Can An NFL Schedule Be Beautiful? Yes It Can!

It's not a surprise infographics have become so popular. In the world of social media, graphically inclined posts are more successful. Having information in picture form is much easier to read, plus it's more fun.

Later in the regular season the Pittsburgh Penguins started producing an infographic before every single game with 'need to know' information. Personally, I think the ones they make are hard to read. Most info graphics read top to bottom, but these have no sense of direction. Some parts read up to down, but others read right to left. I think they need to rework their format a little. An infographic should want to make you read it, not close out of it (like I do every time wondering why I continue to open them). Here is an example:

Photo courtesy of @PensPRLady

BUT don't worry, I have a beautiful infographic to show you. The 2014-2015 NFL schedule was released just a few days ago and the Green Bay Packers released their schedule in infographic form. I have to be honest, I spent more than a few minutes looking and admiring it. It flows perfectly and makes you want to keep scrolling. I have two favorite parts: (1) Starring last season's playoffs teams (2) The travel routes graphic, round trip mileage included. Click the link above and enjoy reading all the interesting Packer stats! 

Photo courtesy of @Packers

Look How Far We've Come

Over the past few weeks, a site letting you see user's first tweets has become very popular, and fun for that matter. I thought it could be fun to see what the four major sports leagues sent out as their first tweet. I don't think one is worse than the other, but I do not think any of them are great.

The MLB was the first to jump on board:

I guess they forgot the standard rule of capitalization? I also enjoy the fact that they explain how to shorten links. Why would the public need this from the MLB? This seems like an email from the supervisor of the person running the account...

Next was the NBA:

What does this even mean? Can anyone tell me? My best guess is something to do with the NBA All-Star game that took place on February 15, 2009. But your guess is as good as mine.

Third was the NFL:

Hey, thanks for the welcome... Oh wait. I wonder how many questions they received from posting their first tweet ever asking for submissions less than 90 minutes away from a chat. Couldn't they have planned a little bit better?

And last, but not least, the NHL:

I can only imagine what they tweeted next. The Stanley Cup had been won 10 days earlier by the Pittsburgh Penguins, so maybe it was about the Cup trip? Or about the draft? I think I'm giving the NHL too much credit; it was probably just a link to NHL.com... 

Thankfully, we have come a long way in the world of Twitter!