What a tweet Tweets from sports figures have been hilarious, offensive or inspiring -- and then some -- this year. Here are our favorites from 2011
What a spat"I love Cincy, but coach Lewis is mean to me now so I think I am gone."
"He has gone overboard to publicly chastize the one guy who loves him. I'm so hurt." — @ochocinco Why talk to a coach personally when you can take your spat public over Twitter? Considering Chad Ochocinco is playing for the New England Patriots now, we assume he and the coach weren't able to work out their differences
Controversial move"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."
"We'll never know what really happened. I just have a hard time believing a plane could take a skyscraper down demolition style." — @R_Mendenhall Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall took to Twitter to react to the news of the death of Osama bin Laden. His controversial tweets eventually led to one sponsor dropping him.
Still bitter?"Congrats to Mark C.&entire Mavs org. Mavs NEVER stopped & now entire franchise gets rings. Old Lesson for all:There are NO SHORTCUTS. NONE."
— @cavsdan It sounds like the Cleveland Cavaliers owner may be trying to send a not-so-subtle message to his former star LeBron James with this tweet after LeBron's team lost in the NBA Finals.
Time to go"im retiring. #ShaqRetires" — @SHAQ Instead of waiting to hold the typical press conference to announce his retirement, Shaq took to Twitter to let his fans know first. He even included a video of him making the announcement in case his fans still had doubts
Check a map"Brad, I'm in Hattiesburg ... is it right or left at the Firechief?" — @JimIrsay Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay thought it would be funny to report on his summer trip to Brett Favre's hometown. It was just a joke, but it put Favre Watch back in motion for a few days
Inspiration"Standing up little by little in therapy."
"Standing tall, we can't fall. Standing upright again." — @BigE52_RU Rutgers' Eric LeGrand posted these uplifting tweets in July to show his progress after suffering an injury during a game in October 2010 that left him paralyzed. And to prove how well he's doing, he even included a photo from his physical therapy session.
Duke it out"Alberta couldn't see Plush if she had her gloves on!! Wat was she thinking running afta Plush!!! She nver been n tha ring!!!" — @TheRealTPlush Referring to himself in third person, the Brewers' Nyjer Morgan took to his Twitter to respond to the Cardinals' Albert Pujols running to the mound in a game between the two teams. Of course, "Plush" also tweeted about the Cardinals back in September, saying, "Where still n 1st and I hope those crying birds injoy watching tha Crew in tha Playoffs!!! Aaaaahhhhh!!!" We wonder where Nyjer watched this year's World Series win by St. Louis.
Pretty please?"Excuse me, can you please send me a signed Balotelli jersey, game worn preferably so I can frame it. Thank you in advance." — @ochocinco Athletes probably get tons of requests for signed items from their Twitter faithful and apparently Chad Ochocinco is one of those fans. We're not sure if Manchester City soccer star Mario Balotelli (pictured) actually fulfilled Ochocinco's tweet wish
Pretty please?"Excuse me, can you please send me a signed Balotelli jersey, game worn preferably so I can frame it. Thank you in advance." — @ochocinco Athletes probably get tons of requests for signed items from their Twitter faithful and apparently Chad Ochocinco is one of those fans. We're not sure if Manchester City soccer star Mario Balotelli actually fulfilled Ochocinco's tweet wish
Too much"3-7 ain't a record to be proud of I'm just proud I ain't you get a life or kill urself." — @JabarGaffney Washington Redskins receiver Jabar Gaffney wrote this tweet to respond to a fan taunting him after the team's loss to the Dallas Cowboys. He later clarified that he really didn't want the fan to harm himself.
Where have you been?"How do you fire Jo Pa? #insult #noclass as a hawkeye fan I find it in poor taste."
"Heard Joe was fired, fully recant previous tweet! Didn't have full story. #admitwhenYoumakemistakes."
"As of immediately I will stop tweeting until I find a way to properly manage this feed. I feel awful about this error. Won't happen again." — @aplusk This series of tweets came from actor Ashton Kutcher, who seemed to be one of the last people to hear about the scandal that engulfed Penn State's football program in November. A day after the ill-advised tweets, Kutcher did in fact announce that he would hand over management of his Twitter account to a social media company he co-founded
Sweet tweets"Having a nice sit-down dinner with my dad about social media ... haha." — @PaulinaGretzky Wayne Gretzky may have finally had enough of his daughter Paulina's wild ways being posted on Twitter, including her provocative personal photos. In fact, the Great One's daughter has been pretty quiet on Twitter lately, only posting a few times to her account since she allegedly had her chat with her father.
I REALLY miss the NBA"I miss jack Nicholson Im not gay, I'm straight but damnit, But damnit I want to hug jack!! I miss Denzel also."
"I miss the laker girls I miss the referee who runs like he is riding three horses."
"I miss shooting airballs and dribbling the ball off my leg and Kobe saying. 'Ronny stop!'"
"I miss my tight shorts. I miss Ron Artest. I hope Blake griff dunks on me and makes a kid coloring book with a pop out poster with the dunk."
"I want to play instead of cooking. I feel like a Atlanta house wife." — @MettaWorldPeace Like most NBA fans, Metta World Peace was really missing his favorite sport and needed to make sure everyone knew it
Now that's a tweet"On another note, just saved a parrot on my terrace.. sleeping in my guest room right now.."
"Crazy story, but the parrot is back home. The owners were so happy, he has been part of the family for 13 years.. #Happy4Uguys" — @HLundqvist30 Not only does Henrik Lundqvist make saves as the goalie for the New York Rangers, but he also protects neighborhood pets. The goaltender even posted a picture of the parrot just in case his followers didn't believe him
We're breaking up"I take a nap for 2 hours, wake up to find out my head coach is gone." — @Trey_Anderson10
"I'm literally sick.. That man pulled me in his office one on one and lied to me." — D_Street_15
"Fake ppl make me sick." — @B_Lindsey7 Players for Pitt's football team took their anger to Twitter after finding out their coach was leaving for Arizona State. Their use of the social media shouldn't be a surprise -- coach Todd Graham used a text message to let players know he was headed west.
