META: A friendly reminder and fair warning
Given that tomorrow is National Signing Day, this seems to be a good time to remind everyone of a couple of basic rules.
- Do not call high school kids bad names;
- Do not unreasonably insult high schoolers. "Player X is too small to be a left tackle" is fine. "Player X is too dumb to be a left tackle" is not;
- Do not accuse high school kids of impropriety, at least without firm foundation (EXCEPTION: If Ole Miss or Clemson is involved, it probably happened (but not really (but yeah really)));
Violators will lose points. Repeat violaters will be banhammered. Further violators will be set upon by wild boars. A couple of additional non-MGoBlog-related reminders:
- Do not tweet bad things to high schoolers;
- Do not tweet good things to high schoolers;
- Do not tweet neutral things to high schoolers;
- Do not G-chat, Facebook, Instagram, telegram, MySpace, carrier pigeon, or smoke signal recruits; and
- Do try to act like a human being vis-a-vis recruits.
It remains an NCAA violation for a booster (that's probably you) to contact a recruit until he enrolls; the NLI is NOT the green light to send your encouragements/complaints. It also remains creepy.
February 4th, 2014 at 11:00 AM ^
May we send fruit baskets or jelly-of-the-month memberships?
February 4th, 2014 at 11:04 AM ^
February 4th, 2014 at 11:06 AM ^
February 4th, 2014 at 12:15 PM ^
If you are an adult, even sending a "go blue" tweet to a high school kid is sad and wrong.
February 4th, 2014 at 11:02 AM ^
a Wolferman's English Muffin gift basket?
February 4th, 2014 at 11:15 AM ^
Letter: "Dear Coach Griswold, I have decided to go to Ole Miss because they bought my family a pool. Sincerely, 5* DT from Illinois"
Coach Gris: "If anyone is looking for any last minute gift ideas, I'd like every coach in the SEC wrapped up in a little bow and brought up here ......"
Cousin Eddie to Coach Saban: "You ready to do some kissin'?"
February 4th, 2014 at 11:05 AM ^
Surprisingly, that is okay, provided there are no marmalades. The extra zest/peel counts as an impermissible benefit.
February 4th, 2014 at 11:07 AM ^
February 4th, 2014 at 11:12 AM ^
Bylaw 16.5.2 also provides the following:
Fruit, Nuts and Bagels. An institution may provide fruit, nuts and bagels to a student-athlete at any time.
Just no cream cheese, as I recall.
February 4th, 2014 at 11:38 AM ^
Let any recruits or potential recruits borrow your hose to wash their car. I think UofM was close to a SMU type situation last summer because of this.
February 4th, 2014 at 11:02 AM ^
Don't be a creeper
February 4th, 2014 at 11:21 AM ^
I think what he's saying is "Don't be anything". These kids shouldn't know you exist.
You're writing on a blog, and that's the privilege you have for signing-up. But don't communicate with these guys, good or bad, directly or even on this site. It's not helpful (likely creepy) and can only hurt. We generally have a reputation for class.
Let's maintain that reputation while at the same time not bothering anyone over their decision and violating NCAA rules.
February 4th, 2014 at 11:03 AM ^
February 4th, 2014 at 11:09 AM ^
for the Sword of Recruitocles hovers over us all.
That said, I have absolutely no information about any impending bad news.
February 4th, 2014 at 2:34 PM ^
I like to think that my Sword of Testicles hovers above all.....or at least it hovered above that one girl......that one time in Amsterdam...... in the Red Light District....she said she loved me.....ummmmmm.....moving on.
I think the most concise way to summarize BiSB's original post in a message that even the dumbest among us should be able to understand is as follows:
No matter what happens to Michigan tomorrow, try not to fuck it up as a fanbase.
February 4th, 2014 at 11:04 AM ^
The fact that this post is even necessary absolutely blows my mind. And I would guess that many of the people you're having to pre-admonish are parents themselves and would lose their minds if people talked to or about their kids in the manner you describe.
Social media + stupid people = bad things
February 4th, 2014 at 11:09 AM ^
February 4th, 2014 at 11:35 AM ^
the recruits today are pretty savvy and seem to shrug off the douchey comments and tweets. They are better men than I - it would totally piss me off.
February 4th, 2014 at 12:13 PM ^
MGO, love ya, but what world do you live in where human beings don't do stupid things on a regular basis? My mind would be blown if the opposite were to occur, and people DIDN'T do stupid things on said egular basis.
February 4th, 2014 at 12:28 PM ^
It's the warning I guess that amazes me. The fact that we need to tell people these basic rules of human decency in the hopes that somebody will follow them tomorrow well....it makes me think of this
February 4th, 2014 at 12:32 PM ^
I was mostly reminding people of the board rules, and took the opportunity to include the Twitter stuff. It's primarily a "you were warned, so I don't feel as bad about the banhammer" thing.
February 4th, 2014 at 12:52 PM ^
Is being banhammered the new Bolivia?
Or, are you really banhammered to dwell in obscurity in a little South American town in the Northern Andes mountains where you dwell upon the once mighty empire of the Incas?
I also remember the first time I saw a warning label on a cup of coffee stating the contents may be hot. Some people really need reminders.
February 4th, 2014 at 2:11 PM ^
We had a bib for our daughter with this on it.
February 4th, 2014 at 11:04 AM ^
So what you're trying to say is don't talk to kids under 18 because it is weird?
February 4th, 2014 at 11:13 AM ^
I talk to my son every day. I often say hello to the other kids in his day care class.
I'd say "don't talk to kids you don't know and for whom you have no legitimate purpose for contacting."
February 4th, 2014 at 2:22 PM ^
You don't, you know, pick your son up or tickle him, do you?
I'm on a no-contact strategy with my kids until they're 28. I've found the courts will help you with that if you commit any variety of felonies.
February 4th, 2014 at 11:10 AM ^
/s
February 4th, 2014 at 11:56 AM ^
- Michigan is a poor choice. Who wants to deal with all the national exposure and a top tier education #RegionalExposure
- Who wants to deal with over 100,000 fans EVERY game #toomuchnoise
- Isn't there such a thing as TOO nice of facilities #overprivalaged
February 4th, 2014 at 11:11 AM ^
...wild boar. Toss in a bottle of brunello and now we're talking.
February 4th, 2014 at 11:14 AM ^
Snapchat is still on the table! YES!
February 4th, 2014 at 11:21 AM ^
your name is Anthony Weiner.
February 4th, 2014 at 11:17 AM ^
February 4th, 2014 at 11:23 AM ^
That would only be fair game if someone caught it on camera. And what are the odds of that?
February 4th, 2014 at 11:30 AM ^
February 4th, 2014 at 11:22 AM ^
Anybody else see the title of this thread and think "oh no, what did Ace Williams write now?"
February 4th, 2014 at 11:24 AM ^
February 4th, 2014 at 11:34 AM ^
The internet will explode, so we won't have to worry about people making inappropriate comments.
February 4th, 2014 at 11:35 AM ^
February 4th, 2014 at 11:41 AM ^
...containing you will be imbibed.
February 4th, 2014 at 12:18 PM ^
That's the first thing I thought of when I read this post.
Also: Please God, no.
February 4th, 2014 at 11:29 AM ^
February 4th, 2014 at 11:38 AM ^
To use a common metaphor, reducing that kerfuffle to "player X looks young" is making a molehill out of a mountain. Roughly the same shape, but ignores the differences that matter.
February 4th, 2014 at 11:39 AM ^
- Brandon interviewed a 2016 (?) kid.
- Several people commented about the youthful appearance of the recruit.
- The recruit expressed displeasure at that fact.
- Brian flipped out, admonished people for insulting the kid
- Posters responded that it was equally inappropriate for Brandon to contact 16-year-olds.
- Much ado was had.
February 4th, 2014 at 12:13 PM ^
There was a front page interview with a future recruit (class of 2015 or 2016 guy, don't remember which one). In the comments on the post, a number of people pointed out how young he looked. The kid saw the comments and said something on Twitter. Brian rained hellfire on the boards about how commenters talk about recruits, and the ensuing discussion in that thread lead to a number of long-time commenters being banned and a new-ish policy that Brian and the mods are freeing themselve up a bit to get rid of people just for being annoying.
So watch what you say. They're listening....
February 4th, 2014 at 12:46 PM ^
February 4th, 2014 at 11:35 AM ^
You guys don't keep wild boars.....unless BiSB is really this guy....in which case these guys are not to be messed with.
