Harris Caught Out On Twitter

So, this morning I flicked on Sky Sports News when eating  my breakfast (which should be every sports fan's daily ritual, no excuses!) to see that another sports star's tweets making the headlines. This time it was the turn of Australian cricketer, and recent Ashes series winner, Ryan Harris who had "dropped the ball" on the social networking site.

As we all know early yesterday morning Australia finished England off in an already humiliating Ashes series to reclaim the urn in a 3-0 victory. With two tests left to play Australia will no doubt be looking to pull off the whitewash and add insult to England's already painful injury, but as you can imagine celebrations were already in full flow. You have to give Michael Clarke and his men their due; they came into this series playing an aggressive, "in your face" style of cricket which certainly put England on the ropes, who I felt were actually a little complacent heading down under. But maybe that's just me.

Anyway Australia were in high spirits, and had already started painting the town red. But, like most parties, there's always that one person who's had a little too much to drink. Ryan Harris step forward. After being refused entry to the Crown Perth Casino where the drink continued to flow, Harris, using logic obviously, took to Twitter to unleash his fury.

The tweet itself is below, with the expletives blocked out of course:

"A tip for all those heading to Perth! Avoid the crown or casino! S*** hole can't get in if you have had a drink #s***place#d***heads,"

The tweet was hastily removed but not before the newspapers and some of Harris' 37,000+ followers got their hands on it.

Surprisingly Harris was eventually let in and has since released an apology, acknowledging his foolishness:

"Obviously I made a silly mistake this morning and I tweeted something I probably shouldn't have," 

Tweeting when you've had a drink is without a doubt a big "no no". However I'm probably going to cause a little stir here when I say that Ryan Harris actually should have been cut a little slack. I understand many people will disagree with me, but surely sports stars are also entitled to the privilege of free speech that Twitter affords its users. Yes I'm not ignorant to the fact that Harris should be a role model and will undoubtedly have a number of young followers, nonetheless should that stop him from taking to Twitter to vent his frustration like millions of other users do on a daily basis. Harris has not been fined or reprimanded for the incident in the public eye in any form, he took it upon himself to excuse his behaviour.

If Harris had committed a racial slur, something sexist, or directly targeted an inidvidual I would certainly have been angered. But surely tweeting a few swear words in a fit of drunkeness should not be making headline sports news this morning, at least I think so anyway. Harris is only a human being and after a great moment in Australian sporting history could he have been expected to maintain his temperament and composure entirely? Probably not, so I'd be willing to let this one slide.

I realise I may have struck a nerve here and that an abundance of people will find my view ridiculous. Some may even feel that Harris' apology was not enough, and he should be disciplined for his misbehaviour. This week we saw Jack Wilshere fined by the FA for "flipping the bird" to the Manchester City fans at the weekend game. Should the Australian cricket board follow this precedent, and make an example of Harris?

Please let me know what you think. Has Harris simply made a drunken blunder that everyone should forget about? Or should his tweet remain an issue because he should set a better example for younger fans? Is it important for this incident to be dealt with and for the Australian cricket team to be viewed as dignified professionals?

For the video of Harris' apology click here