The Great White Hype

Coverage of college football recruiting has become a booming industry over the past few years. Fans following the recruiting process with as much, if not more, passion as they do the actual games. One of the strange consequences of this growth is that fans become aware of players well before they leave high school. This means that 16 and 17 year-old kids will actually have followers well before they hit campus. On the flip side, these recruits immediately become part of bitter rivalries.

This leads me to Texas RB Sam McGuffie, who Michigan fans have been swooning over for a year now. Mcguffie became somewhat of an internet phenomenon because of this YouTube highlight reel, which includes a play in which he hurdled an opponent. I'm not going to embed the video because frankly I don't want to watch the thing again. Sure, it's an athletic move. But against what type of competition? It looks like a little defensive back drop his head down (great form son, now you're immortalized) so he's Hobbit-sized. And the 5'10" McGuffie has no problem leaping over Frodo en route to a TD. Awesome. Try those shennanigans in the Big Ten, and you'll get yourself killed.

Naturally, if McGuffie is loved and courted by Michigan fans, he must be reviled by Oho State fans, right? Not necessarily. Ohio State has been in contact with McGuffie, possibly to play the slot. Why? Apparently Sam is great friends with Klein (TX) offensive tackle J.B. Shugarts. Shugarts is one of the most highly coveted linemen in the country, and both Michigan and Ohio State would love to land him. McGuffie and Shugarts have visited a number of schools together, and claim they would like to attend the same school. Should Ohio State get involved to keep in the Shugarts mix? Package deals rarely work out, so I'm thinking no.

Recruiting is an inexact science, as no one really knows how good these kids will be. So fans argue over their prospects, claiming their team will be better in 2010 than your team. As such, I've already built up a healthy dislike of McGuffie for no rational reason. When I see him, I'm already thinking "Wolverine", even though he might not go there. After a quick tour through his photo gallery on Rivals, I'm left thinking that McGuffie is:

(a) more like a tennis player than a football player;

(b) a track star...a girl's track star;

(c) the second lead in the upcoming sequel to "8 Mile", direct to video

Seriously Sam, put your hat on straight. If you can bring J.B. to C-Bus, we'll let you play slot and I'll get over it. But if you're going to put on that winged-helmet, you're in for a disappointing college career. I still think that Oklahoma and Texas A&M will ultimately be big players for McGuffie. LSU and Ohio State haven't offered and Florida is going to get Josh Haden. Notre Dame doesn't seem like a good fit.

Meanwhile, Michigan is alienating some top backs with their exclusive pursuit of McGuffie - Jonas Gray and Devoe Torrence come to mind. Then again, if you ask my fellow blogger Bill, Michigan has plenty of 4 and 5-star backup plans. But I'm still pulling for McGuffie to don the Maize and Blue. There are some OSU linebackers that would like to test that leaping ability.