The lunacy of Signing Day took a decided turn for the absurd in February of 2008 when Fernley, NV OL Kevin Hart made quite a show of his dramatic choice to attend Cal-Berkeley over the University of Oregon. Trouble is, Hart wasn’t being recruited by either institution of higher learning. Fast forward to the present day, and Hart — currently a sophomore at Feather River Community College, has taken to Facebook to update his adoring fans on future football plans. From Lost Lettermen :
Hart responded to a post on his page on January 15 by commenting that his choices are between Division II schools Concordia University in St. Paul, MN, and Missouri Western in Saint Joseph, MO.
On January 4, Hart posted the following on his Facebook page: “Really thought I was close to making decision but after tonight things are wide open again, crazy!! Going on to St Paul on the 14th then Missouri Western on the 21st”
And when a friend commented that he thought Hart was set on a trip to St. Paul, Hart responded by saying he was until Missouri Western called in early January and “started talking offer and a visit so it’s back open u know how much I like Western.”
Yes, we know you like Western, Kevin, because you actually “liked” the school’s athletic page on Facebook. So it’s not a surprise that Hart is enjoying the recruitment process that he apparently never had four years ago and making it public through social media.
T-Wolves head coach Rick Adelman made his first appearance in Houston last since parting ways with the Rockets after the 2010-2011 season, and took pains to correct claims in the Houston Chronicle that he failed to return phone calls from owner Les Alexander. From the Minneapolis Star-Tribune’s Kent Youngblood ;
“You know, I’m still waiting for that phone call he said he made to me every year,” Adelman said. “I never got one, unless he was calling another Rick. I didn’t think anything of it until I saw all this stuff about how I never listened to him. It was kind of a joke.”
He wasn’t done. “[Alexander] said he used to call me three or four times a year. It never happened. … I chose not to accept the extension they offered me. I always thought the operation was Daryl [Morey, Rockets GM] and Les talking and then when I met with Les it was Daryl, Les and I. I’m not real smart, but I’m going to listen to my boss. That kind of turned me the wrong way.”
That said, Adelman took pains to say how much he enjoyed his four years with the Rockets.
“It was a great place to work, and I had a lot of fun,” he said. “Hopefully we can recreate it in Minnesota, that same atmosphere.”
Of his ill-advised attempt to force a shutdown of The Big Lead in 2007, a tearful Colin Cowherd tells TBL’s Jason MacIntyre, ” It’s the worst thing I’ve ever done to another person. It was a horrible thing to do … it ate me up.” And with that Oprah moment out of the way, we’re treated to a mostly fluffy portrait of the flaming douchebag highly motivated broadcaster. Though Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch offers qualified praise for McIntyre’s effort (“the conceit of staring down the person who took down your fledgling web site is an interesting dynamic to explore,”), he’s not entirely satisfied with the results.
First, I’m not a fan of single source profiles, which this basically was, and the fact that an ESPN PR rep shadowed the writer during the entire interview experience would have been a non-starter for me. (I’ll use this moment to note that of all the sports television networks I deal with, ESPN is the only one that consistency insists on its PR staff sitting in on interviews (phone or otherwise) with talent and executives. You can judge for yourself whether that’s sound handling, paranoia, or both. Sometimes I’ve played ball with them and other times I’ve contacted subjects independent of the Ministry of Magic. I will say that ESPN PR staffers have never interfered during an interview I’ve conducted, and that their conduct when they have sat in has been professional. But a third party, and a PR person at that, shadowing an interviewer shapes the dynamic of a profile, and makes you question things as the reader.)
I don’t know how the editorial process went down here but I wish McIntyre, if he had not, ran a draft by an experienced editor or a trusted profile writer who would have prompted a discussion about what’s not in here, from an attempt to speak with Cowherd’s ex-wife to the reaction of those he’s insulted on the radio to a firm discussion with his bosses.
Though Cowherd was allowed to call his assault on The Big Lead, “the worst thing I’ve ever done”, was it really any worse than this act of plagiarism? Or how does it compare to his contrition fading fast enough to have bragged to Deitsch in 2008, that sports bloggers were begging him to be knocked offline? Where does Cowherd’s commentary following the shooting death of Sean Taylor fit into the pretty picture of a workaholic radio host who claims a TV network told him Will Arnett was “too m” to play him in a sitcom?
