Women's pro soccer is tweeting

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That is, if you haven't already heard about it through one of the various methods of communication in our very connected, modern universe.

No longer do players, coaches or teams have to call press conferences to make announcements. In fact, those antiquated gatherings are almost ceremonial anymore.

Here in 2009, news now breaks every second of every day, and more importantly, the "scoops" belong to everyone from the players themselves to their very devoted fans.

As much as I love the convenience of technological advancements, I do have trouble keeping pace. Consider that I do still own more than 200 VHS movies. I can't seem to commit to a DVD (only) player, and now there is something called a Blue Ray I have to worry about.

I had just discovered the value of actually checking voice mail when my friends started texting me. I was struggling to understand the My Space craze when Facebook took over the world. I was just figuring out blogging when people started talking about Twitter.

Yeah, hip never did describe me - even when hip was the "in" phrase.

But in the business world, even the sports business world, falling behind the times can cause more than a failure to communicate. For some leagues, some teams, it can mean the difference between thriving or just surviving.

While you are insisting on personal contact, someone else will steal the hearts and minds of your fickle fans.

Interestingly, many of the moves to incorporate the latest techno-crazes into mainstream sports come from the athletes themselves. They like the idea of communicating directly with fans, often about issues other than how or why a team won or lost a game.

But the Women's Professional Soccer League didn't wait for players or fans to drag them into the 21st Century. In the league's inaugural match last month, not only did two of the players post their thoughts on the historic game on Twitter.com, the league commissioner Tonya Antonucci and general manager of the Los Angeles Sol Charlie Naimo were also tweeting on game day.

"It was interesting," said Antonucci. "We got so caught up in the excitement, interacting with owners, media, going on television, I found it challenging to keep up with twitter updates. It was far more entertaining for the players. There were some interesting interactions between Sol GM Charlie Naimo and Aly Wagner, who was on the bench due to injury. It was a great window for the fans."