In sports, the truth can often set you ... adrift

What would life be if all of us were honest all the livelong day?

Chaos, that's what. And not the good kind.

You've heard the truth will set you free. If you're a public figure and speak the unvarnished truth, you'll be free, all right. From your profession, that is.

Sports Illustrated recently asked 71 PGA Tour players a variety of questions under the guarantee of anonymity. Such as: Do you think Sergio Garcia will ever win a major tournament? Who is the second-best player of the Tiger (Woods) era? How many pairs of jeans do you own?

Another: Do you think Tiger used HGH or other performance-enhancing drugs?

Twenty-four percent, or 17 of them, said yes.

We all know if you asked those 71 players that question in a public setting, no more than one would say yes. And if there was one who did, he would be considered a self-destructive kook.

He surely would have bought himself a clubhouse-full of trouble. He would be hounded by the press to elaborate on why he believes Tiger had juiced, and would have been ostracized by fellow pros for creating negative distractions at tournaments.

If 17 players said yes, by the way, figure twice as many feel that way but were afraid what would happen if their covers were blown.

Let's face it. We really don't want total candor, not from our presidents, bosses, employees, teachers, children, parents, pundits, butchers, bakers or candlestick-makers.

Which brings me to this: With social media websites having devoured our universe, college athletic programs have an easy-to-use and inexpensive way to reach the public without any meddlesome middlemen mauling the message.

I think every Big Ten football program now uses Twitter. Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz scorned Twitter last year, but lo and

behold, Hawkeye football now has its own Twitter feed. It's common sense to use such things, actually. They're cheap and reach people you want to reach.

Joe Paterno ridiculed Twitter last summer at the Big Ten's football media day, but told his staff to incorporate it in the Penn State program. So PSU assistant coach Jay Paterno has become quite the Tweep.

Of course, the Hawkeyes and Nittany Lions have quite a few recent accomplishments to promote. If you look at the Twitter feeds of college teams and nothing else, you'd think every program is a winner with an even-brighter future.

I would become an immediate unabashed fan of any college team with a coach who posted any of following tweets:

“Lousy recruiting trip tonight. Unrealistic parents, unresponsive kid. But he busts through offensive lines like they're made of papier-mâché, so I'll start him as a freshman if I can sign him.”

“We tied our record tonight on my radio show. Every caller asked a stupid question.”

“Our players would have a better chance of making free throws if they'd shoot with their eyes closed.”

“Just got a vote of confidence from my AD. Now I'm putting my house up for sale.”

“We may be in last place in our league, but we're first in text-messages and tattoos.”

“The more you read my tweets, the less time you spend on shabby little sports writers who have become obsolete.”

Come to think of it, I may not really want that honesty.