“Positivity seems to breed more positivity and it’s a cycle we could all stand to get caught up in more often.”
ESPN's Adam Amin reflects on his recent Twitter experiment that spawned plenty of uplifting responses from friends and strangers alike
EDITOR’S NOTE: Adam Amin has been a play-by-play commentator for ESPN since joining the company in 2011 at age 24. For Front Row, he writes about the results of his recent experiment on Twitter that resulted in numerous positive responses.
Thursday (Dec. 19) was my 33rd birthday and the next morning, I was on a flight home after taking a week off for a vacation.
Perhaps the combination of reflectivity and relaxation was enough to want to take stock in some good things in my life. I still had time to burn before we landed so I figured why not type out a tweet and say some nice things about some friends and colleagues.
I tweeted “for the next 16 minutes . . . .” but all of these responses kept pouring in and I found that every time I tweeted something nice about a colleague or friend or someone whose work I respected, it felt really good.
Flipping the script. Let me tell you about Adam Amin, one of the kindest, most genuine humans on the planet who happens to be exceptionally gifted at what he does. For all the talent, his dedication and work ethic is even greater. With a [heart] of gold, as evidenced by this [Twitter] thread.
ESPN’s Stephania Bell via Twitter
People kept asking, so I just kept responding. Sixteen minutes turned into an hour, which turned into the cab ride home, which turned into an afternoon of sitting on my couch and continuing to reflect on the great people we interact with daily and those who we are fans of from afar.
Adam Amin, Richard Jefferson and Canada native Ariel Helwani will be in Toronto to help tip off ESPN and ABC’s Christmas Day NBA slate with Celtics-Raptors at noon. For more information on the lineup, visit ESPN Press Room.
After seeing the response over a couple of days, I sort of feel like a fraud.
While I try to be upbeat as much as possible, it can be hard to feel 100 percent positive all the time and any person in any job or in any walk of life would probably say the same thing. But what I realized is that we all have days where we’re not feeling great, and it’s nice to get a reminder out of the blue that the work we put into our jobs and, more importantly, the effort people put into being kind to one another, does not go unnoticed.
There is plenty more to be positive about than negative, especially for us in this industry who are so lucky to do the jobs that we do. Positivity seems to breed more positivity and it’s a cycle we could all stand to get caught up in more often.
Check out Amin’s thoughts on some of his ESPN colleagues:
Scott Van Pelt
https://twitter.com/adamamin/status/1208059476428783616?s=20
Doris Burke
https://twitter.com/adamamin/status/1208056599987621888?s=20
Jay Bilas
https://twitter.com/adamamin/status/1208055987447332864?s=20
Rebecca Lobo
https://twitter.com/adamamin/status/1208064860484861952?s=20
Mina Kimes
I didn’t know Mina a whole lot until this year. But getting to know her a little, holy shit, man. One of the smartest and funniest and weird-minded (that’s a compliment from me) people I’ve ever encountered. I love how she thinks about football, and her writing is incredible.
— Adam Amin (@adamamin) December 20, 2019
Pat McAfee
I don’t know if he realizes it but Pat is kind of like a soulmate, in a way. We’ve had a handful of relatively deep conversations, on and off air, and every time we do, I feel like I’m talking to a clone. He also might be the best listener I’ve ever met. Active listener.
— Adam Amin (@adamamin) December 20, 2019
Jesse Palmer
How can you be that good at so many things, how can you be that handsome, that well-dressed, that smart and cultured, and not be an asshole? Jesse oozes kindness when you talk to him. Also, he’s got some great hair.
— Adam Amin (@adamamin) December 20, 2019
