This Week in the Digital Sports Jungle

High scores, bad calls, and the latest advances, I take you through this week's highlights.  Here's what everyone is talking about online in the sports world:

Twitter

• Dale Earnhardt Jr. made a promise before the Daytona 500 that he would join Twitter if he won the race. He not only won, but paid tribute to his late racing legend father with a tweeted photo.  http://bit.ly/1kgmx7B

• PGA Golfer Steve Elkington tweets gay slur about first openly gay NFL athlete Michael Sam, and after receiving extensive criticism tries to clarify remarks, but it’s too little too late.  http://lat.ms/1hvtqi3 

Marketing

• Jason Collins, the first openly gay NBA player signs 10-day contract to play for Brooklyn Nets and wears No. 98 to honor fallen gay student Michael Shepherd.  NBA.com launches Collins jerseys for sale online amidst unprecedented number of requests.  http://nyti.ms/1o3s3rs

• Brazil’s local government sends out a formal complaint to Adidas to stop using sexual undertones and sex appeal to sell World Cup products promoting the event in the host country. Adidas removes the limited edition t-shirts for sale after complaint is filed. http://yhoo.it/1dIMIfN

T-shirts withdrawn by Adidas for the Brazil World Cup Photograph: Adidas

New Technology

• Starting March 30^th, Major League Baseball will join the ranks of other professional sports with the introduction of instant replay to the game and put an end to missed calls.  The system will cover most plays and managers are allowed one challenge a game. http://usat.ly/1fYCx7j

http://bit.ly/1fOkaFO

• Major League Baseball fans with the MLB’s free At the Ballpark app will have the opportunity to do more from their seats including ordering a hot dog or buying a souvenir.  More than 20 Major League parks will utilize Apple’s new groundbreaking iBeacon technology this season. http://bit.ly/1eJLrF1

Social Sharing

• At the age of 54, Brenda Gold has set her sights on making the Ben-Gals squad, the official cheerleading team for the Cincinnati Bengals.  She even received a make-over for her future career pursuits while on LIVE with Kelly and Michael.   http://usat.ly/NbR88o

• The Milwaukee Brewers adopted a stray dog at spring training, named him Hank, and his cuteness has gone viral. The pup took center stage as the newest mascot in his sausage run debut. http://deadsp.in/1hpOGph

(Photo credit: Cheryl Evans/The Arizona Republic)