Adam Ostrow has posted a blog about the SECs (That's the South Eastern Conference, NOT the Securities and Exchanges Committee) decision to prohibit attendees from making any comments about the games they are at in any form. This is essentially a blockage against Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and the like. I,for one, would like to take this opportunity to say what a profoundly stupid idea this is.
For full disclosure, I don't have a twitter account and I do not follow anybody's tweets. I do have a Facebook account, but I almost never log in to it. My general life is much too busy for these. However, I did go to the University of Florida, which is in the SEC.
So on to the stupidity. It seems that companies and organizations (especially older, established ones) tend to shoot themselves in the foot when it comes to new technology and new ideas. This one is apparently a joint shooting of CBS and SEC together. Their fear here is, possibly, base on the fact that someone could, in theory, stream an entire game onto the Internet, and CBS would be bypassed and lose all that viewership.
Now I know that cameras on phones are getting pretty good, but seriously, am I going to choose to watch the game on YouTube from the 90th row or see it on CBS with a dozen cameras at all angles, complete with zoom and audio?
What we may get, from you tube, is the occasional shot of something the other cameras missed, an angle (albeit from far away) that shows a better shot of the play, or something that happened elsewhere then at the ball. This can only enhance the experience for all those who can not make it to the game. (I think nearly every Gator game is sold out these days, and most definitely the big ones are).
And when it comes to Twitter updates...It seems that nearly every year there's a big event in my life at the same time as a big Gator game: Weddings, Birthday Parties, etc. And in most of these, a TV is not available, or at least on a different station. In the past, I have been relegated to watching updates on ESPN.com or similar web sites on my phone, which are often poor in response times. Now if I knew someone at the game who was twittering about it, I could get live updates immediately. Again, this is only good all around: SEC keeps a loyal fan happy, I get updates to the game in as close to real time as possible.
Adam also makes the point that after receiving an update he has often gone to see the game on TV, which is another win for all involved.
In the end, no one should try to limit my ability to talk about my experiences in any way. If I am at the game, I should be allowed to tell my friends what I'm doing (technically, I would not be allowed to even call my dad to say "Did you just see that touch down Tebow threw?"). So please, SEC, think before you issue dumb, inherently unenforceable rules.
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