PHOTO: USA Today Sports
Back in 2011, ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit quit Twitter saying "I just felt it wasn't for me". Herbstreit has now been back on Twitter for while (in full disclosure, I don't follow him so I'm not sure when he jumped back on board) and it looks like he's giving as good as he's getting from the "lunatic fringe".
In the aftermath of Herbstreit's alma mater Ohio State's loss to Clemson on Friday night, Herbstreit must have gotten some interesting tweets sent his way.
Here's how he responded…
Funny how all the tools I hear frm, u know the real funny guys w/ strong opinions all have 1 thing in common-under 100 followers. #under100
— Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) January 4, 2014
and then he followed it up with another gem…
Another shared characteristic of the #tools is the school they claim to be a fan of-they didn't even attend themselves. #notagraduate Haha!!
— Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) January 4, 2014
One of the reasons that social media is so interesting is that you occasionally get to see big media guys like Kirk unplugged and unfiltered. With over 400,000 twitter followers, I'm sure Kirk gets some crazy tweets sent his way. This is an example of Herbstreit reading his mentions and getting fed up and firing back.
While there is truth in Herbstreit's statements, he also painted with a very broad brush. Kirk went on to clarify these comments in replies to his tweets, saying that not all people with under 100 followers were part of the "obnoxious minority" and not all fans that don't have a diploma from the school they root for are part of the problem.
Herbstreit does come off as arrogant but if you were offended by his tweets you are probably either part of the group he is talking about or you just take twitter a little too seriously. I'm all for having broadcasters be serious but it's also nice to see that they have a human side once in a while as well.
