Why do we care?

[bigboyBlue]

If you had told me even just a year ago that I'd be glued to the TV watching a HS game waiting for an 18 year old to say "gee, Meechigan", I'd prematurely check myself into rehab. Since when do we have this stalker-ish attitude to recruiting? Are we bored due to lack of a bowl game? Do we see this as a measuring stick for RRod, and for the new coaching regime in general? Is it more of a "mine, MINE" thing and more about keeping him away from these other schools, since he is a Michigan kid? Is there too much recruiting info out there for us to ignore it?

I used to look fwd to the season beginning, and honestly, ending sometime. Now its a year-round thing and we have all this off-field fluff, with recruiting, signing day and TV conferences of 18 year olds, winter conditioning (yes, we've discussed this too), spring practice....kinda tiring.

Anyway, just venting.

[tpilews]

Yeah, if we had a bowl game, we'd be talking about that and recruiting would have taken a backseat. Although, recruiting is much more open to the public now, so it's only going to get more involved every year.

[ironhide]

Well I guess it would have been better than this, but not by much. Our coaches are free to recruit, and our name still strong enough to get players interested.
Speaking of which, OSU is going to get smashed on Monday. They go down by more than 3 scores to a Texas team that is pissed of and knows they have a shot at a split poll NC share if Oklahoma beats Florida and they win convincingly.
OSU isn't going to stop McCoy, and their offense is too prone to sputtering in big games. Too bad!

[Bossgobbler23]

If you had told me even just a year ago that I'd be glued to the TV watching a HS game waiting for an 18 year old to say "gee, Meechigan", I'd prematurely check myself into rehab. Since when do we have this stalker-ish attitude to recruiting? Are we bored due to lack of a bowl game? Do we see this as a measuring stick for RRod, and for the new coaching regime in general? Is it more of a "mine, MINE" thing and more about keeping him away from these other schools, since he is a Michigan kid? Is there too much recruiting info out there for us to ignore it?

I used to look fwd to the season beginning, and honestly, ending sometime. Now its a year-round thing and we have all this off-field fluff, with recruiting, signing day and TV conferences of 18 year olds, winter conditioning (yes, we've discussed this too), spring practice....kinda tiring.

Anyway, just venting.

I never used to follow recruiting one bit until the Pryor saga last year. Ever since then I've been hooked. I really enjoy it and get excited to know that we landed another good recruit. I like knowing who the prospects are as well. When I see a new recruit play on the field for the first time, I feel like I know of him somewhat already and am watching to see if he performs up to the forum chat expectations. I LOVE college football. This is another way to keep enjoying it longer.

[GoDeepHammer]

I want to know what holes on the team are being filled by recruiting. I enjoy finding out who we get to commit and how they stack up to the other kids out there.

[tpilews]

I want to know what holes on the team are being filled by recruiting. I enjoy finding out who we get to commit and how they stack up to the other kids out there.

Well...

QB - Biggest hole on the team. Tate, 'nough said.

RB - Got great senior leadership in Brown/Minor. Shaw is back. RR landed 3 RBs in this class. (Fitz Toussaint, Teric Jones, and Vincent Smith)

WR - Not an area of huge need. Just adding depth. (Gallon, Cam Gordon (may end up on Defense) Plus, 2 commits in the 2010 class (Jackson and Miller. Both big, outside threats with good speed).

O-Line - Not a big need, but you should get a couple every class. (Michael Schofield, Taylor Lewan.) Plus, I'd look for UM to land one more.

DT - Graves, Jones, Campbell (Martin returning, will likely start)

DE - Roh, Lalota (Graham returning) Area of big need. I'd look for UM to add a couple DE's in the 2010 class too.

LB - Very big need. (Hawthorne only committed LB). Mouton and Ezeh still have two years of eligibility. Some of the DBs in the 2009 class are considered hybrid DB/LB's. (Turner, Gordon) However, Turner has looked very good at Corner in the AAA practices and game, and could see some significant time there.

S - UM has a lot of young, untested talent in the secondary. UM landed Vlad Emilien, Isaiah Bell, Mike Jones, and Thomas Gordon.

CB - Turner, DeWayne Peace

K - Gibbons

[FLex500]

If you had told me even just a year ago that I'd be glued to the TV watching a HS game waiting for an 18 year old to say "gee, Meechigan", I'd prematurely check myself into rehab. Since when do we have this stalker-ish attitude to recruiting? Are we bored due to lack of a bowl game? Do we see this as a measuring stick for RRod, and for the new coaching regime in general? Is it more of a "mine, MINE" thing and more about keeping him away from these other schools, since he is a Michigan kid? Is there too much recruiting info out there for us to ignore it?

I used to look fwd to the season beginning, and honestly, ending sometime. Now its a year-round thing and we have all this off-field fluff, with recruiting, signing day and TV conferences of 18 year olds, winter conditioning (yes, we've discussed this too), spring practice....kinda tiring.

Anyway, just venting.
boredom and somewhat of a measuring stick. UM ALWAYS has good classes. This is Rod's first real offseason being the man so everyone wants to make sure he can seal the deal and have a good top 10 class.

But yes boredom is much of it.

[GoDeepHammer]

Well...

QB - Biggest hole on the team. Tate, 'nough said.

RB - Got great senior leadership in Brown/Minor. Shaw is back. RR landed 3 RBs in this class. (Fitz Toussaint, Teric Jones, and Vincent Smith)

WR - Not an area of huge need. Just adding depth. (Gallon, Cam Gordon (may end up on Defense) Plus, 2 commits in the 2010 class (Jackson and Miller. Both big, outside threats with good speed).

O-Line - Not a big need, but you should get a couple every class. (Michael Schofield, Taylor Lewan.) Plus, I'd look for UM to land one more.

DT - Graves, Jones, Campbell (Martin returning, will likely start)

DE - Roh, Lalota (Graham returning) Area of big need. I'd look for UM to add a couple DE's in the 2010 class too.

LB - Very big need. (Hawthorne only committed LB). Mouton and Ezeh still have two years of eligibility. Some of the DBs in the 2009 class are considered hybrid DB/LB's. (Turner, Gordon) However, Turner has looked very good at Corner in the AAA practices and game, and could see some significant time there.

S - UM has a lot of young, untested talent in the secondary. UM landed Vlad Emilien, Isaiah Bell, Mike Jones, and Thomas Gordon.

CB - Turner, DeWayne Peace

K - Gibbons

Thanks, but I was answering the original question about "Why we care". I care because I want to see the holes that are filled by recruiting.

[Rockie]

I try not to get excited about recruiting, because that leads to things like you see on Rivals/Scout/mlive boards. I just try to cover it because it's something interesting to do and it gives you background on all these kids' stories (Plus, I don't go back to work till the 20th). Plus, I don't want the label of me that says "that I'm a creepy dude sitting outside the playgorund watching kids play." Which is how I felt yesterday watching for Big Wills committment. I don't know how much you guys follow basketball recruiting or not but a few years ago there was a guy out of Detroit that was named Malik Harriston, he was a five-star guy that Michigan was after. At one time he was considered a silent verbal, than all of the sudden in the middle of the night he takes a visit to Oregon and three weeks later he becomes a Duck. WTKA use to do these Malik Harriston updates everyday during this time. To make matters worse, a few months later, I'm driving to Metro to fly to Honduras, and I see a Duck Basketball schedule up on a billboard across from Detroit Metro. Recruiting is fun to follow, but I don't get to worked up about recruiting and I'm not gonna rip a kid because he doesn't go to my favorite school (unless he goes to tO$U or was a player at Michigan and transfer to tO$U and lies about it at the sametime). To top it off, if a kid is at Michigan and wants to quit and transfer, fine, let us get someone that wants to be here. But again, I'm not gonna complain about a kid that transfers unless he pulls a Boren. I guess I will close by saying, since the Big Ten looks bad already, I really hope Texas puts 50 on tO$U and Beannie goes off to the pro$ and Ferentz goes to the Browns and Boren has to wear dipers for all the crying he did when he left Michigan

[StevieBrownforHeisman]

Rockie! Very well said on recruiting and on OSU/Texas! I felt dumb after Campbell commited.
I do think we like to use recriting as a measuring stick for r-rod though.