Disappointing

cybsball20

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....and fans critical of how he handled his announcement are also full of sour grapes. I have yet to see a neutral observer criticize HB for how he handled his announcement. The only ones being critical of the announcement are Clone fans who got their feelings hurt for whatever reason (they foolishly thought HB would surely pick ISU, they thought HB "owed" ISU, they thought HB "played" with ISU, they thought he "disrespected" ISU, etc.).



ESPNAndyKatz



Had one coach in the running for Barnes tell me ESPN is at fault for pumping up the players, but the blame is global in hyping HS seniors. 4:32 PM Nov 13th from TweetDeck

The Harrison Barnes announcement is the future for high-profile players. Coaches will hate it but players control announcements.
 

Cy1969

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....and fans critical of how he handled his announcement are also full of sour grapes. I have yet to see a neutral observer criticize HB for how he handled his announcement. The only ones being critical of the announcement are Clone fans who got their feelings hurt for whatever reason (they foolishly thought HB would surely pick ISU, they thought HB "owed" ISU, they thought HB "played" with ISU, they thought he "disrespected" ISU, etc.).


Maybe you should have read Andy Katz twitter, it's posted somewhere.

The other coaches that HB didn't choose were less than pleased with the lack of respect the young man showed in the way he announced his decision.

It was not difficult to figure out this was going to be a circus when he thanked his friend for setting everything up before he even thanked his mom.

It was bad mistake, and for all of the hoopla about how grounded and mature this young man is, that presser was the work of a 17 year old kid that has gotten used to middle aged men doing everything they can to woo him. That part isn't his fault, but I would have thought that a grown up in his circle would have warned against this.

Then, you add his groupies, or hangers on, that come on places like this, and defend everything under the guise of being fans of "Ames," and it feels like the pr rush after the dog and pony show got bad reviews.

As far as the OP, he is right. The basketball "insiders" and the kids that follow them around, come on here and try to run the debate. They don't share all of the information that doesn't reflect well on their friend. So they throw out innuendos, and accusations, and then claim that it's either, in the past, or they can't really tell all of the facts because they don't want to lose their spot. But we will throw out all of these hints of conspiracy, and let people spin it their way.

The recruits are all the best, or underrated because nobody know them, or anything about recruiting. And, everyone here wants to believe all of this, because it might mean that we will be good again.

It's understandable, it gets people excited to look on here. They need hope, because the reality of the past three years of Cyclone athletics has not offered much of that.

This year, the football team set the table for the Men's Basketball team to give some back to the people that have supported the poor quality of play that have seen the past three years, let's all hope that they can deliver.
 
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cykadelic2

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ESPNAndyKatz



Had one coach in the running for Barnes tell me ESPN is at fault for pumping up the players, but the blame is global in hyping HS seniors. 4:32 PM Nov 13th from TweetDeck

The Harrison Barnes announcement is the future for high-profile players. Coaches will hate it but players control announcements.

Katz doesn't specifically call out HB on his presser based on that info. He lumps HB in with hundreds of other high-profile FB and BB recruits, the Skype thing may be trendsetting but what HB did was fairly typical.
 

Cybyassociation

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I understand that ISU is located in Ames, but how does that automatically equal Barnes using ISU by opening his conference up? You do realize that there were more than just ISU fans there right? Had some of you Harrison Barnes obsessed Cyclones not gone 4 hours early to sit in a gym to watch a 17 year old boy hold a press conference, the gym would have been full of his high school peers. Have any of you thought about that? How many of his friends/peers didnt get to watch in person because middle aged men and women packed Ames gym with high hopes while these high school students were stuck in class?

Harrison Barnes did not USE anyone. He did not and soes not owe Cyclones anything simply because he is from Ames, his mother works for ISU and because he has worked out with ISU players. In the end, how can you not realize that he is looking out for #1 (or 40 in this case), himself. The #1 recruit in the nation went to the #1 basketball college in the nation which also has one of the top academic programs in all of the nation. Why would he go anywhere else?
 

3TrueFans

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I understand that ISU is located in Ames, but how does that automatically equal Barnes using ISU by opening his conference up? You do realize that there were more than just ISU fans there right? Had some of you Harrison Barnes obsessed Cyclones not gone 4 hours early to sit in a gym to watch a 17 year old boy hold a press conference, the gym would have been full of his high school peers. Have any of you thought about that? How many of his friends/peers didnt get to watch in person because middle aged men and women packed Ames gym with high hopes while these high school students were stuck in class?

Harrison Barnes did not USE anyone. He did not and soes not owe Cyclones anything simply because he is from Ames, his mother works for ISU and because he has worked out with ISU players. In the end, how can you not realize that he is looking out for #1 (or 40 in this case), himself. The #1 recruit in the nation went to the #1 basketball college in the nation which also has one of the top academic programs in all of the nation. Why would he go anywhere else?
Careful, if you start trying to introduce reason and rational thinking into these threads people will say you're being paid to post. Not that that wouldn't be a hell of a gig.
 

Cybyassociation

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Our MBB program was preseasonly ranked 29th by espn, i wouldnt call that struggling.

Preseason polls mean JACK ****. The ISU men's basketball team finished 10th in conference with only 4 conference wins. They have won 2 games this season over crappy teams. They havent accomplished anything this season.
 

CTAClone

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This is getting very old. It's the same people saying the same stuff over and over. Can we just stop? Some people feel jaded which is their right, some people still love HB which is their right as well. Don't see the point of the continued arguing or finger pointing, name calling etc. etc. I think it's time for everyone to just move on.
 

Klubber

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The flip side to what you're saying is that many of the people who are defending what HB did on Fri and claiming to be his friend, etc. are basically just sycophants who just want a piece of the HB franchise. A lot of these people don't really know him. I'm disappointed in these people They're only interested in being Face Book buds or interacting with him to some extent so they can go around and blab to anyone who will listen that they're friends with the #1 recruit in the country. Apparently if HB says hello to you in passing, then he's beyond any and all criticism.

I don't know him so all I can go on is what I see. What I saw was the ridiculous spectacle that took place Fri. A humble person would never set something like that up. The whole thing just epitomized what's wrong with college sports and the recruiting process in general. It's all about the individual and drawing as much attention as possible to said person. Why is it even necessary to "launch the Harrison Barnes franchise," as has been said was the case Fri.? Looking at the countless articles that have been written about him and the fact he was being recruited by the top programs in the country leads me to believe people were certainly aware of who he is.

I'm not disappointed in ISU fans at all. Fans will be fans. I'm disappointed in the people who build these recruits into something they are not either entirely out of self serving interests or out of envy, wishing they had the same athletic ability. Maybe we really didn't know HB at all. Maybe the real HB is what we saw Fri.
 

Klubber

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Preseason polls mean JACK ****. The ISU men's basketball team finished 10th in conference with only 4 conference wins. They have won 2 games this season over crappy teams. They havent accomplished anything this season.


And neither has North Carolina...
 

BigBake

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Calm down there hot stuff. Did I say anyone doesn't have a right to be angry? Some people just need to put it in perspective and think about what they say before they say it.

It's been here and thru several other non biased media outlets that his presser was busch league.
 

cyclonenum1

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Nov 30, 2006
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It's been here and thru several other non biased media outlets that his presser was busch league.

I wonder how many comments we would have had on this site about this "classless", "bush league", "circus" of a press conference had ISU been selected by HB?

My bet is zero. Instead, we would have been regaled with how great this press conference was and how fantastic the exposure was for ISU.
 

3TrueFans

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I wonder how many comments we would have had on this site about this "classless", "bush league", "circus" of a press conference had ISU been selected by HB?

My bet is zero. Instead, we would have been regaled with how great this press conference was and how fantastic the exposure was for ISU.
I've already tried that approach, it didn't stick.
 

joefrog

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I wonder how many comments we would have had on this site about this "classless", "bush league", "circus" of a press conference had ISU been selected by HB?

My bet is zero. Instead, we would have been regaled with how great this press conference was and how fantastic the exposure was for ISU.

You know I usually agree with your opinions, but the only reason logically for making such a big deal about the decision is that you are picking the local team. If going elsewhere, especially signing with one of the most hated figures in ISU fandom, you don't go all Hollywood, and you especially do not put Roy ******* Williams up on a huge screen over Skype.

That was beyond tasteless. It is my firm belief that ISU has been out of the running for quite a while, especially since that article or interview where he had to add ISU to his list of 5. It seems hb was just continuing to string ISU along for the perks, and in the end he appears to have used Cyclone fans as simple props to help fill audience spots for ESPN. Maybe he didn't know how this would appear, but somebody close to him or around him had to, and they still went ahead and did it anyway.

As an ISU alum and Cyclone fan, I took Friday as a personal insult to me, the university, other fans, and especially Greg McDermott. People may question his coaching and recruiting at times, but nobody can question that man's character. He is one of the finest people working for ISU and remains a good and decent man in what has become a very ruthless and dishonorable profession.
 

cyclonenum1

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The flip side to what you're saying is that many of the people who are defending what HB did on Fri and claiming to be his friend, etc. are basically just sycophants who just want a piece of the HB franchise. A lot of these people don't reallyknow him. I'm disappointed in these people They're only interested in being Face Book buds or interacting with him to some extent so they can go around and blab to anyone who will listen that they're friends with the #1 recruit in the country. Apparently if HB says hello to you in passing, then he's beyond any and all criticism.

I don't know him so all I can go on is what I see. What I saw was the ridiculous spectacle that took place Fri. A humble person would never set something like that up. The whole thing just epitomized what's wrong with college sports and the recruiting process in general. It's all about the individual and drawing as much attention as possible to said person. Why is it even necessary to "launch the Harrison Barnes franchise," as has been said was the case Fri.? Looking at the countless articles that have been written about him and the fact he was being recruited by the top programs in the country leads me to believe people were certainly aware of who he is.

I'm not disappointed in ISU fans at all. Fans will be fans. I'm disappointed in the people who build these recruits into something they are not either entirely out of self serving interests or out of envy, wishing they had the same athletic ability. Maybe we really didn't know HB at all. Maybe the real HB is what we saw Fri.

How often do you read this site? It is precisely the ISU fans that are building these recruits into something they are not.

Heck, even low level recruits (that, truth be told, should have been walkons) like Wes Eikmeier are built up to epic proportions by our fan base.

You get a recruit like Barnes that is a legit talent and is from Ames and all we hear is how stellar of a person he is...great student, great kid (shovels snow for neighbors that are too old to do it themselves), humble, modest, grounded, yada, yada, yada. Heck, we even had a poster proffer a nickname for him at ISU as "Cardinal Jesus".

But all that changed on Friday when he decided to go to UNC. Now, overnight, the kid has become an egomaniac, a shameless self promoter, a traitor...yada, yada, yada.

As I said in my original post, this phenomenon is not unique to HB...this has happened before...Bates, Wes Johnson, Staten, etc.

I submit to you that HB (and the others listed above) is the same person today that he was when he woke up on Friday morning. He was never as humble and modest as many said before the decision and he is certainly not the cold, calculating "user" that many claim he is after his decision was rendered.
 
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Cy Hard

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Simple, Friday morning (the prevailing thought here was) he is a Cyclone. Friday afternoon, he is not a Cyclone. Good guy gone traitor, turning his back on his home town team. He is a huge talent undeniably here or UNC. That's not the issue, it's the tactless way he went about using ISU and the fans for his signing day.
 
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CyBobby

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Don't forget all the petty little boys who left when Morgan got booted (Taggart, especially) Rashon was the real only man from that team. At least the football players got it right by sticking around.

All you negative little whiners should be glad you have a team on the rise instead of one like EIU headed for mediocity. A lot of you weren't around when we had Nance coaching. Talk about laughin stock.....


I was around for the lynn nance era...Can you spell er say disaster??? Losing was a way of life for good old lynn nance!!!!
 

BigBake

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I wonder how many comments we would have had on this site about this "classless", "bush league", "circus" of a press conference had ISU been selected by HB?

My bet is zero. Instead, we would have been regaled with how great this press conference was and how fantastic the exposure was for ISU.

Less from this site but the media ones would still be there.

Somehow I don't believe Mac was logged on Skype or would have allowed HB to do that if ISU was the choice.
 

joefrog

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Simple, Friday morning (the prevailing thought here was) he is a Cyclone. Friday afternoon, he is not a Cyclone. Good guy gone traitor, turning his back on his home town team. He is a huge talent undeniably here or UNC. That's not the issue, it's the tactless way he went about using ISU and the fans for his signing day.

Right here. That is where most of the righteous anger comes from. ISU out of the picture a month ago or more? It is over. We move forward.
 

3TrueFans

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But what if ISU wasn't out a month or more ago? I know that's the popular thing to say, but to be honest nobody actually knows that. What if he had all the information, but hadn't decided, you obviously wouldn't want to take names out of the running prematurely.