SEC fans: The gift that keeps on giving

Submitted by Huss on

For the record, I love the SEC.  I go to UF.  The fan bases are great.  At UF at least, I can assure you that most of these fans are not dumb at all.  Homers, yes - but they all have common sense and are pretty aware that decent football exists outside of their shell here in the south.  I'm ignoring a lot of fine folks who are well above standard intelligence levels by linking to this ridiculous comments thread.

James Vaughters, apparently, is a really highly-touted linebacker recruit from Georgia who just picked Stanford over UGA, GATech, Alabama, and Ohio State.  What soon follows in the thread proceeding this announcement?  Good ol' fashioned southern jackassery.  My personal fave, just based on the fact that this guy writes legibly, makes good use of bullet points and seems to be a functioning member of society:

Kid didn’t make a smart decision.

Let me get this straight:
1- He’s moving 3000 miles away from his family and friends
2- He’s going to a school that has only put 21 guys in the NFL, versus Richt, who has put 53
3- He chose academics over the chance to make $5 mill a year as an NFL LB?

Definately not a good fit for Georgia, we need kids who:
1) value family & friends–want to play close to home
2) want to be on a team that will win a lot of games
3) want to go to the NFL someday
4) Value their love for football on par with academics

Sheer brilliance.  You would have never guessed that Stanford won as many games as Georgia last year - and that's with a bunch of kids who, you know, actually "value their love for football on par with academics" by committing to Stanford.

 

http://blogs.ajc.com/recruiting/2010/06/17/james-vaughters-prepares-to-go-public-with-his-commitment-to/?cxntfid=blogs_recruiting&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

1000 cocktails to you, SEC, and thank you EDSBS for making me aware of the original article.

psychomatt

June 18th, 2010 at 4:35 AM ^

Yeah, amazing that the guy does not even realize how bonehead his comments were. But the side story here is that Stanford is for real. Like him or hate him, Harbaugh is not just babysitting that program. He has turned it into a real threat in the P10 at least in the short term. USC's problems will only fuel Stanford's surge and I can see Stanford v. Oregon/Wash/USC for the title out there over the next couple years.

It reminds me of what Gary Barnett did with Northwestern back in the mid '90s. Stanford is regularly out-recruiting elite level schools (e.g. your story) for top tier talent, and Harbaugh is not a bad game day coach either. I would not be surprised to see them in the Rose Bowl this year or next year. And, although their recent performance is probably not sustainable over a long period of time (i.e. Washington and UCLA are getting their shit together and USC will not be banned from bowls forever), this is definitely not the Stanford I've been watching over the past 20 years.

maizenbluenc

June 18th, 2010 at 7:33 AM ^

Jimmy is definitely selling well to the parents and kids who value academics and football.

[Edit: He has 17 commits: 3 and 4 stars. Those with GPAs listed were all 3+. Whether you appreciate Jim's criticism of UofM or not, you have to admit he has found, and is exploiting a recruiting niche that works.]

moffle

June 18th, 2010 at 1:07 PM ^

Stanford also had something like 17 decommitments total for their 2010 class.

They did nevertheless end up with a pretty good class, but I am still viewing current Stanford recruiting with some skepticism.

[Edit: I don't mean to question Vaughters' or anyone's decision to commit to Stanford, only the praise for Harbaugh's large number of commits so far.]

Wolverine318

June 18th, 2010 at 6:43 AM ^

I cannot believe I actually read through three pages of comments. The shear stupidity of Stewart's and CDAWG's comments are laughable and makes me question their basic sanity. 

Don

June 18th, 2010 at 7:04 AM ^

he's "definately" smart enough to realize he needs to get as far away from SEC assclowns as possible.

I am not a Harbaugh fan at all, but you have to acknowledge he's doing a pretty good job so far.

UMichGA

June 18th, 2010 at 7:16 AM ^

I'm not discounting the stupidity of SEC fans.  I live in Georgia and encounter many in my daily duties. However, that is a 'blog' from a newspaper in Atlanta.  I wonder what the SEC fans are taking away from our comment sections of the Detroit News/Free Press at this very moment.  I believe good jokes to be had by all.

-UMichGA

Njia

June 18th, 2010 at 8:10 AM ^

So, let's imagine a world where "family values" trumps moving away from home, getting to the NFL is more important than education, and winning football games trumps everything else:

- No need for a standing U.S. Army, and you can kiss a Navy good bye; we'd all be back to state militias and coastal defense. With basic training down at Bubba and Luther's family farm.

- Semi tractor-trailer rigs will have to get much, much larger - the cabs, anyway - because entire families will be rockin' those long days on the road; hope Ma and Pa know enough to home school the young'uns.

- After the NFL career peeters out (avg: about 3-1/2 seasons) said former SEC player will have a satisfying career as a grocery bagger.

... Wait - if those kids 're home schooled, where/how do they learn to play football in the first place?

Sven_Da_M

June 18th, 2010 at 8:19 AM ^

Three key facts for me:

1. When fans say a recruit should stay close to friends and family.  Perhaps the response from the recruit should be:

Have you met my family?

2. Yeah, the newspapers' online presence these days is rather rough.  It's also set up just like blogs with comments--often using the same software.  Sort of ironic for dead tree journalists who lament the "bloggers."  What they should lament is their poor writing and mostly illiterate online readership.

3. Yes, there's Stanford.  Harbaugh has to be a formidable recruiter building a real top-tier Pac-10 program.  It wasn't until I visited the campus a few years ago that I fully understood its almost Shangri-La type quality.

So for Mr. Vaughters, there's this:

And there's also this:

At Home:

On the Road:

This from Phil Knight:

And this from Dow Corning:

icefins26

June 18th, 2010 at 8:24 AM ^

I am a UGA fan aside from the maize and blue.  My family has connections internally within their football program - it's a great school and has outstanding facilities.  But yes, that is some pure dumbassery with those comments.  Let the kid choose where he wants to go.  For the record, it would be tough to not go to UGA though -- hottest girls in the SEC, IMO.

jb5O4

June 18th, 2010 at 9:20 AM ^

The chances of making it to the NFL are very low. I think I would take a full ride to Stanford as well. The family thing is stupid, what is this the 19th century? There's a big world out there to go explore and be a part of. Just because I went to school away from home doesn't make me less of a family man. Stanford is winning football games as well. And UGA has a player from San Diego and one from Massachusetts so I guess if you're good enough that family thing is BS.

jb5O4

June 18th, 2010 at 9:45 AM ^

I think the south has a philosophy of telling people to stay as if the south is paradise on earth. Don't get me wrong I think there are alot of nice things down here but don't make a kid feel bad for wanting to explore somewhere else. I always get seen as a traitor by people down here for going up to Yankee country for school. Anytime you say something good about another place people get offended. I will say this though, Baton Rouge is an awful place to live. New Orleans is great and other parts of Louisiana are nice but Baton Rouge is the only place I've hated living in.