Updated throughout the day with quick takes from staff.
Things do get dramatic on Signing Day, and thanks to Twitter you can now listen in blow-by-blow at just how dramatic it can get.
The following conversation is excerpted from Palm Beach Post reporter Matt Porter's Twitter feed, and details a conversation between VT assistant Charley Wiles and former Hokie recruit Ja Wand Blue. Note: these were initially sourced to Beamer, something the university clarified with Porter shortly after Porter tweeted them. They stand as originally posted.
1. Virginia Tech commit Ja Wand Blue has an unpleasant surprise for the Hokies. Correction: that's ex-commit Ja Wand Blue.
2. Then Wiles ("Beamer") begins expressing his feelings, um...Frank-ly.
3. Wiles continues to get in touch with his emotions.
4. Wiles continues to attempt salvage the sale, all the while cueing up Adele on his iPod in preparation for an epic breakup cry.
5. Wiles continues to pitch through the tears. A ghost figure of Adele herself is now in the room with him, holding tissues and a glass of chardonnay for him.
The tweets peter out at this point, but we assume Wiles is currently half a pint deep in some Chubby Hubby. There's happiness in here somewhere, and he's going to find it with his spoon and his mouth, dammit.
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I think Wiles was just making a point
A VERY GOOD one at that. Blue is among the two worst linebackers in a class of 5 or 6 linebackers (depends on what you consider Ken Ekanem). This was the best recruiting class EVER for the Hokies on paper, so I’m sure the Chubby Hubby will be only in celebration.
While I’m happy the kid got to go where he truly wanted, he played the Tech coaching staff and strung them along, even when they kept upping the ante. He knew that if Miami offered he would commit on the spot but didn’t explicitly say that. Instead he chose to still visit the Hokies, maintain the facade of an agreement and sign with the program that started showing him serious interest only ONE WEEK AGO, not the one who began showing interest over a year ago. When a team in your own state just starts showing interest in you with a week left, it means you are a backup plan for kids they have rated higher. The tirade aside, that’s just not how you treat people of you’re a human being with any functioning moral compass.
by chicagomaroon on Feb 1, 2012 12:52 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
Really?
So you’re going to talk about functioning moral compasses concerning 17 yr kids who have a million people telling them things that all lead up to a day that equals The Decision being played out about every 5 minutes?
It’s the whole reason oral commitments mean absolutely nothing. Every team loses kids, every team takes kids away. There’s no reason to disparage a 17 yr old by saying he has no moral compass just because he picked a different school.
by Apdirtybird on Feb 1, 2012 1:10 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
If you will more closely read my comment
I am not blaming him for the failure of oral commitments as a whole. I am not blaming him for de-committing. I am not blaming him for getting to go to the school of his choice. In fact I state that I am glad he gets to go where he truly wanted. There’s no malice in that statement. If that’s where he wanted to go and he qualifies, that is the absolute best possible scenario for him. More power to him for making that be able to happen. What I AM disparaging him for is his CONDUCT in doing so. He may be 17, but 17 is old enough to know right from wrong. Although coaches are far from saints when it comes to recruiting, some of them do it the right way, and decisions a 17-year old make can put a 50-something out on the street. So I stick by my earlier statement. I am glad that Blue has found the school for him and I wish him well. I just hope he has learned an important lesson on how you treat people. Hopefully it will help to make him a better man.
by chicagomaroon on Feb 1, 2012 1:21 PM EST up reply actions
note:
Wiles makes 200K a year. He would hardly be on the street. 50 yr. old men can also put 19 yr. old kids out on the street or bind them from transferring. Its the one time a kid has the power in the entire relationship. Coaches lie to kids all the time about playing time, leaving for other jobs, etc.
by Mark Mandingo on Feb 1, 2012 2:01 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
I never said this was not the case
In fact I believe that I explicitly say that it is: “Although coaches are far from saints when it comes to recruiting.” My point still remains. If you have the opportunity to be forthcoming and do the exact opposite it can be harmful to the person you choose to do that to. It’s as simple as that. Additionally, if you leverage someone’s trust and commitment to you to gain someone else’s trust and commitment as Blue did, I don’t see why criticism of that act would come under such scrutiny. Read what I’m saying for what the words mean. Not for what you can interpret them to mean. If I don’t say that I am wholeheartedly in favor of recruiting practices and the coaches that bend the rules, then don’t assume that I am. If I don’t say I do not support a kid’s right to change his commitment status don’t assume that I do not.
by chicagomaroon on Feb 1, 2012 3:19 PM EST up reply actions
" Read what I’m saying for what the words mean. Not for what you can interpret them to mean."
Take your own advice. I never stated my interpretation of your comment. I was just telling you why I don’t have a problem with these kids playing the games that they play.
by Mark Mandingo on Feb 1, 2012 3:39 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
He didn't go to Virginia Tech.
Get over it.
Abiaka Windclan
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by Abiaka Windclan on Feb 6, 2012 2:24 AM EST up reply actions
the issue isn't Blue's decision
The issue is a reporter listening in on a private phone call. I’m sure he wanted to catch Beamed saying something. Matt Porter is a jackass
Alec: Chris, did you really buy a $1400 toilet?
Chris: Yeah, it's great. It's Japanese and has those little warm water jets that clean the undercarriage.
Eric: Chris, it's a toilet, you shit in it.
by pfhokie on Feb 1, 2012 1:57 PM EST via Android app reply actions
How is no one pointing out the "a program that wins bowl games" line?
VT has won half the amount of bowl games as Miami.
"Many people need desperately to receive this message: 'I feel and think much as you do, care about many of the things you care about, although most people do not care about them. You are not alone.'"
by U-God on Feb 1, 2012 2:00 PM EST reply actions
Not Lately...
When is the last time UM won a bowl game? 2006? And that was the MPC computer bowl…
VT might not be much better, but UM HASNT won a bowl game in a while. 6 years to a 17 year old is a long time.
by AntiCommie on Feb 1, 2012 5:13 PM EST up reply actions
I heard it as a shot at Miami's NCAA problems.
Being in a bowl at all is an issue for Miami right now, while VT has a streak of sorts going.
Abiaka Windclan
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by Abiaka Windclan on Feb 6, 2012 2:23 AM EST up reply actions
Ja Wand?!
Ron Paul 2012
by BuffaloBlueBlood on Feb 1, 2012 2:03 PM EST via mobile reply actions
I think the coach
Is being a little too melodramatic here. “I’ve never felt so betrayed or lied to.” Did he just get done watching a romantic comedy? I would have decommitted on principle had I been another VT recruit.
by hammer1649 on Feb 1, 2012 7:05 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
He is shocked, shocked, to learn that a high school athlete could de-commit and go with another school.
Abiaka Windclan
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by Abiaka Windclan on Feb 6, 2012 2:27 AM EST up reply actions
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