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SURVEYING THE LANDSCAPE
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Pirate Notebook No. 263
Friday, February 10, 2006
By Denny O'Brien |
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Anti-ECU media still
spitting out spin
�2006 Bonesville.net
Remember that little tussle between East
Carolina and the North Carolina high school football coaches?
I surely do.
It wasn�t exactly a cordial exchange of
pleasantries, that�s for certain. Far from it.
Instead, it more closely resembled a
political hissing match, with the statewide media serving as a willing
battleground. Some outlets even seemed to find pleasure in the fact that
East Carolina was the ultimate casualty in the aftermath of the notoriously
named
Friday Night Fight.
Think about it. Only one media outlet
provided an unbiased, comprehensive, and factual representation of what
occurred during what no doubt was a black eye for the East Carolina football
program � and that was Bonesville.net.
Some relished the opportunity to fire
unnecessary shots at a sinking Pirate Ship, while others abandoned the topic
altogether out of fear of the potential repercussions from the university�s
AD.
The end result was a completely subjective
account of the situation within the mainstream media filled with blanket
statements against East Carolina, which as an institution wasn�t the culprit
for the actions that ultimately dug a major in-state recruiting hole for
ECU. That responsibility rested solely on the shoulders of then-AD Mike
Hamrick.
But that�s not what Joe Sportswriter would
have you think.
His synopsis essentially can be summarized
with a written portrait of East Carolina telling the North Carolina high
schools to stick it, which is exactly what many of the state�s scholastic
football coaches told ECU. Now, just how much of a role the statewide media
played is subject to debate.
In the meantime, take comfort in knowing
that the turbulent swells that previously marked that period in East
Carolina�s gridiron recruiting history have subsided. Skip Holtz has made it
ECU�s mission to recruit North Carolina first, and then fill specific needs
by combing strategic regions throughout the southeast.
That strategy has proven to be a successful
one for Holtz, who has regained the trust of the state�s high school
coaches. With less than two full months to identify and ink his first class
last year, 14 in-state players jumped aboard, followed by nine more in 2006.
Yet, if you relied on certain
Triangle-based print outlets for your recruiting information, ECU�s efforts
to improve its courtship with the North Carolina high schools would have
been a mystery until the Signing Day lists were published. Meanwhile,
schools well outside of the newspaper�s subscription base � South Carolina,
Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Wake Forest � were well-chronicled by these
mediums throughout the recruiting process.
Even stories of significant impact, such as
the recruitment of All-State Richmond County running back Norman Whitley
(who coincidentally was also courted by North Carolina, N.C. State, and
Virginia), received no attention in the weekly recruiting reports. Not even
a footnote about his official visit or verbal commitment to East Carolina.
Nothing.
Do you think the recruiting victories Holtz
claimed over N.C. State coach Chuck Amato with the signings of linebacker
Orlando Farrow and safety Melvin Patterson were mentioned? Hardly.
But that�s only part of the problem.
An emerging battle East Carolina faces
within the media is being staged mostly in cyberspace against the Internet
recruiting services. Though Scout.com and Rivals.com thought highly of
Holtz�s 2006 recruiting haul, both pose a potential threat to the perception
of schools like ECU.
�What�s happening is some of the bigger
schools are really starting to get involved with the Internet services,�
Holtz said. �And a lot of these Internet services are calling (prospects)
for schools.
�The only problem that I have right now
with the Internet services is, one, that they start to get involved in a
street agent type of mentality, where they are going to try and help the
young man or dictate where he is going to go. The other thing is so many
people are putting the emphasis on winning the Internet sites � winning
recruiting because he is a four-star, or five-star. Or how many stars he is.
And then they evaluate the class.
"Well, so much of that is predicated on
their accessibility to the film. The only way those things are going to
happen is if a lot of the colleges start sharing their films with a lot of
the Internet people.�
Which is a scenario that doesn�t favor ECU.
For starters, you�ll be hard-pressed to
find the Stopwatch Gestapo steering any of N.C.�s best Down East. And when
East Carolina gets a commitment from a major college talent, it�s been a
fairly common practice for the so-called Internet recruiting analysts to
lower that player�s star rating and drop him a few links on the prospect
food chain. See Marvin Townes.
On those occasions when a talented star
de-commits from East Carolina and verbals to an ACC or SEC school, it�s not
uncommon for his evaluation to mysteriously improve overnight. See Marques
Wade.
If this all sounds like a giant conspiracy
theory, it is. And while I don�t subscribe to the majority of such theories
that have been generated by ECU diehards, this is one to which I am
considering a subscription.
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O'Brien's Bonesville archives.
02/23/2007 02:02:51 AM |
