A Word About Jake Eldrenkamp And The Events Of Tuesday

Ok, that’s a lie. I would rather sit through 1A girls basketball game than have to deal with this. I would rather cover a Miguel Batista vs. Freddy Garcia pitching duel that would last 1 minute between pitches. I would rather cover the career comeback of Richie Sexson and Carlos Silva.

What’s odd to me is how much some people become obsessed with these kids and the idea of recruiting. They talk about these kids on a one-name basis. They want to know everything about these kids. They follow them on twitter like they are professional athletes.

When someone asks me, “Did you see what Johnny Five-Star tweeted?” I want to say, “No, and here’s why …” and then launch into a rant similar to that of Clark Griswold in Christmas Vacation. Instead, I just nod my head and listen, silently hoping that a lightning strike will intervene (and I don’t care if it hits me or the other guy).

There’s following recruiting, and there’s being “that guy.” Words of advice: In any situation don’t be “that guy.”

Some of these people almost seem to care more about the players they could have than the players they do have. Yes, I can see how a UW fan was longing to think about the next corner back, instead of Quinton Richardson. But this is a different level, and somehow that logic is flawed to me. I dealt with this some in baseball and the prospect addicts. Recently, I heard a few people lamenting the loss of Jose Campos as much as the loss of Michael Pineda. Really? A player, who was in Class A Everett vs. a player that made the all-star game in the MLB? You see it with draftniks in the NFL to the point where they would rather have their team lose to get a better draft pick. How flawed is that thinking?

It’s an obsession with potential and I don’t quite understand it.

I understand that recruiting is vital to these programs success. So obviously, there is an interest among fans. There should be a level of reporting. And the TNT has done the NW Nuggets and Western 100 for 25 years now. But it’s different kind of recruiting coverage that we are seeing today. Todd Milles wrote a great story about the changing coverage of recruiting for recent Nuggets package.

Add up all the coverage, all the fans, all the athletes, all the social media and you get something that is beginning to border on the ludicrous. People ask why some of these recruits act the way they do. The answer: We’ve not only allowed it to happen, but we have perpetuated it, found ways to make money off it and acted just as irresponsibly.

I will begrudgingly cover recruiting because it’s part of my job. I went and saw Zach Banner play a high school football game this year, mostly cause I had nothing better to do and I like high school football – and Pacey also bought me a hot dog and a soda. I’ve seen him play about five times over his career, and covered him at state hoops. My expert analysis about Banner: “Dude is huge. I look like an elfin when I interviewed him.”

There are enough recruiting “experts” and “analysts” out there – some of them do good legitimate work, some are two steps away from a restraining order. So I refuse to start cold calling high school kids and asking them which way they are leaning about the biggest decision in their life, when the second biggest decision is who they are asking to the prom.

If I had to choose between covering recruiting or going back to Montana, marrying a chubby girl and working on her family farm, then pass me the keys to the John Deere and a warm can of Miller High Life.

Also, for any future reference to a detective or detective work – please use my hero Thomas Magnum. The man lived rent free in a Hawaiian estate, hooked up with stewardesses, drove a Ferrari and could grow a mustache that I could never hope to grow.

I must now return to Twitter to wait for more recruiting updates.