Molding character(s)

This is one of the funniest stories I’ve read in a while.

Texas A&M University-Commerce football Head Coach Guy Morris admitted to police that his team was responsible for the removal of student newspapers distributed on campus Wednesday.

The East Texan published a story on Wednesday titled “Football Player Arrested in Drug Bust.”

Lt. Jason Bone, crime information officer, later interviewed Morris, who admitted to his team members’ involvement in the theft and said he supported their actions.

“I am proud of my players for doing that,” Morris said. “This was the best team building exercise we have ever done.”

Well, not that part.  That’s the “what a maroon!” part.  Here’s the punchline:

… According to Bone’s police report, Athletic Director Carlton Cooper said the football team could not have stolen the papers without the aid of outside help.

“I don’t think they are smart enough to do this on their own,” he said.

Sounds like a helluva school.

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Not worth the paper it’s printed on.

Via Brian Cook comes news of this rather astounding development:

… Hearst Newspapers has teamed up with Bleacher Report to share content. From Editor & Publisher:

Hearst Newspapers is teaming up with the Bleacher Report a citizen sportswriter site to introduce Local Editions in four of Hearst’s markets: Houston, San Antonio, Texas, San Francisco and Seattle.

“Bleacher Report’s publishing platform provides a powerful way to serve our readers quality, original content that complements our own coverage,” Stephen Weis, executive vice president of the Houston Chronicle and general manager of Chron.com, said in a statement. “Working with Bleacher Report, we’re able to reach out to local fans and add a variety of viewpoints on each of the day’s sports stories that matters most to our readers in their home markets.”

The plan is to use B/R on all the local newspaper websites to boost their online coverage and provide more analysis from other voices, stating that the local editions will start using Bleacher Report “original content.”

Bleacher Report? What’s next, teaming up with footballcoachscoop.com?  Jeezus.  This is depressing evidence of why traditional media is slowly swirling around the toilet bowl nowadays.  Put more politely,

… From a business standpoint, Bleacher Report seems to make a lot of sense, but in practice, there’s something missing. Perhaps it’s just a level of checks and balances that other content networks have, but to everyone I’ve ever spoken to, including some people who write at Bleacher Report, the network is the wild, wild west of sports blogging. And that’s saying something. People put up whatever they want, and the outlandish articles get thrown to the top of Google searches like they are legitimate news and commentary. It’s both a testament to the company, and incredibly scary, that a good business model and questionable content with zero accountability and very little respect in the industry can get them as far as they have.

Very little respect… but just enough, evidently.  Sad and appalling.

Tuesday morning buffet

Lousy weather, so get something warm inside you.

• It’s déjà vu all over again:  Boise State comes east, bringing the hype to start a season.
• The Urban Meyer-doesn’t-prepare-quarterbacks-for-the-NFL meme continues to pick up steam.  Damned shame, I say.
• Speaking of memes, Finebaum uses the Kirby Smart raise as a vehicle to play the Mark Richt-is-doomed card.  Again.
• Junior cuts his brother-in-law loose, but hires another family member.  Christmas at the Kiffins is going to be a fun affair this year.
• Classic Spurrier:  “Stephen should be able to hold his starting position, but I think last year was the only year I’ve ever coached where I had one quarterback and no matter what he did he stayed in the game. I still believe if a guy goes bad, you’d like to have someone else to put in.”
• Maybe I need to cut back on the use of a certain expression.
• It’ll be awhile before Willie Williams gets to taste lobster again.
• Brandon Spikes on the Ealey eye-gouge:  the rivalry made me do it!
• It looks like we’ve got our first throw-Willie-under-the-bus comment, from Branden Smith:  “I believe that we’re going to get more interceptions this year. Last year, we didn’t get that many picks, and I believe it was the scheme we were in. The scheme we’re in now, it seems like something everybody’s looking forward to – linebackers, D-backs and especially on the D line.”
• Georgia doesn’t fare too well in Phil Steele’s most improved pass defense rankings from last season.

Junior Day dos and don’ts

With word that Auburn is bringing back Big Cat Weekend – no doubt Mike Slive is thrilled – you might be interested in what Rodney Garner had to say about how Georgia conducts its junior day events.

… Georgia defensive line coach Rodney Garner, who oversees the team’s recruiting efforts, said the Bulldogs hosted about 150 prospects on campus at two junior days last month. Georgia has two more junior days planned this spring.

“You have to show the players different aspects of your program each time,” Garner said. “You have to make sure kids won’t get bored. You don’t want someone telling you, ‘Well, I was at the first junior day and the second junior day, why should I come to this one?’ Obviously, the more you can get a player on campus, the better chance you have of signing him. If I’ve had a young man on campus four times, and he’s only been to another school once, I like my chances of getting him.”

Garner said the Bulldogs’ first junior day took place on the last weekend of official visits for current high school seniors in January. Prospects learned about the school’s strength and conditioning program and academics. The second junior day took place this past weekend. Prospects learned about the school’s sports medicine program and the team’s philosophies on offense and defense. Prospects also attended Georgia’s home basketball game against Florida.

A third junior day is planned around spring practice later this month, and a fourth junior day will take place at Georgia’s annual spring G-Day game at Sanford Stadium on April 10.

“Recruiting has evolved into a year-round process,” Garner said. “If you’re not careful, you’ll have something planned every weekend. It’s something everybody is doing, and if you’re not doing a good job getting kids to your campus early, you’re behind the eight ball.”

No word on white limo rides, though.  Guess those will stay in Alabama.