Eleven Warriors

There was an article being circulated this morning ( http://www.ocolly.com/mobile/sports/social-media-allowing-fans-access-to-recruits-1.2848929 ) that states, basically, if you contact a potential recruit  via social media forums like Twitter or Facebook, you are considered a booster by the NCAA, and therefore, your contact with said recruit would constitute a recruiting violation, albeit a very, very minor one.

I would prefer the definition of a booster to be a little more exact, to only include individuals who have a tangible relationship with any given institution. IMO, applying this definition to casual fans, who have no relationship to a given institution or the athletic department, falls short of a common sense threshold that I think the NCAA should, at a minimum, be required to meet. Based on the sheer volume of usage and number of comments, it is impossible to police Twitter. It would further be a waste of resources to even try, because any messegas from casual fans are very, very minor violations.  Given the societal usage of forums such as Twitter, I don't think it is too much to ask for the NCAA to contemplate a more modern, sensible definition of "booster". 

Even before social media, as a kid, I remember being at HS football games where old, drunk fans would tell some of the kids "You need to go to Big State!" after a big game. These old guys were not acting at the behest of Big State, and I would not consider them "boosters" for Big State under any circumstances. The NCAA shouldn't either. 

With that being said, I'm not advocating tweeting or messaging potential recruits (especially if you are sending them negative messages or asking them for a RT, which is one of the lamest things you could ever do on the internet-- Kenny Powers would NEVER do that, and neither should you) but if someone tells a kid, "Go Bucks", I think the NCAA should label it for what it really is: a fan being a fan.