Friday, August 22, 2014

Twitter Done Right

After being without internet for 19 days, I'm back.  It's been a tough few weeks staring at my phone screen and getting as much free Internet from work as I can muster.  But now I'm surfing the web in the confines of my own home just in time for our very own Minnesota United to be a featured team in this week's installment of NASL All Access (#naslaccess).

With NASL All Access (#naslaccess), fans get a glimpse at what life in the almost-big leagues is like. Take a look at United's twitter feed today as they head out to New York for the weekend clash against the Cosmos.

Here's the team dropping off their bags:
And here's the line for airport security:


Just sitting around waiting for takeoff:
Getting their seats:


And their arrival:
This continues with the team getting on the bus, but I'll let you check out NASL All Access (#naslaccess) to see that on your own.

I don't know about you, but I don't feel connected with my team unless I get a minute-by-minute travel update. But is this enough? I only saw one gratuitous athlete-wearing-Beats-by-Dre shot. You mean to tell me Floyd Franks wears complementary iPhone ear buds? And what drinks did they get on the plane? Did Manny Lagos place restrictions on their in-flight snack options? My guess is he says 'no' to cookies, 'yes' to peanuts, and if you get the pretzels eat half on the plane and save the other half for a mid-afternoon snack (that's all contingent on the hotel mini-bar purchases coming out of the players' paycheck).

This is all well and good, but if you want real, unfettered access (#naslaccess), then follow Miguel Ibarra and Christian Ramirez on twitter.


Hijinx at their best, folks. What's not to love about that last picture? Here we have two best buds playing a good old-fashioned slumber party prank on an unsuspecting Jamie Watson. It's a simple case of boys being boys being the most prolific scoring duo in the NASL.

In an age when EPL managers think it's ok to send racist, sexist text messages to their old boss, it's nice to know that here in Minnesota we've got two fun-loving Twitter pros showing the rest of the soccer world how to do social media right. Stop bitching about your birthday cake, and start taking photos of your teammates sleeping!