Athletes have taken to social media, specifically Twitter, in droves, using the network as a way to quickly connect with fans and press without traditional media filters. As Twitter became more visible and top celebrities from Hollywood took the network, athletes soon followed - with Shaquille O'Neal being among the first and biggest name to make the service part of his arsenal. With the unfiltered capability upon them, athletes have often made mistakes for updates to the network, and it's possible some regret saying many of the things they have. With the advent of Google+ from Google, Chris Peoples asked me to join him on a regular podcast he calls "The Peoples' Court" to discuss how athletes could benefit from Google+ and what to expect in terms of adoption.As I mentioned on the podcast, athletes are not the fastest adopters, but if history repeats, they may follow the Hollywood celebrities to the network, and find value in limited distribution of content via Circles, dedicated Hangouts with family, fans or press, and unlike Twitter, the option to not only post in long form, but to edit content after it has been posted. Until Google+ is open to mass registration, I would expect uptake from athletes looking to use the medium for marketing to be slow, but once the doors open, it could be a very different story. Per usual, I had some audio difficulties on the call, so if you don't mind skipping through occasional static, you might enjoy our discussion, embedded below.