Oh we were just shocked, just shocked, when we read this from IBlogforCookies:
The story has been going around today that ESPN the Magazine has "outed" former ESPN personality and recruiting guru Tom Lemming as a Notre Dame shill. The excerpt comes from an article on Rivals top 10 player and all-everything cornerback Myron Rolle, a highly regarded player who is also making a name as one of the most well spoken and articulate 5* recruits to ever come down the pike. And it reads as follows:
"Tom Lemming is a huge Notre Dame guy," Myron says. "He kept saying to me, `You know they have a great coaching staff. You know Charlie Weis is Mr. NFL. You're an academic guy. That place is for you.' Then he killed Florida State. He said, `You're stupid if you go there.' Um, okay. Thanks."
The article is raising eyebrows across the internet, which surprises me, because outing Tom Lemming as a Notre Dame shill is like outing me as a guy who likes cookies. Lorenzo Booker made exactly the same accusation (about Lemming, not me), but he didn't have a 4.0 GPA, and he was going to FSU and enough people were able to write it off as "typical loudmouth Seminole ... probably got pissed 'cause Lemming dropped him in the rankings."
Funny stuff, but here are the more serious implications of a shill like Lemming openly pimping ND via the national website of Eastern Sports Programming Network:
"Tom Lemming is a huge Notre Dame guy," Myron says. "He kept saying to me, `You know they have a great coaching staff. You know Charlie Weis is Mr. NFL. You're an academic guy. That place is for you.' Then he killed Florida State. He said, `You're stupid if you go there.' Um, okay. Thanks."
The article is raising eyebrows across the internet, which surprises me, because outing Tom Lemming as a Notre Dame shill is like outing me as a guy who likes cookies. Lorenzo Booker made exactly the same accusation (about Lemming, not me), but he didn't have a 4.0 GPA, and he was going to FSU and enough people were able to write it off as "typical loudmouth Seminole ... probably got pissed 'cause Lemming dropped him in the rankings."
There is something at stake with Tom Lemming. Maybe a couple kids did keep Notre Dame on their list because they didn't want to piss Tom Lemming off while he was still thinking about his All-Star game roster. Maybe a couple kept answering his phone calls and doing his interviews because they were hoping for some ESPN coverage or the live chat he'd mentioned once.
Wherever you draw the line, and however you draw it, there should be a burden of neutrality put on the Tom Lemming's of the world that is obviously not being put on them right now, and major outlets like ESPN should feel that responsibility, too. And where they don't feel the responsibility, the NCAA should feel that it has the authority to step in.
Once a "reporter" crosses that line and advocates one school over another, it should be verbotten for any program to have contact with him. None. No coaching clinics, no interviews with the coaches, no inside contacts, nothing. Let's see how long Tom Lemming lasts if he loses the ability to play both sides of the game.
Hey, I am with Cookies on this. ESPN should put a "burden or neurality" on Lemming, but they should also impose the same obligation on a blowhard like Duke Vitale, whose sole purpose is to appear as an "analyst" on ESPN is to kiss the ratface's rear end, and serve as the unofficial recruiting coordinator for PUKE university. I have a better idea ... just get these guys off ESPN, so that they can do what they do best - work as regional or beat reporters/analysts for the programs they are in love with.
Wherever you draw the line, and however you draw it, there should be a burden of neutrality put on the Tom Lemming's of the world that is obviously not being put on them right now, and major outlets like ESPN should feel that responsibility, too. And where they don't feel the responsibility, the NCAA should feel that it has the authority to step in.
Once a "reporter" crosses that line and advocates one school over another, it should be verbotten for any program to have contact with him. None. No coaching clinics, no interviews with the coaches, no inside contacts, nothing. Let's see how long Tom Lemming lasts if he loses the ability to play both sides of the game.