@ItsMattGibson versus @KButter5

This post is part of a series geared toward generating hype for the upcoming MLL season. Non-lacrosse and non-MLL fans can get to know the league’s stars better through these comparisons to NBA, NFL and NHL players. Some analogies are based on playing styles and others are based on off-field personality, but none are based on spending habits. We aren’t quite at the point where MLL players can drop $5,000 each week at Cheesecake Factory, but we’ll get there someday.

This week’s comparison has nothing to do with playing styles or ability – we’re stepping off the field for a social media comparison. Denver Outlaws attackman Matt Gibson (@ItsMattGibson) is the funniest lacrosse player on twitter. Next to Los Angeles Lakers point guard Kendall Marshall (@KButter5) he’s the funniest pro athlete on twitter.

Gibson dishes out life hacks:

When I ate solo in a college dining hall I’d set my laptop up facing the empty chair across from me. Veteran move.

— Matt Gibson (@ItsMattGibson) June 19, 2013

He makes some great points about the English language:

Wakeboarding should be called waterboarding. Waterboarding should be called something less fun.

— Matt Gibson (@ItsMattGibson) October 3, 2013

And sometimes he’s just plain comical:

A decent way to make a lot of enemies is to light up a cigarette in line at Whole Fo

ods then ask them to double bag

— Matt Gibson (@ItsMattGibson) September 23, 2013

The fact that he has less than 3,000 followers is a crime. We live in a world where Andre Drummond – who has never said a single funny thing in his life – landed himself a girlfriend through Woman Crush Wednesday posts on Instagram. But this resume can’t land Gibson a gig with Family Guy?

How could Family Guy not like this resume? #experience pic.twitter.com/K3zhHSRHOT

— Matt Gibson (@ItsMattGibson) October 1, 2013

Right now, we care way too much about the love life of a Detroit Piston and a supporting actress from a Nickelodeon show. We toss follows to some of the most boring athletes on the planet. As a nation of social media users, we can be better than that. Let’s be better in 2014. Go follow @ItsMattGibson. You owe it to yourself, to the lacrosse community and to society as a whole.

Other notable handles:

Outlaws defenseman Matt Bocklet (@Bocko7) is a close runner-up. His love-hate relationship with the Miami Dolphins will make you sympathize with a Miami sports fan for the first time in your life. His poke at the ridiculous trend in NCAA recruiting was the tweet of the year:

I have just verbally committed my future grandson to the Hopkins class of 2047. You better believe he will live up to it.

— Matt Bocklet (@Bocko7) October 1, 2013

[Yeah, his math was a bit off. College grads of 2047 will be born in 2025 or 2026. I don’t think the 27-year-old Bocklet will have a grandson by then, but who cares… the tweet was hilarious.]

Bocklet’s college roommate Paul Rabil (@PaulRabil) is a great follow if you care about sports that nobody cares about [like soccer!] or if you were wondering whether or not he was heading in for a @CoachJayDyer workout today.

Starbucks has never spelled Kyle Harrison’s (@KyleHarrison18) name right, and each spelling is funnier than the last. His LXM Pro Tour teammate Andrew Casimir (@aCasimir5) is often the punch line of K18’s jokes, whether it is for being a Knicks’ fan or for trying to make it in the rap game.

If you want brutal honesty, then follow New York Lizard’s face-off specialist Greg Gurenlian (@GregBeast32). His unfiltered opinions are refreshing in an era when most athletes are overly cautious with their word choices.