Texting to the Title

Posted by Annie Whittaker on November 01, 2008

‘Texting Fever’

The other night at a high school football game, my friend and I noticed something not too uncommon these days.  Picture it…it was a dark and cold (not stormy) night, the game was close, and the stakes were high.  Suddenly the team called time out.  The call for water on the field was made.  The high school student whose one and only job is to run out onto the field and pass out the precious hydration heeded the call (after everyone yelled to her a couple of times).  With the bottle carrier in one hand she ran onto the field.  Deftly, she manged to get the bottles passed around with the same one hand.  Her work done, she ambled off of the field.  Why did she just amble?  And why is it important to note that she used just the one hand?  Well, she had some very important text messaging to do with the other hand in front of all those hundreds of people.  I mean, it’s not like she could pause for a whole minute without texting.

The other day at church my sister attended a meeting where they asked some of the youth leaders to set an example and show the other youths at church that they didn’t need to text during worship.  The answer the kids gave was a bit surprising, they just didn’t think it would work, they couldn’t go to church without texting.  The prime minister of New Zealand actually got busted for texting during a speech by the Queen.  Bad form Madame Prime Minister.

A recent survey made its rounds in the media, and according to its results, it seems that sending messages is something that is done all of the time.  So what is a messaging addicted Jazz fan to do during a game?  You like the atmosphere, you love the team, you love the hot dogs at the concession stands.  The only problem is, you’ve got nobody to text to, because everyone you know wants to actually watch the game.  Well, not to worry.  For those of you with the yen for talking with your thumbs non-stop, the Jazz has a solution.  Besides the electronic shell game where you follow the bouncing cell phone and text in your answer, there is also the streaming stats feature at the arena which is really cool.  You text a certain number, and they send stats right to your phone.  And it serves the dual purpose of giving you someone to text to, even during the game.  For those of you who don’t go to the arena to watch the game, you can still sign up for text stats and other promotions and features.  Go to the Jazz home page to sign up.

According to that survey, nothing, and I mean nothing can stop some folks from sending a message somewhere.  Even for those of us who don’t text in the restroom or on horseback or during ahem, other times, we can enter the Ultimate Jazz Christmas Giveaway merely by texting to one little number.  They have details at the Utah Jazz website as well.

Who says you can’t text and do everything else in life effectively?  The proof is write hear in this blog post.  I’m actually texting while I’m righting this.

4 Comments

Linda McFarland on November 01, 2008 said:

It was found that the conductor of the one train in California was texting and missed the sign that told him to stop and therefore many were killed. Was his text really that important?? My grandaughter rides that train often and this incidence didn’t make me very happy with texting.

Boondock Saint on November 03, 2008 said:

I am as guilty of texting frequently although I don’t hold a candle to my 20 year old sister who averages more than 10,000 a month. CRAZY!!! Often times texting leads to nothing more than head shakes and whispered complaints of tackiness during poorly chosen moments. Other times, as Linda pointed out, the lapse in concentration can have farther reaching effects. I work at a hospital hear in Salt Lake City and there is a new code they use in ERs. IWTs are becoming much more prominent. We saw two this weekend one skateboarder and one driver both with IWTs or Injured While Texting. When it comes to the Jazz, I’m starting to follow the new theme: Life Off (Including Cell Phone), Game On. Go Jazz!

Annie Whittaker on November 03, 2008 said:

I love that Boondock Saint! Life Off including cell phone. In doing a little research for this post, I read about the American College of Emergency Physicians issuing a warning regarding texting while walking, driving, etc. Besides the obvious perils of text/driving, people are walking into cars-moving and stationary, falling into holes, etc.

Linda McFarland on November 04, 2008 said:

It makes me really really really mad when they have contests (including the Jazz) that the only way you can enter is to text. Boy, this electronic age is really leaving the older people behind. As you have assumed, I don’t text and my phone isn’t set up so I couldn’t, even if I knew how. While I am griping and getting things off my mind ( can you tell it’s a bad day) why is it that in order to enter any of the Jazz promotions you have to live within 75 miles from the ESC? I love my Jazz, we drive 2 1/2 hours to watch the games, I fly my Jazz flag off my patio, I blog on Jazzblogs and I love the team. Why can’t I join in the promotions???

On the other note, we were late getting the game turned on because of helping someone with a medical emergency but 4th quarter was great. It looked like all the Jazz were having a great time both the ones playing and those on the bench. I love to have a season like we are having (with the exception of the injuries). When there is a game for us it is Life OFF, Game ON including cell phones.

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