Helping the cause

By BuckeyeBoyer85 -18 December 2012
27 Comments
- Football

Retweeted by OSU recruit Demarre Kitt

https://mobile.twitter.com/OHIOBoyer/status/280850159603179520

http://247sports.com/Player/Demarre-Kitt-18059

UrbzRenewal on 18 Dec 2012 - 12:13am #

I'm really not sure how that helps the cause. People tweeting at recruits like that kind of creep me out, and I'm in their age group.

He has us at #2.

HighBallAce on 18 Dec 2012 - 12:15am #

I agree...not a good idea to be tweeting recruits like that. Makes our fans look creepy as you put it..

BuckeyeBoyer85 on 18 Dec 2012 - 12:18am #

Wow I just said I'd love to see him as a buckeye, no bad intentions. He chose to retweet it so its all good IMO

Wayne Woodrow Hayes

703Buckeye on 18 Dec 2012 - 12:27am #

I rarely tweet the players and I'm their age but I see nothing wrong with your tweet.

"Attack the Strong, Trample the Weak, Hurdle the Dead!"
-Former OSU S&C Coach Lichter

UrbzRenewal on 18 Dec 2012 - 12:32am #

I just think it's creepy as hell, IMO. It does nothing to "Help the Cause".

buck-I.8 on 18 Dec 2012 - 1:25am #

second

BuckeyeBoyer85 on 18 Dec 2012 - 12:37am #

Perhaps I'm off base. The kid has four thousand followers, he seems mature enough to deal with twitter traffic, I just thought I shout out some of my personal sentiments. I apologize if I come off "creepy" that's not my intention.

Wayne Woodrow Hayes

BuckeyeBoyer85 on 18 Dec 2012 - 1:23am #

I wasn't even following him before this, I saw Miles' tweet and was excited so I responded. I just joined twitter so if this is bad etiquette then i was unaware. I was excited he responded and I took it as a fan (me) voicing my freedom of speech.

Wayne Woodrow Hayes

703Buckeye on 18 Dec 2012 - 1:43am #

I think there's gonna be a few more sensitive people on here than other sites. I can't blame them after the Anzalone situation, if you don't know what happened look it up.

I'm okay with the tweets as long as it doesn't go beyond something like "Go Bucks!"

"Attack the Strong, Trample the Weak, Hurdle the Dead!"
-Former OSU S&C Coach Lichter

BuckeyeAsylum on 19 Dec 2012 - 1:13am #

To put it simply, this has nothing to do w/ "freedom of speech."

But you are obv welcome to talk freely on the interwebs, there can just be feedback(good and bad) to what you say. I understand your gut feeling as well, but I try to not bother them. They are HS kids still, I am not interested in being apart of a HS kid's life. 4k followers on twitter doesn't mean able to handle either. There are people with far more followers who lose it. There are also incidents where a pedophilic fan gets into a picture with a recruit/committed player and costs the school they supposedly care about that recruit. I get where you're coming from, but just be careful.

NW Buckeye on 18 Dec 2012 - 1:58am #

Tweet away if you want to, but if you can in any way be considered a booster of tOSU athletics, tweets could be considered an NCAA violation. I know, it's a stupid rule, but for some of us it would be a clear violation to tweet recruits. As a Varsity O member I have to sign a form every year stating that I will have no contact with recruits, and I know those rules extend to anyone who could be considered a "supporter" of the school or athletic department.

703Buckeye on 18 Dec 2012 - 2:15am #

Yay! For once, it's good I'm too poor to be a booster.

"Attack the Strong, Trample the Weak, Hurdle the Dead!"
-Former OSU S&C Coach Lichter

Brutus Greyshield on 19 Dec 2012 - 5:06am #

The very act of tweeting a potential recruit (if the message is intended to influence the athlete to attend a certain school) turns an average fan into a booster (if any member of the AD knew or should have known about the contact), even if the fan has never donated one cent to the school.

Here's a WaPo article explaining the rules: Fans' Recruiting Pitches Are Catching On

Here's the money quote: "NCAA rules state that any individual who is known or should have been known by a member of a school's athletic administration to be "assisting in the recruitment of prospective student-athletes" qualifies as a representative of that institution's athletic interests. Therefore, any fan with a social networking account could possibly cause a violation."

Univ of Tenn's Compliance Office tweeted this one the eve of signing day last year: "NCAA rules prohibit fans from contacting prospective student-athletes. This includes interactions on facebook and twitter."

buck-I.8 on 18 Dec 2012 - 2:15am #

In the eyes of the NCAA supporter=booster, so some innocent contact could easily lead to an NCAA violation if left unchecked. That's why it's best to put the fans and the players (current and prospective) on a different playing field.

BuckeyeBoyer85 on 18 Dec 2012 - 2:23am #

Man I went from being excited to commiting an NCAA violation... Whoops

Wayne Woodrow Hayes

buck-I.8 on 18 Dec 2012 - 2:29am #

you didnt commit one, but that's the first step down a slippery slope haha. No worries, man.

HighBallAce on 18 Dec 2012 - 4:13pm #

BuckeyeBoyer85, I understand your intentions were innocent but with the Anzalone situation, we as Buckeye fans have to be careful not to make the same mistake. Even if it is just to say something as simple as "Hi." I realize you didn't mean any harm and I should have put that a little lighter than I did. I apologize for being rude.

Buckeyevstheworld on 19 Dec 2012 - 2:48am #

Didn't the father just use that as an excuse to decommit his son?

"YOLO" = I'm about to do something extremely ignorant/stupid & I need an excuse to do it.

Buckeyevstheworld on 19 Dec 2012 - 2:50am #

I don't really see what all the fuss is about.

"YOLO" = I'm about to do something extremely ignorant/stupid & I need an excuse to do it.

UrbzRenewal on 19 Dec 2012 - 3:19am #

It does nothing to help the cause. It just seems inappropriate and creepy to me for grown men to tweet at teenage strangers. That just doesn't seem right to me. It does nothing to aid recruiting and makes our fan base look creepy.

DetroitBuckeye on 19 Dec 2012 - 3:44am #

It happens all the time, how is this any different then Bryce Harper or Mike Trout or any other young athlete having so many random people tweet them on a regular basis.

buck-I.8 on 19 Dec 2012 - 3:47am #

As has been said, team supporters are boosters and contact with scholarship athletes or recruits for institutions governed by the NCAA, which professional franchises are not, spells bad news. It's not hard to figure out.

DetroitBuckeye on 19 Dec 2012 - 4:25am #

I wasn't speaking from a ncaa rules perspective or from a booster perspective. Just speaking of people thinking it's creepy, which it isn't.

buck-I.8 on 19 Dec 2012 - 4:31am #

... In your opinion. The fun thing about opinions is that they are subjective in nature, and thus, aren't burdened to align.

Buckeyevstheworld on 19 Dec 2012 - 2:51pm #

It was an innocent tweet. He didn't call him, or show up to his house and say this. We spend months, and months talking about wanting a particular recruit to be a Buckeye, so I don't see the problem with letting one know that you do.

"YOLO" = I'm about to do something extremely ignorant/stupid & I need an excuse to do it.

dancorona5 on 19 Dec 2012 - 4:12pm #

I think it's fine if you want to tweet a recruit, especially when they are harmless such as this one. But, I dont think you needed to post on here that you did it, especially when that recruit is 16/17 years old. Thats the reason people find it "creepy".