It Will Get Lonely in Cavs Land
July 26, 2010Browns RB Montario Hardesty Agrees to a Four-Year Deal
July 26, 2010A few things before we get to the list. This started out to be a top ten Cleveland Athletes list, but as I dug into it, I realized that there is a severe lack of really interesting twitter accounts in our pro sports teams. The top few are very good, but outside of that, not very exciting. So I expanded the list beyond athletes. Full disclosure- I would put a few WFNY accounts up against nearly any of these, but in the interest of fairness we will consider WFNY writers off limits for the list.
So here we go, the top ten Cleveland Sports Twitter Accounts:
1. Josh Cribbs (@JoshCribbs16) Cleveland’s most beloved athlete is also a top tweeter. Whether he’s talking about movies, music, food, his family, or the Browns Josh brings it. He posts great pictures to his account as well. Seriously, what other professional athlete posts a picture of himself in an Easter Bunny costume? Keep it up Josh. You are Cleveland’s best.
2. Brian Windhorst (@PDcavsinsider) The best beat reporter in the business follows the Cavaliers. Brian’s tweets have been read as breaking news for the last month on Cleveland radio. If there is a rumor out there, you can bet Brian is tracking it down, and he usually tweets about a subject before a piece is written on cleveland.com. Everyone follows Windy. (Unfortunately, everyone also retweets Windy meaning you may get the same message multiple times!) Brian will occasionally respond and answer questions through twitter, which is better than a lot of reporters in the Cleveland scene.
3. Tom Withers (@twithersAP) Withers covers Cleveland sports for the Associated Press. You’ve read his work even if you didn’t see his name as a byline. His twitter account is mostly a stream of facts, and there is little to no interaction between Tom and his followers. To be honest with you, I have no idea if he even reads his stream. But the info is there, and it is a must follow.
4. Carlton Mitchell (@clmitch18) The Browns’ sixth round pick from South Florida has been the best addition to the Cleveland twitter scene. He interacts with fans, and offers some really neat access to what it is like to be a rookie the NFL. He took us through his tattoo process and on a tour of the NFL Hall of Fame with his Browns teammates. He tweets about flat tires and his faith. He only has 800 followers so far, but when he gets on the field and produces that number will skyrocket because of his accessibility and interesting comments.
5. Anthony Castrovince (@castrovince) Few beat reporters seem to care as much about the team that they cover. You will get updates on every level of Indians’ players by following Castrovince. He sends out very useful retweets and links about the team as well.
6. Sam Amico (@SamAmicoNBA) Born and raised in NE Ohio, Sam covers the Cavaliers with passion and prejudice. He is one of the few reporters willing to let his opinion be known through his twitter account. Sure, he has the ability to write impartial, but he may be best when he lets it loose.
7. Mo Williams (@mogotti2) The Cavaliers’ PG is transparent on twitter. His tweets during the LBJ fiasco were open and honest. He will occasionally respond to fans, though I think he has backed away since getting roasted and seeing fans asking for him to be traded. Mo keeps up with some other NBA players, and the interaction makes for an entertaining read.
8. The Orange and Brown Report (@TheOBR) There are a lot of Browns reporters on twitter. Most of them don’t really use twitter for anything other than a way to promote their articles. The OBR gets the nod because they offer timely updates on signings and injuries, plus they interact with followers as well. Not to mention we happen to like what they have to offer as a site.
9. Cleveland Indians PR (@tribetalk) The Indians have really done a fantastic job on twitter this season. Constant updates and pictures, plus great fan interaction. Then there is the Tribe Social Deck. Fantastic promotion, though I question if it has generated the type of interest they had hoped for. If you are a twitter user and want to go see a Tribe game on the Indians tribetalk is the account to follow. (On a side note, it was hard to leave @LetsGoTribe and @tribeinsider off the list. Both do quality work as well.)
10. Joe Haden (@joehaden23) The last spot on the list goes to another Browns rookie. Haden interacts frequently with other Browns and fans alike. His twitter production was shy high right after the draft, but has leveled off a bit. Twitter will be a much better place for Cleveland fans if the Browns can turn this around. Cribbs, Mitchell and Haden would make sure of that.
I know. I didn’t include your favorite on the list. Or perhaps you yourself thought you deserved to be there with your witty comments on the games or blog pimping prowess. So be it. Put your favorites in the comments.
20 Comments
Tough to leave Eric Wright off… He’s always interacting with fans; I’d wager to say the vast majority of his tweets are replies to someone.
Dude may lose his starting gig to a rookie – at least let him have the Twitter title for the time being.
I found it hard to believe you left several of these off the list.
@Jakeinohiocity
@onlyincle
@thundertreats
I forgive you, but also agree with Cribbs and Windy being 1-2
sweet. I actually just opened a twitter account (only to follow) last week. I had several of these, but am missing others. Thanks, Rick. Good idea.
what no david huff?
Yo, where is the chosen one? @LefraudJames is the greatest twit of all time! I have had 3 bad tweets in 7 years and have spoiled all of you little people. Thats the last straw, The “king” is going to…. man this is hard…. the king is going to take his talented tweets to south. Now The King has to go to Pilates class, followed by a trip to the spa for a mani and pedi and then an intense hour of flexing and primping in front of a mirror.
i like the article! just wanted to say that shaq is my favorite tweeter of all time.. though i gues calling him clev sports is the hard call to make. either way, great article!
David Huff is the #1 Tweeter in the Columbus area.
I am conspeeshusly absent :[
Thanks for this, very helpful. added to my “Cleveland sports” twitter list.
Per Eric Wright – “[I] def interact wit the fans the most.. the wrighteous experience is extremely entertaining”
Everyone’s becoming a twitterhead. Saw that Chris Dudley is the Republican nominee running for governor in Oregon. @dudley2010
@NotEricMangini…..I still laugh when I think about his tweet when Holmgren was in town for his initial job interview:
“Is the bad man gone yet?”.
I am appalled that my favorite Tweeter, Eric Wright @ithinkurwright, did not make the #1 Spot, let alone being excluded from your list. Also Shaq, @the_real_shaq , should have made the list as well.
Shaq gave away a lot of autographed items–during Cavs season, via his Random Acts of Shaqness Twitter Treasure Hunts. And Wright held two all expense paid for parties, both in Cleveland and LA, for all his Twitter followers.
After an hour and 45 minutes, 108 people have clicked through to Carlton Mitchell’s twitter account. He’s over 900 followers now.
Shaq will always have a special place in Nullster’s heart
So much so that I’m tempted to cut the magazine in half so I can look at it once again
[…] Yesterday I gave you my top ten list of Cleveland Sports twitter accounts. For the most part I think I nailed it. In fact there really was only one omission that I heard […]
Another one to watch might be @cavsdan. It is (verified) Dan Gilbert. He has not seemed to have tweeted too much yet, but he’s only had it since the end of June.
[…] Thanks to Scott for helping with our technical issues yesterday. To see the voting results from round one click here. To see the Top Ten list that started it all click here. […]
[…] very close races yesterday. Mo Williams edged Eric Wright by a narrow margin (perhaps vindication for my original top ten?) and Shaun Rogers gave rookie WR Carlton Mitchell a run for his money. Over 1,300 votes were cast […]