STOP TWEETING RECRUITS

Submitted by Tate on

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, 2014

Deltroit3030

January 21st, 2014 at 12:13 PM ^

but whether it does or doesn't... what a bunch of losers. We're all frustrated, but grow a pair. he's a kid. you can't be so surprised.. and you can't just go attack the guy for being a kid and not having his entire future mapped out yet. 

I totally get the frustration.. but man, please haul some of these nutjobs away in straightjackets. who does this stuff? 

Rabbit21

January 21st, 2014 at 12:14 PM ^

Yup this is why if my son ever grows up to be a division 1 recruit(highly unlikely I know), we are having a long conversation about his social media accounts and what the governing rules will be.  There is never a reason to ever tweet at a high school kid, unless you are a high school kid with a personal relationship.  This whole situation is ridiculous and sad.

Shop Smart Sho…

January 21st, 2014 at 12:51 PM ^

"There is never a reason to ever tweet at a high school kid, "



Exactly!!  I'm a high school coach, I'm sure that all of my athletes have twitter and facebook accounts.  I have absolutely no connection to any of them.  The ones that have graduated are allowed to add me, but even then I keep an eye on the interactions between us, so as to prevent any conversation with high school students from taking place.

getsome

January 21st, 2014 at 12:14 PM ^

seriously its pathetic....dont care if youre 16 yrs old or 50 yrs old, PLEASE find something better to do than stalk kids / recruits on internet....if youre 16 go try to find some trim, if youre 50 go back to work, just stop talking to kids on internet.  its creepy.  harris would be great to have in maize and blue and it sucks to lose out on 2 supremely talented athletes in same class but hoke and his staff deserve it at this point after the season they turned in.  while i think um will field some solid OLs in future, the rushing performances this past season should force top RBs to look around.  must really wanna go blue to pick 27 for 27 and negative rushing games over osus top rushing attack.  leave the kid alone.  im sure most on here have enough maturity to avoid twitter all together but for the few creeps - please consider your situation if you were the top RB prospect in nation, rather than twisted um fan with too much time on your hands and please stop the tweeting....you might feel anonymous or somewhat detached while tweeting recruits like that but youre still jerkoffs 

Rather be on BA

January 21st, 2014 at 12:18 PM ^

It is sad, really.  I would bet it is probably mostly real U of M fans sending nasty tweets and then a handful of posers sending even nastier ones...  Nothing that can be done about it outside of the recruits themselves realizing that it is a nasty part of EVERY major program and to allow it to roll off of their shoulders.  Sadly most 17 year olds are not mature enough to do that yet..  Heck, 25 year old Richard Sherman probably isn't even mature enough to do that! Zing.

StephenRKass

January 21st, 2014 at 12:18 PM ^

This is extremely irritating. While it could easily be rival fans, there are enough jerks here at mgoblog and mlive, etc., that I can easily believe this is Michigan fans.

I don't have Twitter now, and don't plan to start anytime soon. Reading junk like this just makes me want to unplug. This is ridiculous and wrong.

I really wish there was a way to "out" idiots who do this. I have a very low tolerance for that kind of behavior. I thought it was great when some Ohio fans were outed for their lunancy (iirc, someone who was photographed with recruits last year at Ohio. And the immortal "poop in the bathroom" youtube.) I was glad to see the jerk from Alabama prosecuted for poisoning trees. The Internet in general (as well as twitter) really feeds a lack of accountability. Someone who does anything like this should be publicly chastised.

Spunky

January 21st, 2014 at 12:19 PM ^

I hate the influence social media likely has on recruits. In addition to the crazy Michigan fans, rival fan bases tweet terrible, terrible things to UM recruits. For example, a few months ago Devin Booker tweeted a picture of MBB practice, and reading his replies from a variety of different fan bases was like attending a Michigan roast. And maybe it's just my perception, but it seems like Michigan is hated by more schools than most.    

LordGrantham

January 21st, 2014 at 1:30 PM ^

The only thing as ridiculous and annoying as fans tweeting nasty comments at recruits is the constant mollycoddling from the very posters and reporters who contribute to the exposure of these high schoolers in the first place.  How many times are we going to witness this pattern before people stop being shocked and outraged?

1. Awesome recruit commits.

2. Awesome recruit decommits.

3. A select few morons tweet bad things.

4. Fans and bloggers flip out.

This is the way it works, and a big reason is because people crave up-to-the-minute information about every aspect of these kids lives.  If you're serious about preventing this, stop reporting and commenting on these players and petition the NCAA to forbid offers until junior year while allowing an early sigining period to lock in commitments.  And for the love of God, please stop this "think of the children!" attitude.  You care about Harris because he's damn good at football.  If this kid were a walk-on, it doesn't even make the board.

MGoNukeE

January 21st, 2014 at 1:57 PM ^

than people that complain about the world's problems are the people that say "It's been this way for a long time. I've learned to deal with it; why haven't you?" in response to said people. And that doesn't even include the Straw Man about being selfish rather than morally sound.

Magnum P.I.

January 21st, 2014 at 12:37 PM ^

Jesus, do recruits not realize that 90% of this garbage comes from fans of rival teams posing as fans of the scorned team?



Part of me thinks they understand this but prefer to ignore it for further justification of their decision.

FrankMurphy

January 21st, 2014 at 12:40 PM ^

The baseline rule is that it's very creepy for a grown-ass man (or woman) to be tweeting at a kid whom he doesn't know and isn't related to. The fact that this isn't obvious to some people is unsettling, to say the least.

jmambro13

January 21st, 2014 at 12:46 PM ^

What's the point of bashing this kid!? What is being accomplished? Honestly, the only thing it does is make you look bad! And make a 16 year old kid feel bad. He had a relationship with the former offensive coordinator and now that person no longer works there. Commitments by kids who are sophmores need to be taken with a grain of salt because this is what happens. Things in life happen and circumstances change so you need to make the best decisions that benefit you and your family, not some fan! I hope he ultimately ends up at Michigan but lay off the kid, because that's what he is, a kid, who happens to be really good at football!

An Angelo's Addict

January 21st, 2014 at 12:44 PM ^

Wow I would have thought this was obvious. Can't believe people would continue to harass these young kids, especially when they know it's only going to hurt Michigan more. Hopefully Harris knows these few dumbasses don't represent the whole fan base

MGoCombs

January 21st, 2014 at 12:52 PM ^

Let me start by saying what people are saying to him sucks to see and it's horrible that people have to be reminded, but can the luddites please stop with the "this is why I don't have a Twitter" comments on this blog? Nobody cares that you don't have Twitter, and I'm not entirely sure why you having or not having Twitter has anything to do with this.

I have Twitter. I've never sent recruits nasty messages. I've never received hateful messages from strangers because I am not a high-profile athlete. Unless you are someone in the public eye, I don't see why something like this has anything to do with you having or not having Twitter. It's an otherwise useful form of media that can be abused by a relative minority of users.

GoBlueOval

January 21st, 2014 at 12:54 PM ^

Don't communicate with recruits you don't already know personally, regardless of the intent of your message - positive or negative. 

It can be harmful for the university.

Worse, it can be harmful to the recruit. 

 

PS The same goes for current players. 

mGrowOld

January 21st, 2014 at 12:55 PM ^

Somebody should ask TomVH to tell Damian that we, the collective Michigan fan base, have as much control over the tweets from the lunatic fringe of the fan base as we do over his decision to de-committ.

Anybody who would tweet negative crap to a High School Junior is not going to be influenced in the least by the admonishment of his coach I assure you.  

MDot

January 21st, 2014 at 12:55 PM ^

The thing that pisses me off about this is that it could very well be fans from other schools under dummy accounts just trying to get under the kid's skin.

 

I just hope these kids are smart enough to realize that EVERY school/team/etc has assholes that don't speak for the entire fanbase.

 

Some of these kids get so gassed from random fans on social media blowing smoke up their ass when they commit, they don't realize its a flipside to that. And I'm not talking about Harris there, but just in general. They would be better suited just making their accounts private...

The Claw

January 21st, 2014 at 12:57 PM ^

I went to see what who said what.  One jackass said he was getting paid.  Come on dude. That's really happening.  I'd be pissed and appalled if I was Damien as well.

One thing I did see is a ton of Michigan players supporting him.  That can only help down the line if they keep in good contact with him.  Playing football is a brotherhood. If he has 10-15 very good friends on the team, that will only help him with his decision.

LordGrantham

January 21st, 2014 at 1:11 PM ^

But see then all the fans can't follow them, and the bloggers can't keep us informed of every breaking news story regarding their recruitment. We can't have that.  Also, the recruits wouldn't get the same massive amounts of positive publicity and hype. They can't have that.

Hokemadness27

January 21st, 2014 at 1:16 PM ^

Listen. Damien can do whatever he pleases. My god not all 5 star recruits come to a program and do great. Everyone tends to forget Mike Hart was a 3 star, and look what he did. Damien is a big time recruit who knows that and is playing the I want attention card. All we are doing is fueling the fire. If he doesn't come back to us then who gives a shit? There are plenty of other HBs in the 2015 class. Everything will be fine.

MI_JEEPER

January 21st, 2014 at 1:19 PM ^

If recruits really care what a couple fans say on Twitter they can do a couple things. Delete your Twitter or get thicker skin. Every fan base has this, I don't see how a recruit can really care what a few fans say.

Anonymosity

January 21st, 2014 at 1:24 PM ^

@MichiganManBo97TheTeam
dont u no thos who stay will be champoins? u will nevr b champoin now this wuz bigest mistake of ur life i hope u brake ur leg Moran GO BLUE!!!

BlackOps2ForLife

January 21st, 2014 at 1:37 PM ^

I don't know how many times this needs to be said. The Michigan compliance department constantly reminds people to not have any knowingly contact with recruits whatsoever, but there are still morons who do it. Let the coaches do the recruiting because it is highly likely that when fans do it, it only hinders the process. The coaches know what they're doing.

DetroitBlue

January 21st, 2014 at 2:16 PM ^

It's like my dad used to say, there's no arguing with stupid. The type of idiots who insult players on twitter/Facebook/whatever, aren't going to listen to reason. It's unfortunate that people like that might hurt our chances to land Harris, but there are morons in every fan base, ours included