Lance Armstrong was minutes away from surgery, but still took time to post a photo of himself in his hospital bed. Charlie Villanueva and his team were told by their coach to step it up during halftime of an NBA game, and the Milwaukee Bucks forward just had to tell his fans all about it before he went back on the court. The social networking Web site Twitter was already big, but athletes are quickly turning it into a way to entertain, interact with their fans, share their news and sometimes put their spin on a story. “There's a lot of things that I can't do,” Armstrong said recently. “I can't go over to Starbucks and sit there and have a coffee with 20 other people. It doesn't work. It's a scene.” But he can connect with fans on Twitter, 140 characters at a time, and does so several times a day, even after his big comeback took a big step backward this week. Armstrong's crash on Monday in Spain put Twitter in the spotlight, as fans who follow the electronic feeds from members of his team were among the first to learn that the seven-time Tour de France champion had broken his collarbone. He's just one of several high-profile athletes who are using Twitter. Fans have an insatiable appetite for access to their favorite players, and the stars want to boost their images while avoiding the mainstream media. They've found common ground at Twitter, which allows users to send text-message “tweets” to a mass audience. For Shaquille O'Neal, one of the site's most popular sports figures, the message is simple: I'm just like you. “I'm a regular guy,” O'Neal said.
