The Stresses of Signing Day

Springfield (Mo.) Hillcrest's Dorial Green-Beckham announced he would
be staying in Missouri to play for the Tigers, making this sportswriter very
happy. But signing day can be unnecessarily stressful for coaches and
players, even though there's no telling what will happen in four years.

How much faith would you put in a 17-year-old? If you're a major college football coach, the next four years of your program could depend on whether or not a fresh-faced teenager picks your school over Rival U.

For some, signing day can lead to the highest of highs for a program. My alma mater experienced this when Dorial Green-Beckham decided to stay in Missouri. The same could be said for people like Stillwater High's Jesse Vester, who received an unexpected offer and signed with Oklahoma State on the same day.

But there's also a flip side. Arkansas was crushed when Green-Beckham — who had previously posed for a photo in an Arkansas jersey — spurned the Razorbacks for a chance to play in Columbia.

Across the country, Cassanova McKinzy made his college decision not on academics or a program's prestige. Instead, he chose Auburn over Clemson because when he visited Clemson there wasn't a Chick-fil-A near campus.

Leave it to a guy named Cassanova — a man who obviously got his name from his love of food — to make a decision on something as frivolous as decent grub. I, too, often get bit by the Chick-fil-A bug, but I would not make a decision based on a fast food restaurant.

My guess is that four years down the road, the linebacker will switch to defensive line after snacking on chicken sandwiches. And if I were a wagering man, I'd say that Clemson is about to get a Chick-fil-A within the next month, as per direct orders from Clemson coach Dabo Swinney.

It isn't just teams and coaches that feel the stress on signing day. The look on Prichard (Ala.) Vigor High's Darius Philon said it all.

Philon looked exhausted as he told his high school he was undecided before putting on an Alabama hat. As it turns out, the prized defensive lineman didn't sign with the Crimson Tide, instead sending a letter of intent to Arkansas. According to the Mobile Press-Register, Philon's decision came after a late request by Alabama to have Philon greyshirt.

All in all, there's a lot of pressure on teams and coaches to make an immediate decision. It doesn't help that ESPNU broadcasts signings throughout the day.

As members of the media and fans, we all need to take a step back  from high school recruiting. This is supposed to be a joyous and special occasion for the young athletes and the teams they sign with. Let's let them enjoy the moment.

If Your Mother Says She Loves You...

Missouri coach Mike Anderson is apparently in shock over
the rumors that he's heading to Arkansas.

In this age of getting information out to the public almost as soon as it comes in, journalists are constantly under the gun to beat everybody else. It is the thing that makes a low-paying job like this fun.

But at what cost are reporters willing to risk everything for the inside scoop?

If you follow the sports world or even the NCAA Tournament, no doubt you have obviously heard a rumor that Missouri coach Mike Anderson will be leaving for Arkansas. The story has spread through the twitter universe like wildfire after a Tulsa – that's Oklahoma, not Missouri or Arkansas, for you folks not from the Midwest – television reporter tweeted about Anderson's departure.

This is apparently news to Anderson and those in the Razorback athletic department. As of early this afternoon, Anderson was actually at Mizzou Arena watching a little high school hoops while hoping to attract Scott County senior Otto Porter to join the Tigers' roster next fall.

Of course, you can't blame the Tulsa reporter completely. Arkansas seems like Anderson's dream job. He was an assistant there for 17 years under Nolan Richardson before getting his first coaching job at the University of Alabama-Birmingham.

Still it makes you wonder, what was he thinking? Did he even try talking to Anderson?

When the job first opened up, Anderson stood his ground saying that he was happy in Missouri. He continued to stand firm after Missouri lost to Cincinnati in the first round of the tournament saying, "I thought we dealt with that."

Ironically, fact checking is one of the major core values taught at the Missouri School of Journalism. The school's newspaper, The Missourian, even goes as far as saying "If your mother says she loves you, you should check it out." Even the Columbia Tribune's Missouri football beat writer Dave Matter even weighted in on the subject via twitter saying "Twitter can be (a) fun, helpful tool for journos, (but the) industry gets (a) black eye when rushed to tweet (a) 'scoop' that's still an infant."

It is still unclear what Anderson's future is, but this is certain. Everything that comes across twitter – even the musings of a Dave Matter or Tribune Sports Editor Joe Walljasper – should be taken with a grain of salt. Although in the case of Matter and Walljasper, perhaps a salt block would be more appropriate.