[Fox26] Rockets Battier, Four Others Take on Twitter

Last Edited: Wednesday, 08 Apr 2009, 7:53 PM CDT
Created On: Wednesday, 08 Apr 2009, 7:29 PM CDT

* MARK BERMAN

- Houston Rockets forward Shane Battier is such a golf fanatic that he had a green jacket made for him to wear while he watches the Masters Golf Tournament on television this weekend.

He also said he once took a fast-break charge from Shaquille o'Neal and decided he did it once and will never do it again.

Anecdotes like that from Battier are free for the taking if you sign up with a new web service called mogotxt.com.

Battier told FOX 26 Sports he and four other NBA players are offering their thoughts through posts and messages on mogotxt.com and they are Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Farmar, Portland Trailblazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge, Sacramento Kings center Spencer Hawes and L.A. Clippers guard Eric Gordon.

"Myself, along with four other NBA players, started a new company called MogoTXT," Battier said. "Go to the website mogotxt.com and sign up.

"You can get a personal update as to what I am doing every single day. I go on it every single day and let my fans know what I am doing, what I'm thinking about everything,About life, about the match-ups we play that night, about playing Kobe Bryant. Whatever you can think of, I'm putting out there.

Battier believes his service is better than the one that is getting world-wide attention these days.

"Mogotxt(.com) is similar to Twitter but I think it's a little more personal," Battier said. "You can actually sign up for whoever you want updates from. You can leave me messages. I have a bunch of people who want to ask me questions. It's a great way to get a hold of me. I'm on there every day and I answer a lot of my questions.

"It's all free. All you need is a cell phone or an e-mail address and you can get daily updates.

Mogotxt.com is owned by MogoTXT, Inc. based in San Mateo, Calif. The company's CEO is Andrew Won.

Won echoes Battier's thoughts about their company and takes it one step further.

"We believe it's a more safe and sane way for people to communicate with each other," Won said.

The five NBA players taking part in the company were chosen for what Won called very good reasons.

"It's a little bit like picking your own basketball team," Won said. "You want guys who are young,understand the impact of cell phones and are already blogging and texting.

"Shane is one of the smartest people I have ever met."

Battier's teammate, Yao Ming, is one of the most famous athletes in the world and mogotxt.com plans to take advantage of that.

"We are about to expand our lines to China," Battier said. "We know the Rockets are really popular in China. So it's going to be a great expansion to talk to our friends and Rockets fans in China.

"We are trying to get Yao to do a celebrity mogotxt(.com) where he can come in and we go back and forth and talk about different things.

Won said focusing on the NBA is just the first phase for his company. He said the company has lined up athletes in other sports such as Major League Baseball, the National Football League,the English Premier League and European soccer.

Won also said his company will also offer the ability to translate messages from foreign athletes working in the United States so fans in their home countries can follow them.

"We only rolled out our option three weeks ago," Battier said. "We think it's the next big thing."