By TOM LEA
tlea@espnwisconsin.com

MADISON – If you spent the time to browse Bret Bielema’s Twitter timeline since he’s become Arkansas head coach, you’ll quickly notice that his 140-character limit has been spent partially on attacking fans that may not like him or his decision to leave Wisconsin.

But in a world where accountability reigns supreme, I thought it would only be right to share what Bielema said back in fall camp in regard to Twitter and Facebook.

“I tell the kids (to) do what’s right,” Bielema, during UW’s media day press conference back in August, said. “Don’t do anything that will cause or draw attention to yourself other than the reason you want to normally do it. Rule of thumb is don’t put anything on Facebook or tweet anything that you don’t want your mother to read.”

Apparently that mindset doesn’t entirely apply to Bielema, who has continually responded to fans on Twitter since he left Madison for Fayetteville in early December. He’s personally insulted people, told them their tweets are stupid and for one tweeter to ‘enjoy life alone.’

What doesn’t add up is the fact he’s going against everything he preached to his players during his time at Wisconsin.

“I think it’s tough for a 19 or 20-year-old kid (because) I read some of the stuff people replay back to me (that are) obscene (and) stupid,” Bielema said. “Immature people. You’ve got to not respond. I fortunately don’t have time to read them.

“Once in a while my wife gets on there and gets agitated. But we always just tell our kids to take the high road. Don’t respond back to anything or don’t get into these Twitter fights. You see so many kids across the country that engage in these back and forth between fans and other people.

“You end up looking like a moron. So just kind of keep it simple.”

And Bret, the simplest way to keep yourself from looking like a ‘moron’, like you said, is not to respond to people trying to get a reaction out of you.

Unfortunately that’s not what you chose to do, which, like you said, makes you look like ‘a moron.’

Today’s Jump Around podcast focused on Bielema’s interaction with fans on Twitter. Listen to it here.