Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Who the Hell Is William Cole?


It's national signing day and Rick Maese of the Baltimore Sun sums it up: "Good morning and welcome to the most hollow day on the sports calendar, when glitter is computer-generated and celebrity cultivated in a basement, consequences don't exist and when we grade our children like sides of beef." ... If you haven't figured out by now, we don't give a hoot about recruiting rankings. Obviously, we are in the minority, because it's a huge day for Rivals and Scout, sites that making a living off this stuff. But in our estimation, snake oil salesmen have more credibility. Maese agrees and is happy to take you on a tour of Rivals' top 100 recruits from 2002. "It includes such stars as Vince Young and Haloti Ngata, as well as such troublemakers as Maurice Clarett and Marcus Vick. Of Rivals' top 100 players that year, 44 fell far short of expectations — including 18 of the 38 highly acclaimed 'five-star' players. While one in five managed to eventually earn first-team all-conference honors, one in four managed to either transfer or quit his team." ... This brings us to William Cole. He quarterbacked the Cedar Hill High team in Texas and on Sunday KDFW-TV in Dallas put young Mr. Cole before the camera at the local Buffalo Wild Wings to announce his college choice. Seriously, isn't this out of control? Check back four years from now. That's the time to judge a recruiting class.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wait, weren't Maurice Clarett and Marcus Vick very good college football players? Both were touted for Heisman consideration - Clarett was a finalist - during their first seasons in the lineup. Vick is currently on the roster of the Miami Dolphins; Clarett was considered such a talent at the time, he tried to challenge the NFL's early entry rules, and the Broncos still took a shot on him in the draft after two controversial years off because he was that good a football player at Ohio State.

So recruiting gurus were 100 percent right about those players' ability to succeed in college football, which is their job. There's no way to hold them accountable for not forseeing career-shortening criminality and attitude problems.

SMQ

Anonymous said...

"Check back four years from now. That's the time to judge a recruiting class."

Good idea. In fact, I won't bother watching any of my team's games next year. At the end of the season, I'll just check to see what their record is. That's the time to judge a team.

Anonymous said...

This is, of course, out of hand. Why is the reporter part of the story, egging him on?

Michael Pigott said...

"Why is the reporter part of the story(?)"

That's the Hunter S. Thompson School of Journalism. Gonzo indeed.

Anonymous said...

Cole was not even top 100 in the country and he has a televised press conference?????? I dont get it. Not to mention at 5'9" 165 he will be eaten alive at QB in a big time conference. He might not know it yet but he will be switching to wide out come this fall.

Anonymous said...

Brad Cole = Little Boy!!!!