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.

I Shift You Not

One of the stipulations to keeping the Big 12 together was
that Dan Beebe resigned as commissioner. After nearly
losing four teams to the Pac-12 earlier in the week, it seems
like the Big 12 is here to stay — for next year, anyway.

Well that was much ado about nothing.

All week, no matter where you turned you couldn't help but hear the rumors surrounding the Big 12 Conference. First, Oklahoma and the boys in the south tried to jump ship to the Pac-12, then Missouri started to look toward the SEC.

And while we all sat on the edge of our seats waiting to see who would go where, we forgot one simple thing — you might want to check with the conferences themselves before you decide to join their conference.

Like Spirit, the Auburn eagle, the Big 12's hopes of dismantling crashed and burned when Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott told the world that he was happy with 12 members in a midnight press conference. Oklahoma and Texas already had the green light to join the Pac-12 and Oklahoma State was in the process of getting the go-ahead when Scott made his decision.

Much to the dismay of one Columbia sports editor — a man who enjoyed the comparison of conference shifts to plate tectonics — the conference somehow survived the weekend. The only major shifts came in the form of Syracuse and Pittsburgh heading to the ACC.

Now the nine remaining members must go back to the league they once tried to demolish with their tails between their legs. And I, along Mike Gundy, could not be happier. Those die-hard football fans saw Oklahoma State's 3 a.m. finish in Tulsa last week. Could you imagine if that happened every weekend? It's a strong possibility with trips to the West Coast each weekend — no thank you!

Some fans are upset that there wasn't the massive tectonic shift that shook the college sports scene, but there were hundreds of sports reporters that breathed a sigh of relief with Scott's announcement. So, now that all this is over, can we put it behind us and just play football — at least until next season?

And remember kids, if you want an invite into someone's house — or in this case a conference — it's best to ask permission before you barge in with guns blazing.

Taking One For The Team

Jim Tressel took full responsibility for the actions of his
team, resigning as Ohio State football coach. We can only
hope his players learned something about integrity while
the Vest fell on the sword for them.

I hate to be the one who said I told you so, but...

A couple months ago on this very same blog, I railed on Jim Tressel for his involvement in what has become a spring-long scandal in the Ohio State Football program. A once proud program has become tarnished with tattoos and cheap cars.

Earlier this week, Tressel announce his resignation as the Buckeyes' football coach. In doing so, the Vest may have become the sacrificial lamb for the entire university – including Gordon Gee, who was once famously quoted as saying "I hope Tressel doesn't fire me," in regards to the current scandal.

Back in March, I had previously said I lost a lot of respect for the Vest. He admittedly knew what his players were doing and chose to do nothing about it.

Mr. Tressel, you have earned my respect back.

While your players are obviously to blame for the whole situation going from bad to worse, you chose to accept full responsibility for their actions. Whether you truly knew everything they were doing or not, you chose to face the media and the hundreds of questions that were about to arise like a man. You didn't cower from the spotlight, but embraced the scandal for what it was – an opportunity to teach some young men between right and wrong, all the while knowing you weren't going to be on the sidelines of the Horseshoe next season.

Across the country, another football power in Southern Cal is also steeped in scandal. But look at how differently the two schools handled their misdeeds.

Southern Cal did it's best to brush everything under the rug, hoping nobody would notice. Meanwhile, Ohio State came out to the NCAA and said they screwed up – of course this was after the federal government got involved – but at least they admitted to their faults.

It's no secret that college athletes live pretty pampered lives – football and basketball players are the most pampered of the bunch. Even when I was in college, I still remember current Atlanta Falcon and former Missouri safety William Moore driving around campus in his black and gold Pontiac Bonneville, complete with tinted windows, a killer sound system and dazzling 22-inch rims.

Now, you're going to tell me some kid from Hayti, Missouri – an area stricken with poverty since the 1960s Civil Rights Movement – can afford a car that nice. If you believe that some booster wasn't helping make sure Moore looked as sharp off the field as he did on, well, let's just say I've got a couple of guys in Ohio who would love to sell you some new cars.

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.