It’s fourth and goal on the one yard line. Twitter is driving for the go-ahead score. The ball is hiked and Twitter is stopped short. The NFL wins the game!

Or do they? The NFL recently promised to crack down on fans Twittering play-by-play action during NFL games. We can certainly understand why they would impose the bans on coaches and players, but it is something that will be impossible to enforce with the fans. To prove their point, NFL produced the following  Twittering captured during a recent game (not really, but play along):

Coach attempts to Tweet the play to the quarterback in the huddle, but has a hard time fitting it into 140 characters.

QB Tweets to fans in the huddle: “Calling audible, coach is lame and long-winded.”

QB: “We’re throwing a pass to our WR this time. Sideline pass. Cheerleader is hot over there.”

QB: “I had a tuna sandwich for lunch. Isn’t sitting well after the sack.”

QB: “In shotgun formation. Center’s ass is too big. Not putting my hands in there.”

Coach Tweets: “Stop Twittering and snap the ball!”

QB: “Man, I gotta pee. Am going to throw an interception so I can potty.”

QB: “Hike!”

So we can all understand how Twittering during the game can cause problems with the sport. But to ban the fans from providing opinions and insight during the game is not only impossible, but an insult. The NFL should find a way to embrace the social networks by providing their own in-game tweets. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the coming weeks. No doubt, the Internet community will have a lot of 140 character messages to say about it.

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