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Hey, everyone!
I regret to inform you all that YouTube does not have the compilation of Vanderpump Rules’s Scheana talking about her ex-boyfriend Rob that I was looking for.
Ramble of the Day
Modern football being what it is, one can track the moment when a footballer hits a certain level of success. Naturally, it comes with increased playing time, heightened media attention, and the necessary standout performances. Sponsors also start entering the picture, and you’ll see that across these players’ social feeds. The most important distinction for some, though, is the changing of a Twitter handle from something fun to something clean, serious, but always a little bit boring.
It was truly a sad day when the artist formerly known as Ph1lj0nes one day became PhilJones4. Fizzer18 one day existed, and then the next became the Twitter-less Phil Neville. Wazzaroon08 was originally honoring the year Manchester United won the treble, but he now just goes by plain ol’ WayneRooney.
They were all cleaning up their acts in some way or another. Neville deleted his Twitter account after some spotted sexist tweets, but the other two did so under less controversial circumstances. It was all an attempt to make the Twitter account more professional, easier to identify and translate in other content. If Adidas wants to share an image of Jones in a United kit, PhilJones4 is a bit easier to recognize than Ph1lj0nes.
Sometimes players like to add with the image reinvention a quick little identifier from the easiest formula: initials + squad number. Christian Eriksen’s used CE10 while on Denmark duty; Moussa Sissoko’s done MS17, and has gone a step further by stylizing Sissoko as S17soko in his official logo. It’s understandable, considering the power of numbers as identifiers in sports, but hardly creative. It’s part of cleaning up the image and creating something very recognizable. It might be a little bit bland, but it does get the job done.
Still, a little bit of personality in a Twitter handle will always be something I appreciate. Thankfully, no one’s come to take Madders10 away from James Maddison, though his Twitter bio does say JM10. Outside of England, Mexican Guillermo Ochoa goes by yosoy8a (translation: I am Ochoa; ocho is eight in Spanish), while American Aaron Long still uses the handle A_LoLo12.
May these handles last the test of time, and may those that we lost rest in peace.
tl;dr: I love when footballers have silly Twitter handles.
Links of the Day
Manchester City has been fined £315,000 by FIFA for breaking rules regarding the transfer of youth players, but will avoid a transfer ban.
The EFL has suspended Bury’s League One match against Gillingham on Saturday.
MLS’s Seattle Sounders has added new owners, including Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, singer/songwriter Ciara, and rapper/songwriter Macklemore.
David Squires recaps the Premier League’s opening weekend in his latest cartoon.
Transfer updates: Bayern has signed Ivan Perišić on a season-long loan from Inter
Today’s longer read: Christian Araos on the El Paso football community is rallying together after the mass shooting more than a week ago for The Guardian