The second ever A.Martin Sports’ “Tweet of the Week” comes from Tour de France living legend and cancer-survivor Lance Armstrong. Much respect is due to him for those two facts alone. He is a man among boys, a true American hero, and an inspiration to millions. Aside from all that, a tweet of his this past week has showed me what being a man is all about; on the internet.

lancearmstrong – Dudes shouldn’t ever type “:-)” or any version of it. Fellas, can we make that deal right now ? 5:48 PM Sep 23rd from UberTwitter

Frank Spinelli

Wow! Way to make a stand on a very controversial topic in social media. Armstrong, infamous for technically only being “half” a man (no disrespect intended), has called out the rest of his gender for using the smiling emoticon when chatting on the internet.

What does this all mean? Well, to most guys, absolutely nothing. However, to some guys, like my friend Frank Spinelli, this new “guy code” will shake up their internet world! Spinelli was trying to start a revolution of smiling emoticon use among men, but this blunt position by Armstrong has slammed the door shut on said revolution.

Posting something like “No but really tho. I apologize for the vulgar lingo on ur facebook page. I love u. blood. I love u too. the rest of the league. I love u too ” (actual quote) to one’s fantasy football board is no longer acceptable for “dudes”.

Even subtle uses like “hehe ” (actual quote) are now frowned upon.

Let me be the first to applaud Armstrong on taking a stance. Let me also be the first to follow in his internet-foot steps. This blog’s official stance on male use of the smiling emoticon is to never use it.

Whether or not the use of the smiling emoticon was ever acceptable for guys to use on the internet is irrelevant at this point. Armstrong has made that abundantly clear; in 140 characters or less. That is why Lance Armstrong is the recipient of A.Martin Sports’ “Tweet of the Week.”