"No Twitter" Rules Go A Bit Too Far

The Miami Heat have issued a rule against a team member twittering from the basketball arena (home or away). I understand that rule and I don't have any problem with it. While a player is at the arena, he is at work. And he's being paid a lot of money to keep his mind on his job while at work. Things such as twittering can be done in free time away from the arena.

But there are other coaches that are taking things a bit too far. They are denying their players the right to twitter anytime -- 24 hours a day. Take for example football coach Mike Leach of Texas Tech University (pictured).

Leach is unhappy about a couple of tweets from his players. After losing to the University of Houston last week, Texas Tech captain Brandon Carter tweeted, "This is not how I saw our season." When Leach was late to a football team meeting he had called himself, linebacker Marlon Williams asked in a tweet why "the head coach can't even be on time."

Now Leach has banned tweeting for the entire team (at any time). Leach called the players "a bunch of narcissists that want to sit and type stuff about themselves all the time. We'll put mirrors in some of their lockers if that's necessary but they don't have to twitter."

Maybe a big mirror should be put up in Leach's office as well. He seems to think he's so important that he has the right to control his players lives 24 hours a day. The coach has a right to demand whatever he wants from a player during practice or a game. He also has the right to demand the player go to class and study as necessary, and stay out of legal trouble. But when the player is own his own free time (and he's not breaking any law), then what he does is none of the coach's business.

Frankly, I thought Mr. Williams had a valid question. Why doesn't the coach have to be on time for meetings that he calls? His being late sets a bad example for everyone, especially since he'd probably punish one of his players for being late to a meeting.

A coach is a teacher or a boss (or both), and in neither role should he be allowed to interfere in a player's private life.