I was watching it and was incredulous that the announcers were praising the move.

I’m not anti-bunting against a big lefty ship.

Sometimes bunting is a defensive manuever. If I square around that pitch is thrown at my head the most likely reaction is to move the bat in the way of the ball as I bail. This isn’t likely to produce a good bunt.

…..“Hammock”?

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/05/06/SPV417FNET.DTL

Oh well I give up, here is a reprint of the whole article, sorry if this is boring to you.

College coaches are using Twitter to reach recruits
Will McCulloch, Chronicle Staff Writer

Thursday, May 7, 2009

(05-07) 09:42 PDT — Santa Clara men’s basketball coach Kerry Keating was considered one of the most tech-savvy recruiters when he was an assistant at UCLA. He courted Kevin Love with text messages and landed a commitment from another top recruit via Instant Messenger.

Nearly two years after the NCAA banned text messages from coaches to prospects, Keating is trying to tweet a top high school player or two to Santa Clara.

Keating set up a Twitter account two months ago and thinks it could be a valuable recruiting tool as the NCAA continues to place restrictions on communication between coaches and prospective student-athletes.

“It’s another vehicle to exchange information,” Keating said. “Recruiting is all about communication and it’s another good communication device.”

The Twitter craze certainly has galvanized the college coaching ranks. Many elite coaches are attempting to tap into a medium that is increasingly being used by young people. USC football coach Pete Carroll has more than 17,000 followers on Twitter. Indiana basketball coach Tom Crean and new Kentucky coach John Calipari are engaged in a lighthearted competition to see who can get more followers. Former Raiders coach Lane Kiffin is Twittering at Tennessee.

Meantime, Stanford basketball and football coaches don’t have Twitter accounts, and Cal athletic department officials say accounts on the free social networking site are in the works for some of their coaches.

College coaches’ tweets range from light-hearted updates about fast food consumption to opinions about basketball fundamentals. Carroll even provides a link to a song of the day.

Keating recently posted a message with a link to a YouTube video in which Dwyane Wade reads his love letter to basketball. “Coached against D Wade in his first college game,” Keating wrote, “… a lot to be learned here for younger players.” In another tweet, Keating observed: “If NBA guards used a jump stop they’d be better. Period.”

Crean, who is trying to rebuild Indiana’s program after Kelvin Sampson was fired for recruiting violations, is a prolific Twitterer.

His final post Tuesday: “We are always asking our guys why they like or dislike a class. A lot of times we find it is all in their approach to it.”

Crean has nearly 5,000 followers, including one of his signed recruits for next season.

“We have to continue to do everything we can do to show visibility,” Crean said last week in a news conference. “That doesn’t necessarily mean we are going to be visible in front of people because the rules don’t allow that all the time. So this is a way to put out what is going on and I don’t want to make it corny, but I want to have some fun with it. It is another way to communicate.”

Twitter offers the ability to post messages containing up to 140 characters that answer the question “what are you doing?” Anyone can log on to Twitter to receive updates from college coaches’ accounts or receive them directly to their phone.

The NCAA has no formal policy on Twitter. Because of the indirect nature of the messages, it is not the same as a text message or an e-mail, which is limited depending on the grade of the recruit. Twitter messages do not violate any NCAA rules as long as a coach’s tweet is not a direct message to a recruit or a post that specifies where the coach is recruiting. It’s treated like a blog.

Calipari says it’s merely an opportunity to allow Kentucky fans to get to know their new coach, but Keating and others like Illinois football coach Ron Zook are intrigued by its possible contribution to recruiting efforts.

“The whole reason obviously had to do with recruiting, period,” Zook told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “I guess others have been able to follow us. It’s amazing what (students) have now and how they communicate, and guys are able to see what we’re doing.”

Keating says his twittering is in its infant stage, but he plans “to ramp it up” in the coming months. He likes it for the same reason he gravitated toward text messaging with recruits when it was allowed.

“Twitter is the rarest format in some senses – it’s direct and to the point,” Keating said. "With 140 characters, it’s short, concise and gets all the fat out.

“And I said this about instant messaging. There’s stream of consciousness involved that allows people to open up. "

Keating started a blog on his Web site last year, but found it was difficult to update on a consistent basis with all the responsibilities he has during the season. He’s looking to Twitter as an alternative. He envisions situations where without making a phone call, recruits or even players already committed to the program can find out what happened at practice on a particular day.

Though Keating doesn’t favor a culture in which teenagers prefer texting and other forms of gadget-based communication over dialogue, he recognizes that everyone is different.

“This is how business is done and relationships are done,” Keating said. “If you embrace it and use it for the right things it can be good. … It’s time efficient if used in the right way.”

USF coach Rex Walters, who played at Kansas, recently signed up with Twitter with a screen name “Jayhawk23.” Walters admits he is still learning to tweet. He believes any opportunity to allow prospective recruits a window into the school, basketball program and the personality of the coaching staff is worth trying.

“Your relationship with players is very important,” Walters said. “You want them to know what you’re about and what you’re program is all about.”

Walters and Keating believe the limitations on communications have made it more difficult for coaches and players to build the necessary trust during the recruiting process. Prospects can contact coaches at any time, but the coaches are not even allowed to send an e-mail to recruits before September 1, of their junior year. Walters thinks the NCAA rules have contributed to the increase in the number of transfers in college basketball.

“There are negatives to every place,” Walters said. “You want to let them know what they’re getting into.”

Not everyone is jumping on the Twitter bandwagon, though. Oregon football coach Chip Kelly won’t be using it as a recruiting device.

“Who cares what I had for breakfast?” Kelly told the Eugene Register-Guard. “You think a recruit is going to come to Oregon because I ate Oreos?”

But what if the recruit likes Oreos, too?

A quick Twitter glossary
Twitter – an online forum for sending short messages out to groups of people.

Tweet – a Twitter message.

Follower – someone who subscribes (it’s free) to a person’s Twitter page.

A coach sampling
Some tweets posted Wednesday, unedited.

Kerry Keating, Santa Clara

twitter.com/SCUHoops

“Juice of the day: Honeydew, Grapes, Watermelon, Apple, Cucumber. Egg White protein powder and I’m ready for Joe today!”

Pete Carroll, USC

twitter.com/PeteCarroll

“Song of the day! Miss you by the stones… Because I’m missing all the coaches who are out on the road recruiting right now”

Lane Kiffin, Tennessee

twitter.com/LaneKiffinUT

“About to leave for another stop on the BOC…Hope to see at lot of people come out today in Spartanburg & Charlotte…Go Vols!”

E-mail Will McCulloch at wmcculloch@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page D – 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle

How long has this site been up and running?

August 2008, but I had the FSUncensored blog going for the summer of 2008 as well.

Has anyone at TN ever emailed ANY FSU coach with any suggestions/facts/research?
Yes, I send stuff to them.

If yes, has ANY FSU coach replied, even in form letter?

Officially? No. However, we are tight with some within the program and they absolutely are aware of us and acknowledge our work (not publicly). Further, some of the MSM uses our stuff in their questions, and we hear Jimbo specifically address stuff we are talking about. Fisher’s addressed our points in his pressers and post-practice comments multiple times. http://www.tomahawknation.com/2008/10/28/648442/tuesday-fsu-smrogasbord-an

Finally, would you agree that our main sports coaches (football, baseball, basketball) are not very interactive with their fans, like some schools may be, in terms of accepting any ideas/advice in any form? My gut feeling is NO.

You’re correct.

If my negative thinking is correct this could be due to the current coaches ages, their lack of computer knowledge (this whole ebay/internet thing is confusing), and technology that they are not familiar with.

AC recently had a post asking when Bobby will start using Twitter, in jest of course, because Meyer, Pete Carroll, and many others are now using it.

While the concept of coaches tweeting is absurd to me, as well as the whole Twitter concept in general, IMHO, (I don’t care in 140 words or less when you will be going to take a crap or how LOL you thought something is, and I hope Twitter disappears before long, but sorry I degress), until we get some younger blood running the show(s) I don’t think we will be fully taking advantage of the technology which is available to us. I forget if it was Meyer or Nick Satan who made the NCAA ban the use of text and emails to recruits. Now the more savvy coaches are using Twitter, which is still allowed by the NCAA, to reach recruits. I don’t know if the NCAA can or will take any action to prohibit this, but my whole point is that we are not the most technologically friendly university to the best of my knowledge.

Right again. The head guys in charge are firmly in that category of senior citizens who do not wish to learn about or use new technology.

James Coley is on Twitter, however. http://twitter.com/CoachColey

Maybe I am wrong. Hopefully I am wrong. But I don’t think you should hold your breath waiting for a reply, even from younger Martin, no matter how much sense your research makes. Who knows, maybe if enough of us send a email, someone may take notice in time to avoid having to buy another bridesmaid gown.

I don’t expect a response, but our articles do put pressure on the coaches. Specifically when we send them to all of the coaches. The younger coaches snickering the next time Martin costs this team runs, Hamilton misuses a timeout, or Bobby calls foe an ill-advised punt, it only helps to spur progress.