Mizzou was set to hold its first camp for high school prospects in approximately two years this morning. We were told it would start around 11 am so Mitchell Forde and I went over to the indoor facility (Devine) a little after 11. The campers were all over in the South End Zone complex checking in and I assume seeing the facility, whatever. That's not our turf so we waited in the indoor for camp to begin. Our goal has never been to interfere with the recruiting process in any way. We have always respected the boundaries and been able to do our jobs while letting the coaches do theirs.
We were told prior to the camp beginning that we were not allowed to have any "special access" and that we were not allowed to interview players during the camp. In the past, we have often interviewed kids during breaks and such, but this seems to have been a new rule in the last couple of years that even during a break we couldn't talk to a kid during the camp. So we were fine with that. We were going to watch about an hour of camp, leave and try to come back and grab some kids on their way out for interviews after the camp was over and they were not on Mizzou property (basically the idea of the rule here is that Mizzou staffers cannot facilitate media access to recruits. It's a bad rule that is broken at virtually school place in America, but we'll respect it and we'll talk to the kids after camp or get them on the phone or whatever).
Max Whisner walked into the camp in line with a number of other campers. Mitch and I said hello to him and introduced ourselves since we have talked to him multiple times but never met in person. In fact, I even traded a couple text messages with Max this morning. Max and his mom (very nice lady by the way) were standing there talking to us for a minute or two while the line was waiting to start moving. In the midst of this conversation (I want to stress, this was not an interview. We were not asking Max about Mizzou or recruiting or anything else, we were simply having a conversation with two other human beings) a member of the compliance staff told me "I'm sorry, Gabe, but this isn't really open to the public." I asked if that meant I couldn't be there and he said it did. I expressed my displeasure, but Mitch and I left. I placed a call to someone in the athletic department, they ironed it out and called me about ten minutes later to tell me we were good to go back. The staff member was confused because we were talking to a kid in line. I reiterated that it was not an interview and I had been informed we could not do interviews. We were simply having a discussion with another human being. But I thanked him and drove back to return to the camp.
As I arrived, the same compliance person came to meet me outside to discuss the issue. I stressed to him that we weren't conducting an interview and asked if I was not allowed to speak to Missouri football recruits at all. He said "Not here." So I told him in the future if any of the recruits happened to say something to me I would inform them it was a University policy that I was not allowed to speak to them. He said he wanted to facilitate me being able to watch the camp and I agreed that's what I wanted too. I reiterated that I would not do interviews during the event because I understood that was the rule and even though I didn't understand it, I would abide by it and we could find ways to talk to people we needed to talk to. At that point, I assumed I could walk into the indoor complex and watch from the balcony where numerous other people (I'm assuming mostly parents, coaches or siblings) were watching. He informed me he would have to find "a separate area" where I could watch. I asked if there were other people inside watching from the balcony why I couldn't watch from the same area they were watching. I was informed that I had to be in a separate area from the rest of the people to watch the camp.
At that point, I told him I wasn't interested in that and I left. If the staffer didn't know who I was (like I assume he wouldn't have known a Missourian kid or multiple other people who at times cover Mizzou), I wouldn't have been singled out to leave or to be put in a separate area by myself. I was given no access that any other person there couldn't get. I wasn't on the field. I wasn't going to talk the kids. I was simply going to watch to see who was there and who looked good and then we would do our jobs after camp away from the complex. But for some reason, all those other people could watch camp, take pictures, tweet, post here, do whatever they wanted (at least I didn't see anyone taking phones away and didn't see anything posted that indicated there could be no sharing of the activities that were going on). I, however, had to have a separate area to watch, apparently because of what I do for a living and the fact that I've been doing it long enough that athletic department employees recognize me.
So I decided rather than watch from my own private viewing area, it would make more sense to inform you all why the service you pay for (and the only media outlet to show up and attempt to cover camp in any way, shape or form by the way) would not be providing coverage from camps.
I've covered recruiting camps for 18 years now. In the past, I've walked around in the middle of the field. I've stood by the finish line of the 40 to be able to hear times. I've talked to kids during breaks. Pinkel and Odom have even held impromptu press conferences with the multiple media outlets who attended. I wasn't trying to do any of that. I was just trying to stand on the balcony and watch from a distance with everyone else.
I want to be clear this isn't an Eli Drinkwitz or a football staff thing. I could see how some would take it that way because I mentioned Pinkel and Odom in the previous paragraph, but that's not the case. Drinkwitz has never run a camp at Mizzou before so there wouldn't ever have been an opportunity for him to do interviews at one. I only mentioned Pinkel and Odom because those are the coaches who have held camps I've covered. We said hello to a couple of the coaches on their way in and there was no issue with us being there. The football staff did not ask for us to be removed or to be treated any differently than the other people who were there watching.
So, anyway, we'll do the best we can to try to get some information on camps. We'll continue to cover recruiting better than anyone else who follows Mizzou as we've done for 18 years now. The information won't be lacking and your subscription will still be worth it. But there's not going to be any coverage of the on-campus camps this month because that's obviously discouraged by Mizzou's athletic and compliance departments. Thought you all deserved an explanation.
We were told prior to the camp beginning that we were not allowed to have any "special access" and that we were not allowed to interview players during the camp. In the past, we have often interviewed kids during breaks and such, but this seems to have been a new rule in the last couple of years that even during a break we couldn't talk to a kid during the camp. So we were fine with that. We were going to watch about an hour of camp, leave and try to come back and grab some kids on their way out for interviews after the camp was over and they were not on Mizzou property (basically the idea of the rule here is that Mizzou staffers cannot facilitate media access to recruits. It's a bad rule that is broken at virtually school place in America, but we'll respect it and we'll talk to the kids after camp or get them on the phone or whatever).
Max Whisner walked into the camp in line with a number of other campers. Mitch and I said hello to him and introduced ourselves since we have talked to him multiple times but never met in person. In fact, I even traded a couple text messages with Max this morning. Max and his mom (very nice lady by the way) were standing there talking to us for a minute or two while the line was waiting to start moving. In the midst of this conversation (I want to stress, this was not an interview. We were not asking Max about Mizzou or recruiting or anything else, we were simply having a conversation with two other human beings) a member of the compliance staff told me "I'm sorry, Gabe, but this isn't really open to the public." I asked if that meant I couldn't be there and he said it did. I expressed my displeasure, but Mitch and I left. I placed a call to someone in the athletic department, they ironed it out and called me about ten minutes later to tell me we were good to go back. The staff member was confused because we were talking to a kid in line. I reiterated that it was not an interview and I had been informed we could not do interviews. We were simply having a discussion with another human being. But I thanked him and drove back to return to the camp.
As I arrived, the same compliance person came to meet me outside to discuss the issue. I stressed to him that we weren't conducting an interview and asked if I was not allowed to speak to Missouri football recruits at all. He said "Not here." So I told him in the future if any of the recruits happened to say something to me I would inform them it was a University policy that I was not allowed to speak to them. He said he wanted to facilitate me being able to watch the camp and I agreed that's what I wanted too. I reiterated that I would not do interviews during the event because I understood that was the rule and even though I didn't understand it, I would abide by it and we could find ways to talk to people we needed to talk to. At that point, I assumed I could walk into the indoor complex and watch from the balcony where numerous other people (I'm assuming mostly parents, coaches or siblings) were watching. He informed me he would have to find "a separate area" where I could watch. I asked if there were other people inside watching from the balcony why I couldn't watch from the same area they were watching. I was informed that I had to be in a separate area from the rest of the people to watch the camp.
At that point, I told him I wasn't interested in that and I left. If the staffer didn't know who I was (like I assume he wouldn't have known a Missourian kid or multiple other people who at times cover Mizzou), I wouldn't have been singled out to leave or to be put in a separate area by myself. I was given no access that any other person there couldn't get. I wasn't on the field. I wasn't going to talk the kids. I was simply going to watch to see who was there and who looked good and then we would do our jobs after camp away from the complex. But for some reason, all those other people could watch camp, take pictures, tweet, post here, do whatever they wanted (at least I didn't see anyone taking phones away and didn't see anything posted that indicated there could be no sharing of the activities that were going on). I, however, had to have a separate area to watch, apparently because of what I do for a living and the fact that I've been doing it long enough that athletic department employees recognize me.
So I decided rather than watch from my own private viewing area, it would make more sense to inform you all why the service you pay for (and the only media outlet to show up and attempt to cover camp in any way, shape or form by the way) would not be providing coverage from camps.
I've covered recruiting camps for 18 years now. In the past, I've walked around in the middle of the field. I've stood by the finish line of the 40 to be able to hear times. I've talked to kids during breaks. Pinkel and Odom have even held impromptu press conferences with the multiple media outlets who attended. I wasn't trying to do any of that. I was just trying to stand on the balcony and watch from a distance with everyone else.
I want to be clear this isn't an Eli Drinkwitz or a football staff thing. I could see how some would take it that way because I mentioned Pinkel and Odom in the previous paragraph, but that's not the case. Drinkwitz has never run a camp at Mizzou before so there wouldn't ever have been an opportunity for him to do interviews at one. I only mentioned Pinkel and Odom because those are the coaches who have held camps I've covered. We said hello to a couple of the coaches on their way in and there was no issue with us being there. The football staff did not ask for us to be removed or to be treated any differently than the other people who were there watching.
So, anyway, we'll do the best we can to try to get some information on camps. We'll continue to cover recruiting better than anyone else who follows Mizzou as we've done for 18 years now. The information won't be lacking and your subscription will still be worth it. But there's not going to be any coverage of the on-campus camps this month because that's obviously discouraged by Mizzou's athletic and compliance departments. Thought you all deserved an explanation.
