Friday morning I was able to confirm and report Robert Sands was going pro. He’d told the NFL and was telling those around him … and that explained why he left the Champs Sports Bowl with mementos.

Later that day I was bombarded with email and texts and tweets (!) that I was perhaps mistaken and quite likely a fool who’d read a Sands tweet and run with it.

Both presumptions were ultimately incorrect. Sands confirmed the news Saturday to ESPN.com and then Sunday to WVU. I hadn’t read the tweet in question until it was brought to my attention.

Really, what of this tweet?

Never again in the Old Gold & Blue Mike n Mike better freeze!!!! Dat, Robert “The Sandman” AKA “The Predator”

6 Jan via Twitter for iPhone

I have no idea what that means — and let’s clear this up: Something like that would never be the precipice for my reporting. Why? I have no idea what that means. 

/Grabs dry erase board

At first, one might think he’s saying he’ll never play in the old gold and blue again and is thus going pro.

Then again, it was relayed to me that on Friday morning ESPN’s Mike and Mike said on their radio show they thought Sands was going pro and Sands wanted them to “freeze” because it was inaccurate.

It all made my head spin and, for a brief period of time Friday night, I was worried I foul-hooked that story because maybe my sources were operating off the tweet. (That wasn’t the case … but I’m a headcase.) I also learned Mr. Sands is a little aloof and can, at times, be mysterious by design.

Still, my warped mind then went into overdrive.

Athletes are changing the way news is generated, delivered and reported. To what extent must we extend ourselves to cover the news, as well as ourselves? I think there’s something inherently creepy about following a kid I cover on Facebook and something only slightly more noble about following via Twitter … and only because it’s far less personal than Facebook.

Conversely, I think it’s bad business to ignore tips and hints and I know kids love to be mischievous with the available means.

Then again, it’s dangerous to invest a lot in that method of communication. I wondered for a while what I would have done had I read the Sands tweet before sending my story. Maybe I would have included it in the report, even though I have no idea what it means. Maybe I would have paused, but then been beaten. Maybe I would have continued as planned.

Nevertheless, the social media is most definitely part of the mainstream media now and something that, as far as I’m concerned, needs to be studied and incorporated appropriately. It’s happening and you either keep up or get left behind.