Image by adria.richards via Flickr

Last week I logged in to my Twitter account only to discover that all of my followers had abandoned me. I had only one follower left — and that was me.

Did everyone I know suddenly decide they didn’t want to read my tweets? Was I really that boring? I was truly hurt, until I looked at the number of people I was following and discovered that it, too, had zeroed out. I was suddenly following no one. And the people that I follow are anything but boring. I would never abandon them.

So how did that happen? In my quest to find out, I have been placed in Twitter limbo. My account is suspended, I am unable to tweet and there’s no human being to ask what happened.

The road to limbo started with an innocent request sent to Twitter through one of the many help/complaint links on the site. I merely asked why the followers had disappeared and if they could be restored.

I received an instant response that if my account was suspended, I could request it be returned to active use. I didn’t think I was suspended, but how would I know? So I responded to the “suspended” link in the email, and asked to be reinstated if I was suspended. And by the way, could I have my followers back?

As it turns out, I wasn’t suspended at the time. Which didn’t explain why I lost my followers, but at least left me relieved that I still had an active account. A few people even signed up to follow me. I was up to three followers.

Hey, it’s a start.

But that stopped quickly. Twitter suspended by account. The message in the red block on my home page only stated, “This account is currently suspended and is being investigated due to strange activity. If we have suspended your account mistakenly, please let us know.”

I responded by asking to have my account reactivated, but the request went unanswered. I’ve asked again, and the request is now “pending.” In the meantime, Twitter’s troubleshooting section said a number of accounts have had their followers zeroed out. They’re looking into it.

So now I’m waiting. I don’t want to open a new account and start over. I want my account with my name and my small but loyal group of followers back.

Fortunately, I haven’t reached the point of obsession. Unlike some of my friends, I don’t need to tweet. I can live without it.

But why should I have to? Why, Twitter?

Image by geognerd via Flickr

Juan Pablo Montoya’s instinctive first reaction to the news that he would be penalized for speeding on pit road during the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard race on Sunday was not to question the failure of his own equipment.

Instead, he openly questioned NASCAR.

“I swear on my children and my wife that I was not speeding,” Montoya said over his in-car radio, available for all fans and NASCAR heirarchy to hear. “There is no way. Thank you NASCAR for screwing my day.”

Montoya’s anger was understandable. He had dominated one of the most prestigious races in the Sprint Cup series up until that point and had a five-second lead on his closest challenger when he was penalized with 35 laps to go. It was his race to lose and, in his mind, NASCAR had just taken it away from him.

“It’s an absolute rip-off,” he said. “I hope [NASCAR president] Mike Helton is listening to this: You better double-check what happened because I got robbed.”

Here’s the curious part. Montoya didn’t grow up schooled in the history of NASCAR. He has been racing in the sport for less than three years. But apparently, that’s long enough for him to have developed some doubt about NASCAR’s credibility.

NASCAR has been accused of manipulating races for years. Indeed, the most vocal conspiracy theorists have come from within the garage. Some of the top drivers of all time have openly declared that NASCAR deliberately manipulated the finishes of races.

Cup champion Bill Elliott even wrote about it in his 2006 book, Awesome Bill From Dawsonville, My Life in NASCAR: “They still try to dictate results. Whether it’s [Richard] Petty’s Daytona win in 1984 or the questionable yellow flags of the last few years, NASCAR seems to be manufacturing their outcomes a little too much. People in the sport used to laugh at the random yellow flags that would fly during a race due to phantom debris on the track. Most of these yellows were simply intended to tighten up the field for a more exciting finish or to bring the day’s “featured” performer closer to the lead.

“If NASCAR isn’t careful, they’re going to end up hurting the credibility of the sport.”

Two-time champion Tony Stewart openly questioned NASCAR as well.

“It’s about the integrity of the sport,” Stewart said on his radio show in 2007 after he felt NASCAR used caution flags to rob him of a victory at Phoenix. “When I feel our own sanctioning body isn’t taking care of that, it’s hard to support them and feel proud about being a driver in the Nextel Cup Series. I guess NASCAR thinks, ‘Hey wrestling worked, and it was for the most part staged, so I guess it’s going to work in racing, too.’

“I don’t know they’ve run a fair race all year.”

Even Petty, the seven-time Cup champion, agreed that NASCAR deliberately affected results: “What they do try to rig is from time to time throw cautions to make the race closer,” he told The New York Times in 2007. “They don’t care who wins. They’ve got no control over who wins. But they want somebody racing to win instead of somebody just motoring away from everybody.”

That’s exactly what Montoya was doing on Sunday.

Reporters have been quick to debunk the conspiracy theories regarding Montoya, pointing out that NASCAR would have benefitted in some ways from the publicity of his winning the race. But those who question why NASCAR would want to take a sure win away from Montoya fail to look at the most obvious reason: His domination made one of the most important races of the season an hours-long bore. After the Indianapolis Motor Speedway debacle of 2008, when poorly constructed tires ruined the race, NASCAR couldn’t afford to give fans another reason to avoid this shining jewel in the schedule.

That’s not to say NASCAR wrongly or deliberately penalized Montoya, only that conspiracy theorists could point to a reason to do it.

As for NASCAR, officials at the track pointed to their data that showed unequivocally that Montoya was speeding. And Montoya cooled down after the race, refusing to address the earlier criticism.

“It kind of sucks, but it is what it is,” he said. “You can’t change it. It’s frustrating. But it shows where we’re going with the team.”

It’s hard to argue with the raw numbers NASCAR produced, except that the numbers weren’t immediately available to Montoya, his crew chief or fans watching the race on television. NASCAR keeps that information from drivers, making them essentially guess how fast they are going on pit road based on RPMs — the racecars are not equipped with speedometers.

Chad Knaus, crew chief for Sunday’s winner, Jimmie Johnson, called on NASCAR to make pit road speed information available.

“I’m hoping that at some point we’ll be able to see the pit road speeds published because that will allow us to work within limits that we’re comfortable with,” he said after the race.

Why the secrecy? If it’s not designed for manipulation, it sure leaves conspiracy theorists wondering if it could be used for that purpose. Which is why NASCAR needs to make that information available to drivers and fans alike. It has to erase the doubt.

Because if a relative newcomer like Montoya already automatically assumes officials are deliberately affecting the outcomes of races, imagine what all of those new fans NASCAR is courting might think.

It’s a credibility problem NASCAR needs to address.

The decision makes Vick, 29, eligible to sign with a team, join it during training camp and play in the final two preseason games. But N.F.L. Commissioner Roger Goodell has not determined when Vick can return to regular-season games. That ruling is to come by Week 6 of the season, in mid-October.

In a letter to Vick on Monday, Goodell noted that Vick’s margin for error was “extremely limited.” He wrote: “My decision at that time will be based on reports from outside professionals, your probation officer, and others charged with supervising your activities, the quality of your work outside football, the absence of any further adverse involvement in law enforcement, and other concrete actions that you take that are consistent with your representations to me.”

via N.F.L. Grants Vick an Opening – NYTimes.com

More than a few columnists have said Vick has paid his debt to society and has the right to play football again. But playing in the NFL is a privilege, not a right. By torturing and killing dogs, Vick gave up that privilege. Shouldn’t he have to earn it back? Shouldn’t he have to prove he is worthy of that privilege again?

At this point, it remains to be seen if any team will want Vick on its roster. Released by Atlanta, the team that once bestowed Vick with a $130 million contract, no other team in the NFL has hinted at being interested so far with training camps about to open.

Maybe teams will put character and image ahead of football for once and stay away from Michael Vick. But I doubt it.

Image by Keith Allison via Flickr

LeBron James and Nike made a big fuss about a video taken during a recent basketball pick-up game that showed Xavier’s Jordan Crawford dunking on him. After the game at the LeBron James Skills Academy, James and Nike confiscated several videotapes of the dunk, lest anyone think less of the greatest player in the game.

Naturally, it didn’t take long for rogue videos to appear. Here’s a look at the famed dunk, the shot James couldn’t let anyone see.

James already showed the world what kind of sport he was when he refused to shake hands with the Orlando Magic players after Cleveland was eliminated from the NBA playoffs this past season.  Trying to hide the video is just further proof LeBron has turned into LeBrat or, as the esteemed ESPN.com columnist Jemele Hill called him on Facebook, “LeBaby.”

Image by speedye via Flickr

Twice in the last month, readers who were unhappy with my posts on another web site went out of their way to email and tell me that I was ugly.

The first time I responded by joking that I didn’t like my picture, either. The second time, I wrote the emailer that I didn’t deserve the cheap shot, to which he (or she) responded, “If you don’t want comments about your appearance, take down your picture. Nobody would care what you look like if you didn’t put yourself out there like that.”

I was reminded of that when I read about Erin Andrews, the beautiful ESPN reporter whose privacy was violated recently when a peeping tom videotaped her while she was naked in a hotel room. The video wound up on the internet and now her attorney is trying to find the culprit while threatening those who post it.

Some are trying to put the blame on Andrews, pointing out that she has profited greatly from her appearance. Therefore, the argument goes, she should have to put up with this kind of invasion because she asked for it “… by putting herself out there like that.”

So Andrews is punished for being pretty. But somehow she deserves it, because everyone assumes the only reason she was hired by ESPN was her appearance. What people don’t realize is that puts Andrews in a position no male reporter faces on a daily basis: She has to prove herself on every assignment to demonstrate that she is more than a beautiful stand-in for a real reporter.

And at the same time, I am punished for not being pretty. Despite more than 20 years of experience as a sports reporter, I would never be considered for a job like Andrews’s precisely because of my appearance. Even as a print journalist, I face readers who can’t look past my picture to judge me by my words.

It’s 2009. Why are women still being treated like this?

What will he make of it this time?

Some will argue that it depends on the National Football League and commissioner Roger Goodell’s willingness to allow Vick to return to the game that made him rich, famous and arrogant beyond his years. Goodell has said Vick will have to show sufficient contrition in order for an indefinite suspension to be lifted so that he can sign a contract and play again.

And that’s why Vick will no doubt be in an NFL uniform sooner rather than later. Because unless he’s colossally misadvised, Vick will say all the right things about how wrong he was to torture and kill dogs and how much he wants to turn over a new leaf if given a second chance.

Of course, Goodell is no mind reader. He can only go by Vick’s words when the two eventually meet. But how could anyone trust that? Vick lied to Goodell once before, telling the commissioner that he was innocent before eventually pleading guilty to a federal dogfighting conspiracy charge. He lied to Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank, too, which is one reason why Vick will never play for the Falcons again.

He lied to fans, media and everyone else who wanted to believe a man with a $130 million contract to play quarterback didn’t need to make money gambling on dogs, failing to realize that a man with a $130 million contract would only be torturing and killing animals for entertainment, not money. And now Vick is broke, having gone through bankruptcy proceedings, and he needs the money badly enough to tell Goodell everything the commissioner wants to hear.

Which is why it won’t be by his words that Vick will prove his contrition. It will be by his actions. We’ll know soon enough if this is the new Vick, or the one we’ve all suffered before.

There’s little doubt some team will take a chance on Vick, regardless of the protesters or the public relations hit that will come with signing him. When he returns to the spotlight, with all the money and adoration that goes with it, will Vick once again treat people with as much disdain as he treated those dogs? Will he give the finger to the fans when they don’t cheer his failures? Will he lie to anyone and everyone who dares to trust him? Will he sneer at reporters the way he did in the past — as if it’s always the media’s fault for his shortcomings?

Will he treat all people with human decency for once, or only the ones he needs something from?

You can’t rule out the possibility that Vick has found humility and humanity in prison, and that he really is a changed man now. But having experienced the old Vick more than I care to remember, I’ll believe it when I see it.

Image by uwhealth via Flickr

The old man nearly pulled it off.

Tom Watson, 48 days shy of his 60th birthday, put age in perspective and the field in his rearview mirror as he moved within one makeable putt for the British Open’s Claret Jug on the last hole of the final day.

But after a brilliant four rounds, that 8-foot putt on the 18th green came up short.

And then he was done. Watson, who normally plays on the Champions Tour for players over 50, suddenly had nothing left.  It was Stewart Cink, going for his first major championship, who remained steely cool in a four-hole playoff as Watson’s game perhaps fell victim to age and exhaustion. Cink won by six strokes.

Still, only a performance that inspiring by Watson could make for a finish so heartbreaking.

“This ain’t a funeral, you know,” Watson joked with media when it was over, then acknowledged, “it tears at your gut.”

It could have been worse. He could have been Tiger Woods and missed the cut altogether. Instead, Watson made golf fans forget all about Woods for a few days as he brought back memories of his championship years in the 1970s and ’80s. Watson nearly won the ninth major title of his career and sixth British Open. It would have come 26 years after his last major: the British Open in 1983 when Woods was all of 7 years old.

“It would’ve been a hell of a story, wouldn’t it?” Watson said.

It already was a hell of a story, no matter how it ended.

Image by Keith Allison via Flickr

The gasp you just heard came from the golf world, which is recoiling at the prospect of Tiger Woods missing the cut at a major tournament. Woods is out of the British Open after shooting a 74 on Friday at Turnberry, Scotland.

A heavy favorite to lift the Claret Jug for a fourth time, Woods was one under for the day for the first seven holes before winds of up to 25-mph 40-kph blew him off track on Turnberry’s Ailsa Course.

He dropped seven strokes in six holes from the eighth but partially recovered with back-to-birdies on 16 and 17 before getting up and down from just off the green to save par at the last.

“I was one under after seven holes and right there in the championship and had a few tough holes in a row and couldnt get it back,” Woods told BBC television.

via Tiger Woods misses British Open cut | U.S. | Reuters.

This is not just one bad day for Woods. It is turning into a not-so-special year. Woods, coming off knee surgery that kept him out of the British Open and PGA Championship in 2008, finished sixth in The Masters and the U.S. Open so far this season. Now he has missed the cut in a major championship for only the second time in his career.

With his early departure from the British Open, Woods has just one more shot at a major this season: the PGA Championship, which will be Aug. 13-16 at Hazeltine in Chaska, Minn. If he fails to win the there, it will mark the first time since 2004 that Woods has not won a major tournament in a year.

It is not an entirely lost year for Woods, who has won three tournaments including the Memorial. But he isn’t judged by victories in regular tour events. It is major championships that define his greatness. Woods has 14 majors so far, just four behind all-time leader Jack Nicklaus. It has been a foregone conclusion that Woods would pass Nicklaus. And he probably will. But it might not come as quickly and triumphantly as some had assumed.

That’s not good for golf, which can’t afford anything less than greatness from Woods. He is the sport’s meal ticket. Woods, 33, is the No. 1 driver of fan interest, television ratings and corporate support. It’s no surprise Woods was No. 1 in the “Fortunate 50,” a Sports Illustrated list of the highest paid athletes. Woods earned almost $100 million in 2008.

A suddenly fallible Woods would make golf a far less interesting sport.

The ex-gay movement has a new poster couple. Harry and Pepper, two penguins who have cohabitated for six years and raised a chick together at San Francisco Zoo, have split up. Harry has gone straight, moving in with the widowed penguin Linda next door, and the couple has already produced two new eggs together. As for Pepper, he found out the hard way he is not welcome in Harry and Linda’s home.

The Mormons must be thrilled. How soon before Harry and Linda join the Prop 8 campaign?

Image by pvsbond via Flickr

Manny Ramirez received a warm welcome back at Dodger Stadium Thursday night in his first home game since returning to the lineup. Ramirez was suspended 50 games after testing positive for a banned performance enhancing drug.

Not that cheating seemed to bother his devoted followers.

You think he has us brainwashed, right?” said Lynne Pool, a Mission Viejo student in Mannywood. “C’mon, you know how many people do drugs? He is still doing good without them. Everybody makes mistakes. We forgive him.”

Added Sean Henry, another Mannywood fan: “Lay off him, will you? I think the whole league is on drugs. I don’t care. This is just entertainment.”

via Manny Ramirez shows little gratitude to his fans – Los Angeles Times.

And why should they be surprised or disappointed by Ramirez? As if they haven’t heard of Barry Bonds or Alex Rodriguez, Rafael Palmiero, Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco.

Or Jason Giambi and Ken Caminiti. And Bill Romanowski and Lyle Alzado.

Or Ben Johnson and Marion Jones.

And on and on and on …