I heard ESPN radio talk show host Doug Gottlieb talking about it Thursday afternoon and found it to be ridiculous. Now it's been on SportsCenter.Senior Editor Phillip MarshallThis is news? After he signed with Auburn, linebacker Cassanova McKinzy joked that one of the reasons was that Clemson didn't have a Chick-fil-A on campus. And that, in these strange days, was jumped on as by ESPN.Really.By just looking at the Internet, the hairspray set in Bristol could have learned that McKinzy was committed to Auburn for months, that he took a visit to Clemson and reaffirmed that commitment almost immediately. They could have done that. Instead, they chose to make fun of an 18-year-old kid. That from the entity that has come to control college football in a very real way more than the NCAA could hope to.That's where we are now. ESPN has, for its own selfish reasons, has turned high school kids into national celebrities at recruiting time. So, it seems, now they think it's OK to treat them like NFL players and jump on any statement they find interesting.The really ridiculous part of the whole thing is that the McKinzy was obviously joking. If the people who make news judgment at ESPN didn't realize that, they ought to be doing something else. If they did realize it and decided to pretend it was news, they still ought to be doing something else.I guess it has become OK now to ridicule a teenager on national TV or national radio, for a coach to proclaim his old-fashioned belief that a commitment is a commitment and then back out on his own commitments to high school players. It's become OK for ESPN to abandon all pretense of even-handedness and slobber all over the schools and coaches it deems imports.It's become OK for LSU coach Les Miles to question the heart of a quarterback because he switched to another school after LSU got him to switch from yet another school, OK for even Vanderbilt coach James Franklin to say recruits who changed their minds have "no honor."Does anybody involved actually care about these kids? Does anybody care that a lot of them come from poor backgrounds and are anything but sophisticated in dealing with the glare of the spotlight? Does anybody think maybe, just maybe, you ought to think twice before you try to embarrass a kid who starts every morning in homeroom?I've loved college football since I was 7 years old. But the game, at the highest level, has become something it was never meant to be. Head coaches make millions of dollars a year. Assistant coaches make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. And to keep those jobs, they depend on young men 18 to 22 years old who get only a scholarship. Add to that a significant number of fans whose own self-esteem is tied up in how those young men perform.When those young men don't talk right or act right or do what the adults think they should, the adults get angry and publicly bash them. Or they are ridiculed on the radio or even on national television.The adults walk out on contracts, take back scholarship offers and then question the character of teenagers who change their minds even as they try to convince other teenagers to change their minds.And the ESPN talking heads and their ilk are joyfully join in on this sorry show.
He must be pissed...published it without editing it seems.
But the game, at the highest level, has become something it was never meant to be. Head coaches make millions of dollars a year. Assistant coaches make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. And to keep those jobs, they depend on young men 18 to 22 years old who get only a scholarship. Add to that a significant number of fans whose own self-esteem is tied up in how those young men perform.When those young men don't talk right or act right or do what the adults think they should, the adults get angry and publicly bash them. Or they are ridiculed on the radio or even on national television.The adults walk out on contracts, take back scholarship offers and then question the character of teenagers who change their minds even as they try to convince other teenagers to change their minds.
Cassanova McKinzy clarifies Chick-fil-A commentPublished: Thursday, February 02, 2012, 6:25 PMBIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Cassanova McKinzy says he's a fan of Chick-fil-A.He also says his much-publicized words involving the fast-food chain were blown out of proportion.After signing with Auburn University on Wednesday, the Woodlawn High linebacker was filmed talking about his decision. When asked why he didn't switch his commitment following a Jan. 21 visit to Clemson, McKinzy offered an answer that went viral (scroll ahead to the 1:30 mark of the video)."(It was) kind of the environment and plus they had no Chick-fil-A on campus," McKinzy said. "You had to go probably like 15 minutes off campus to go to a real restaurant. Their cafe was kind of small."McKinzy's response promptly made headlines in USA Today, Yahoo! Sports and media outlets around the country, with readers displaying a mix of amusement and disdain. Many mocked the four-star recruit for supposedly allowing his stomach to guide his college choice.McKinzy himself scanned the reactions. He said he doesn't understand the fuss."That's not the reason I chose Auburn or why I didn't choose Clemson," McKinzy said Thursday. "I actually wanted to give Clemson a shot, but it (his decision) didn't have anything to do with Chick-fil-A."Chick-fil-A, in fact, has a location on Clemson's campus. But McKinzy said he didn't see one on his visit. Even if he had, he said, it wouldn't have affected his decision."I was just being funny," McKinzy said. "I gave all the reasons why I chose Auburn."McKinzy reiterated those reasons Thursday."I've always been an Auburn fan," he said. "I always told myself if they offered me, I would take it."McKinzy mentioned Auburn cornerback Chris Davis. The two played together when Davis starred at Woodlawn.With McKinzy's signing, they're set to reunite as teammates."I gained a relationship with the coaches and the players," McKinzy said. "That was the big part."Did McKinzy, Auburn's first commitment in its 2012 signing class, ever seriously consider Clemson?"I really tried to," said McKinzy, who committed to Auburn last March. "It was just that I've been hooked with Auburn for so long, it was hard to just up and change my mind."Clemson is a great place. I didn't mean it like that. When I went, I actually enjoyed myself. (But) I don't think it was a place for me to be. I couldn't picture myself there. It would be great for somebody."
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