So, Tennessee headlines the national news again this week. Ho hum.
Evan Berry, 13-year-old eighth grader to be, brother of current Tennessee star Eric Berry and son of former Vol James Berry, has committed to play his college football at Tennessee.
It's the first commitment (and likely to be the only one for quite some time) of the 2013 class for Lane Kiffin and company.
So what's the big deal and why does this story continue to cross my news reader? Admittedly, 2013 is a long time from now and teams don't typically have players claiming to be committed to their school this far in advance. In fact, the NCAA doesn't allow coaches to even contact players of middle school age. But we all realize (well, most of us do) that the Tennessee staff is not out actively pursuing talent for the 2013 class. Berry is a Tennessee legacy - twice over - who believes at this point, he likely wants to follow in the footsteps of his dad and his brother and become a Volunteer some day. Sound reasonable?
Even though this particular absurdly early commit passes the "reasonability test", the media is still going to spin the fact that Berry is only 13.
Chris Low of ESPN.com labels this a 'recruiting stunt' by Kiffin, and while some may believe Kiffin is a mastermind of manipulating the media, I hardly believe that's the case here. More than likely, what we have is an overzealous reporter digging for headlines at a middle school track event.
Low tells us that this commit is insignificant and we should check back in five years - and I agree. Yet the story has headlined not one, but two of his blogs so far this week. Hmmm.
For now, Low says, we should just allow Evan Berry to be a kid. My question is, who is the "we" that he is referring to? I certainly hope that is directed toward himself and the other media who are trying to spin this into a major news headline while mocking Tennessee in the process.
Oh, one more thing Chris. If this was in fact a publicity stunt by Kiffin, he thanks you for your participation -- SUCKER!
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Lane Kiffin and the case of Evan Berry
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2 comments:
This whole thing is crazy. I really used to like Chris Low, But it seems he has fallen on the other side of the Kiffin fence along with Jimmy Hyams a little to many times. What Chris needs to realize is that more then likely Kiffin will be a winner here and will be loved by the fans and if a fan has to choose Kiffin or Low, its gonna be Kiffin..The spin placed on this story is ridiculous and irresponsible
VJ, the spin really is ridiculous. I believe when Low covered Tennessee, he was highly respected by most Vol fans. But since he's been with ESPN -- not so much.
I chalk some of it up to the number of blogs and articles that he is apparently required to churn out daily. Unfortunately, it's gotten to the point that visitors and page views are more important to journalists than the quality of their content.
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