ST. GEORGE — The newly branded Dixie State University Trailblazers went toe-to-toe via Twitter this week with the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers and if a win is determined by who has the last word then this man’s tweet to Portland Friday says it all: “That time #trailblazers got schooled by a school. #dixiestate.”
It began with a seemingly innocent tweet sent Monday from the Trail Blazers to Dixie: “@Dixie State one word, or two?”
“It’s one word!” Dixie State reply-tweeted to the Portland team.
Trail Blazers digital managing editor, Kris Koivisto, called the banter that ensued “spirited but playful” in an email to St. George News Thursday evening.
“When we saw Dixie State changed their nickname to the Trailblazers, we couldn’t resist but have some lighthearted fun,” he said.
Koivisto also noted tact is to be observed in digital strategy.
“There’s certainly some tact to keep in mind,” Koivisto said, “which comes with experience in the industry.”
Following the initial exchange, the Portland Trail Blazers tweeted Dixie State an animation in Graphics Interchange Format, or GIF, of star player Damian Lillard shaking his head – the same Lillard who previously played basketball for Utah’s Weber State in Ogden.
Dixie State fired back: “@trailblazers it’s ALWAYS been one word. Are there no dictionaries in Portland?”
A screenshot defining the word trailblazer accompanied Dixie State’s tweet: “A person who makes, does or discovers something new and makes it acceptable or popular. A person who marks or prepares a trail through a forest or field for other people to follow.”
Portland tweeted back a package of Dixie Cups … and Dixie State, undaunted, tweeted: “Don’t be jealous just ‘cause we have our name on a cup” – a bit of a precocious play perhaps except for the fact the school added its own GIF jab showing Michael Jordan shrugging his shoulders during the 1992 NBA Finals – a game the Portland Trail Blazers lost to Jordan’s Chicago Bulls.
Portland did not respond.
But Dixie State offered up another tweet attaching a photo of former Portland Trailblazer who was also a Dixie State alumnus, Lionel Hollins, adding a touch of affection:
“Dear @trailblazers, we still love you like you loved Dixie State Alumnus @LionelHollins14 in 1977. #DixieBlazers”
Fox 13 Now out of Salt Lake City polled its twitter followers for the win, with the result being Dixie State Trailblazers 84 percent and Portland Trail Blazers 16 percent. Dixie State retweeted Fox thanks with its own emerging hashtag, a shortened version of the university’s new brand: #DixieBlazers.
Dixie State’s public relations director, Jyl Hall, said the Twitter rumble was all in good fun.
“It’s definitely all light-hearted,” Hall said, “we’re just having fun.”
Portland’s Koivisto told St. George News that engaging other Twitter accounts is a big part of the team’s digital strategy. It’s engrained in their DNA, he said.
UPDATED April 16: Additional tweets added to the photo gallery.
Click on photo to enlarge, use left-right arrow keys to cycle through the gallery.
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“…tweeted Dixie State an animation in Graphics Interchange Format, or GIF”
Required Word Count: Accomplished!
Ha, Aaron Pugh. Required AP style (first reference full reference): Accomplished!
😀
ST. GEORGE NEWS
Joyce Kuzmanic
Editor in Chief
Quick! Be more defensive!