After the well-publicized Bobby Petrino debacle the Arkansas Razorbacks football team had to deal with, it’s understandable if the athletic department does whatever it can to improve the buzz surrounding the program, even if it means putting Twitter hashtags on the football field.
The sad thing is, if Petrino had not screwed himself out of his head coaching position, the buzz surrounding the team going into the 2012/13 college football season was going to be very high, and while the team has the talent to warrant such positive outlooks, the previous head coach’s fall from grace took just about all of that goodwill. With that in mind, the University of Arkansas’ athletic department hopes a positive Twitter trend or two will help people move on.
As pointed out by Dr. Saturday, Yahoo Sports’ college football blog, via Darren Rovell, at the upcoming spring game the hashtag “#GOHOGS” will be painted on the field:
The question is, will a potentially positive Twitter trend help the school/football program overcome the mess Bobby Petrino and Smilin’ Jessica Dorell left behind? Furthermore, what happens if the conversation surrounding the “#GOHOGS” hashtag descends into the “tear Pertino and Dorell down” hour? How can that be good for the program looking to move beyond such a mess?
This, of course, is the risk you take when you look to the Twitter masses to improve an already-tarnished image. You have absolutely no control over the message once it gets out. As for the hashtag itself, some find the move dubious:
@darrenrovell putting twitter hash tags on your football field (Ark, Miss St) shows you have no tradition in football #truth
@darrenrovell AR on-field hashtag should be #ARNeedsNewCoach
Concerning the first tweet, don’t you just love how anytime someone offers an opinion about something sports-related, their observation somehow becomes the truth?