Breaking Tweets Sports

April 11, 2009

Michigan football sets spring game attendance record

Coming off a 3-9 season, the worst in Michigan football's storied 130-year history, the Wolverines were excited to put last year behind them and take the field this afternoon for the annual Spring Practice. But they were not the only ones looking forward to see action between the sidelines in Michigan Stadium. Per The Michigan Daily, an estimated 50,000 fans (a program record) came out to see what the 2009 team had to offer after just 14 pre-season practices.

Freshmen quarterback Tate Forcier, an early enrollee, was the highlight of the practice. He connected to another unproven player, redshirt freshmen Roy Roundtree, on a 50-yard touchdown strike that drew a great deal of applause from the crowd.

The Wolverines open the 2009 season on Saturday, Sept. 5, against the Western Michigan Broncos in Michigan Stadium.

Twitterers at the practice and in the surrounding neighborhood shared their excitement and thoughts on what they observed:

sullivti lots of il, in, even mn plates on cars w michigan football flair on eastbound 94 11 Apr 2009 from txt

mattwish Spring game...nice to go to a football game knowing Michigan can't lose 11 Apr 2009 from TwitterFon

livethefan At the michigan spring football game. For those of u who are fans, forcier and roundtree are showing much promise. 11 Apr 2009 from txt

rrcarter Wha? Michigan tweeps: any idea what sporting event has transformed my neighborhood into its Football Saturday incarnation? 11 Apr 2009 from web

sgtwolverine Michigan football did a GREAT job with the spring game. Good atmosphere, lots of fun. Great to see 50,000 fans turn out for it. 11 Apr 2009 from TwitterFon

Even Head Coach Rich Rodriguez was excited to get on the field in front of his team's fans:

UM_CoachRod Spring Game tomorrow. Offense vs Defense full Scrimmage! Looking forward to a huge crowd tomorrow at the Big House. 10 Apr 2009 from web

Here is one Twitterer's perspective of what the practice looked like:

(Posted by @andrewa2 on April 11, 2009)

Former AFL footballer and filmmaker killed in car accident

Per The Age, Robert Dickson has been killed in a car accident in South Africa, along with his five year old son Byron. His wife and other son survived the incident. Dickson played Aussie Rules football in the Australian Football League from 1988-1991 before moving on to become a highly acclaimed documentary maker, including several about the AFL, the most recent ("The Essence of the Game") of which aired just last month on national television. Dickson continued to contribute to Aussie Rules footy in Australia since he left the game; he was due to take part in an AFL Academy tour in South Africa starting next week. Several prominent figures in the AFL have come out and expressed their condolences to Dickson's family.

Sadness filtered through the twitterverse as the news broke today.

HAWKSHEROES is saddened at the loss of Rob Dickson R.I.P to his family his Doco's will be a tribute to his memory always ! 11 Apr 2009 from web

mumof9 R.I.P Rob Dickson and his 5 yr old son Byron :( :( :( 11 Apr 2009 from web

abcnewsSport Former Hawk Dickson dies in South Africa: The AFL has confirmed the death of former player and film maker Rob Di.. http://tinyurl.com/cwnmjd 11 Apr 2009 from twitterfeed

CampbellD RIP Rob Dickson. A man who really brought out the most beautiful parts of AFL . 11 Apr 2009 from web

The official Twitter account for another club in the AFL, @SydneySwans, who was live twittering a match being played this evening, reported about a moment's silence before the game.

sydneyswans Moment of silence to mark the passing of ex-Brisbane and Hawthorn player and filmmaker Rob Dickson 11 Apr 2009 from web

April 10, 2009

Blues make playoffs, Predators eliminated

Per STLToday.com, the St. Louis Blues earned a berth in the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2004 with their 3-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday at Scottrade Center.

The Blues' victory, coupled with the Nashville Predator's 8-4 loss to the Minnesota Wild, means the Preds were eliminated, per The Tennessean.

Missourians were giddy with their team's fate.

bizmark What an awesome night. One of the most active crowds I've ever seen at the Scott Trade. Blues make the playoffs. LETS GO BLUES!!! 11 Apr 2009 from TweetDeck

bmc00 LETS GO BLUES!! Playoff bound, I got my tix! 11 Apr 2009 from TwitterFox

mcm887 just saw the best blues game ever!!!! PLAYOFFS!! woo hoo!!! =) 11 Apr 2009 from web

dangrote Couldn't be happier. Blues make the playoffs, Cards take down the Astros, and its the weekend.... 11 Apr 2009 from web

cvierrether Playoff hockey returns!!! LET'S GO BLUES!!! 11 Apr 2009 from web

Nashville area Twitterers had a much different reaction.

stackiii #Preds, after losing Radulov to #KHL, passing on deadline day, and suffering late-season injury bug, have been eliminated from '09 playoffs. 11 Apr 2009 from TweetDeck

fahgettaboudit Preds needed to win to make the playoffs and they give up 8, count them 8 goals in a loss to the wild! Unbelievable 11 Apr 2009 from TwitterBerry

timpmartin predators season --> RIP. very disappointing game. Nichol's penalty and lack of effort thereafter made me sad. um, Go Sharks?! 11 Apr 2009 from twhirl

Slick37075 Well poo, looks like the Nashville Predators are going to miss the playoffs. Congratulations on a Great season. You'll get em' next year. 11 Apr 2009 from web

toddstringer seriously bummed, Predators missed the playoffs! :-( 11 Apr 2009 from web

April 9, 2009

Angels rookie Adenhart killed in car crash, game postponed

Just hours after his fourth Major League start, 22-year-old Los Angeles Angels rookie pitcher Nick Adenhart was killed in a hit-and-run accident when a silver Mitsubishi he was a passenger in was struck by a minivan running a red light, according to Yahoo! Sports.

Two other passengers riding with Adenhart, Henry Nigel Pearson, 25, and the driver, Courtney Frances Stewart, 20, were also pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the minivan was identified by police as Andrew Thomas Gallo, 22, of Riverside, Ca. Initial reports of the accident state Gallo's blood alcohol content was "substantially over the legal limit" of .08 and that Gallo was driving on a suspended license resulting from a previous drunk driving conviction.

Tonight's game between the Angels and Oakland Athletics was postponed due to Adenhart's passing. Outside of Los Angeles, the entire baseball community was rattled by this incident. According to MLB.com, several players and coaches around the League with ties to Adenhart were grieving.

The Twitterverse has been abuzz all day with sincere thoughts on this morning's tragedy. Here are a few responses from some Twitterers:

broadwaybrittny cant even fathom this whole Nick Adenhart thing...maybe bc he was my age its hitting me so hard...now playing for a new Angels team... :( 10 Apr 2009 from web

JeriMcManus (California): Sad about what happened to Nick Adenhart. I saw him play last night. I'm still speechless....... :-( 10 Apr 2009 from TwitterBerry

mathewballard (Louisville, Ky.): I don't know why bit the death of nick adenhart really hurts me. I'm not Angels fan, but it's just the story behind his sudden death. 10 Apr 2009 from TwitterFon

pbcarl (Sayville, N.Y.): Was not really aware of Nick Adenhart. Sad, but also outraged. Driver that hit him had suspended license and was over limit. So unfair. 10 Apr 2009 from TwitterFon

allenweiner Just can't shake the Nick Adenhart tragedy. Hoping the Angels win it all in his honor 10 Apr 2009 from Ping.fm

_ (St Louis, Mo.): Jarring to see the MLB app give the status of a game as "postponed: tragedy." Searched: Angels' pitcher Nick Adenhart died in a car crash. 10 Apr 2009 from Tweetie

ajbeal (New Orleans): Watching ESPN, hearing about Nick Adenhart. Hate to see such a bright young star taken so young. 10 Apr 2009 from twitterrific

A makeshift memorial has been set up at Angel Stadium as this TwitPic shows:

(Posted by @angelsbaseball, April 10, 2009)

Will Tiger Woods win the Masters?

The Masters golf tournament is under way in Augusta, GA. Chad Campbell leads the tournament after firing an opening round 65, 2 shots off the tournament record.

But as is always the case in most tournaments, there is a Tiger lurking in the shadows.

Four-time winner Tiger Woods is appearing in his first major golf tournament since last year's US Open. Fresh from off-season knee surgery, Woods shot an opening round 2-under par 70. If you believe in omens, this is a bad one for every other golfer.

Woods shot the same opening round of 70 in 3 of his 4 Masters victories.

We wanted to hear what the Twitterverse was saying about Tiger's return to Augusta:

bcodamien Retail maybe recovering in the US - A tentative good sign for the rest of the world - Tiger Woods on the hunt in the Masters! 09 Apr 2009 from twhirl

MikeCosper Thinking that 5 strokes back at Augusta is not a problem for Tiger Woods. 10 Apr 2009 from TweetDeck

danielthethird Tough start for Tiger Woods at the Masters. Bummer dude. 10 Apr 2009 from twidroid

birdieblog By @The_Economy likes Tiger Woods. When he golfs, people watch, ratings go up, advertisers spend $, consumers buy, etc. it all good. #ec ... 10 Apr 2009 from TweetAlert

star_scapes finding myself getting addicted to the golf again. i predict a weekend in front of the BBC watching Tiger Woods. Yum :D 09 Apr 2009 from web

JVOG Am I the only person in the world rooting against Tiger Woods? Loved the bogey-bogey finish today, he'll be in it on sunday though - 09 Apr 2009 from web

fsr1200 Watching the Master's... wondering if we would be doing the same if there were no Tiger Woods??? 10 Apr 2009 from web