Interesting read from Gary Parrish last week. It seems Wisconsin commit Vander Blue decided to re-open his recruitment after fans on the Badgers’ message boards bashed Blue for everything from his attitude to his academics:
Vander Blue decommitted from Wisconsin earlier this week.
It was not national news.
He is not John Wall.
But what made it a national story — and perhaps a lesson for the uncivilized world of message boards, if we’re lucky — is that the decommitment was prefaced by a story about the Madison native’s alleged academic woes, which led to some Wisconsin fans spending their days publicly bashing the Class of 2010 standout on the Internet. They questioned his attitude, character and intelligence. And guess what? Vander Blue read it and it bothered him.
He is 16 years old, by the way.
“I felt like I was in a corner, trapped and I couldn’t get out,” Blue told the Milwaukee paper. “I just felt like it was so unnecessary. I don’t think I’m that worse of a guy. Sometimes I might be tired and have a little attitude, [but] I don’t think I’m a horrible person.
“Forty year-old adults talking about somebody who don’t got their license yet; I just felt it was so unnecessary,” Blue added. “Picture yourself in my position. Rumors going around, you’re just keeping quiet. And you read the article and 1,000 people [are] throwing you under the bus.”
Like American Express, anonymity on the internet has its privileges. You can wrap yourself up in it nicely and fire all sorts of shots at people left and right without any regard reprecussions because there simply none to be had. One of the reasons it gets so out of control is sheer volume. At THF, the comment traffic is still at a level that I can reasonably watch most items that pass by and crack down on folks when they cross lines. That is not the case on larger sites where hundreds comments pass over the ether on multiple threads at once. I made it abundantly clear after the loss to Wake Forest that abject negavitity and destructive criticisms leveled out UNC players would not be tolerated. The same would be true of a commit as well though this theory has not been put to the test since all of Roy’s recruits have been of fairly high character. The closest I have come to possibly crossing the line was with my commentary of Danny Green’s and Ty Lawson’s respective situations last summer. In the case of the latter, Lawson openly commented about the way he was being treated by the message boards and you sort of wonder whether Lawson was ready to make the jump just for that reason alone.
The common rule is that a person should never write something online they would not be willing to say to a person’s face. I probably do not follow this as closely as I would like but at the end of the day the THF community should be commended for largely keeping the vitrol to a minimal. The discussion here is both well thought and very civil. Please continue to keep it that way.
![[Bloglines]](http://www.tarheelblog.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/bloglines.png)
![[del.icio.us]](http://www.tarheelblog.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/delicious.png)
![[Digg]](http://www.tarheelblog.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/digg.png)
![[Facebook]](http://www.tarheelblog.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/facebook.png)
![[MySpace]](http://www.tarheelblog.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/myspace.png)
![[Technorati]](http://www.tarheelblog.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/technorati.png)
![[Windows Live]](http://www.tarheelblog.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/windowslive.png)
![[Yahoo!]](http://www.tarheelblog.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/yahoo.png)
![[Email]](http://www.tarheelblog.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/email.png)
I feel absolutely compelled to point out that the actual text of Mr Blue’s comments actually does not help him if he wishes to combat the view that he my have academic issues.
“I don’t think I’m that worse of a guy”
“Forty year-old adults talking about somebody who don’t got their license yet”
Point taken
Not to make light, but at least we know he CAN read. This has not always been the case with “college educated” athletes, which still boggles my mind.
As for the vitriol level at THF, don’t sell yourself short, we follow your lead… for the most part…
157-26 helps, too…
That it does…it will be interesting to see what happens if UNC loses two games in a row which has not happened since 2007.
I went back and re-check, just because that didn’t look like it could possibly be correct… it is.
UNC’s average record the last half-decade is approximately 31-5.
The quality of this site is the reason I visit it everyday, THF.
Though I do feel for the kid, I have to kinda giggle at this.
So glad to be part of a fan community that is classy and civil to each other and classy and civil about our players and coaching staff.
stay classy san diego
THF — Mr. Blue is not the perfect messenger to be sure, but his case brings up a point worth considering, i.e., the perils on internet anonymity. Like everyone else here, I use a pseudonym, but I have never been sure it’s the right thing to do. There are valid reasons for people to want to remain anonymous, but something about it doesn’t sit well. My father taught me that if you write something, you sign it. It’s a hallmark of one’s willingness to take responsibility. Like most of his advice, it was pretty much on the mark.
I’m not proposing that we change the long-time convention here. As many have pointed out, this site is pretty much free of vitriol. That being the case, the dangers of anonymity seem speculative in this particular instance. Still…………
One other thing I want to mention now that I’m in a reflective mood. A while back, I was decrying NBA culture and, in particular, tatoos. This had very little to do with Carolina basketball, or even college basketball in general. And it might have offended other commenters, who see the world differently, or are just younger, but who have no less right to their ways of thinking than I have to mine. So to any I might have offended by my tatoo rant, I apolohgize. Just because it’s not my cup of tea does not create a platform for me to criticize the tastes of others.
No worries, Rath!
While obviously the kid isn’t representing himself well grammatically, one thing that he said stands out to me. This young guy is 16 years old, doesn’t have a driver’s license yet, but he is getting harsh criticism. It doesn’t reflect well on him to mangle syntax, but how does it reflect on those who are being that harsh to a kid. And I don’t mean to be sanctimonious, because this was illuminating to me as well. I try not to be too harsh on players online, but I’m sure that I’ve failed in that on occasion. Given the anonymity of the internet and the fact that it’s easy to forget that these athletes are people who can read this stuff and react to it too. I hope that I can continue to improve on how considerate I am for these young people. THF I really respect and admire the tone and civility you’ve been able to nurture here. It’s not always perfect, but it’s better than just about anywhere else.
Rath, I really appreciate that sentiment. As a young guy who isn’t a fan of tattoos myself, it’s somewhat surreal to me that I would be one of the main ones defending them. I couldn’t agree more with your last statement.
C. Michael and Marcus — Thanks very much. It had been on my mind for weeks.
So to return to Carolina basketball…………..how many wins do we get next year? It ain’t gonna be 34, but I’d say 27 or 28 is a realistic goal.
I agree, I’ve been thinking about 25-28 myself. I’m sure when the season gets here I’ll feel differently, but I would be happy with fewer wins, the 20-24 range, if there’s good development from the guys who will be there after next season. I obviously want the guys who are definitely gone, Ginyard and Deon, or likely gone, Davis and Henson, to progress as well, especially as it pertains to their future basketball careers, but for the team I think it will be the year after this one coming up where we’ll be a threat again. I think Strickland’s ability to adapt to playing point is is key.
That is really dumb of that kid because people from other schools can infiltrate a message board and start nasty threads. You have no idea who is posting that stuff.
Players on any level respond to what the fans say, how they act and in this sort of forum, what they seem to think.
I hope no one ever leaves or fails to enter a sports program because of writing on a public site like this one.
I encourage all of the non-seniors coming in this year to stay put and work to build another championship team; not an NBA job resume!
Oh goodness, here we go again. It is living in a land of naivete to think that going elsewhere will eliminate negative talk. Maybe he should look at UNC, for instance, and see some of the criticisms aimed at our players during a damn national championship run. Now the young man is free to do whatever he wants, as we are as bloggers as well, in so much that it is legal. I really have no problem with negative talk on message boards, but I don’t have an issue with a kid not liking it as well.
All I have to say is this. Henson, Strickland, McDonald, David Wear, Travis Wear, we all think you’re the greatest to ever come along. We are so thankful that you chose UNC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Maybe we should change our articulation of players to those lines. We never know, they might not like our talk.
J/K, in a way. I do think they will be special players, and that UNC will have deep tournament runs with them.
THF -
I am grateful every day for the luxury of this forum and I commend it to other college basketball fans as an exemplary venue for civil and informed opinions of those with knowledge of the subject. I am not bothered by strong opinions of others viz tatoos or gold jewelry on athletes as long as the tone is basically civil. The first amendment is a good thing!
I’ll boldly predict a 24-win season next year…total “W” following ACC tourney.