As we approach Week #4 of the college football season, most teams are preparing for their next opponent (UK), while others are taking advantage of their week off (U of L).
However, in the blogger world, it seems that UK fans want to compare the 2011 recruiting classes for both UK and U of L. Keep in mind that just like basketball, the kids being mentioned are still in HIGH SCHOOL.
On Monday, Kentucky Sports Radio's own BTI wrote a very insightful (LOL) article regarding how much better Joker Phillips was doing on the recruiting front compared to Charlie Strong. BTI states in his article that "While the Cards have received a couple nice recruitments out of the city, Joker has had the clear advantage overall."
BTI goes on to state the numerical rankings for both teams as it stood on Monday. He then asks the question: Does Charlie Strong have any advantage over Joker Phillips? Even further down the article, he talks about how dull of a person Charlie Strong is during his press conferences. That's neither here or there for this post, but seriously?
Then on Tuesday, SportsThat's own Boogiewoogie added the following quip to his article: "Joker Phillips is a better recruiter than Charlie "Jesus Christ" Strong. Don't believe me?" He then proceeds to link up to the same exact article written a day earlier by BTI.
Boy, how the tide changes so quickly. In the time that it took both BTI and Boogiewoogie to collectively link their hands, hearts, and articles (among other things), Coach Charlie Strong has received an additional 4 verbal commitments. Why is this important to note? The new verbal commits have launched U of L ahead of UK, putting the Cards at #27 and the Cats at #29 on Scout.com.
What's the best news in all of this? For 2010, even with a short recruiting period for Coach Strong, U of L was able to finish ahead of UK and their smooth transition to Joker Phillips. For 2011, Coach Strong will have the full recruiting period to add the best talent he can find. Even without missing a beat when Brooks stepped down, Joker couldn't even get UK ahead of U of L. How does he expect to get ahead of Strong and the Cards when they have a full recruiting period to operate?
Lastly, I find it interesting that UK fans keep talking about Charlie Strong and the Cards. The man hasn't even been at U of L for a year, and yet it sounds like Cat fans may be a little worried about what's right around the corner. Just sayin'.
And I guess you think Joker is done recruiting? The fact is that 2 out of 3 sites have UK ahead of UofL and rivals has UK significantly ahead of UofL as does ESPN. So I'm guessing when the smoke clears at the end of the recruiting period UK will have a superior class on 2 out of the 3 major rankings. But we will see.
ReplyDeleteAs for Strong, I am not scared of him and neither are any UK fans. Joker just beat him on the sidelines a few weeks ago so that puts that debate to rest. I guess you Dirty Bird fans are still riding high on that "moral victory" at Oregon State and think that if the game was played over you woulkd beat us. I just like to point at the fact that Charlie Strong is a bunch of hype so far and has yet to produce any real substance.
I guess once he gets his real class in then he will dominate the entire country and beat the likes of Oklahoma, Florida, Alabama and Texas. Or the more likely scenario is that UofL will be a top to middle of the road Big Least team which is not saying much at all. Enjoy your 4th season without a bowl game.
All he is doing is pointing out how UK fans were talking so awesomely about how great Joker was doing as compared to how "crappy" Strong was doing. So by your remark, "And I guess you think Joker is done recruiting?" one could assume that YOU thought Strong was done recruiting...as I pointed out in another article's comments, Rivals hasn't rated five UL recruits and 2 UK recruits...how can you accurately judge a class when you don't take the time to even judge/rank the players in the class. I'm pretty sure ESPN gets their stuff frmo Rivals as well...but I could be (and probably am) mistaken on that. However, if that is correct, the only site who actually has all the recruits rated, has UL ahead, which is just humorous since just this week UK fans were talking about what a great job they were doing and bragging earlier about being "a top 25 class" months before signing day.
ReplyDeleteEither way, whoever is actually ranked higher right now, means nothing until signing day comes and the rankings are official. I think ThunderStick's (and my) point is...don't go bragging about how great someone's recruiting is, while saying someone else "isn't getting the job done" when it changes daily. Otherwise, the day you post an article about it (like KSR) the rankings change and you look silly.
I posted an ESPN article weeks ago about ESPNU.com writing an article about welcoming the Cats to the top 25 recruting class as well. I guess you better comment on their article too.
ReplyDeleteBut you are correct. You don't know until they play. Notre Dame has had #1 recruiting classes in recent years and look where they are now. Let's just say that as of now it's Joker 1 Charlie 0 on the sidelines. That's what matters the most.