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Technical Tidbits 4/28

Chris is back to crush Technical Tidbits with a 500 pound soapbox

By ChrisStanley

Hello Yellow Jackets. Remember me? I'm the mostly behind the scenes member of FTRS who ruined this wonderful daily segment back on February 12. It's Chris, and I'm back to ruin your Wednesday again. Buckle up baby.

Last night a certain Georgia Tech related issue came to my attention and it made my blood boil like John Taffer freaking out over bugs in a bottle of whiskey. One of Tech's targets for 2016, three-star athlete Tadarryl Marshall, announced over Twitter he was going to reveal his top three schools at 9:30 "Alabama time". This drew much ballyhoo from fans hoping their school would land into said top three, but before we dive into that let's look at Marshall as an actual player.

Marshall is a five foot 11, 170 pound prospect from Leeds High School in Leeds, Ala. Aside from being famous for the high school that produced Charles Barkley, there are no standout athletic alumni you can find from Leeds. Marshall plays quarterback, wide receiver and defensive back for the Green Wave, but his frame probably would exclude him from being a signal caller at the next level.

His game tape is mildly impressive, and seemed to have a pretty good showing at The Opening. As a quarterback, you really don't see him throw the ball much and most of his plays are designed off-tackle powers or iso runs. Marshall definitely benefits from a good offensive line and he displays some decent speed and shiftiness in the open field.

However, from a college football perspective Marshall is nothing more than a prospect. Right now, he appears to be a reserve slot receiver or a redshirted defensive back. I'm trying not to knock the kid, but we're not looking at a high school Jadeveon Clowney here.

I say all of that because of what transpired on Mr. Marshall's timeline last night. Football fans tweeting at recruits has become a startling epidemic in our world today. The mere act of doing so could arguably be classified as an illness. SB Nation's stance on tweeting at recruits is pretty clear, and if you didn't already know here is a simple flowchart even a caveman could understand.

Last night with Marshall was no different. At the start of Tuesday going all the way to midnight of last night, Marshall retweeted 143 tweets from fans associated with multiple schools making pitches for Marshall to attend their school. 143 tweets in the span of 12 hours. That's just the tweets he retweeted, only God knows how many mentions he actually received. These pitches ranged from the appallingly flattering to the just down right ridiculous.

Some pitches were akin to ones you'd see coming from a University itself, like this one from an Alabama fan:

(P.S. - you probably shouldn't retweet someone who has a convicted murder as their profile picture)

A little intense from the casual fan. But why not kill the recruit with kindness? That's the strategy this Auburn fan took:

By the way, the people who have these accounts dedicated to promoting one team or thing really creep me out. I can only imagine what basement these people are dwelling in and pleasuring themselves to.

Speaking of which, sex sells, right? The Crimson Tide took this approach to swinging Marshall in their favor with this sweet tweet:

Personally, superhero themed chest tattoo's are kind of a turn off for me. But hey, Marshall may dig the batman tat. Who am I to judge?

Don't think Georgia Tech is innocent here. The Rambling Wrecks were rampant on Marshall's timeline too, and you all should be ashamed of yourselves.

Tennessee Volunteers by far was the most egregious offenders. I don't know what has leaked into the water in Knoxville, but I want some because it clearly gets you high as a kite. However, if you are high you should stay off Twitter or else this will happen.

Quite frankly, the entire Tennessee fan base comes off looking desperate and delirious with this kneeling, begging charade to have a three-star recruit commit to their school. Do these nut cases ever think once Marshall commits they may never hear from him again? That he could decommit? That he could transfer? Anything? Hello? Am I the only one thinking logically here? HELLO?!?!

The worst thing about all of this is I found these tweets because Marshall retweeted them. He is actually enjoying this mess. Why wouldn't he? People are pumping liquid ego into his head like Oscar Meyer pumps preservatives into their wieners. His ego is no more evidenced by when we put out this tweet and he retweeted it:

The mere fact Marshall's being mentioned by someone or something gets him turned on. Loopy fans are inflating the egos of these teenagers to dangerous levels and it's just sickening to watch. What will it take to get fans to calm their libidos down and stop tweeting at freakin' recruits?

Now let me say this, I am not a Georgia Tech fan. I am not an angry Yellow Jacket venting over some kid rejecting my team's offer. I graduated form the University of South Carolina and am a Gamecock fan. My only rooting interest for the Rambling Wreck is when they win it makes my job a heck of a lot easier as a writer and social media coordinator.

So as I bid you all ado, please know how you look when you tweet at recruits. It looks pathetic when grown adults beg like vagrants to pompous, teenage football players. Please, do your part and let's end this disease.

*Steps off soapbox, drops mic*

What are y'alls thoughts on fans tweeting at recruits?

Enjoy your wednesday. And remember... DONT TWEET AT RECRUITS.