OT - Tom Beaver leaving Scout

Submitted by SAMgO on

Tom had a post on the scout insider board today letting everyone know that his 2 year contract with scout expired today and they are not offering to renew or extend. It'll be interesting to see if scout adds someone to take his place, but in the mean time you may see some former scout posters on other boards. I'm considering a move to rivals myself, but I'll wait to see how it plays out. How good are the insiders on rivals and 247?

GVSUGoBlue

April 30th, 2015 at 5:48 PM ^

I think it's better to not pay for recruiting sites and wait for the information to get posted here. If it is important it always ends up on the mgoboard. Fo Free




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SAMgO

April 30th, 2015 at 5:50 PM ^

Eh, I'm too addicted and am fully willing to spare with $10 a month for more information and to get it immediately. Tom was the most frequent posters of the scout mods, though, so I'm worried the information flow will go down significantly if Sam doesn't pick up the pace a lot on the board.

beangoblue

April 30th, 2015 at 8:52 PM ^

This.

I was HOOKED for a couple years. Started with Ronald Johnson. I invested way too much time following recruiting on the Scout board. Then eventually I just got tired of it. I still follow recruiting, but no where near as intensely. It's just not worth it. Now, I basically wait until signing day to learn more about the players in the class that year.

Although, I do miss some of the benefits of following recruiting, like knowing more about different players in general, even when they don't end up at Michigan.

MGoLifer

April 30th, 2015 at 6:54 PM ^

He was the most frequent but it was at least 95% someone else's story he was posting to the board or comments from his "coach buddy," an unnamed...former.. high school FB... assistant coach...whose opinion GBW readers were supposed to place importance on re: various subjects from recruiting to schematic details.

In addition to breaking no new content whatsoever, he's been known to personally insult people who express contrarion opinions. Personally, I'm not a fan, and I think this is actually addition by subtraction, and the site gets an instant credibility bump by his absence going forward.

Canadian

April 30th, 2015 at 5:54 PM ^

I honestly would love to know what's going on in the world of recruiting at all times but feel that paying for the information isn't worth it to me. The way these young men change their minds and how frequently it happens would drive me away from keeping up to date on all the information out there

FauxMo

April 30th, 2015 at 5:54 PM ^

I was on the Scout premium board for many, many years. I liked Tom's information, and more often than not his posts and personality were OK too. However, I also think he had a bit of a "God complex" on the board, and was way, way too quick to insult and dismiss any information that was not his own. Sometimes, the information he would dismiss would be minor or even unequivocally correct, but if it wasn't his (or Sam Webb's, etc.), then it simply could not be correct. After a while, debate was not tolerated. It got very annoying tip-toeing around him, and that was one of the reasons I quit...

Magnus

April 30th, 2015 at 7:09 PM ^

Small adjustment:

They nailed the coaching search THIS time.

Back during the 2011 coaching search, they were all over the place. So they must have found a better source of information in the intervening four years.

But recruiting-wise, the site has taken a big dip since Josh Helmholdt left a few years ago. I can't stand Tim or Brandon's writing style, fluff pieces, etc.

LSAClassOf2000

April 30th, 2015 at 6:33 PM ^

I would actually tend to agree with this, primarily for a reason stated upthread - as this blog has grown and as its footprint has expanded, it has become a great secondary source for most of the important items that otherwise come from 247 and Rivals. Typically, within an hour, the information is on this site, and sometimes I think we've even scooped them. 

Ares

April 30th, 2015 at 6:12 PM ^

You should change the title because he didn't "leave". I'm in agreement with the other dude in this thread about Tom's God complex. The guy was wicked annoying and was a dick a lot of the time. 

kingrichardx

April 30th, 2015 at 6:17 PM ^

I don't know if anyone out there ever took a class with Brian MacPherson in the Philosophy department but I have a theory that Tom Beaver is his internet message board alter ego.

Suavdaddy

April 30th, 2015 at 6:31 PM ^

Find it odd that he one of the mods, but lives on West coast, rarely makes events in AA and doesn't attend many camps. Most of the info starting coming from third party sources or Sam. Sam rocks of course.

CarrIsMyHomeboy

April 30th, 2015 at 6:43 PM ^

Even before (about 10-15 years ago) I knew about this blog and how quickly it (and the board) could filter through pay-site info and report it for free, I got sick of paying subscription dues to a scout site whose authors misspelled their entries that often. And nobody had worse spelling and grammar habits than Tom Beaver. At least back then.

gwkrlghl

April 30th, 2015 at 7:25 PM ^

Just about everything useful on those sites is either offered here within a day or two, or is directly implied almost immediately. I had one of those 247 free trials for a while and it's just a lot of rumors and a fractional head start on knowing things

it's Science

April 30th, 2015 at 7:43 PM ^

Love 247. Have had that, and Rivals. Lorenz is about as accurate as can be. He never blows smoke or gives false hope, and he admits when he's wrong or didn't know. Worth the money:




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CoronaBlue

May 1st, 2015 at 1:53 AM ^

Well, I've been reading this site since 2008, so I might a well make my first post! I've been on scout for 5 years and TGB is someone I tolerated, but someone whose style really annoyed me. I think he's a love em' or hate em' guy. He never had much new or enlightening. I think Sam and Allen are the bedrock of the site. Personally, I think it's' addition by subtraction. I can see why many think it's crazy to pay for recruiting info. These days with all the recruiting shenanigans I think it's even more true. I suppose I'm just crazed for as much information as I can get, even if much is redundant. Mgoblog is certainly the best source I've found - especially for the price! I appreciate the writing, the research, the humor, and the member base. Hopefully this post doesn't put me in the negative off the bat! HARGAUGH!

shikhardhawan

May 1st, 2015 at 2:30 AM ^

Completely agree. The source was Jack Harbaugh and a couple of other insiders that I won't reveal here. As for 2011's search and the loss of Josh, you are spot on!