Truth & Rumors > NBA
Shaq uncovers Internet impostor
Shaquille O'Neal had a problem. An Internet impostor using his name was sending messages to unsuspecting Shaq fans. So O'Neal did what any sensible, 7-foot-1, muscle-bound mammoth would do. He started tweeting. The faux Shaq account was discovered last week by Sports Media Challenge, a consulting firm that works with O'Neal. Kathleen Hessert, the firm's owner, was initially thrilled. She had been pushing O'Neal to Twitter with fans. She found the oddball references to the Pythagorean theorem and the Big Cactus to be very Shaq-like. "It was a very good impersonation," Hessert said. A closer inspection revealed the forgery. The ersatz O'Neal, for example, claimed to be sending tweets from the bench during a game -- a virtual impossibility. That was the point, said the man who created the account. Ward Andrews, the 33-year-old Suns fan behind ShaquilleONeal, said he included the occasional outlandish claim as a tip-off. "All the longtime followers, over 500 followers, they know it's a joke," said Andrews, who owns a Phoenix design and marketing agency. "I really didn't have any intent to pull people's leg. It was just to entertain."
Shaquille O'Neal, AP
More FanHouse Blogs
- UFC 106 Fight Card
- UFC 106 Results
- Stefanie Spielman Dies at Age 42
- Bears Shun NBC for Sunday Night Game
- Parisyan Pulls Out of UFC 106, Dana White Says Move is Career Ender
- Questions Surround ESPN's NBA Latino Power Rankings
- Steelers Fan Claims He Was Poisoned, Blinded in Chicago Bar
- Bosh Will Consider Joining Wade in Miami
- Chelios Fights Father Time for Last Shot
- Zack Greinke Wins AL Cy Young Award
Stub Hub
The 2009 schedule has been released. Search for tickets!
Truth & Rumors
MOST POPULAR
-
1
Agent: 'Extraordinary' interest in Bay
- Views
- 3663
- Comments
- 1887
-
2
Vikings to consider L.A. move?
- Views
- 53494
- Comments
- 1867
-
3
Mayo rebukes Bruschi's Belichick knock
- Views
- 38238
- Comments
- 238
-
4
Can Iverson lure LeBron to Knicks?
- Views
- 8871
- Comments
- 173
-
5
50 Cent's posse tussles with Marv Albert
- Views
- 59922
- Comments
- 126
Most Active Users
Comments + Blog Posts + Throwdowns
Message Boards
-
NFL > General NFL
Welcome to…
- Views
- 447
- Replies
- 266
-
NCAAF > General NCAAF
RIP, Stefanie Spielman
- Views
- 277
- Replies
- 14
-
NCAAF > General NCAAF
Are college football coaches…
- Views
- 221
- Replies
- 46
Blogs
-
Your Personal ESPN for the…
Week 10 Review: Monday Night Letdown
In front of a national audience on Monday Night Football, the Baltimore…
- Views
- 9445
- Comments
- 1
-
chris13mck's Blog
World Cup 2010 Qualifiers !!
Teams qualified for the 2010 World Cup Finals in South Africa HOSTS:…
- Views
- 3881
- Comments
- 9
-
From Scrimmage
Why the BCS doesn't need Facebook or Twitter
On the heels of announcing Bill Hancock as Executive…
- Views
- 462
- Comments
- 2
Fantasy Plus
- Fantasy Clicks: Thursday Night Revelations
- Week 11 Projections
- John Rakowski: Snap, Crackle and Pop
- NFL Injury Report: Week 11
- RotoExperts: An Introduction to Fantasy Soccer
Blog Roll
Jessica White
Jarah Mariano
Tweets of the Week
Did You See That?
SI Media Kits
|
About Us
|
Contact Us
|
Add RSS headlines.
Copyright 2008 Time Inc. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines.
Comments (23) Add A Comment
Wow really. Thats truly amazing. His wife is a babe.
Bond 007
San Francisco, Ca, FU
Total Comments (1019)
**** is "tweeting"
700 Level Lifer
Philadelphia , PA
Total Comments (937)
This story is freakin confusing. Who is the impostor in this story? It seems like it's all of them including Shaq.
Freakin useless story.
Guam Baller
Total Comments (3100)
Nothing much to comment on here.
J. HOVA: BROOKLYN
Brooklyn, NY
Total Comments (18063)
Good comment Jova!
Drunk Eli
Huntington Beach, CA
Total Comments (4051)
Sorry...HOVA
Drunk Eli
Huntington Beach, CA
Total Comments (4051)
No problem man.
J. HOVA: BROOKLYN
Brooklyn, NY
Total Comments (18063)
glad his deputy training paid off
jgb
Total Comments (8843)
Guess the Shaqtus ruthless comments have caught up with him huh.
the dee of Dees
Total Comments (2270)
Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service, that allows its users to send and read other users' updates (otherwise known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length.
In other words, it's texting to a bunch of people at the same time and talking back and forth to them.
Obviously, the guy said nothing damaging while pretending to be Shaq.
Petey024
New York , NY
Total Comments (2146)
Kobe, tell me how my twitter tastes...
BigFletchDog
Total Comments (2928)
some one impersanating shaq, that could be fun.
Kobe tell me how the glass taste, cause i cant rebound no more.
Joe Dew
Idaho Falls , ID
Total Comments (8064)
Whats Tweeting?
Joe Dew
Idaho Falls , ID
Total Comments (8064)
is it a sick reference to Tweety Bird
Joe Dew
Idaho Falls , ID
Total Comments (8064)
wheres Sylvester Cat when you need him, and granny to save the yellow bird.
Joe Dew
Idaho Falls , ID
Total Comments (8064)
I don't like twitter. I don't want to hear that your eating spaghetti or enjoying your oatmeal this morning. Or that you want to spout off for no reason. I get enough crappy spam thrown my direction as it is.
billburaz
Phoenix , AZ
Total Comments (30)
Great job!! Next, I hope someone can expose the Shaq impostor playing for the Suns.
PileOfCrepes
Total Comments (326)
Great one PileOfCrap. LOL
Petey024
New York , NY
Total Comments (2146)
deputy training? he hired a consulting firm to bust this guy. i wonder if that's how he caught those internet predators, too.
nbacheapseats.blogsp…
Arlington , VA
Total Comments (206)
lol
C-Smith
Total Comments (2180)
Comment
Remember to keep your posts clean. Profanity will get filtered, and offensive comments will be removed.