D.J. Gardner

Some people say some really stupid stuff. When your riding a contract that virtually sends you free to an above average four year university, why would you do anything to screw that up? That seems like the perfect question nowadays to ask all the highly recruited kids going to big time division 1 colleges. Take freshman D.J. Gardner for example, a guard on the basketball team of Mississippi State University. Gardner was permanently booted from the team this summer due to several controversial tweets he posted about being red-shirted at MSU this year.

Gardner was booted from the team by Coach Rick Stansbury a day after he tweeted, "These b***es tried to f**k me over.. That's y I red shirted .. But i wish my homies a great as* season.. I don't even know y I'm still here" Gardner was told during his recruitment that he would see significant playing time, but apon arrival to MSU, he was told he would be a part of a three man rotation (He should have known this would happen, obviously the coach is going to tell you that you will play. How else is he supposed to get you to come to his school?). He asked to be redshirted for his freshman season after learning this. Gardner also fired off several other tweets, including "Call em and tell more... I can't stand liars and that's all they did since I started being recruited.. R.I.p. To that contract I signed."Last year, Coach Stansbury banned the use of Twitter from his team after player Ravern Johnson tweeted controversial thoughts on the MSU coaching staff. The ban was lifted at the end of last season. 

You would think that after Ravern Johnson got kicked off the team, the rest of the players would somewhat censor what they had to say from there on out. Psychologist B.F. Skinner emphasized that reinforcement and punishment always strengthens learned behavior, which should have been the case with Gardner. Johnson was negatively punished when he was kicked off the team for his tweets. Gardner should have learned from his mistakes and kept his thoughts to himself, because he knew what would happen. In the book Blogging America, author Aaron K. Barlow talks about how Skinner's ideas of reinforcement apply to the blogosphere; the fact that blogs offer an instant gratification, positive or negative, on what you write. Well, it seems to me that Gardner definitely got some negative instant gratification after his tweets by being kicked off the team. Next time, keep your opinions to yourself man and you won't have to spend the time trying to find a new school to go to because you got kicked off your basketball team. #learnfromothersmistakes

Rashard Mendenhall

Is there really freedom of speech? Can people, especially people that their every word is scrutinized, actually say whatever they want without any implications? Ask Rashard Mendenhall this question and I'm sure he will have a different answer than most. The Pittsburgh Steelers running back filed a $1 million lawsuit against Hanesbrands, Inc. after they terminated his contract after the star tweeted controversial opinions. 

One of Mendenhall's more controversial tweets was about his opinion's on Osama Bin Laden's death , "What kind of person celebrates death? It's amazing how people can HATE a man they have never even heard speak. We've only heard one side." Soon after this tweet, his amount of followers nearly doubled to 37,000. Though, within 48 hours of the tweet, Hanesbrands, Inc. told Mendenhall that he was no longer able to endorse their products. They told him that his tweet went again their agreement. 

Mendenhall is definitely not scared to voice his opinions. He bares a lot of resemblance to Justin Hall, a pioneer blogger that caused a lot of controversy for not leaving out any intimate material of his personal life. Hall would post things on his blog such as stories of his sexual life, pictures of him naked, and stories about illegal drug use. Hall had to shut down his blog after several years of posting due to a disagreement between his new girlfriend who he ended up marrying. Hall and Mendenhall both are good examples of controversial bloggers, which is why they might say that they really can't say whatever they want without any implications.