Baylor associate A.D. fined for Twitter comments

October 22, 2014 /
Publicly complaining about officials rarely ends well. Doing it on social media, well that’s just asking for trouble.

Baylor associate athletic director Heath Nielsen was fined $1,000 this week after taking to Twitter to vent his frustration over officiating in the Bears’ 41-27 loss last weekend against West Virginia. The team was flagged for a school/conference record 215 yards.

From DallasNews.com:

“Mr. Nielsen’s public statements via social media, and those of others that were shared on his Twitter account, called into question the integrity and competence of game officials and the Conference’s officiating program,” Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said in a statement. “Big 12 administrators are reminded annually that they fall under the same sportsmanship guidelines as our coaches and student-athletes.” 

“I apologize to the Big 12 Conference for having sent and retweeted some tweets last Saturday regarding officiating,” Nielsen said. “It was a regrettable act for someone in my position.”

Nielsen appears to have deleted the Twitter comments.

We can’t find exactly what it was he said, but nonetheless not a wise decision by Nielsen, especially for someone in his position.

We’ve all been frustrated with officiating at some point. Don’t go ranting about it on social media. You never know who’s watching.


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