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[QUOTE="rrlbees, post: 284047, member: 96"]
I'm not blowing it out of proportion at all. The same comment has been made other times including to some posters here. What is blown out of proportion is it even being mentioned when there are much bigger fish to fry. It is a nit, especially when most message boards are exactly the same regardless of fan base. There are some team sites that are down right nasty to coaches and players. Also, while I can't say that SU has never lost a recruit because of a message board or blog, I have never heard of one.
 
I have been an admin/mod on these boards for a decade or more. I have gotten to casually know admins at other sites, writers, content providers and network analysts. Not one single time, not one, has any of them ever said that Player X chose school A over SU because of something said on a message board. I have heard all the usual reasons...they liked staff A, closer to home, playing time, connections to school A, etc., as well as the 3 I listed, winning (or losing), fans in the seats and facilities.
 
My only point is that sure, coaches hate the internet, but programs can and do use it to their advantage. It is also small potatoes compared to everything else that impacts recruiting and the program. But too many times it is brought up by a coach in the negative sense and intimating it is or can hurt the program. Bottom line is that the internet is not going away. It is water cooler talk or letters to the editor on steroids times 1,000. Embrace it or forget it and focus on the real drivers of risk or program weaknesses.
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