On Jan. 30, 2009, Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin wrote the following on Twitter, via his @ovi8 account, having amassed a large number of followers with tweets focused on that season's All-Star Game:
He didn't write a thing on the social media site for the next 25 months. Then, suddenly, Ovechkin's account sprung to life on Wednesday evening:
He proceeded to tweet over 20 more times in a 4-hour span to his 77,000 followers, dropping a celeb photo with DJ Tiësto and commenting on current events ("ok im kidding ...i know who is charlie sheen !!!i like him like a actor.")
But the message of the night was "Hahahhaahhaa" followed by a link to the photo seen above: Phil Kessel of the Toronto Maple Leafs, seated alone as the last pick of the 2011 NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft. It was an image Ovechkin excitedly captured from the risers onstage in Raleigh, and shared for the first time last night.
Kessel's place in the draft order became a point of controversy rather than levity after the All-Star Weekend, and the National Post was quick to get the Leafs star's back after Ovechkin's tweet:
See? That's the sort of Twitter approach we can appreciate from an athlete. Of course, the joke in this case may be on Ovechkin: lonely Kessel up there has 26 goals. Ovechkin? A measly 25. Hahahhaahhaa indeed, sir.
We're not sure what sparked Ovechkin's return to Twitter; keep in mind he signed a lucrative marketing deal with IMG two years ago, so that could be a factor. Or perhaps he just wanted to begin sharing his life ala Paul Bissonnette of the Phoenix Coyotes, offering grammatically challenged messages and random images. (To compare the latest Ovechkin missives and the ones from 2009 is to compare the unfocused ramblings of a 16 year old on Jolt Cola and a Garrison Keillor essay. Which is to say his ghost writer disappeared.)
Nah. we'll just go ahead and assume Ovechkin's back this week because of Charlie Sheen. What's Russian for Tiger Blood?
(UPDATE: Through the grapevine -- this is all Ovie's doing. Be afraid. Be very afraid.)
We obviously applaud the return of Ovechkin to Twitter and hope he sticks with it longer than last time. And by that we mean that we hope he takes his cell phone camera back to Russia and tweets photos of his various lovely adventures. Is Party Now!