That media thing last night sucked.

[Duhwayne]

No high school senior should have that kind of power. Stupid. 

Kudos to Washington’s PR staff for making that pick in Utah’s backyard as public as possible. May we do that to them, assuming Seattle has anyone we would want. They won’t hesitate to do it again unless we do. 

[Charlie Foxtrot]

The KSL Sports Beat thing was a circuis.  I hate the local sports shows and personalities, and that debacle last night didn’t help matters at all.  I get that the kid is the current state record holder in several catagories and probably the number 1 recruit for the state this year, but the fact remains that he hasn’t even played 1 down of college football.  Who knows how good he is really going to be at the next level, and what if an injury ends it all?

I hope Puka has a great career at Washington and I wish him nothing but the best, but an annoucement to go to an out of state school could have been done at anytime on social media.  The Utah schools sure at hell don’t need KSL or any other local sports show to be hyping up out of state recruiting.  Showing up at a scheduled event for an announcement at a school is one thing, but hosting this in the studio on main weekend sports show is a joke.  Is it any wonder that the local coaching staffs seem to have an adversarial relationship with the local sports media?

[mesovanhorny]

I could not agree more.  It’s a decision about where to play college football.  That’s it.

I remember when ESPN broadcast the whole Lebron decision to the Miami Heat.  I thought THAT was ridiculous and so stupidly over-the-top.

But a high school kid?  Nope!  Don’t do it again, locals.

[BD]

I agree with everything said here. In all honesty, I think the kids should be coached to be more humble, and not do these kinds of media shows. However, I admit that I tuned in to the San Diego media TV show several years ago when Terrell Burgess announced his commitment to Utah on their local TV show, and it didn’t bother me then.

That said, I honestly feel sorry for these kids that are the “best in the state” 4/5 star recruits – I feel like many of them don’t know what is coming, and it will hit them like a freight train when they get on the field and have to compete with other 4/5 star players who are already ahead by a year or two. After having gone through a media circus and being the center of attention with the media, and the “big man on campus” in high school, then to get yelled (swore at) at by demanding coaches in College making high 6-figure or even million-dollar salaries. It would be tough, even for the “prima donnas”. In this case, a kid with a chip on his shoulder (PWO, etc.) might, ironically, be better prepared for what lies ahead in the year to come. I believe that Puka will be successful, but I kinda got the feeling that he doesn’t know what is coming to him. Maybe I am wrong, I don’t know.

I just got that feeling when listening to Morgan Scalley this morning on 1280 AM. He sooooo emphasized that stars don’t matter, and that kids that are “prima donnas” are going to struggle for awhile until they completely become selfless and lose the attraction to attention they got in high school, and learn to embrace the toughness that the Utah program absolutely demands. Given that I have seen Scalley just scream at some of the players in the spring scrimmages – it is like – Wow! Glad I am not there. Good luck to those kids – they’ll need a chip on their shoulder attitude to succeed at Utah.

[Duhwayne]

Take Scalleys comment and apply to one massively hyped QB, for example. Sounds like he got straight beat by Shelley and took his bat and ball and traded down in programs.