Terrelle Pryor down to TWO schools! Ann Arbor and Columbus froth at the mouth!

People can go off on Pryor all they want. Their perogative.

But it's fucking stupid to suggest that recruiting coverage is useless, for the very reason 2B spelled out.

It's not stupid if that's what your readers want to know.

And it IS stupid to suggest that effective recruiting does not lead to winning programs.

Frankly, regardless of what some of you believe, this kid IS going to have an instant impact wherever he goes, and the fortunes of several major programs are going to be heavily impacted by what happens tomorrow.

 

Re: Terrelle Pryor down to TWO schools! Ann Arbor and Columbus froth at the mout

Another thing.

Terrelle Pryor stretching this out ... maybe even having some fun with it ... just who is it hurting?

Your quickest answer would be sports departments covering the principal colleges involved.

And really, we're not hurt by it. It's another story. It's another read. It's another mini-drama in the world that is sports.

 

Believe what you wish about me. I don't care, since all you know about me is garnered through posts on a message board.

As for Pryor setting the date, his press conference was on National Signing Day. The date was dictated to him.

And I sincerely doubt many media outlets are crying over the fact that they had to cover a press conference where Terrelle Pryor announced he wasn't making a decision. They have access to him, film of him, etc. If he puts out a statement, then everyone has to fight over access to him so he can tell them exactly what he just said in his statement. The press conference did offer tidbits. Pryor said he was choosing from four schools. He said he planned on making trips to Oregon and Penn State. You got to hear about the pressure he's getting to go to Penn State.

Just remember, the actual deadline to decide is April 1.

 

My only problem was the press conference. The rest of it is just kind of silly.

 

I believe -- solely from what I've read -- Pryor is dragging this out for the, um, right reasons.

That is, he's conflicted. The kid doesn't want to tell one coach "no."

 

To piggyback on what Trey said, I've seen a good bit of this kid in the past year, and I don't think he's a punk.

 

Bullshit. He chose to have a press conference and he knew full well people wouldn't have come if he had admitted that he hadn't made a choice yet.

And yes, TSP, you are madly in love with all things Ohio State. We all know it.

 

shot, that's not the impression I got from a distance, either. Maybe he's just getting bad advice on how to handle things.

 

I dunno, oop. I think having Charlie Batch on his right shoulder was a pretty shrewd decision.

 

Thanks, Kreskin! Please let us know who is going to win the NBA title and the NCAA Tournament, since you're a mind reader.

 

shotglass, in your quest to make sure everyone treats the youngster right, you are way off base. I can say recruting coverage isn't good journalism all I want. It doesn't mean I don't understand that readers will read it, and I'm enough of a professional to cover it even though I think it shouldn't be covered, thank you very much. And unlike the many A-holes in this business who, for instance, keep soccer out of the paper because they hate it, my personal feelings about the idiocy that is recruiting coverage do not affect my work one bit.

Now:

Saying badmouthing recruiting coverage is "fucking STUPID!!!!!!" just because "readers want IT!!!!" is total crap.

Readers want a lot of things. They want us to give Little Johnny's t-ball team front-page exposure. They want us to never write anything about their favorite team unless it's all rah-rah.

They also want more UFC and MMA coverage. They also like to read about recruiting. We have to decide what we have space and time to cover, while trying to accomodate reader wants, within reason.

Recruting coverage IS stupid. It makes star spokesmen out of dorkboys who have invented the position of "independent scout," who have Internet newsletters in which they say "He's a good athlete," which anyone with two eyes and a stat sheet can see anyway. It has made a farce of what we do, as we waste time speculating on where a 17-year-old will go, and fall all over ourselves acting like his decision is any type of "breaking news."

This kid might sign with Michigan. The Ann Arbor paper had a great feature on UM's academic issues last week. That's journalism. Breathless accounts of which way the 17-year-old is feeling today, is starfucking of the worst order.

I'm sure Pryor's a good enough kid. Doesn't mean we need to see long articles built only on the somewhat informed speculation of one of those charlatan (thanks, Bob Knight) recruting gurus about where kid MIGHT soon decide to go to school.