Thursday, February 21, 2008

Why I Keep Doing This I Don't Know - Pryor


Yesterday, Dennis Dodd wrote a story filled with fluff and nonsense. Grass grew also. I'd love to give you a link but I declared a while back not to link MSM if it is bullshit and everything Dodd writes qualifies under that declaration.

One interesting line from his story:

Reitz also said that if Tom Bradley were named Penn State coach today, Pryor would be headed to Penn State. Bradley, the Lions defensive coordinator, has recruited Pryor intensely but fairly. One thing keeping Pryor from signing with Penn State is the uncertain future of Joe Paterno.

Reitz is Terrelle Pryor's football coach. Shout out to Dodd for telling us his interpretation of the comment instead of simply quoting the guy. No offense, Denis, but I trust your judgment like I trust the guy who told me olestra doesn't give people the shits.

Lets forget this is a Dodd story for a second , assume it is true (big assumption IMO), and figure out what it means.

One: That Penn State is NOT telling recruits that Bradley is the next coach

Some have speculated that this is being said to recruits, maybe it is, but from this non-quote it doesn't appear that's the case. If it was, Pryor would have already committed to PSU.

Two: Bradley is a kick ass recruiter

Everyone already knew this. Moving on...

Three: Paterno may be hurting recruiting

This seems to be contradictory, as Penn State was out until Paterno showed up at Pryor's house. Maybe Paterno shed some light on the post-Paterno era during that visit, but if we are going to assume the non-quote is true then we have to assume Paterno refuses to name the successor. Fair considering, technically, it's not his call.


Again, I can't stress enough how misguided this statement probably is. If Dodd was actually doing his job he would simply tell us what the coach said instead of paraphrasing. However, it makes you wonder if Penn State really should get moving on the post 2008 thing.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Do recruits (highschool teenagers) sign some kind of confidentiality agreement or something when a college coach visits them? I find it absolutely amazing that teenagers are able to keep so tight-lipped about their conversations. This speculation is incredible!

TheFolkist said...

as far as I know they don't have any agreement.

I think most of the 'mystery' involved springs from the fact that the schools rarely comment (they aren't allowed most of the time, actually) and the player's typically have a coach or parent that screens their media contact.

Anonymous said...

Agreed. Dennis Dodd is truly one of the worst sportswriters out there. No question about that.