Looks like somebody didn’t learn about keeping their Twitter mouth shut.

Zach Houchins, a recently-drafted Washington Nationals player has been posting disgusting, offensive racist things on his Twitter feed.  Like, REALLY bad.

Can you ever really delete your Tweets?

NBC 4 in Washington, DC, interviewed me for the story:

View more videos at: http://www.nbcwashington.com.

This weekend on “60 Minutes,” competitive cyclist Tyler Hamilton will claim that he saw legendary champion Lance Armstrong use banned performance enhancing substances during his epic career.

Armstrong has never publicly failed a test, but his remarkable run has been riddled with accusations of cheating, doping and substances.

The question at hand is: will this be the accusation that sticks?

Hamilton is no slouch of a cyclist in his own right, with a 2004 Olympic gold medal to his name.  And he’s retired, so he would seemingly have little incentive to lie. [CLARIFICATION: Hamilton is currently serving an eight year ban from cycling due to a positive test for a banned anti-depressant in 2009.  He decided to retire after a previous positive drug test.]

Is there any athlete with a more divided image than Lance Armstrong?

He made cycling cool.  His story of defeating THREE cancers to become the greatest in the world is beyond inspirational.  His LIVESTRONG organization is one of the most visible non-profits in the entire world.

But the specter of doping has hung over his achievements.  His personal life has become tabloid fodder.  He was seen as villain in his break-up with singer Sheryl Crow.

Is Lance Armstrong the American Hero or the American Nightmare?

I need to reiterate that he has never failed a test, and I’m sure every organization in the world would love to catch him red-handed (or whatever you say when you catch a performance-enhancer).

But are we, as a nation, proud of his accomplishments?  Or are we hesitant to celebrate something that we so desperately wish is real, but have a sinking suspicion is anything but?

How do we reconcile this duality?

If we are waiting for someone else to sort it out for us, it will only continue to devolve into the mess Major League Baseball is currently dealing with.  The stars of an entire era are being wiped out because of performance enhancing drugs.  Numerous record holders–prestigious record holders–are being erased, sort of. You can’t erase records without retroactively replaying every game.  It’s just “easier” to try to forget Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, Roger Clemens and others.  (Jose Canseco, for what it’s worth, has made it impossible to forget him.)

So baseball’s a mess.  And cycling is now at that crossroads.

Will cycling finally be forced to deal with their greatest name and biggest albatross? Or will the sport try to move us on, like cops surrounding an auto accident?  “Nothing to see here.”

If that’s the case, truer words have never been spoken.

Manny Ramirez sent shockwaves through Major League Baseball when the slugger announced his immediate retirement just one week into the 2011 season.

While 38 (a baseball graybeard) Ramirez left despite having game-changing ability, box office appeal and media mojo.

The other shoe to fall came quite quickly as the Commissioner’s office announced that Ramirez had failed a test under the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program and was facing disciplinary action.  His retirement means he won’t be disciplined, but will have to face the music should he try to play again.

Let me translate:

Manny being Manny got in trouble.  Manny didn’t want to be in trouble.  Instead of dealing with the consequences, Manny picked up his ball and ran away.

When drugs are involved, you immediately think steroids.  Ramirez has been suspended before for performance-enhancing drugs, so the fact that he was caught again shows stupidity, arrogance or both.

While Ramirez played most of his career on teams I actively root against in Cleveland and Boston, he was always fun to watch.  He came across as a bizarre guy, but not a villain at all.

But as baseball is moving past the “Steroid Era,” and names like McGwire, Bonds, Palmeiro, Sosa, Clemens and others are gently erased from the sport’s official lexicon, the way Ramirez is exiting leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

It appears quite likely that he used performance enhancing drugs to bolster his capabilities.  Those bonkers stats turned into monstrous contracts.  And with his fortune in place (or one would hope), he can walk away with millions in the bank and no worries in the world.  He and his family can live a life of luxury for decades based on income gained by cheating.

And if that doesn’t cast him as a white collar villain, I don’t know what could.

“Sports Night” was perhaps my favorite TV show of all time.

It aired in the late 1990s and was about an ESPN-like TV show.  It was a time in my life when that was the career path I thought I was headed down.  [Turns out, I spent a summer working in sports TV before turning to sports PR, and now social media.  Go fig.]

As the series wound towards the end of it’s criminally-short 45-episode run, a mystery man appeared as a company named Quo Vadimus was looking to buy the show’s network.

In a touching scene, the man confesses to Executive Producer, “Dana, I’m what the world considers to be a phenomenally succesful man, and I’ve failed much more than I’ve succeeded. And each time I fail, I get my people together, and I say, “Where are we going?” And it starts to get better.”

That line provides an “ah-ha” moment – in order to succeed, you have to be willing to fail.  You see, “quo vadimus” translates to “where are we going?”

In the social media world, the risk of failure is high.

Your brand or company or personal reputation is on the line every time you blog, post, Tweet, share, like, recommend, buzz, or any other social action.  Everything you say is inviting feedback from your detractors.  Everything you post is open to criticism.

However, the rewards are also high.

Every interaction could create a new customer, or make a fan more loyal.  Every update is an opportunity to take your brand to another level.

But in order to try to get the rewards, you have to play the game.

And if you fail, dust yourself off and ask yourself, where are we going?  And try again.

We’ve been having a national conversation for about a week about commercials.  Were the Super Bowl commercials creative enough?  Was the e*Trade talking baby funny enough?  Was Pepsi Max offensive?  What was Groupon thinking?  How much did Kia spend to send their car to another planet, then to ancient times?  Eminem did TWO spots???

In general, Super Bowl ads aren’t a good example of the best of advertising, since there is so much pressure to stand out from the rest of the pack.

So it can be refreshing to see a sports-themed TV spot that is simple, creative and effective, especially during Super Bowl season.

ESPN‘s brilliant “This Is Sportscenter” campaign continued again recently with this winner featuring Washington Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin:

With the Super Bowl now in the books, it’s time to over-analyze everything.  It’s what we do best, right?

So here are some #SportsPRChat thoughts on the game:

- Too many car commercials! This is nobody’s fault, since the time was all paid for, but it created major clutter in the marketplace.  How can you tell apart all the luxury auto commercials when every brand in the country advertised during the same program?  I lost track.

- Best Crowd Shot Of All-Time - Alex Rodriguez and Cameron Diaz were caught canoodling in the stands.  My entire party booed.  It was awesome.

- Oddest Halftime Show Ever - With Ashton Kutcher in the building, did anyone else feel like the NFL was punking us?  The Black Eyed Peas put on a strange live performance, with blinking costumes, random, unpromoted guest appearances from Slash and Usher and lampshade dancers.  Fergie trying to sing like Axl Rose was…umm…strained.

- Why Drive Traffic to Facebook? I am quite undecided on driving  traffic from TV ads to Facebook and not the company’s website.  Mitch Hedberg had a great line about double-wrapped Pepperidge Farm bread, saying he didn’t need another step between him and toast.  This kinda feels that way to me.  [What do you think???]

- Congrats, Green Bay! We’d be remiss without congratulating the Green Bay Packers on their victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the game itself.  Sometimes, we get so wrapped up in the pomp and circumstance that the game can be almost an afterthought.  The game wasn’t a classic from start-to-finish, but the ending was dramatic and well-played.

What stood out to you about the game and the surrounding marathon of marketing?