Anyone else disappointed in the role of family??

[catch8185 4]

Is anyone else as disappointed in the role of families in this recruiting class as I am??  It seems a couple of them have made complete fiascos of the whole situation.  BC and CK's families in particular.  I guess I just don't understand how you can allow your son to make a PUBLIC comment and then turn right around and criticize him PUBLICLY saying you don't agree with it.  Am I the only one who thinks that is kind of sad?? 

For heaven's sakes, come to some sort of an agreement as a family first before you make a public commitment.  Or at least as close to NSD as those two did.  (Or even on NSD as CK did!!)  If it's that close to NSD, I would say, now look son, either make your commitment a silent one or be sure about it when you announce it.  Now if he wants to go somewhere different than the rest of the family, then he better be able to convince us or he better be willing to acquiesce and see why that's actually best for him.  If CK's family wanted him to go to Bama and he really wanted to please them, then why in the world would his family allow him to commit publicly to Auburn and then turn right around and renege on it.  Just doesn't make any sense to me.  I think we could take it better if he just "mans up" and announces, "I liked Auburn, but my FAMILY AND I have just decided that Bama is a better place for me."  (Gasp(!!), that last part was difficult to write).  I know kids can make funny decisons but on a big decision like that, aren't families suposed to help them??

At least Westerman and Whitehead made their switches swift and decisive.

[FormerlySec38Row34 56]

Family dynamics are very hard to analyze from the outside. We don't know the details of how the players in question came to their original decision to commit to Auburn, and therefore, we also don't know the whole reason for the reversals. We can speculate and come up with all kinds of reasons that include coercion, bribery, blackmail of family, threats (playing time of brother) and a whole lot more black-helicopter stuff. But the truth is, we may never know, so why continue to beat a dead horse. The coaching staff will always try to get the best players in the country to come to Auburn, and we will get many of them, but we will also lose a lot of them, and sometimes the players involved will do stupid stuff to humiliate the team they don't choose. It's the nature of the beast we as fans have created by our own reactions to these kids. We've created a celebrity atmosphere by fawning over these athletes to the point that the media has turned it into a circus. The problem is that it's a circus we as fans have created for ourselves.  Look at the record activity that this site alone generated on NSD. ESPN capitalized on the trend and now it's getting out of hand. Just remember folks, we helped create this beast and we are the only ones who can tame it. ESPN won't continue the spectacle if we don't watch. So if you don't like the circus, don't go there. JMHO

[AuburnBasketball 0]

thats all i got to say

[WhiteTiger 2]

I think that families have a big roll in guiding their children in what they think is best for them.  That's one of the more important rolls in being a good parent. The reason we don't like it is they guided them somewhere that we didn't like.  Lets face it if it had been in reverse and the parents had sent them our way, most of us would be touting them as great  parents.

[Miden 0]

Yeah, I'm sure there have been cases where a kid kind of wanted to go to Bama, but his family directed him to AU instead. Its just part of the game when dealing with recruits that are instate or close by. I think parental input is valuable and a kid should go wherever he and his family feels more comfortable, even if it is to Bammer.

[oldeagle 0]

I think the kids went on national TV and committed because they thought it was the way to get out of being forced to go to bammer. The were too naive to expect that their handlers wouldn't mind embarrassing them coast to coast.

[Mattco 0]

I would criticize Calloway's deal but I understand the Cyrus family ties.  The only knock i have on the Cyrus situation was the way it was handled.  If he came out and just said that he wasn't comfortable making a decision at the time or just canceled the presser and put it off, I don't think there would be any complaints.

Calloway's situation, from what I read off what I saw on tv, was his family wanted him at Bama from the start and when he switched to Auburn on tv, they were really not happy about it.

[Weegle777 78]

It's our fault for getting in on these guys late in the process. CK has been recruited to go to bammer for two years, Calloway had been committed to the turds for about that long, so flipping these guys was an incredible long shot at best. It was handled poorly by these kids, but they are still snotnosed, and are not life-seasoned so what do you expect. They are turds now, I wish them nothing but losses in every game they play. War Eagle!!!!!!!

[walker77 0]

Nope...

Family needs to be involved...

Problem for most of these kids is they don't have a dad @ home, or if they do, he isn't their father...

Nuclear family of a mom and dad raising their children together eliminates a lot of this...

CK = first generation close knit immigrant family... from another culture and frankly don't think like us... but still their decision... I personally don't have a problem with this...

BC = cast-off kid originally, who was adopted at an older age... product of the system... ????... dad crticizing his

adopted son in the media... questionable parenting of an adopted kid??? ... doesn't look right... I do question this situation of a kid from a broken family background...

[fidy8 0]

It's our fault for getting in on these guys late in the process. CK has been recruited to go to bammer for two years, Calloway had been committed to the turds for about that long, so flipping these guys was an incredible long shot at best. It was handled poorly by these kids, but they are still snotnosed, and are not life-seasoned so what do you expect. They are turds now, I wish them nothing but losses in every game they play. War Eagle!!!!!!!

This^^^^Is how I look at it. These coaches are still getting their foot in the door instate and have done a heck of a job so far. We are about to see their headway in the next few years when they have had the oppertunity to court these guys for 2 or 3 years. CGC will not backdown to Saban in the least little bit, and I love the fact that it bothers the heck out of him.

[dp4au 2]

No they are doing their job. As in the real world some do it better than others.

[jjustjoe 0]

One solution: Stop the TV announcements.

[msg6367 1]

I won't fault the families for wanting their kids to go to certain schools but BC and CK families added to the frustation because the situations were handled poorly.  When I was looking at different colleges, my parents went with me to several schools and we sat down afterwards and weighed the pro's and cons of each but ultimately it was my decision. My parents would have NEVER went public and criticized me for choosing one school over another and they were actually interested in the schools I was planning to attend so they went with me on the visits.  

On three separate occassions yesterday, I said I was finished talking about BC and CK but nevertheless I keep getting dragged into discussing more (my choice).  So this time I MEAN IT.

I work with almost all Bammers (Several follow recruiting closely) and am really dreading tomorrow.  I'll probably just shut my office door and hang my NC poster on the outside.....along will all our 2011 signees.

[msg6367 1]

All the "experts" listed the biggest negative surprise on NSD was the CK drama and all blame him and his family.  I like Barry Every's comment the best.

http://auburn.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1185898

[312234 0]

Here's how I look at it.  Call me a control freek a$$ if you must, but...

I am a die hard Auburn fan.  I have had O&B blood running through my veins since birth and I will until I die.  I would never let my son or daughter play sports or even enroll at UAT. 

And if they did, I would have an extremely hard time supporting that decision, just like the Calloway's.  <- I see where the Calloway family is coming from and don't blame them a bit.  The Iron Bowl is a heated rivalry in not just football or sports in general, but in life.  This is why I think the Iron Bowl needs another break.

With that said, my sister graduated from UAT and it is very hard to have civil family gatherings.  It's not worth the pain and suffering to watch a loved one go to the dark side...

[Tiger4life25 74]

Plain and simple satan was and is getting his ar$e kicked and he pulled out all the stops, the stinch you smell is coming from turd town.

[Cat4AU 0]

YES!  :zapbama: :beatmullet:

[ToraGirl 5,498]

Romans 8:28...it ALL works together for the good.  Promise.  Now, let's play ball! 

[catch8185 4]

Yeah, just to clarify.  I do support a family's role, I just think these two guys and their families handled the situation particularly POORLY.  (And yeah, good insight on CK's immigrant family not thinking like us.  From what I know of families like that, I was just surprised that they particularly didn't agree on something before going public since his father is indeed quite clearly in the picture).