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Televised/streamed commitments


McLoofus

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Some really interesting thoughts (IMO) from SI's only decent CFB writer (again, IMO), Andy Staples. Seems very relevant to this recruiting cycle for AU.

Why did these players announce their decisions on television without being 100 percent sure of their choices? Because that was their chance to announce on TV. Minutes of airtime had been slotted. Satellite uplink time had been purchased. Smith and Cowart had volunteered for an early exposure to the fact that major college football is -- for the most part -- a made-for-TV product, and they needed to announce because those were their scheduled times to announce.

This TV part is not necessarily a bad thing. The massive rights fees have filled the coffers of athletic departments, allowing schools to build more luxurious facilities. Soon -- thanks in part to a few federal lawsuits -- that largesse will trickle down to these players in the form of more lucrative scholarships. But the simple fact that an announcement is to be televised should not force a player into a decision he isn’t ready to make at that moment. If he chooses poorly, he must live with the regret of picking the wrong school or deal with the ridicule when he changes his mind.

So listen up, class of 2016 recruits. Some of you are going to want to announce your choice on television on National Signing Day, and the ESPN family of networks might be more than happy to provide you with that opportunity. But remember this: If you don’t know, just say you don’t know. It’s your life. It’s your story. Some producer’s rundown shouldn’t control it. You should.

This may sound crazy, but you wouldn’t disappoint anyone at the Worldwide Leader by saying “I don’t know.” Drama and conflict make the best TV, and “I don’t know” is loaded with drama and conflict. Any network’s eternal quest is to fill every programming hour, and your waffling will provide at least a few more minutes. Heck, before quarterback Terrelle Pryor chose Ohio State in 2008, indecision provided days of infotainment. (Pryor took advantage of the fact that recruits have almost two months to submit the NLI. This year, football players have until April 1.)

Admitting indecisiveness will be difficult, of course. Most of these announcements are done via talkbacks, in which someone in a studio interviews a player wearing an earpiece and facing an unblinking camera -- usually with a crowd of onlookers. My first experiences on basic cable and network programming were talkbacks, and they’re terrifying. The voice in your ear may not come through clearly enough and you might not truly understand. Your heart may feel as if it will explode. What if you accidentally say the wrong thing? What if you drop an F-bomb? The alien aspects of the process will make sticking to the script seem safer, but that isn’t always the case. If it forces you into a rushed decision that could affect the rest of your life, choose not to rush it. The guys in the studio can always fill spare time with banter. Or, in the case of an “I don’t know” response, they may have more questions that could produce enlightening answers that humanize you to the audience.

http://www.si.com/college-football/2015/02/04/national-signing-day-college-football-recruiting-indecision

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Good find! Hard to argue with his points. I, personally, do not understand going through the recruiting process for six months or in some cases much longer and still not having my mind made up.

All the schools in the running will be top-notch educational institutions. Verify that they have the major you want (do verify, otherwise Saban will lie to you like he did to Cyrus Kwanjo(sp?) and tell you that UAT has a School of Architecture). Once that's done, pick the place where you are most comfortable and you cannot got wrong.

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