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Those of us on Twitter know the Twitterverse is a little bit of everything, from your friends' random thoughts to a source for instant news (@austonianews). But sometimes you just need a break from the alerts and political discussions.
Here are eight Austin Twitter accounts that will add a little fun to your timeline.
1. @AustinFC
Austin's own Major League Soccer team's Twitter account has announcements and giveaways that has attracted almost 30,000 followers.
Keep up with all things Austin FC by following this account. And if you want more Austin FC, you might want to consider following local support groups like @LosVerdesATX, @AustinAnthem and @LaMurgaATX.
It's official. #AustinFC loans @10_dominguez94 to @ClubGuarani to join Rodney Redes for the remainder of 2020. https://t.co/pkpsNFASMZ— Austin FC (@Austin FC) 1598974696.0
Bringing you local brewery news, Craft Beer Austin has over 13,000 followers.
It releases weekly newsletters about the Austin beer scene, as well as posts about how to support local brewers.
🍺 Latest News & Events from Craft Beer Austin for 09/01/2020 🍻 - https://t.co/ziaQqIiWPF— 🍺 CraftBeerAustin.com🍺 (@🍺 CraftBeerAustin.com🍺) 1598979949.0
The famous El Arroyo sign is an Austin trademark. It's quirky messages on the sign are beloved by many and you can see the fun messages on the Tex-Mex restaurants Twitter daily.
The account has over 15,000 followers.
Today and every day. https://t.co/d1mabeSWrG— El Arroyo (@El Arroyo) 1599413305.0
A parody account of happenings in Austin, Evil Mopac has almost 20,000 followers.
Named after one of Austin's most disliked corridors, this account is worth the follow for a good laugh.
Austin on Labor Day during COVID... https://t.co/IuzXD7g093— Evil MoPac (@Evil MoPac) 1599496018.0
5. @McConaughey
The only account on this list with an actual face, Austinite Matthew McConaughey had to be included on this list.
With over 2 million followers, McConaughey stays true to his roots and posts about Austin FC, the Texas Longhorns and new projects he is working on.
1st class or no class. wear a mask #hookem @utaustin @texaslonghorns @texasfootball https://t.co/h2wikL1vL5— Matthew McConaughey (@Matthew McConaughey) 1598446898.0
A blog that has grown to over 33,000 followers, Traces of Texas provides the rich history of Texas in its posts.
If you like history and love Texas, this account will sprinkle exactly that on your feed.
Reader George Hargrave shared this great Texas Ranger image. Says George "Texas Ranger Cpl. J. Walter Durbin (righ… https://t.co/6r2RHZXYio— Traces of Texas (@Traces of Texas) 1599503554.0
7. @UTBarstool
Just like the original Barstool Sports account, Barstool Hook 'Em brings you sports entertainment, but related to the University of Texas.
It has over 20,000 followers.
You and your roommates on the first day of classes 🤘 https://t.co/f0mjK7EG7K— Barstool Hook ‘Em (@Barstool Hook ‘Em) 1598469247.0
8. @yelpAustin
And last but not least, Yelp Austin provides business reviews from different people. It has over 11,000 followers.
You'll always know what local business you'll want to support by following this account.
"Awesome date idea! 512 Rage Room in #Kyle is taking all the right COVID precautions." Ashley and BF 'had a great t… https://t.co/eU7nyKlFcT— Yelp Austin (@Yelp Austin) 1599412971.0
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Popular
Former UT tennis coach Michael Center told Sports Illustrated he thinks others were involved in the Varsity Blues scandal at UT.
His name dragged through the mud, Center was fired, arrested by the FBI and sentenced to six months in a Central Texas federal prison after pleading guilty to two charges related to mail fraud. And over a year after his release, Center told Sports Illustrated he doubts he was the only one in burnt orange involved.
When the Varsity Blues scandal broke out to the public in 2019, the investigation was a perfect storm for nationwide attention: Hollywood glamour, blue blood conspiracy and faith in the tried-and-true American education system came to a head as 33 movie stars and other elites were found guilty of paying more than $25 million to pave their children’s way into eight colleges, including the University of Texas.
UT was one of eight schools caught in the college admissions scandal. (Laura Figi/Austonia)
Singer's client, private equity executive Chris Schaepe, was looking for a way to bend UT's tight admissions policies for his son, who was seeking a position oddly as a manager on UT’s basketball team. Through a middleman, Singer contacted Center, who eventually agreed.
Schaepe's son hadn't played tennis since his freshman year of high school. It was a detail that Center says passed through plenty of hands before he was admitted, including "academic support staff, the compliance office, the sports supervisor and, ultimately, the athletic director," SI's Jon Wertheim writes.
No one in the entire athletic department, including seven "risk management and compliant services department" employees, was named, implicated or punished. After an internal investigation, Center was the only one named in the Varsity Blues "subterfuge" in a September 2019 UT news release signed by the university president.
He told Austonia he was never contacted by the university during the investigation, and when the NCAA interviewed him for its investigation, he says it cleared him of any violations.
“I almost fell out of my chair,” Center said. “I literally couldn’t breathe. There’s no college coach in America—much less at a state school, much less a coach of a nonrevenue sport—who can admit an athlete without consulting other people in the athletic department. What they were asking people to believe, it’s just impossible.” SI said Center's assertion was backed by multiple UT coaches and administrators at other schools.
But why would the Forty Acres be complicit?
(Matthew/Adobe)
Center said UT’s then newly named athletic director Steve Patterson made clear that Center suddenly was responsible for more than building a successful tennis program. He was to be a "fundraiser first and coach second" and he would need to find donors to fund a new tennis facility. Patterson admitted to SI that he wanted his coaches to find donors and said the department was "$15 million in the red" when he started in 2013, though he denies any knowledge of the false tennis recruitment.
Center said he knew he would be "considered a team player" if he let in the son of a Silicon Valley magnate. And sure enough, Schaepe immediately began pulling out his wallet, donating $100,000 to UT tennis and a six-figure check to the school's communication program.
"I never entered this as a way to profit. This was a fundraising mission where I made a terrible mistake at the end,"
Center said.
Months after Schaepe's son was admitted, Center agreed to meet Singer at the Austin airport and found himself accepting a backpack filled with $60,000 in cash meant for him, personally. He said he immediately knew he had made a mistake. He told SI “I put the money in my basement and gave most of it away.”
“Why did I do it?” Center told Sports Illustrated. "I go to bed and wake up each day asking myself the same question. I had to convince myself that I somehow deserved the money."
Once in court, Center showed texts with UT's compliance official and mentioned Chris Plonsky, a department executive involved in "overseeing men’s tennis, compliance, academic support (which generates letters of intent) and the Longhorn Foundation," according to SI.
“I knew I had to answer for my guilt,” Center said. “But I was like, 'Man, schools are going to get hammered.'"'
But Center was the only Longhorn to go down for the crimes. “I was no rogue actor,” Center said. “And this wasn’t my word against their word. There were signatures that went along with it. That’s the system... There wasn’t one point in the process where I thought people wanted to learn the whole truth.”
Back at home in Austin, Center watched as actress Felicity Huffman served just eleven days for her part in the scandal. Some served up to five months; others simply paid a fine, and others, like Singer, await sentencing.
And because the prosecution chose to blame individual coaches, framing schools as victims in the case, universities like UT have received less than a slap on the wrist for their possible involvement.
“I was always taught that actions have consequences,” Center said. “What I’ve come to realize is that, yes, for some people actions absolutely do have consequences. Serious, heavy ones. For others, actions can have no consequences at all.”
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