Rick Ro$$ to blame for UNC's Lo$$ to LSU

I've seen athletes tear their ACLs to shreds, endure excruciating surgeries and then lie on a training room table as athletic trainers use heavy steel blades to forcibly break up scar tissue in the most sensitive parts of their knees. I've also watched the most mammoth football players have to dunk their entire bodies in tubs of ice on Sunday in order to walk to class on Monday without limping.

Accepting an unusually high pain threshold comes with the territory of being a successful collegiate athlete. It is amazing to me though, given all the agony some athletes go through to compete, that they could jeopardize their athletic eligibility for something as silly as social media.

An ABC announcer reported during Saturday night's game between the University of North Carolina and Louisiana State University that it was a tweet from UNC defensive tackle Marvin Austin that tipped off the NCAA to initiate investigations that resulted in 13 Tar Heel players (eight of them starters) watching one of their biggest games from the sidelines.

"I live in Club LIV so I get the tenant rate. These bottles comin (sic) like a give away," Austin posted on his Twitter account on May 29, giving the appearance that he was offering a play-by-play to his followers of his extravagant night at one of Miami's hottest clubs.

The tweet proved that Austin was receiving an extra benefit based on his status as a UNC football player, right? No, absolutely not. Apparently none of the NCAA investigators are Rick Ross fans, because Austin's tweet is a direct quote of a line from Ross' song, "Sweet Life."

I'm not advocating on behalf of Austin. Obviously the NCAA determined that he committed violations, or he would have been playing in the game. But it was very sad to see 6-foot-3-inches and 306 pounds of tackling fuel burned in the stands while UNC lost a game they could have won with him on the field.

There are some programs that are actually prohibiting athletes from having social media accounts to avoid incidents like Austin's, but I think that's overkill. Used responsibly, social media is a great connector of athletes and non-athletes, superstars and mere mortals. Austin terminated his Twitter account, or perhaps was forced to by UNC, but you don't have to. Here are my five rules to avoid Twitter threats and Facebook follies.

1. Have your mother friend or follow you. She'll let you know if you get out of line.

2. Practice safe text. Keep your fingers off your smart phone or key board after even one drop of alcohol. This goes for your camera and video features, too.

3. Avoid publishing rap lyrics, especially those related to "making it rain" or "buying out the bar." When in doubt, think Pacman Jones.

4. Never tweet or post a status update after 12 a.m., ever. Nothing good (on social media) ever happens after midnight.

5. If you happen to violate any of the above rules, immediately apologize and say that your account was hacked by an unknown entity. It's like a "get out of jail free" card, but you only get to use it once.

Choose wisely.

Contact staff writer Zak Kozuchowski at zak.kozuchowski@richmond.edu