UM Football Recruiting - by WM Wolverine

[Mackenzie]

[QUOTE=lineygoblue;746226]Worst case scenario would be if he were to wait until signing day, and announce a flip at that time. That would be a pretty mean-spirited way to deal with Coach Hoke, and I don't understand why he'd do something like that. But again, he's a 17 year old kid, and predicting their actions can be difficult. I've raised a couple of them, and this I know for a fact.
/QUOTE]

Liney, I know you're right about this. But, from time to time the "he's a 17 year old kid" addage strikes a wrong chord with me and perhaps this may be one of those times. I realize that some of these "17 year old kids" don't have parents or mentors let alonge parents or mentors of good characters. But, if Poggi's parents are of sound character and have imparted even a modicum of that on Poggi then I don't know how their their son, in perhaps the biggest moment of his (and even his parent's lives), would pull a signing day stunt scenerio like the one above. I'm sure it's been done before but in those cases, in my opinion, being 17 is not the greatest challenge that kid may face and good luck to the team that gets him.

[hack]

Fair enough.

[Rocky Bleier]

Yeah, the whole "he's a kid" thing has never sat well with me. People used to get married and run farms when they were very young. Some "kids" join the military and face bullets. People will watch their child run around in a public place screaming and say that's just what kids do. Baloney! That's the way kids act when they haven't been brought up properly. Teach you kid how to act, how to make a decision, and that his word should mean something.

[Rocky Bleier]

Five star DT Eddie Vanderdoes visits Alabama this Saturday. Wonder how that may play into the Henry Poggi situation.

[SeattleLionsFan]

I'd be much more worried about Poggi if mich sent out an offer to someone like Kenton Gibbs. Michigan coaches aren't acting concerned. So I'm not either.

And he's gone "silent" with reporters. Not the coaches.

[lineygoblue]

I speak from experience with it comes to 17 year old boys. I have four younger brothers, and I've raised two sons of my own.

Some do have maturity beyond their years, and can function as adults. Others cannot.

I'm still of the opinion that no news is good news.

[Rocky Bleier]

Depends on what you mean by "beyond their years" in our day when so many young men are extremely immature. What is considered beyond their years in the present was probably just the norm in the past. Role models have changed. Used to be that guys wanted to be like John Wayne or Steve McQueen. Today they emulate Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen.

I'll take Walt Kowalski as my neighbor any day...

[hack]

I think there is no shortage of young John Wayne emulators out there.

[Rocky Bleier]

I think you might mean Stallone/Rambo types.

[hack]

Very well could be. Differences obscure now. It's not just them, though. They didn't raise themselves or create the environment in which they grew up.

[Rocky Bleier]

True. Bad parenting/no parenting is a huge problem. For boys the absence of a responsible male figure has been devastating. I thought Gran Torino demonstrated that very well. But a lot of boys who have fathers are being raised as irresponsible wimps. They have no chores. Can't do a single thing for themselves. Go to college to delay growing up. Learn nothing while at college, and then ask where is that job that is supposed to be waiting for them.

[hack]

Somewhat true, but I don't think the blame stops at parents. They exist in a wider system too and not all of them can be expected to transcend that. Parenting is easy when there's no fear and fewer choices. Now there's tons of fear and too many choices.

Overall, you can only judge kids according to the world THEY are growing up in. If you judge them according to the world YOU grew up in, you're decreasing your chances of understanding why they are who they are and all that.

[SeattleLionsFan]

It's that darn Rock and Roll!

[The Oracle]

Georgia, FSU and UCLA have been to John Glenn HS to offer D'Mario Jones. Too little too late, but it's a good sign some of the heavier hitter came in with offers to this kid. Could be a sleeper.

[Mackenzie]

Overall, you can only judge kids according to the world THEY are growing up in. If you judge them according to the world YOU grew up in, you're decreasing your chances of understanding why they are who they are and all that.

That seems just too simple to make sense but, by golly, it really does make sense. Still, it seems that there should be some things which transcend gererations or times. Would giving one's word in the 60's not "mean" the same as giving one's word in 2013? Maybe not be the best example and in the same category as "What is truth." Still, Hack, your take on judging kids is something that I think I will try to remember when I am bewildered, befuddled, and baffled as I see a youngster almost totally covered in "body art" and enough spare parts attached to their body that would make and MRI machine drool.