It's probably best not to have a Twitter account, but if you just gotta have one it's probably best to keep it generic and boring (see: free of controversy). If you can't follow that rule there's a chance you'll be punished. There have been many media personalities who've brought suspensions upon themselves 140 characters at a time.
One of the most recent examples (it's hard to keep track of all of them) is former Phillies/Diamondbacks/Red Sox great (and current color commentator for ESPN) Curt Schilling. Schilling had been used extensively in the network's baseball coverage, frequently appearing on Baseball Tonight, Sunday Night Baseball and the Little League World Series. He also probably does some other stuff. For someone who talks for a living, Schilling puts his foot in his mouth typing hands a lot. Recently this deleted tweet got him in some trouble with his employer:
Afterward Schilling quickly apologized:
For the tweet Curt was kicked out of the rest of the Little League World Series, and missed last week's Sunday Night game. That was originally intended to be the duration of his suspension. But this evening it was announced that he'll miss the rest of the baseball season, as well as ESPN's broadcast of a wildcard play-in game on October 6.
ESPN's statement on the matter was as follows:
“At all times during the course of their engagement with us, our commentators are directly linked to ESPN and are the face of our brand. We are a sports media company. Curt’s actions have not been consistent with his contractual obligations nor have they been professionally handled; they have obviously not reflected well on the company. As a result, he will not appear on ESPN through the remainder of the regular season and our Wild Card playoff game.”
While it hasn't been confirmed, the extended suspension is likely a result of an email exchange Schilling had with the website Awful Announcing (otherwise we're confused about what may've caused it).
Anyway let this serve as a warning for anyone thinking of sending out any tweet about anything. Especially if you plan on comparing something to Hitler and/or Nazis.
We're yet to see that work out well for anybody.
[via Awful Announcing]
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