I am rarely surprised; last night and this morning were no different. The responses were as expected, but I want to take a moment to clear one thing up.
Contrary to the opinion of some, the article was not about an individual. It was about an industry.
In the last 12 months I have personally seen:
– At least seven (7) commitment moments ruined by a writer or mod of a site at multiple schools in multiple conferences.
– A minimum of a half dozen writers intimate to their readers that a prospect had lied to the coaches just before committing elsewhere. One of those was in an instance where the prospect chose Oregon. Which was also the instance to which I was referring in the essay.
– I cannot count the number of writers or mods who have flat out said another school paid the prospect.
– There are at least a dozen writers who have said that a prospect was ‘cancer in the locker room’ and that the team stopped recruiting him.
– I have seen multiple writers or mods accuse coaches not of simple recruiting violations, but ethical and moral violations which were not even sustained by fact.
– I have seen multiple writers accuse players of being ‘afraid of competition’ simply because they felt there was better opportunity elsewhere.
These are just the tip of the iceberg for what writers are saying around the country about prospects. We shape how our fanbases respond to recruits and if this is what we tell the fanbase, how on earth do we expect them to respond without the anger and negativity we have seen?
I know why people believe what they believe about the article, but it simply is not true. I get along just fine with all of those who cover Oregon football (both recruiting and for beat coverage). I put to rest any lingering issues a long time ago.
If someone felt that this was a rebuke against an individual, it was not. I said in the article, and wanted to be clear ‘if you see yourself in this essay, you can make a change.’ Maybe it should have more rightfully said ‘if you see yourself in this essay and that makes you feel offended, maybe you should take the pledge to be better.’
Opinions vary on this topic; so it’s all good. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and I hope every Duck fan has a wonderful weekend.
