STORRS – In this new-age of media, the lines of communication between player and fan is wide open. With that comes some responsibility and danger.
Tyler Olander had seen enough negativity out there in social media and he lashed back, calling out UConn fans as fair weather-ish in a tweet he later deleted. Of course, it caused a stir “out there.”
He didn’t back down on the sentiments, though.
“When things are going good, a lot of people want to be like, ‘yeah, go UConn,’” he said. “When things are going bad, they just want to kick you when you’re down.. … It’s frustrating.”
Olander is not the only player who has been hit by snarky tweets, from UConn fans, fans of other teams, in some cases fellow students. Most of the players have twitter accounts, some using them for personal messages, some tweeting inspirational messages that are ridiculed after losses.
“People say negative things about our heart,” Olander said. “When we lose, we take it harder than anybody who may say something about us. … It’s tempting not to respond, but you want to respond when people say negative things about you.”
Of course, a famous person, athlete or no, is probably better off not responding. It’s usually not an exchange one can win. Just my opinion.
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
14 Responses to UConn’s Tyler Olander: Tweeting For Trouble
- -- ADVERTISEMENT --
UConn Men Photos
Text Alerts
Complimentary Huskies, breaking news, and/or weather alerts sent to your mobile phone.*
*Or text UCONNFB, UCONNMB, UCONNWBNEWS, WEATHER, NEWS to 37798
*These programs are available on the following carriers: AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, Sprint, Nextel, Boost, Alltel, US Cellular. By clicking Submit you are confirming agreement with the terms and conditions governing this station and these mobile alerts. All submissions must be authorized by the account holder. Contact your carrier for more details.
You will receive up to 8 messages per day. Text STOP to 37798 to end subscription. You may receive subsequent messages clarifying or confirming your opt-out request. Text HELP to 37798 for info. Message and data rates may apply. Terms & Conditions andPrivacy Policy: mobile.tribune.com
UConn Newsletters
Score big with our Husky Hoopla email.
See a sample
Sign in to add or remove newsletters.
-- ADVERTISEMENT --
If I were the UConn coaching staff, I’d give a lot of thought to ordering all players to disable their Twitter accounts during the season. Seems like if it’s making news, it’s getting to be too much of a distraction. I say this as someone who uses and loves Twitter.
exactly. a huge distraction.
I don’t use twitter nor facebook and don’t intend to in the future, but I agree that their use by athletes should be forbidden. And I happen to agree with Olander about UCONN students and their comments. Just follow some of the comments on your blogs and read the comments on your weekly chat and one would have to conclude that there are too many fair-weather fans, probably students, who are quick to criticize both the players and the coaches despite the wonderful accomplishments of both the men’s and women’s teams in past years. Who need them!
maybe olander should watch some of his performances before tweeting anything
Welcome to the world Tyler. Winners have bandwagons and everyone jumps on. Lose and you lose alone. That is true of the NFL, NBA, college and high school teams. UConn isn’t any different than anywhere else.
The UCONN women aren’t allowed social media during the season and it is a good idea.
What do the players expect. This is a talented team with a great coach that looks as if they aren’t even trying in many games. Fans have very little way to show their displeasure with effort and results. There used to be all this same discussion when Whaler fans booed. When you don’t have the talent and play at 100+% and still lose fans support you. When you have talent and play at 50% your fans will tell you exactly what they feel. Want it to stop then play hard. Sorry no sympathy from me.
I’m a diehard UConn fan and I love Twitter. I love my team to death, firmly believe that they are the best team in the nation at all times, and because of that, opponents have to play their best game to defeat my Huskies. With that said, it is kind of upsetting that Olander is upset about negative comments on Twitter. When the Huskies lose, I don’t check Twitter, Facebook, or even the Courant. It ruins my day/night when they lose. I can see how it can be a little bothersome that the players are checking Twitter after they lose. It almost seems they are more concerned with negative Twitter comments than correcting what went wrong in time for the next game. Honestly, I’ve learned this a long time ago; athletes don’t care what Joe from Anywhere, CT has to say. These people who send out negative tweets hide behind computers. You don’t need to worry about them, and because they stay hidden, they’re not going to stop. We have six games to turn this around. It’s not about having the most wins in the regular season. It’s about getting hot at the right time. Now is the perfect time to get hot. Stick with this team Husky fans! We will be alright!
@ ray-ray – It’s easy to criticize the players and the program. This has become the norm for ALL sports. However, as my father used to tell me, don’t be too hard on these guys unless you think you could do better out there. Can you ray-ray?
I agree with Tyler, actually. And since he grew up in Mansfield, he knows fairweather fans (UConn, Pats, Sox).
Yeah, Red Sox fans are fair weather….obviously you haven’t paid attention over the last 100 years RationalGuy….stick to commenting on subjects you know something about.
He has a good point, many people last year before the magical run werent totally sold. but once they hit the big east tourney it was totally different. i agree with him. Support them through thick and thin.
Olander is right in what he says. UCONN is hte home of the “4:00 minutes left it’s time to head for the parking lot fan”.. It’s embarrasing to see it on ESPN compared to all the other schools. Having lived in western PA for a while before coming bakc to CT you can see what a bad fan base this is. Suddnely there are all these Knicks fans in CT now.
Tyler needs to know that most of out here realize these are still student/athletes, kids basically, and as such can’t be held to the same standard as pros. HOWEVER, the groundswell of negativity is more with the HOWs and WHYs of the losses rather than the losses themselves. Everyone misses a shot here or there, or throws a bad pass, but to have an entire group of uninspired scholarship athletes underachieve at once, often showing little spirit, and NOT ONE stepping up to make a statement….well – this is a tad disturbing.
This just goes to further the point that the team is undisciplined both on and off the court. And we’re crying because of the NCAA rulings? Hello UConn, wake up and address the coaching and management.