Since I got the boot from eQuook, I was wondering about recruiting, which is pretty much the only reason sites like that justify their existence.
I only care about recruiting in the brief window between the last bowl game and NSD, so that's when I started looking at it this year.
What I found was that using the free info (mostly on 247, some on the Oregonian, very little on eDuck, and that just to let Marty know I can still access his site despite his bullshit IP ban - Hi Marty!) I could find the updates and what-not on Twatter and freebirds and bring it back here as fast or faster than many of the pay sites with their bullshit "premium content," especially eDuck.
If you really wanted to take recruiting seriously, you would have to engage in the TBS yourself or have lots of contacts in both high school and college coaching. Those guys are the best original sources of information. Even if only to get a list of names regarding whom is on whose board to be recruited, this is probably the hardest piece.
eQuook does not do *any* original reporting. Neither does Doogman. 247 sites are more plugged in in this regard. Justin Hopkins at 247 is probably one of the better contacts that is involved with the paysites. There are a handful of posters on eDuck's pay recruiting bored (MacMallard1, mrspenny, SeaDuck2) that have actual content to add. The rest of the bored, to include RobbyBoydstun (eDuck's alleged recruiting reporter) and Marty4Stalinism are a waste of time.
Also, HUDL has made TBS fags obsolete, as everyone can log on and review film for free.
Scout has one recruiting TBS guy worth a damn for the West Coast, and that's Biggins. But Scout's rankings, information, and ratings blow. 247 is much more pro-active about reaching out to recruits and combining information across school-based platforms than Scout is. Rivals and ESPN are a waste of time for West Coast TBS.
So, in my spare time (about 30 minutes each evening) I would read the free stuff (mostly on 247) supplemented with Biggins' and Hopkins' Twitter feeds as well as actually stalking players and weird little associations like River Valley Football in LA (great source on info for Kirk Merritt and any other players in the New Orleans-Baton Rouge corridor of LA). I was able to confirm that PJ Locke had truly decommitted from Oregon by the fact that Mark Helfrich quit following the kid - before Justin Hopkins was able to publically confirm the decommit. Probably the biggest value-added that the "experts" provide is who is taking OVs or UVs and when. It's very rare that a recruit signs an LOI without visiting, and schools don't visit kids they aren't serious about recruiting. So that becomes the biggest "tell" about a level of interest and what offers a kid has (because kids lie about their offers).
In a nutshell, what you saw on this bored was a kind of retarded performance art - a one-man recruiting bored that was as or more up-to-date than what the dumbasses on eDuck were fed, and in a more timely manner, and without the heavy hand of Marty4Fascism or $11.99/month.
I think that if a few poasters were willing to make a concerted effort- these boreds could blow the paysites away without even having to hire a Marshall Cherrington.
Here's how I think it could work.
Sticky a poast at the top of the bored which mods can edit - this should list the "board," all the kids that are being recruited by UW (or UO, or whatever) - and blurb about most recent status.
Each recruiting target gets a thread titled like they do on the Shag: "Fred Smith 2016 ATH." Any poaster can update with his latest twitter stalking, TBS freebird reporting, or even SUMMARIES of paysite crap if you're willing to fork over the skrilla.
Just my thoughts. Also, any Oregon fans that happened to read this bored over the last couple of weeks - you're welcome.
Comments
I would pay for a podcast of u, Beezelbub, & Roof Robbins discussing the strengths/weaknesses of each school's class.
I found out about a preferred walk-on for UW and broke the news the day before because I got an alert from twitter that a bunch of UW coaches followed a random kid from Bethel. I checked his HUDL (for free), thought he looked like a decent player and figured they were going to offer him a walk-on spot. The next day Lars reported he accepted a preferred walk-on.
Needless to say, there is no reason to pay any money whatsoever to recruiting sites because YOU DON'T NEED TO AT ALL.
I would love for this site to own doogman and equook and do exactly what @AZDuck suggested. I think we have enough Ducks that would help out in their recruiting front, and clearly we have enough UW fans that could contribute to the UW info. I hope @DerekJohnson considers some options like the actual real Duck suggested.