Tired of the Prima-donnas

[schuhbdoo]

I don't understand some of your comments. When you graduated high school did you have a graduation party? When you get married will you have a reception? Have you ever had a birthday party? My point is that this is a giant accomplishment, that less that .1% of high school kids get the honor of. If you celebrate a pointless birthday every year, or the fact that you graduated high school, why is it so shocking that these kids would enjoy a gathering of their family and friends to celebrate their accomplishments?

 

 

 

I sent an wedding invite to ESPNU but they responded that they didn't need to attend and broadcast it live and leave all my ex girlfriends hanging and holding the bag at the end. This wished my good luck in my future endeavors though.

 

I just emailed ESPNU to ask if they can broadcast my son's allstar soccer game live across the nation. It's a big deal. They said no but wished him well in his future endeavors.

 

I don't think Bo is a fan of signing day announcements he acted like he knew how this was all going to play out today.

[VA Husker Fan]

I don't know how it is everywhere, but in the last big town / small city I lived in, when a kid signed a LOI for any sport there was often a picture and maybe a small article in the local bi-weekly paper. That's a press conference, I guess, and it is pretty neat to see the kid's picture in the paper, usually with his/her coach and some family.

 

For a major athlete in a major sport, it's just a bigger press conference. ESPN decides to show it, because people like us will watch. Something about it rubs me a bit wrong too, but I don't really put the blame with the kid.

 

Hard to call a kid a prima donna we when have a 60 page or whatever it's up to now thread on whether he'll sign with us.

[epocSoN]

I don't understand some of your comments. When you graduated high school did you have a graduation party? When you get married will you have a reception? Have you ever had a birthday party? My point is that this is a giant accomplishment, that less that .1% of high school kids get the honor of. If you celebrate a pointless birthday every year, or the fact that you graduated high school, why is it so shocking that these kids would enjoy a gathering of their family and friends to celebrate their accomplishments?

 

 

 

I sent an wedding invite to ESPNU but they responded that they didn't need to attend and broadcast it live and leave all my ex girlfriends hanging and holding the bag at the end. This wished my good luck in my future endeavors though.

 

I just emailed ESPNU to ask if they can broadcast my son's allstar soccer game live across the nation. It's a big deal. They said no but wished him well in his future endeavors.

 

I don't think Bo is a fan of signing day announcements he acted like he knew how this was all going to play out today.

Its a big deal to you and about 30 other people. There are thousands on HI's RSS today... and that's just Nebraska... and just the people with a subscription. You can't begin to compare the magnitude of anything you have accomplished to that of the 8th ranked high school player in the country. It's a pretty simple solution if you don't like it. Don't watch. People are going to wait until the last moment to make their decision, as many things change in the final hours. See: Brion Carnes, Denton Simek, etc etc etc.

[westgatehusker]

http://www.huskerboard.com/index.php?/topic/32842-de-owamagbe-odighizuwa/page__st__2650

 

Have you seen the 54 pages of discussion? And He brought all this attention to himself by having a presser? I don't think so. Recruiting is big business, and it would pay for us all to realize this.

[mmmtodd]

There are WAAAAAY more husker fans that are completely oblivious to all of this stuff and couldnt care less about these "announcements." In fact, I know several season ticket holders that would stare at you blankly if you asked them who Owa even was. I would think the minority lies on the other side, Epoc.

[epocSoN]

There are WAAAAAY more husker fans that are completely oblivious to all of this stuff and couldnt care less about these "announcements." In fact, I know several season ticket holders that would stare at you blankly if you asked them who Owa even was. I would think the minority lies on the other side, Epoc.

This doesn't change the fact that there are thousands of people who following recruiting closely. If they didn't CBS and ESPN wouldn't have had all day coverage of signing day today. ESPN wouldn't have a recruiting ticker, rivals wouldn't exist. I understand many people don't follow, and some of them are even season ticket holders, but for the most part it is a big business that draws many viewers. When the process culminates at the end of the year, a hat ceremony does not surprise me.

[funhusker]

I look at it this way:

 

When my kids were born I would have loved the opportunity for a press conference. My wife was admitted to the hospital 5 days before the kids were born for bed rest, on the last day the doctor decided we would be smart to have a c-section that afternoon. As soon as we got this news I ran home and finished a couple loose ends (like calling my parents and letting them know) and packed some things to run back to the hospital. While I was gone my wife put it on Facebook that we would have the babies that afternoon.

 

My phone was ringing while I was still in the operating room. People wanted to congratulate us and make sure everything was ok. As I started to return phone calls that evening people continued to call. Before too long people were giving me crap because they were good friends and had to find out through Facebook. These people didn't even give me 2 hours to spread the news and were actually hurt.

 

There are a lot of friends and family of these recruits that are excited for these player, plus all the recruiting media outlets. These players probably grow a relationship with people like Crabtree, Callahan, and other reporters, and don't want to give "the scoop" to anyone in particular out of RESPECT for everyone.

 

As long as the coaches know they are announcing on signing day, I don't have a problem. If coaches didn't want to wait until today to find out, they had every opportunity to give these players ultimatums.

 

My .02

[Captain K]

I'm pretty sure the networks are behind these announcements. It's like anything else, some people like the notoriety some don't. Since you don't see the ones who said "no, I'll just call the coach when I make my decision," we don't hear about it, but I'm sure some of the kids turn down the televised hat dance. I'm sure it only adds to the importance some of these kids already feel too much of, and makes them feel like they have got it made. IMO it can hurt the kids chance of success if they are prone to letting things go to their head.

[irafreak]

Blah blah it is annoying. It's helpful for the OTHER kids that want a scholarship but have to take one elsewhere in order to make sure they get one. Let's say Gabbert pulls this on us as well and we end up without Carnes...hmmm...

 

Forget the hooplah and publicity...for the sake of kids like Marsh that could've signed with UNO and not had a chance to live his dream. If you know...make it known and they can have some kind of party on ESPN televised for the top x number of recruits and give em air time. Who might've been given the opportunity to play here had Owa announcer earlier?

[T-Husker]

I look at it this way:

 

When my kids were born I would have loved the opportunity for a press conference. My wife was admitted to the hospital 5 days before the kids were born for bed rest, on the last day the doctor decided we would be smart to have a c-section that afternoon. As soon as we got this news I ran home and finished a couple loose ends (like calling my parents and letting them know) and packed some things to run back to the hospital. While I was gone my wife put it on Facebook that we would have the babies that afternoon.

 

My phone was ringing while I was still in the operating room. People wanted to congratulate us and make sure everything was ok. As I started to return phone calls that evening people continued to call. Before too long people were giving me crap because they were good friends and had to find out through Facebook. These people didn't even give me 2 hours to spread the news and were actually hurt.

 

There are a lot of friends and family of these recruits that are excited for these player, plus all the recruiting media outlets. These players probably grow a relationship with people like Crabtree, Callahan, and other reporters, and don't want to give "the scoop" to anyone in particular out of RESPECT for everyone.

 

As long as the coaches know they are announcing on signing day, I don't have a problem. If coaches didn't want to wait until today to find out, they had every opportunity to give these players ultimatums.

 

My .02

 

That statement I agree with completely. Yea the signing day recruiting fiasco that we witness every year sucks if the cards don't fall our way. I do NOT think that Owa should be chastised for handling his recruitment this way.

Point #1: He's good enough to do something like this type of announcement. We obviously cared enough to let him string us along.

Point #2: He was actually very respectful and told our coaches before announcing it. It could have been a surprise for everyone involved, that is a possibility. Happens frequently with college hoops.

Point #3: We should be happy that we managed to jump back in this race and really push for this kid. He obviously loved Neb, and yes he may have been swayed by his mother to pick UCLA for academics, or Nigerian community, or maybe she even trusted Rick with her son who knows?

Point #4: Owa never really did anything wrong in this recruitment. This was one of the nicest recruits I've ever had the pleasure of following.

Do I feel burned? No. Do I feel disappointed? Yes. Disappointed and burned Husker fans alike, I ask, No I Plead, that we act like the best fan base in the country that we have been known to be for the last 40 years and do not do stupid things like post derogatory facebook posts about UCLA on Owa's wall. That's extremely agitating. We are all bigger than that.

As always, a great day to be a Husker!

[Redmusky]

Prima Donnas don't look at some 17 old you have to look no further then a few head coaches to see real Prima Donnas. I had as much fun as the recruits did. In the end most wish everybody well and we move on. Our coaches did we are bring a OL from Kansas on Friday

[JTrain]

I sort of agree. I mean, I think they have every right to do whatever they choose, but I do find it annoying when they have their mind made up before signing day, but they wait until then to announce their decision. It does hurt the schools recruiting them because time is precious as signing day nears, so if they just announced when they decided, the schools that didn't get selected could have crucial days or weeks to go after someone else.

 

The celebration analogy doesn't work because having a graduation/wedding/birthday celebration doesn't intentionally hold valuable information from someone during a time they could use it. Waiting until NSD to announce a decision you made several days or weeks earlier does. If they want to hold a press conference, hold it right after the decision is actually made. Then throw a giant party. That's great.

[druski_2k5]

I somewhat agree partially with the first thread in this topic. I think it has gotten a "little" out of hand. There is nothing wrong with being celebrating over getting a Division I scholarship to play football. I think the whole media coverage, and putting hats on tables, and making it dramatic of tossing this hat in, about to put this on, wait no I'll do this, I think that is somewhat annoying, and I can see where you'd think they are prima dona's and gathering attention for themselves. Personally I think players should just visit the campus, talk to the coaches, sit down with their families, then on signing day, or sooner, call the coaches and tell them what they are going to do and hear about it when we hear about it and move on.

 

The media is to blame for most of this however. They put the cameras in these guys faces, put on shows, and talk it all up. Personally I never cared for Signing Day or "Stars" for that matter. Yeah it's nice to know who is coming in, but I take it all with a grain of salt. These guys coming in will only be as good as they are coached, so I feel comfortable with what we have. On Pardon the Interruption today, Warren Sapp was talking about how much he hated media day, and back when he played it was much simpler and he thinks the whole thing now of choosing hats and jerseys, is a bit much, and I agree to an extent.

 

Celebrate, sure. I think the media makes this way too much out to be what it is for high school seniors. Sure, let them have their moment. Honestly though there are a lot of kids who really don't know until signing day, and I can't blame them. I'm 22 and I still don't know what I want to major in, and I really didn't know at 17 or 18 either. I've had two majors in college and now I'm changing at the semesters end. So I can't fault the guys who really don't know where they want to go or what they want to do, they are young, as are a lot of other young adults, and even older adults don't know what they want either. I try not to feel guilty or think of them badly, but that's how it goes. It does add in a lot of organized chaos though for signing day (see Owa) but that's our culture now, and I think it's nice, but take it with a grain of salt.

[NoKoolAidForME]

This to me is a crazy argument. Has it gotten bad maybe. Did anyone check how many people we had on this board for the duration of signing day. I dont understand how people can say the kids are wrong for doing what they are doing. The caemera are in their faces and their facebook and myspace pages are getting blown up. Everywhere they turn someone is telling them they are the best thing since sliced bread. This doesnt just go for the 5* kid; in small schools where the best player is a 3 or 4* they get the groupie love too. I will admit the pony show has gone a little overboard; but there are tons of people that have willingly jumped off the deep end to test the water.

[MKO]

Here's my take. Hunter, I understand your point. Things have gotten pretty showy these days. However, that's just the nature of the game...so you can't really blame the kids these days because being showy about their choice is the norm.

 

I absolutely hate the Army All-American hat game, where they choose one, then throw it on the ground and pick another. That kinda crap is the worst part about the recruiting game in my opinion. Other than that, though, this is just kids being kids and enjoying their time in the spotlight after they worked so hard in high school.

74Hunter, if you are sick of primadonnas, give a listen to the Unsportsmanlike Conduct podcast from yesterday (on 1620 The Zone's website). You will hear interviews from intelligent, humble (yet confident), mature young men that Bo & Co trust to be the future of this ball club. I was extremely impressed with a lot of the guys yesterday...they sounded like 25 year olds.