The Legend Known as @Strombone1

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There is a certain Twitter account that delivers endless hilarity and generates mass conversation among the hockey crowd. It is an account that knows exactly what to tweet about and when to tweet it. It’s about time we gave Roberto Luongo the massive credit he deserves.

@Strombone1 started out as a complete mystery and for some, it still is. It all took place back in 2011 when an account was created with the username @Strombone1. The profile picture was of a man putting his head in a urinal. As one can expect, people were quite puzzled and intrigued by the account.

The Burning Mystery

The tweets were full of hilarity but nobody knew who this mystery tweeter was. The tweets were funny thoughts that we could expect from the average person.Roberto Luongo isn’t average of course . This couldn’t be him right?

Things started to become clearer when the tweets started being directed at Canuck hockey players. One could also look at his followers to see that many players on the team were following him. It became apparent that somebody associated with the team could be running the account. He started playing with his followers, making it seem he was just a fan of the team.

There was no way it could be Roberto Luongo though right? How could he tweet something like that considering how serious he is?

This is what makes it golden. Unless you are with the players, you have no idea what kind of people they are. You can’t judge a player by what he does on the ice and how he acts in interviews. Twitter allowed Luongo to create an identity and show us why he is one of the funniest players in the game.

He hinted he ran the account in a brilliant After Hours interview with CBC that may just be his best interview to date. He opened up on the Cory Schneider situation and talked about his Twitter ego.

It’s Really Luo

People had begun to clue in earlier though as there were numerous hints it could be Luo. The endless Jersey Shore tweets being a reason. Of course, Luongo is Italian and so is the cast of the show.

Luongo has since come clean and fully admitted it is him running the account. There is still that element of uncertainty though as his name still remains “strombone1”. There will still be people who are in the dark as they won’t put in the effort to do their research on the account.

Roberto Luongo on Twitter

The Best NHL Twitter Account

Why does Luongo have the best NHL twitter account? Nothing against Paul Bissonnette @BizNasty2Point0, but Luongo has the upper edge. BizNasty is a fourth liner and isn’t known for his offensive play. He can make jokes about himself getting limited ice time and being benched without anybody raising an eye. Roberto Luongo on the other hand, is an elite NHL goalie. You don’t see Sidney Crosby on Twitter cracking jokes about a bad game.

What Luongo is doing takes a lot of nerve and it shows how hockey isn’t the only thing in the world. Sometimes players get so caught up in the competitiveness that they forget it is only a game and there are a lot of other crucial elements to life.

Luongo makes us realize that hockey players aren’t very different than us and that we share many of the same thoughts and feelings.

The best part about this whole Luongo Twitter saga was just the process of finding out it was actually Luongo. The account was going for almost two years before it was officially known as being Luongo. There isn’t any other NHL player who has the creativity to tease fans and create a mystery account. The fun came from trying to figure out who it was.

Winning Over the Fans

Many people changed their perception of Luongo because of what he did with Twitter. He is loved by everybody and it is now rare to find someone who takes a dislike to him.  He won many over by his humour and his positive outlook through the whole Cory Schneider situation.

His ability to find humour in anything makes him one of the most likeable players on Twitter. There is never a tweet where you don’t laugh or at least crack some sort of a smirk. He only produces quality material that others will find amusing.

Teaching the Young Ones

What has Luongo taught younger players coming to the NHL? Twitter is very popular and it can be used to bring people in on the entertaining mind and life of an NHL player. It’s always interesting to see how a professional goes about everyday life and Luongo brings that to the table every day.

Interaction With His Followers

Luongo is also interactive over Twitter. If you send him a clever tweet, he will reply with an even better response. He also promotes his fantasy football leagues over Twitter and you can join in the leagues, if you make it in time. How cool is it to say you play in a fantasy football league with Roberto Luongo?

Making Fun of His Misfortunes

There was a tremendous goalie controversy last season but Luongo poked fun at it constantly on Twitter. He was able to take a rough situation and make us all laugh about it. I don’t see Marc-Andre Fleury taking to Twitter to make fun of his playoff performance.

Proving @HockeyyInsiderr Wrong

Everybody is well aware of the mysterious @HockeyyInsiderr on Twitter. He has disappeared as of late but is well known for his ability or should I say incapability, to produce breaking NHL news. Claiming he is an ex-NHL player who still has various contacts in the league, he has produced several false statements where he claims he has “sources”. He is basically the laughing stock of hockey on Twitter and has no credibility.

What does Luongo do about it? He doesn’t just ignore the crazy rumours that every other NHL player simply ignores. He acknowledges the account and cracks jokes that make @HockeyyInsiderr look like a complete joke. Luongo says exactly what we want to say but we don’t have the fame for our thoughts to make a difference. Luongo does.

Luongo helps people realize what a joke @HockeyyInsiderr really is. There is no other NHL player that would even put in the effort to talk to a guy like this. Strombone1 ruined @HockeyyInsiderr. Luongo currently has a profile picture mocking fun of the guy. HockeyyInsiderr’s profile pick is a black shadow of an unknown person with a question mark over it. Luongo now has the same, except the figure is that of a goalie.

Reporters Beware

How awesome was it when Nazim Kadri took to Twitter to tell the ever credible Bob McKenzie that he was wrong? Everybody didn’t stop talking about it.

Luongo interacts with reports often and shows us that NHL players actually read what is being said about them. I’ve often wondered how much these players read about what is said about them and Luongo appears to look at articles often.

NHL Thoughts

It’s always entertaining to see what NHL players have to say about things that happened in the league and Luongo always delivers. His thoughts are brilliant and we are able to see that NHL players are just in the know of what is happening as we are.

The Endless Trade Talk

The rumours were everywhere. The tension was broiling as it seemed Luongo was going to be dealt before the 2013 trade deadline. Luongo built it up even more on Twitter as he teased fans and made it even more nerve wrecking then it already was.

He also tweeted “BRB” right after he was pulled off the ice in a move that made people think he had been traded.

Not All Humour

It’s not all just humour with Luongo. He will retweet a tweet sent at him if it is for a good cause. He will also show his class by tweeting honest and caring opinions about what is happening in the world.

Getting Through the Lockout

Who hated the lockout? I doubt you can find any hockey fan that actually enjoyed it. Going that long without hockey was a very tough time but Luongo made it easier with endless hilarity about what was happening.

Canuck Thoughts

His nerve to comment about things going on with the team is mind-blowing as he says exactly what we are thinking.

The Best of the Best

His ten best tweets so far are highly debatable but here are my favourites. No particular order. He is simply a legend.

Luongo has changed the game with his @Strombone1 account and new players to the league should pick up on how Twitter can be used to win over fans and bring people in on their entertaining life. Roberto Luongo has reminded us there are a lot of other important things in life and we don’t always need to get so caught up in the seriousness of the game. Do yourself a favour and go follow @Strombone1 on Twitter. If you’re reading this Roberto, don’t ever change. We need people like you.

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