STOP TWEETING RECRUITS
Nothing good comes from tweeting at recruits. If you have something to say, please refrain from doing so. You would think this is obvious, but some people still don't understand this.
Per @TomVH:
Just spoke with Damien Harris' coach, he had a message he was adamant that I tweet to Michigan fans.
— Tom VanHaaren (@TomVH) January 21, 2014
"People need to back off of [Damien]. People are attacking him and the fans better ease up or they're going to push him away from Michigan."
— Tom VanHaaren (@TomVH) January 21, 2014
Harris' coach said the only impact a fan can have on a prospect's recruitment is a negative one. Apparently Michigan fans have been nasty.
— Tom VanHaaren (@TomVH) January 21, 2014
January 21st, 2014 at 2:01 PM ^
I don't tweet recruits but here is my meaningless 2 cents:
1. If you don't want people that you don't know tweeting you then make your account private, it's no different than Facebook.
2. I bet most of those 'fans' are really Ohio State fans
3. If you choose a school based on what people tweet you then I don't know what to say...other than see ya! Choose a school for the right reasons, not stupid ones.
So far from what I can gather from Damien's decommitment is that he is upset that Al Borges, who is more inept at his job than anyone else in his profession, was fired. And that people were tweeting him giving him a hard time.
People razzing you on twitter is not the end of the world, just block them or ignore them. Don't call out an entire fanbase.
January 21st, 2014 at 2:52 PM ^
January 21st, 2014 at 3:07 PM ^
Every fan base has asshole fans and in this case, "fans" that are actually fans of rivals.
January 21st, 2014 at 2:19 PM ^
I can dream can't i?
January 21st, 2014 at 2:37 PM ^
Here is some advice: just follow people who follow recruiting (Steve from 247, TomVH, Sam Webb). They will tell you everything you need to know. If a kid tweets something of merit, they will retweet it.
Maybe it's because I deal with teenagers on a daily basis, but following the thought progressions and digital interactions is something I tend to drift away from.
January 21st, 2014 at 3:24 PM ^
That's what I do. I don't follow a single player or recruit. Most of the news I'm interested in is posted by Sam Webb, TomVH, etc. The truth is that 99.9% of what any high schooler says on Twitter is useless to the general public - eating habits, their favorite music, etc. It's a waste of time to scroll through that stuff.
January 21st, 2014 at 2:42 PM ^
I hate people. Pretty much all of them.
January 21st, 2014 at 2:43 PM ^
Yet another reminder of why recruiting is basically the worst. The students themselves need to cool it on making the process so public, the parents need to curb their kids' engagement with fanbases, the coaches need to stop trying to one-up one another on the recruiting trail, and fanbases need to back the hell off and let these kids make an informed decision.
In this case, I simply don't understand the mindset of someone who follows a high school kid they don't know on Twitter, merely because there's a chance said kid could go to said fan's favorite university. Much less a fan that would try to talk to a kid on Twitter.
Theoretically, we're adults. Let's act like adults.
January 21st, 2014 at 3:03 PM ^
I am a teacher and I was just working with a 16-year-old who suffers from anxiety, and I thought about this other 16-year-old kid with ridiculous ability. I just don't know how most adults could deal with this stuff. Yes, he's blessed with amazing talent and yes, he's given all these opportunities, but it doesn't make it easy, and it certainly doesn't give justification for anonymous pussies to bash this kid.
January 21st, 2014 at 3:04 PM ^
January 21st, 2014 at 4:03 PM ^
January 21st, 2014 at 4:40 PM ^
This is like the Sparty folks who knee-jerk claim the only people who come to East Lansing to riot are CMU and WMU students. They say it every time, but that doesn't make it any more believable.
January 21st, 2014 at 3:12 PM ^
Nobody is who they say they are on the internet.
January 21st, 2014 at 3:21 PM ^
Point
January 21st, 2014 at 3:49 PM ^
I'm rich.
January 21st, 2014 at 3:46 PM ^
January 21st, 2014 at 3:48 PM ^
So, I'm assuming MGoBlog user, LordGrantham, is one of the morons who tweets recruits since he is the only one to down vote this thread.
January 21st, 2014 at 3:57 PM ^
January 21st, 2014 at 9:16 PM ^
January 21st, 2014 at 4:05 PM ^
can't you make your Twitter handle (is that what it's called?) private or public? If I was a recruit wanting to shield myself from fan harassment, I would simply keep my Twitter account private - if that is possible.
January 21st, 2014 at 6:58 PM ^
Having a private account defeats one of the main appeals of tweeting—having your tweets retweeted and see them go out to an audience beyond your followers. If you have a private account, your tweets cannot be retweeted.
That being said, why should someone being harassed have to do something rather than getting the people who are doing the harassing to stop?
To me, the bigger issue is that certain people simply should stop following recruiting—they can't handle it. If you are tweeting a recruit and attacking them for a decision they've made, then you're taking recruiting too seriously and should stop following it. If a player decommitting from your school or not choosing your school upsets you, then you should stop following recruiting. You can't handle it.
When did people forget that sports are supposed to be fun?
January 21st, 2014 at 4:38 PM ^
January 21st, 2014 at 4:48 PM ^
January 21st, 2014 at 4:42 PM ^
Seriously, the cons far out weigh the pros of being an athlete or another type of public figure on twitter. When you have millions of people who are fans, you don't think 100 or so are mentally unstable enough to at least send a negative tweet or go even further. It's the other side of the coin for those hat picking ceremony crap.
Sending out a message to sane people doesn't change what the lunatic fringe is going to do
January 21st, 2014 at 5:24 PM ^
Fans of team > fans who show passing interest in team's recruiting, maybe reading about commitments in the sports section > fans with avid enough interest in team's recruiting to use online resources like Rivals and Scout > fans who follow recruiting closely enough to follow recruits on Twitter > fans who will actually tweet recruits > fans who will tweet them with negative commentary in reaction to bad news.
I know he's just a kid, but I hope he at least has that perspective.
However, I'm definitely not saying these asshole "fans" are in any way, shape, or form NOT the ones who are the guilty party here.
January 21st, 2014 at 5:33 PM ^
No, but I do think it's probably bad form to be shaming the kid for having a Twitter account, or presuming to second guess his motives. There's a good chance he may not read MGoBlog, but it's been well established that MANY RECRUITS DO.
So instead of telling them what they should or shouldn't be doing, let's just say 'Good luck to the dude, hope he comes back here eventually' and *leave it at that* Doing anything remotely critical (like, saying the kids need to grow thicker skins, as some here have said) does absolutely nothing to help M's cause.
* Also, let's not kid ourselves - there are plenty of shitbags in our fanbase who are neg-tweeting Harris and other decommits. The fact that we have less shitbag fans than OSU doesn't mean we have zero of them ourselves.
January 21st, 2014 at 6:26 PM ^
I'm willing to bet that 99.99% of Michigan fans don't tweet recruits.
Should I send that to Damien on Twitter? /s
January 21st, 2014 at 6:47 PM ^
It blows my mind that people would actually take time out of their day to vent their frustration to a recruit on twitter. I get that they are angry, but have some perspective here. I refuse to follow recruits on twitter, mainly because if you actually look at their account it's just nonsense 99% of the time. I don't fault people who do follow them simply for updates on their recruitment. I don't fault people for tweeting something like "Best of luck, hope you make the right decision for your family, Go Blue" or some version of that.
I just took a look at some of the things "Michigan fans" are saying to him, and while most tweets aren't vulgar they are certainly insulting. One accuses him of getting paid to decommit. Another accuses him of not wanting to be a backup at Michigan, etc...The same guy who claimed Harris was getting paid also claimed he's a season ticket holder. I wish I could execute these people.
January 21st, 2014 at 6:41 PM ^
If these so called Michigan fans were not Michigan fans at all. Probably spartakus or bucknut fans trying to cause trouble with one of our recruits.
January 21st, 2014 at 6:49 PM ^
January 21st, 2014 at 7:22 PM ^
I'd say you are the type who would be negtweeting recruits. What an ass.
January 21st, 2014 at 8:02 PM ^
January 21st, 2014 at 9:23 PM ^
http://mgoblog.com/users/nuckin-futs
I should have called you a douche bag. That seems to be your favorite.
I'm sure the mods will get to you soon.
January 22nd, 2014 at 12:28 AM ^
I can't think of a word to describe someone like you. Loser only begins to scratch the surface. Well, to make you feel better, I'll go with douche bag, and just call it a night.
January 22nd, 2014 at 7:04 AM ^
Good job.
January 21st, 2014 at 7:15 PM ^
January 21st, 2014 at 7:19 PM ^
January 21st, 2014 at 7:48 PM ^
January 21st, 2014 at 8:04 PM ^
January 21st, 2014 at 8:17 PM ^
January 21st, 2014 at 10:17 PM ^
As a relatively old man around here, I want to make an ignorant statement about the Twitters, but I think it may be important nonetheless. First, I’ve never done a tweet. Second, I don’t even really know why people think they can say anything in such a short burst of letters. Third, relevant to Michigan, wouldn’t it be good for Michigan fans to tweet positive things about recruits to help offset all the jerks saying negative stuff? If everyone refrains from saying positive stuff, and the haterz keep saying negative stuff, it makes us look even worse. I like to post positive stuff on this board about recruits who select other schools because I figure they may read our stuff. Lets respect them by saying we appreciate their interest in UM, even if we were only second best in their final decision. Just curious, anyone think we should not say positive stuff about recruits here?
January 22nd, 2014 at 9:35 AM ^
How about we just leave them alone.
January 22nd, 2014 at 10:20 AM ^
/s
January 21st, 2014 at 11:03 PM ^
I bet 99% of the guys on this board tweet follow, email and otherwise stalk recruits.
January 22nd, 2014 at 9:56 AM ^