Former Ohio State quarterback and ESPN analyst Kirk Herbsteit closed his twitter account recently due to the backlash he received after voicing his thoughts on the Jim Tressel situation. In a recent interview he had this to say about the Ohio State fan base:
“The Ohio State fan base blindly is supporting Ohio State and Jim Tressel. It’s almost gotten to the point that he beats Michigan, he wins 10 games, he goes to BCS bowl games, they’ll support him no matter what he does as far as the fan base.”
Kirk may have a point since Tressel is still coaching Ohio State despite being deceptive to the University. It’s his opinion. Here’s the thing Kirk is a sports analyst and he gets paid for his opinions and people are not always going to agree with them. So why is he running from the negativity. Earlier in the year he relocated from Ohio to Tennessee due to the “five to ten percent of the Ohio State fan base making it tough for him.”
I’m not sure the exact reasons for his relocation and with him having a family maybe the move was necessary. As far as closing a twitter account due to negative comments I think that it is ridiculous. Everyone in the media world deals with this. Every player, every analyst, every famous person has to deal with criticism from fans. Social media outlets are a great way to interact with fans and I think that Kirk just needs to develop tougher skin and stop running from criticism.
