November 12th, 2008 at 9:42 AM ^
He is your dream weaver and an oracle of truth.
November 12th, 2008 at 10:22 AM ^
His childhood was typical. Summers in Rangoon, luge lessons. In the summer he'd make meat helmets. When he was insolent he'd be placed in a burlap bag and beaten with reeds. Pretty standard, really.
November 12th, 2008 at 10:28 AM ^
yes. I lol'd
November 12th, 2008 at 10:56 AM ^
At the age of fifteen, a Zoroastrian named Vilma ritualistically shaved his testicles. There really is nothing like a shorn scrotum. At the age of eighteen, Tom went off to scouting school. From there...
November 12th, 2008 at 10:57 AM ^
Wow...yes all of TomVH info is great and causes me to work less everyday but come on ... leave the man alone. Everyone is interigating him wanting know his life story and why he's doing what he's doing and how did Brian find him and is he paid.
Frankly....it is none of our business who he is or what he does and why he does it.
Just leave the man alone and let him do what he does and just appreciate it.
November 12th, 2008 at 11:17 AM ^
Not that I question his integrity, but it does affect his credibility. Some people don't question Gsimmons because he's a high school defensive coordinator. If he weren't a defensive coordinator, we might trust his opinions a bit less.
November 12th, 2008 at 11:44 AM ^
There's that whole "I'll drive to wear you are and bust your face" thing. If Don Rumsfeld could kick people's asses, would people have ever doubted his credibility?
November 12th, 2008 at 12:14 PM ^
Great analogy
November 12th, 2008 at 3:53 PM ^
thats just my E-m.o. in real life, i am a whimp...and the ws6 isnt mine, its a cool guys down the street, who threatens to shoot me when i run up to it and snap pictures.
ok im joking, and i really do want to drive to a lot of people's houses and beat the pee out of them, in a nice guy way
November 12th, 2008 at 12:30 PM ^
True. I will not believe a word TomVH says until he can produce a Masters in Recruitology.
Holy shit, what credentials are you looking for?
November 12th, 2008 at 1:48 PM ^
-I need to see a Doctorate. Furthermore do we even know if he has passed the Michigan State Recruiting Bar, or is he practicing Recruitology without a license?
----------
In all seriousness, Brian brought this guy on to the site - do you guys think he would risk his credibility by bringing in some fraud?
November 12th, 2008 at 2:13 PM ^
I'd just want to know what, in the uber-shady world of recruiting populated by guys like Tom Beaver and the like, constitutes a "fraud". I mean, do we think the Tom is making the interviews up? No? Then who cares?
November 12th, 2008 at 4:56 PM ^
In all seriousness, Brian brought this guy on to the site - do you guys think he would risk his credibility by bringing in some fraud?
I don't know... Brian IS pal'ing around with the WLA.
November 12th, 2008 at 5:23 PM ^
It gets him hits.
Kidding, Brian, I love you.
November 12th, 2008 at 1:12 PM ^
I agree completely. These kind of things need back up.
What are your credentials as it relates to demoting and promoting players on a weekly basis?
November 12th, 2008 at 12:20 PM ^
Does it matter a lot of you think he's credible? Are you making financial decisions based on his posts? I think the fact that he is able to interview so many big time recruits one on one shows credibility. Does it matter why they take his calls? Because they are, and that's probably what matters. We all have a sick addiction for recruiting info, and he's our insider.
November 12th, 2008 at 12:48 PM ^
I say we have someone check TomVH's implanted career chip.
November 12th, 2008 at 1:07 PM ^
I utilized The Google to cobble together a profile. He has enjoyed an accomplished career as a child predator, leaving him uniquely qualified to gain access and build trust with high school students*. He attended Central Michigan University, which leaves him less biased when evaluating Michigan's recruits. And again, his consumption of countless cases of Natty Light makes him uniquely qualified to go toe-to-toe with top HS recruits. He works in Detroit, so he's tough. He's Dutch, so he, umm...likes wooden shoes and flowers? Information gets pretty sparse from here.
*This part is untruthy
November 12th, 2008 at 1:19 PM ^
I've gotta believe that Mr. VanHaaren doesn't drink at all. IIRC, Holland, MI is a dry town.
/useless speculation
November 12th, 2008 at 1:38 PM ^
Wrong! Dutchmen can drink. The Curragh in Holland has 2 dollar Oberon on Wednesdays. He is, however, likely over 6'5".
November 12th, 2008 at 2:40 PM ^
And TomVH is a 6 feet 8 inches tall, 295 pound Offensive Tackle, and runs a 4.85 40.
November 12th, 2008 at 2:49 PM ^
That will be perfect for my TomVH skin suit! You said you're in Arizona, Tom?
November 12th, 2008 at 6:00 PM ^
Jeez, you guys like to overreact...
Do I think he's making up these interviews? No. But did anyone think that kid would fake a press conference last year and announce he was committing to Cal (or some other Pac-10 team, I can't remember for sure) when he didn't even have any FBS scholarship offers? No.
Regardless, I AM interested in how he gets inside information and if that inside information is legit. I know of plenty of people on message boards who pretend to know inside information and, in fact, don't. Again, I'm not saying he IS that person. But the dude popped out of nowhere and started posting interviews with high-profile players. How does that happen?
I apologize if I don't automatically believe the credibility of every single poster on the internet. I will lower my standards for information. From now on, if I read something on this blog, I will immediately believe it to be 100% true.
November 12th, 2008 at 6:10 PM ^
Well bro, I've read this blog for years now, and I don't ask the credentials of any of you homos. That doesn't mean I don't enjoy reading your input on a number of issues. What credentials does Brian have, or TimVB? Because they write a fucking blog? (no offense guys). If Tom would have said, "I write for some blog" which anyone can start, would that make him credible?
You're right, he COULD be the mother of all fakers, but Brian buys it, and I do too. Looks like lots of other guys do. Why does this guy need to post his resume all of a sudden?
November 12th, 2008 at 6:23 PM ^
Holy God...
My point is, does this guy just have a Scout premium account? Or does he have some sort of connection inside Michigan's football program? Is he a 17-year-old Facebook stalker or is he Tom Lemming's intern?
I'm not DEMANDING that he gives his credentials. I'm not saying "I'm not going to believe a word you say until you e-mail me your resume and I do a background check." But as everyone should be, I'm a bit skeptical of out-of-the-blue contributors who start posting supposed inside information and interviews.
Jesus. Get off my fucking back. It's like any one of us saying, "Hey, Gsimmons, how do you know all this shit?" Then he says, "I've been a defensive coordinator for _____ years" and we're like, "Cool."
All I'm saying is, "Hey, TomVH, how do you know all this shit?" Some of you jump all over my ass every time I say something. I just want to know who he is. I'm not trying to get his account canceled or anything.
November 12th, 2008 at 6:28 PM ^
Introducing some original reporting on MGoBlog: Tom VanHaaren is the official Recruiting Intern and will be publishing interviews with various prospects.
November 12th, 2008 at 6:31 PM ^
FTR: Tom started emailing me information about recruits that he was gathering on social media sites, which is something I'd thought was an untapped source of information for a year or two. He correctly forecast the McNeal decommit before that was even a possibility broached on the premium sites, correctly forecast that McNeal was not likely to rejoin the fold before that was clear, and was the source of the Anthony-Fera-with-JoePa picture that gave an indication Fera wouldn't be on the open market long after his decommit.
At this point I thought "hey, this is something worth exploring." We worked something out where he would be a regular contributor as a recruiting correspondent; his general method of work now is to initiate contact over social media, arrange a phone interview, and then execute said phone interview. As he gets to know some of the recruits better they're helping him out with other contacts and phone numbers.
I have plenty of background on Tom and assure you he's on the up-and-up. Anyone who's skeptical is welcome to that skepticism; I expect that will disappear over time.
November 12th, 2008 at 6:35 PM ^
This is the type of information I was seeking. Thank you.
November 12th, 2008 at 6:58 PM ^
just recruited his first 5 star- welcome Tom.