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, 2014January 21st, 2014 at 11:47 AM ^
Nobody realizes that's probably little bro or Ohio?
January 21st, 2014 at 11:49 AM ^
Every fanbase has terrible fans, we're not immune to the worldwide problem of hitting "send" before you think.
January 21st, 2014 at 11:50 AM ^
I love Michigan and all, but there are a ton of assholes in our fan base. I really doubt its Ohio State or Michigan State fans posing as Michigan fans that are tweeting at Harris. We have enough idiots in our own fan base to do this to ourselves.
January 21st, 2014 at 11:58 AM ^
but I wouldn't rule it out. Folks can be that sneaky on the other side of the rivalry. And that mean.
January 21st, 2014 at 12:29 PM ^
Sorry, no exceptions. there is no reason, none at all, for an adult to ever tweet a HS kid, ever. Even a harmless "way to go" or Go Blue" is wrong.
January 21st, 2014 at 1:12 PM ^
EXACTLY.
If you are over 18, and tweet recruits (without a job description that calls for it):
1. Sit down if not already.
2. Log off twitter.
3. Set aside a minimum of 30 minutes to evaluate your life, and priorities.
4. Watch "To Catch a Predator" b/c you will inevitably find yourself in a similar situation.
5. Realize the error of your ways.
6. If you do not come to that realization, contact local law enforcement...trust me, it will be for the betterment of your community.
If you FOLLOW recruits (without a job description that calls for it):
1. Follow steps 4-5 above.
Following is not as bad as actually interacting with teenagers, but realize you're walking a fine line.
You're welcome in advance.
This is my first post, and yes, I'm not just on my soapbox right now, I'm stomping on it.
January 21st, 2014 at 7:04 PM ^
January 21st, 2014 at 8:31 PM ^
...I don't plan on reading the whole thing, to see if the following point is already addressed.
But isn't one thing about Twitter, that offending Tweets like the ones at issue in the case of Damien Harris, are searchable? And can be collected, and re-posted elsewhere? To essentially name and shame the offenders?
I'd be all for that. Identify the offenders by name. Expose them as much as possible.
Does anything good ever happen, with Twitter?
January 21st, 2014 at 2:36 PM ^
Ad infinitum.
STOP TWEETING/FACEBOOK MESSAGING RECRUITS! FOR FUCK SAKE.
January 21st, 2014 at 3:18 PM ^
January 21st, 2014 at 12:00 PM ^
Yes, but other fanbases have intelligent enough idiots to pose as Michigan fans as well. It's certainly a combination of both, but my guess would be the worst of them are from our rival fans.
Think about it. How is one way that an average fan can impact recruitment? By being a complete dick and posing as fan of another team. If anyone thinks this theory is tin hat, I have a bunch of bad news about the dedication to idiocy of college football fans...
January 21st, 2014 at 1:24 PM ^
From now on everything I don't agree with has been done by members of rival orginizations. Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia.
January 21st, 2014 at 2:03 PM ^
"It's certainly a combination of both"
January 21st, 2014 at 2:07 PM ^
If you've followed this debate long enough (and I have) you'd know there are plenty fans of this university that tweet players. Now I'm not saying you're wrong because honestly, who knows. What is certain, though, is that plenty of people on this very site have admitted to tweeting recruits in the past.
Most of this came to light before it (rightfully so) became so taboo here, but I remeber many posters defending the practice of tweeting recruits. Let's face it, if someone finds nothing wrong with tweeting 18 year old kids than they probably find nothing wrong with berating them on twitter for something they don't agree with.
I find it absolutely disgusting personally. I can't imagine a more perverse way to watse my time than to follow what 18 year olds say on twitter, let alone tweet them back. Personally I hate twitter and what it has done to society. Before, people used to think about what they said and were held accountable for their contributions to conversations. Most people would use a degree of tact and consideration when communicating with someone because they were known to the people they were communicating with and could easily be called to task for using bad form. Not only that, but many people would never dream of actually saying the things they post on things like twitter to the person if they were face to face.
I just don't know anymore. Don't people have better things to do that sit on things like twitter and follow ing what other people are doing or tweeting people they don't even know? Here's an idea: Go out and get your own life and stop following what other people are doing.
January 21st, 2014 at 3:37 PM ^
I don't use twitter, but I feel like even if I did follow recruits, the first time they mentioned their girlfriend or that they were hanging out at the mall or something I would feel like a giant freakin' weirdo and dissolve my account immediately.
If you follow recruits and are more than 3 years older than they are, you have something wrong with you. There's no counter-argument to that statement, it's just fact.
January 21st, 2014 at 5:06 PM ^
what age does a person have to be before it is no longer peverse to converse with them over the internet? i like how you guy's have added an extra bit of shame on to this to prevent people from tweeting recruits by calling them perverts if they do.
January 21st, 2014 at 1:33 PM ^
Its unfortunate, but every fan base has these lunatics. They always have and always will. Its just unfortunate that modern technology has provided these idiots a forum where their opinion can make it directly to an individual. In the past, these people would have been relagated to the fringe of society. Thanks to twitter, people in their mom's basement around the world now have opinions which we are forced to be subjected to. Unfortunately for Damien as well, the 99.99% of Michigan fans who understand he's 17, most of us have day jobs and generally have more important things to worry about. So the .0001% seems a lot bigger when viewed through just the twitter spectrum.
January 21st, 2014 at 11:55 AM ^
January 21st, 2014 at 1:28 PM ^
Do you ever post anything that isn't mindless drivel?
January 21st, 2014 at 11:48 AM ^
It can't be stopped. It's the age we live in. Majority are probably fake UM fan accounts set up by rivals. UM bloggers and recruiting experts can tell people to stop doing it until they're blue in the face, it won't happen.
January 21st, 2014 at 11:49 AM ^
Ghost of Yost at it again, huh?
January 21st, 2014 at 11:52 AM ^
While I agree that most of us should not be tweeting recruits, especially nasty messages, but that's also a risk you take when you sign up for Twitter.
You know there are idiots out there, and they will respond to you. Our fanbase is not immune from regrettable messages of 140 characters or less.
January 21st, 2014 at 11:53 AM ^
January 21st, 2014 at 11:54 AM ^
Every fan base does this. It's 90% of the fans that never went to the school but grew up as fans. They just don't know how to act.
I'm not saying this is specific to Michigan either. I live in Kentucky and they have a similar problem with basketball fans. Alabama football fans are the epitome of this.
January 21st, 2014 at 11:56 AM ^
For sure. Does he think it would be any different if he decommited from another school? From 'Bama for example? Fans that do that are jackasses, but he would get the same reaction from any other school.
January 21st, 2014 at 12:01 PM ^
January 21st, 2014 at 12:36 PM ^
EMU grad, UM reject (not smart enough to get in). UM fan and all around great guy (that's what my mom says anyway)
January 21st, 2014 at 2:30 PM ^
there is some truth to that meme...
I know from my own experience that people I lived with and hung out with at UofM are out there doing real things with their lives. I can't think of person I knew in school who would have the time follow a kid on twitter, much less give a fuck if he wants to come to our football team or not.
I like to think that the losers following kids on twitter and/or living and dieing with recruiting are much more likely to be michigan fans who never attended the school. NTTIAWT
love,
jdon
January 21st, 2014 at 3:27 PM ^
January 21st, 2014 at 4:13 PM ^
And (as anyone who watches the board can tell you)I am a walking talking collection of faults. Thankfully tweeting recruits isn't one of them. But following recruits on twitter doesn't take any more time than posting on a blog. Frankly, this entire line of discussion is doing nothing but reinforcing negative stereotypes about us, so I'm going to let this go.
January 22nd, 2014 at 3:30 AM ^
I think he was just implying that UM students and grads are generally smart people and much less likely to make stupid decisions such as attacking a recruit on twitter. You would be lying to yourself if you think people that have attended Michigan are more than just a small fraction of the people hasslng recruits.
I'm not trying to sound condescending or offensive, but most of the bad apples of our fanbase are people not likely affilitated with the university outside of athletics. However, the overwhelming majority of these fans are still intelligent and rational individuals (as evidenced by the quality of discussion of this site).
January 22nd, 2014 at 10:03 AM ^
Sparty fans love to "espouse" the Walmart stuff for three reasons:
1) It's true that our 'brand' is so strong our shit sells at Wal-Mart to fans that have never even been to Ann Arbor
2) They have many fans that compare to 'Walmart' fans that DID actually go to State
3) Their brand (although improving) still sucks and they don't have the national reach that Michigan does.
Obviously there are a lot of great fans of the school that didn't get their degree from it. But it's not a 'Michigan' problem we see on the twitters, as I said. It's a problem created by a brand so strong that less intelligent people latch on to it, and take ridiculous stances when it comes to 'defending' 'their' school (e.g., Michigan, Alabama, Kentucky, etc.). And by definition, any person attacking a kid on twitter is an idiot / less intelligent.
January 21st, 2014 at 12:46 PM ^
"It's 90% of the fans that never went to the school but grew up as fans. "
Be careful that you don't hurt yourself when you fall off of that high horse.
January 21st, 2014 at 11:56 AM ^
If you're pushed away from a school by a few nasty twitter messages that probably aren't even from Michigan fans in the first place, I don't think you're really that into said school.
January 21st, 2014 at 12:00 PM ^
And while he no doubt would receive the same messages from another fan base, all he's known is nasty messages from Michigan fans (I assume), not any other fans. I wouldn't rush to judgment.
January 21st, 2014 at 12:10 PM ^
Yes he is 17, but I also believe that he's an intelligent person who is smart enough to realize that crazies are in every fan base, that they aren't representative of the Michigan program, and that they have absolutely no bearing on what his academic or athletic career would be here at Michigan. Obviously I could be wrong, but this feels a whole lot like a scapegoat.
January 21st, 2014 at 12:13 PM ^
first, he's probably 16 since he's a 2015 recruit. second, the fact that there are dumb fans in every fanbase doesn't justify those dumb fans tweeting dumb stuff at recruits. just stop; you're siding with people who are making a 16 year old kid feel uncomfortable via the internet.
January 21st, 2014 at 12:15 PM ^
What are you talking about? I'm not "siding" with anyone. In fact, I think those people should be ashamed of themselves. I'm just making a general comment about the level of interest of someone who would be dissuaded from attending a school based on twitter.
January 21st, 2014 at 12:19 PM ^
Fandom becomes very different and much less meaningful when you're thinking about your future and not just about what team you like to root for.
January 21st, 2014 at 12:01 PM ^
we don't know what's going on in a 17 year old's head, and HIS COACH seems to feel it's hurting.
January 21st, 2014 at 12:06 PM ^
this is the kind of dumb nonsense that people tweet recruits: "if you decommitted then we don't want you"; "if you decommitted you're not a michigan man", etc.
JUST FREAKING STOP!
January 21st, 2014 at 12:11 PM ^
I'm not saying either of those things. I'm saying I don't think he's that interested in Michigan, which hardly qualfiies as dumb nonsense.
January 21st, 2014 at 12:33 PM ^
January 21st, 2014 at 12:47 PM ^
Welcome to blogging. And it's like not there is zero circumstantial evidence to support the notion that maybe he's just not that into Michigan. Do you really believe this lifelong Michigan fan decomitted because we lost the OC of an 86th ranked offense and replaced him with a guy whose offense was top ten FEI both years at Alabama? Do you know the percentage of kids who recommit to schools that they previously decomitted from? Hint: It's very low.
January 21st, 2014 at 3:55 PM ^
January 21st, 2014 at 4:59 PM ^
Well if that's what your goal is, you must believe that others care what you think or believe. Let me assure you - I don't.
January 21st, 2014 at 12:44 PM ^
I'm saying I don't think he's that interested in Michigan, which hardly qualfiies as dumb nonsense.LG, the kid was committed to Michigan for several months, forsaking other programs. How on earth do you say "I don't think he's that interested in Michigan"? Less interested in Michigan? Maybe. But you have to think he's still extremely interested in Michigan, what with UofM being at the top of his list and all.