Don't be a "Twit:" La Russa and Other Twitter Nonsense

Wouldn't it be great to sue a social-networking site for a status update that never was?

St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa is.

Apparently the baseball manager is suing Twitter, the massive, social-networking giant, according to a Friday, June 5, Associated Press article. 

According to an article on MLB.com, the baseball manager "is suing for trademark infringement, trademark dilution, and misappropriation of name and likeness."

The manager claims an "unauthorized page" was created, posting status updates, or "tweets", giving the impression that the "tweets" came from La Russa, according to the article.

Here is an excerpt:

"The lawsuit claims that someone created a false account under La Russa's name and posted updates, known as "tweets," that gave the false impression that the comments came from La Russa. The suit said the comments were "derogatory and demeaning" and damaged La Russa's trademark rights."

This excerpt also raised my eyebrows:

"The lawsuit includes a screenshot of tweets with the heading 'Hey there! Tony La Russa is using Twitter,' with a picture of the manager. The same page includes an aside that reads, 'Bio Parodies are fun for everyone.'"

I wonder if La Russa just so happened to stumble across himself, which led to him find out what "he" said. It's no fun to have an impostor, especially ones that make "derogatory and demeaning" comments.

Other Athletic "Twits"

Although La Russa's situation isn't the greatest of news, this identity theft of sorts is actually very likely to happen to anyone. The baseball manager isn't the only one with a "pretend" account.

It seems there are other "faux" accounts of professional athletes (and the real accounts, which are actually worth checking out if pre-game and post-game coverage just isn't enough).

Twitter's search engine reveals plenty of names like, "Not So-and-So", in reference to names of professional athletes (I even searched "Not So-and-So" to ensure no such account existed).

Even Shaquille O'Neal's Twitter name, THE_REAL_SHAQ, insinuates the star basketball player's account is actually him, among the various "pseudo-Shaq" screen names tagged with Shaq photos that can be found in the Twitter search engine.

It's like Shaq comes in many varieties.

But nevertheless, a real Twitter account guards Shaq's reputation from those pesky wanna-bes, making his "tweets" authentic.

Like Lance Armstrong

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