Most people reading this are intelligent enough to admit that Da'Shawn Hand picked Alabama yesterday because he likely thought that Alabama gave him a better chance to win big, start early, receive top-notch coaching and get drafted in the 1st round of the NFL Draft. His decision had NOTHING NOTHING NOTHING to do with academics. Anyone who disputes this is CRAZY.
If Michigan was 8-1 and had blown out Akron and UConn, and beaten Penn State and Nebraska, Hand would be a Wolverine right now and not another 5 star player headed to Alabama.
BUT, the folks who run Michigan's Rivals website, The Wolverine, are drunk off their asses on the Brady Hoke Kool-aid and are losing credibility with their audience by not aptly criticizing the Michigan coaching staff when needed and making up far-fetched excuses for why recruits are choosing schools like Alabama over Michigan, even though Michigan was considered a LOCK for Hand the last 6 months until Michigan's on the field struggles.
Other: My review of Rivals' Michigan football website from December 2012
In the websites' weekly paid 'insider' column, called Inside the Fort, the staff that jointly writes the column goes out on the shakiest limb I have even seen in defending Hoke: Da'Shawn Hand chose Alabama 100% because of academics and Michigan's struggles had nothing to do with his last-minute switch to chose Alabama.
From the column:
"It may not seem like it, but at the end of the day, Da'Shawn Hand's decision to pick Alabama over Michigan was indeed an academic, not a football choice. Sure, Michigan's three losses (and a couple ugly wins) this year didn't help U-M's case, but from speaking with those around him in the immediate aftermath of the ceremony, they insist it was immaterial to the choice he finally made.
How does a kid pick Alabama over Michigan on the basis of academics? A lot of it has to do with field of study. Things got a little uneasy during Hand's event when the first several speakers all mentioned his love for engineering, and how he is always an engineer at heart. That was behind the final choice.
"Really what sold him was that Alabama convinced him it was possible to study engineering and play football there," Hand's mentor, John Harris, said. "They have guys
in their program who are studying engineering, and the academic people said, 'you can look up to those guys and they can help you get through both.' As much as he chose Alabama over Michigan, he chose engineering over sports management."
Readers need to understand that when a recruit makes a decision based on academics that it's not a matter of "program X is ranked higher than program Y in business, therefore I will attend program X to study business." It's about setting kids up for success and helping them get through school while also balancing a football workload.
Michigan's coaches and academic advisors were honest with Hand in that he'd have a tough time studying engineering and also playing football. Sure, it's possible (Patrick Omameh is one recent example), but it's difficult. The U-M program would rather not lose any kid, but at the end of the day losing a kid because they were honest with him is a more sustainable strategy.""
ARE. YOU. SERIOUS??? The above is from their PAID 'insider' column. COME ON!
As you can imagine, this statement did NOT go over well with their level-headed user base and there was a mini-revolt, many users questioning the credibility of the writers while a large group of users took to their message boards saying they are going to cancel their accounts.
These negative posts were all deleted very quickly by the sites moderators and forced the website to put out a featured notice on site calling for users to not broadcast their intention to cancel their subscriptions and that they ask for folks to stick with them through this tough time for Michigan football:
"Want to thank all of you who continue to support ... We put a lot of time and effort into this site, obviously. Every now and then there's an "I'm gonna cancel Rivals because (so and so) wrote an article I didn't like," and then a "who's with me?" Well, we'd appreciate it if you didn't do that here. This is our livelihood. We have been very successful, obviously, in spite of this, but really - it's not cool, guys.
We know you're frustrated, and we are, too. It's bad for business when the team you cover hasn't won a Big Ten title in nine years. Crazy. But - Rivals has their opinions, and you happen to have access to that content, too. We hope the reason you're here is for the content we provide daily and realize their opinions aren't necessarily ours."
Umm, ok??
Folks, times are TOUGH as a Michigan fan. Our team may not win another game this season. We may lose by 30 at home to OSU if Urban Meyer is trying to impress BCS voters. If we lose out, Brady Hoke will be fired and recruits may choose to go elsewhere. In the mean time, cheer your hearts out for Michigan and pray that Hoke and co. find that magic that they had 2 years ago and get this thing turned around.
But, hiding from the facts will not make the team or the situation better. As fans, we deserve unbiased reporting and for writers to not put 'spin' on things in hopes of staying in the good graces with the Michigan coaching staff and Athletic Dept. like the folks at Rivals are more interested in than reporting facts.
Rivals writers, you should be ashamed, your readers deserve better.
-AW
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