So with the close of NSD and basically the way this years recruiting went I felt like I had to post something about how the EZE topic on all of this because it was pretty bad. IMO there is nothing wrong with following a recruit to stay in the loop with what is going on as far as the process is concerned but to hang on every word and try to analyze it was crazy. Alot of people on here were toeing the ledge when it came to this kid even after the 11w staff was saying that all signs still pointed to ohio st for him. Calling him selfish and acting like he owed us something. The kid is 17 years old, he owes us nothing. He was able to make whatever decision he wanted to and regardless didnt need to have people turning their back on him without even knowing what his decision was.
All in all when it comes to these kids just remember that they are in fact KIDS. They are gonna change their minds a hundred times and even though we might not get what we were hoping for you have to remember that a ton of kids want to be in the position that the kids that signed today were in. Ohio st always brings in top talent and there is no need to get bent out of shape over one person. I just hope for recruitments to come that some people can just stop and take a second to remember how silly it is to go overboard with emotion about a recruit and what their plans are.
Sorry, I didn't see anyone calling him selfish on here. I saw people saying if he wanted a shot at titles, he should come here. I saw people saying if he was afraid of competition, he should go to Mizzou. Neither of those is inappropriate. The reason people are so passionate about recruiting is that it is the lifeblood of the program, not for any twisted personal reasons.
Urbz...one guy didn't just call him selfish...he devulged information that he tweeted EzE's fam. I wish the thread wasn't deleted...it devulged info that could have got someone into some internet trouble. I wish it would have personally...that may be the only way these idiots will learn. Usually how it goes with the kids I work with...until they get popped...they keep it rolling.
Up votes to everyone who agrees with this outlook...
Stop the senseless tweets to these guys...leave em alone.
"There's nothing that cleanses your soul like getting the hell kicked out of you."
"I love football. I think it is most wonderful game in world and I despise to lose."
Woody Hayes 1913 - 1987
VOTE UP!6 VOTE DOWN!-4OTRAIN2416 on 30 JAN 2013 - 11:04AM #I just don't understand why this kid is upset. Dontre is being recruited for a completely different position. If anything this kid should be excited that he is being surrounded with playmakers that is going to give him an opportunity to make more plays due to the defense having to focus on multiple offensive guys. Selfish move IMO
There was nothing wrong with him taking an ov to mizzo especially when he gave the coaching staff a heads up on it. I understand being passionate about recruiting but when countless people say "still hearing buckeye" over and over again and people still want to jump ship when the kid had never came out and flipped was a little overboard. Recruiting has gotten very crazy and I guess my whole reason for this post was just because of people acting like the sky was falling over one recruit. And I shoukd have based this more at twitter personal attacks because twitter was way worse and I dont think anyone that messages on these boards were part of it when he went on his ov but it happened. Right now the kid has mizzo fans throwing dirt at him on twitter over his decision.
It would say that the definition of selfish in that context is competition fearing, not selfish as in the relationship between fans & Zeke. I would say there is a difference.
Ok I can see that. Maybe I had misread it in that context. I would still say though that when you have the staff say "chill" so to speak off the word they are hearing that maybe people should do just that instead of getting bent out of shape over a recruit. My thing is to make sure people think before they post/tweet.
I think most people do, it's the 1/1000 of the 1% of fans that are jackasses. There have been numerous posts on the topic, but I think in the end it's an extreme minority that suck.
I agree. Look at the mizzo and the vols fans now. They are going overboard with comments on bell and zeke. Just not necessary. Does it suck for your program that you didnt land the recruit you were looking to get? Of course it does but in no way do you throw comments out there at a kid who is making his own decision on where he wants to go. Its nuts how people get about recruiting these days.
Fun to follow recruiting but can be a headache sometimes when talking to people about it.
Never posted here on 11W before (though I have frequented the site for several years now) but this is a topic that has really upset lately me as a fan.
I purposely do not follow any recruits on twitter or friend them on facebook because I do not think that is appropriate as a observer of the sport and an adult. However seeing some of the comments that I saw when looking at retweets of what a recruit said (particularly Eze) and even discussions on this site (Townsend) it was very upsetting to see the negativity by some members of our fan base (I know their are most likely trolls out there but without 100% knowing you have to assume that some and most likely nearly all are from legitimate OSU fans). As OSU fans we should limit what we say to these recruits (if anything at all) to only the positives and stick to reassuring them as to why OSU is the premier school to play college football and not attack them or even other programs on a personal or unprofessional level. It is only then that we can truly call ourselves The Best Damn Fans in the Land and help Urban "The Closer" Meyer to continue to land classes of recruits like we did yesterday.
Additionally I think it would be great if UFM addressed the fan base as a whole and taught them a thing or two about what to do and not do when it comes to social media. I think this could go a long way in convincing some of our fans that the comments that they think are helping UFM and the rest of the coaches out are NOT.
Go BUCKS!
Very well put. I agree. I dont see a problem with following recruits just to keep up to date but I agree with messaging them. Twitter following is one thing amd fb friending them is different imo. Either way messaging them trying to convince them to come the school you support or throwing internet attacks at them when they dont make the decision you want is out of line.
The rampant overreacting on here was bad. Some people went off about something that wasn't even true. Someone just suggested it and then next thing we know people are saying the recruit actually did it! I tried to defend these kids as much as possible and to try and get some posters to realize what they are actually saying. It is out of hound, truly!
Kind of glad its over for a bit now! Hopefully people can enjoy this class and not obsess over what a recruit might or might not have said at some point. Each and everyone of these kids are buckeyes now, lets root them all on as if they are all 5 stars!
When I made this post I was worried that I was the only one who saw this. Im glad im not the total minority on this. Recruiting is fun to follow but the way people go about t is crazy. Just sit back and relax! You can have opinions about what you think tue kid might do but until it is concrete on either side of the fence it was like just calm down
The famous 80/20 rule does not apply here. 80% of the problems are not caused by 20% of the fans, it's more like 80/.00001, and for that reason, I don't think it's that big of an issue. You can't fix stupid.
Well said Bhardy. I don't understand the obsession with recruting. I understand that it is the life blood of the program, but we all have to realize these are just kids. Minors, for the most part. As grown ass adults we have to understand reaching out to them is not a smart decision. Even if we are congratulating them for one thing or the other. When they make a chiuce, or think they are making a choice, patience is needed. To me FB and Twitter have ruined us. Sometimes not knowing everything about these guys is better than knowing.
I agree with everything you said BHARDY...it's a shame some ppl can't be like us and just follow them and refrain from commenting about these recruits choices. I understand 11W staff and others getting the scoop...but to go after their integrity over a choice to visit some where else makes our fan base look like a bunch of Waughs if you ask me (just without being nailed with a kiddy porn charge but possibly in need of a harassment charge...to be quite honest). I'm not saying individuals here fall into this category at 11W that were
dumbignorant enough to tell us all they did it....well...may be the do fall into that circle. Either way...it's a shame...I do believe that's why EzE did what he did. He loves his family and his community...so what do our fans do...??? Make our entire fan base look like morons by talking shit...totally uncalled for IMHO of course."There's nothing that cleanses your soul like getting the hell kicked out of you."
"I love football. I think it is most wonderful game in world and I despise to lose."
Woody Hayes 1913 - 1987
This is what happens when fans affiliate themselves with a team they ONLY cheer for. They act as if anything done to the detriment of their favorite team is an affront to them personally. These are kids who play a kids game-I couldn't care less where any of them end up doing that which is why I don't care at all about recruiting because it makes people go crazy over potential-and nothing more than potential because none of these kids have played a single snap of football that directly affects the fans that get elated\devastated over where they end up playing in the first place.
4-6 seconds from point A to point B and when you get to point B, be pissed off
This too^^^
"There's nothing that cleanses your soul like getting the hell kicked out of you."
"I love football. I think it is most wonderful game in world and I despise to lose."
Woody Hayes 1913 - 1987