty of links to the blog and other sites in regards to sports media, sports PR and sports social media. Katrina and her firm’s partners are always updating the blog writing articles and giving advice to readers. Katrina has 2,022 followers.
SportsTVjobs — A former sports TV insider, Brian Clapp maintains the site, Sports TV Jobs, which provides advice from professionals on how to get a job in sports television. Brian also blogs at his site and interviews current TV insiders on the state of the profession today. His Twitter account has good observations as well. This has 693 followers.
StacyCason –Stacy is a Production Assistant at Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic and a Digital Media Producer at CSN’s two websites, CSNBaltimore and CSNWashington. She’ll post links to videos on both sites and preview what’s coming up on CSN Mid-Atlantic. If you live in the Baltimore-Washington area, then follow Stacy to see what’s going on. And she also provides some personal observations too. Give Stacy a follow. She’s at 343 followers.
ttiana — The very sexy Ttiana is part of ESPN’s NASCAR technical crew. She provides pictures and insights on each ESPN NASCAR stop whether it be during the Nationwide Series or the Sprint Cup Series. The things I love about Ttiana’s account is that she’ll talk about traveling to each NASCAR destination, engage her followers and give some behind the scenes information on the ESPN telecast. One of the nicer people on Twitter, she’s also not afraid to mix it up if someone pisses her off. I’m surprised she has 1,404 followers because that number should be much higher.
texas_gal — A transplanted Texan now living in Boston, Texy as she’s known on Twitter is a huge Red Sox and Bruins fan. She knows her sports and is a very quick study. She’s been all over the country attending baseball and hockey games. Texy has been a regular at both Fenway Park and TD Garden. And she’s well-known by many of the hockey tweeps I recommended you follow a couple of weeks ago. Oh, and if you want to remain on Texy’s good side, don’t ever rag on her Texas Longhorns. She has 1,645 followers and counting.
Stefmara — For equal time, I’ll put a Yankees fan in here. Actually, Jimmy Traina’s a Yankee fan too. I think I need to equal that out with another Red Sox fan. Anyway, if you’ve followed the news, then you know Stefanie Gordon for the famous Space Shuttle launch picture she took from her airplane seat. I knew Stefanie on Twitter long before she took that picture and she’s a very good follow. She loves her Yankees and New York Rangers. I don’t fault her for this. And if you’re in the sports industry, hire Stef. She has 4,928 followers.
Jackie_Pepper — For former Comcast SportsNet New England anchor Jackie Pepper. She keeps tabs on her former New England beats and she’ll also exchange tweets with followers. And Jackie will tweet general observations as well. And if you’re in TV, view her video and hire her. You’ll get a hard worker. Jackie has 1,519 followers.
bruceallen — Why I’ve omitted the webmaster of Boston Sports Media Watch is beyond me. Bruce Allen should have been on my list weeks ago. I’ve been associated with Bruce doing a mirror site at BSMW since 2009. One of the inspirations for Fang’s Bites, Bruce’s media links on Boston sports plus acting as a check on the beat writers has made Bruce’s site a must visit for New England sports fans. He tirelessly puts out his links way before I do and is a very good clearinghouse for Boston sports links. Bruce is a diehard Patriots fans, but I don’t hold this against him. He has 1,665 followers.
BobLeyESPN — Another oversight. Mr. Ley is a tremendous follow. While he hasn’t tweeted since July, Bob has been on vacation since hosting the Women’s World Cup in Germany so he’s given a pass. Bob has tweeted about soccer, Bruce Springsteen, news events and so much more. He’s very well-read and I’m sure when Bob returns to work, he’ll be tweeting once again. Bob is a very good person to exchange tweets with. He has 39,972 followers.
That will wrap up the sports tweeps and with the 17 I’ve recommended tonight, overall that makes 165 accounts I’ve recommended.
Now let’s move to non-sports. There will be a lot more when all is said and done here.
NON-SPORTS/NEWS/TV/ENTERTAINMENT
johnsberman — A general assignment reporter for ABC News, John Berman is also an avid Red Sox fan. He tweets a lot about the Red Sox, but he’ll also tweet about the stories on which he’s reporting, but his account is mostly sports. A very good follow, John also has his own Facebook page which you can “like”. John has 16,794 followers.
brianstelter — Brian Stelter reports on TV and digital media for the New York Times. He contributes to the Media Decoder blog and appears on various cable news shows when there’s a big story like the News Corp. phone hacking scandal. He’s well connected and uses Twitter to compliment his reporting. Brian also has a personal Twitter account which discusses his 90 pound weight loss. His professional account has 70,808 followers.
michaelausiello — He loves Snapple, the Smurfs and Lauren Graham. Overall, Michael Ausiello, the Editor-in-Chief of TV Line is one of the best and entertaining TV beat writers. His Ask Ausiello column is widely read by fans. His Twitter account is always chock full of information. If you don’t like spoilers, then by all means, don’t read his columns, but Michael’s always on top of the industry. He has 1,149,569 loyal tweeps.
tdogmedia — The T Dog Media Blog follows Chicago TV and Radio and quite well. Terence Henderson keeps on top of all things in the Chicago market. Because of the competition in the Windy City among radio and TV stations, there’s always plenty of news to write about. Terence’s stories are well-written and well-thought out. His Twitter account is full of TV industry news. Only 280 followers so you can help increase that to a higher number.
bostonradio — This is for the excellent blog, Boston Radio Watch, which you can imagine follows the Boston radio scene. The blog is constantly being updated and so is the Twitter account which not only contains Boston radio news, but personal insights. Boston radio has 1,813 followers.
radioinsight — Lance Venta runs the very good sight Radio Insight which like Boston Radio Watch follows radio, but on a national level. The account has links to the site, and also engages with followers. I’ve found Lance to be a very good resource on ownership changes, format flips and the latest news on a medium that remains very near and dear to my heart. This has 2,181 followers.
ShandiMissUSA — For former Miss USA, Lingo co-host and Quiznation host Shandi Finnessey. A lot of people use Twitter for angst and complaints. Shandi’s account is very positive. I love her tweets. Plus, Shandi has her own site. She’ll engage with followers and be very supportive. Shandi has 4,283 followers.
chrissyteigen — For Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Chrissy Teigen. She’s an avid sports fan and will tweet about sports, but she will also tweet about anything that comes to mind. She’s constantly mixing it up with tweeps. Chrissy has her own blog as well. Chrissy has 59,262 followers.
kayhanley — I love Kay Hanley. The former Letters to Cleo lead singer and Boston native is now out in Los Angeles. She’s a big Red Sox fan and will tweet about the game she’s watching. And when she gets angry about the Red Sox, look out! I love following Kay Hanley. You can find her music on MySpace. Kay has 9,514 followers.
rajskub — If you’ve followed this blog for a while, then you know that I needed to get a 24 tweep somehow on this list. If you watched 24, you’ll know Mary Lynn Rajskub played “Chloe” from season 3 until the end of the series. And she’ll most likely be in the movie whenever it comes out. A comedian by trade, Mary Lynn tweets very funny thoughts and she’ll give some aspects of what happened during her time on 24. Mary Lynn has 65,102 followers.
allialexander/amomknowsbest — These are the Twitter accounts for former WLNE-TV anchor Allison Alexander and the lead writer and editor of the Mommy blog, A Mom Knows Best. Allison became a popular anchor during her time in Providence and started her site shortly after becoming a mother. Unfortunately, a management change at WLNE led to her being let go, but I’m sure Allison will be getting a gig soon. A very positive person, her accounts are full of good tweets from her site and her own thoughts. Allison’s account has 3,275 followers while A Mom Knows Best has just over 1,500 tweeps.
ebertchicago — The official Twitter account of Pulitzer Award-winning Chicago Sun-Times movie critic Roger Ebert, this isn’t just about movie reviews. Roger tweets on a whole plethora of subjects. Sometimes they can be political, other times he’ll link to interesting stories. It’s a very good account and the tweets are high quality. Roger has 510,879 tweeps.
GailSimone — This is the account for DC Comics writer Gail Simone. The former head writer for Wonder Woman, Birds of Prey and Secret Six, this is full of tweets to her fans talking about her characters, links to interviews and personal observations. Gail will be taking over the Batgirl series as DC Comics does a massive reboot of its entire line. I became familiar with her writing for the Birds of Prey series. If you’re into graphic novels, Gail is a good account to follow. She has 15,824 followers.
SU2C — For the cancer research fundraising organization, Stand Up 2 Cancer, this provides information on the latest news the group and retweets followers who do their part to spread the message about cancer. While founder Laura Ziskin recently lost her battle to cancer, it doesn’t end her efforts to wipe out the disease. Stand Up 2 Cancer has 64,107 followers.
mariamenounos — For the extremely lovely Access Hollywood host and sometimes NBC News reporter (and soon-to-be Extra co-host) Maria Menounos, a Massachusetts homey. Maria’s tweets are not full of entertainment gossip. There are other accounts for that. This is for Maria’s personal tweets about her dog, personal pics of various appearances and for taunting Lakers fans as Maria is a huge Celtics fan. Maria has 130,322 followers.
And that’s going to end this series. It’s finally done. With an additional 15 non-sports tweeps, this make for a total of 180 accounts you should follow. I’m finally glad this is over. Now I can move on to another project that I hope to finish before the NFL preseason begins.
