Addressing the Twitter “Thing” from Last Night

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First off, Happy New Year to everyone! We all hope and pray that it’s a happy, healthy and prosperous one for all of you and your families.

The new year started off a little rocky when a very unexpected twitter “thing” broke out last night between myself and Carey Murdock. I’m not posting this blog entry in order to reignite anything. I just felt it was important to clarify a few things to our readers.

As most of you saw I tweeted out the following:

Needless to say this tweet rubbed Carey the wrong way and somehow it turned into something I certainly didn’t anticipate. But in the course of the conversation some things came up that I felt needed to be made clear. If you didn’t read the entire exchange much of this will seem like it’s coming out of the blue so please disregard:

1. We are OU fans. That isn’t going to change. But we try to tell you exactly what we think or what we hear. And that tweet was exactly how I feel as I watch the secondary development at OU vs. the secondary development at TAMU. It wasn’t intended for Steven Parker or any other OU DB recruit. Steven doesn’t even follow us on twitter. I’ve actually spoken to Steven’s father for almost 2 hours the past couple evenings so if I wanted to “pander” to Steven or his family I’d speak to him or his father directly.

2. Our issue with Rivals is strictly about their evaluation process. We do not believe their process is proper or based on a sound foundation. We believe they place too much emphasis on camp results and scholarship offers. But we have never made personal attacks on the local affiliates at Rivals, Scout or otherwise. In fact we’ve gone out of our way to compliment the work they do. See here: https://thefootballbrainiacs.com/?p=1523

3. We do NOT take information from paid sites. EVER. The fact that information we may post appeared on another site first is no different than the fact that some information appears on our site before it appears on their site. In fact an example of that just occurred last week when we were the first to report that DT, Courtney Garnett, was scheduling a visit to Oklahoma on Jan. 17th (https://thefootballbrainiacs.com/?p=2205). It appeared on the paid sites a short time thereafter. And the way I received that information was initially from a source, then I asked Courtney myself to confirm and he did. A similar thing happened with regards to information about LB Dwight Williams last Wednesday (Dec. 27th). The nature of information is you can’t be first to have it all the time. But we receive our information from independent sources and I will gladly litigate that fact against any website owner who wishes to make public allegations to the contrary in order to disparage our name. The paid sites staff full time employees. We do not. We all have other jobs but we never cut corners and take other people’s information. If we hear something from an independent source we pass it along and if we don’t we’re silent.

4. Jordan Esco, Chris Trulove, etc. are unpaid guest posters to our site. Their views do not necessarily reflect ours but we like having guest posts/Brainiac buddy posts and we hope to continue that. One of our guest posters made an error and when he noticed the error he corrected it. We are glad to have our guest posters and we appreciate their contributions. We apologize for the error.

5. We are not journalists. Perhaps the best label for us would be “bloggers”. We’re just hear to write our thoughts, highlight undervalued talent, offer you whatever inside information we’re able to get, etc. But I will be clear. We understand football, football talent and we have a lot contacts within the football world and we use this blog as a conduit to get that information out to fellow OU fans.

6. For those who haven’t seen it, our bios and everyone’s playing/football experience is here: https://thefootballbrainiacs.com/about. I’m posting this because for some reason Carey questioned JY’s playing experience. Here is his name on the Missouri Southern Football roster (he’s Jason Young): http://www.mssulivestats.com/oldsite/football/1998/98fb.htm

Again, these are just meant as points of clarification for those who read the exchange. I tried to conduct myself in a civil way throughout the exchange. The whole thing certainly caught me off guard.

Now onto what I originally wanted to post as our New Year’s post. We hope to make this website easier to use this year. You all have been kind enough to join our community and we want to make it as good as it can be for you. We hope to be bring you better and better information and in the off-season we’ve got some neat things planned. We’ve received some feedback on how we can make this website better and some of the things we’ve heard that we’d like to implement are:

1. Adding a “search” function

2. Doing more player evaluations

3. Creating separate sections with things like “Player Evaluations”, “Blind Tape Test”, “Guest/Brainiac Buddy posts”, “Recruiting” posts, etc.

Please feel free to comment or email at [email protected] and let us know what you’d like to see and if we can we will try to accommodate your requests.

102 Comments

  • Courtney Jeffrey says:

    No need to explain yourself man. Anyone that comes here and has been around recruiting boards knows you guys weren’t wrong in anything you did. They’re just afraid for their brand and feeling threatened when they shouldn’t, because you guys are taking a totally different approach than they do.

    • Greg McEntire says:

      Found this site by accident, and LOVE it – still a subscriber at Rivals and will continue to be – like this one enough that if need be, I would pay to subscribe – like it enough that I have shared it with all of my Sooner friends – Really all that needs to be said. keep it up and thank you !

      • Super K says:

        Appreciate that Greg! Really kind of you to say all that. Happy New Year!

        • Jason Scism says:

          I’m a memeber of Rivals too and I like it for the recruiting info, however they can come off very smug and frankly Carey’s act is getting old quickly. I have probably posted here more times than I have there in 3 years! Why? because at least at this point you don’t get attacked by some keyboard nerd for not agreeing with their opinion.

          Anyway I love what ya’ll are doing! KEEP IT UP !

          • Super K says:

            Thanks Jason! Happy New Year bro!

          • JSam says:

            THIS.

            Same here. Hardly posted on other sites for many of the same reasons – plus it just seems there is more to comment on here.

            Thanks goodness the number of posts don’t show up every time someone posts a comment – or we’d have THOSE fun arguments as well…

            Good stuff and getting better @ The Brainiacs.

    • Super K says:

      Thanks Courtney. Happy New Year to you and yours!

  • Courtney Jeffrey says:

    I appreciate the lack of negativity on this site and your professionalism when being attacked by a “professional”

  • Enough says:

    Good god. The long, melodramatic Saban apology, this …

    Quit making yourself the story. Write about football, players, games. No one cares about your process.

    • CoachStauder says:

      Better than the self-righteous, petty rant that Carey spewed on SS last night….

    • Super K says:

      There are probably over 100+ articles about football, player and games. Thanks for stopping by. Happy New Year!

    • Dr. Doobie says:

      Go away Carey!

      On another note, happy new year brainiacs and everybody else! Hope 2014 holds something great for all of you. BOOMER!!!!

    • ToatsMcGoats says:

      Actually, you’re wrong. I care about the process. Please feel free to attack me, because I absolutely love making a public spectacle out of tough keyboard bullies like you who self righteously speaks for everyone, even though nobody likes you.

      Or, you could just practice what you preach and realize that your 1 post is “Enough”.

    • Indy_sooner says:

      And yet you’re here…..why?

  • Matt says:

    You guys are great! as a lifetime OU fan I absolutely LOVE the site! What I’d like to see in 2014: trench warfare segments on the d-line and more practice notes on emerging players. Keep up the great work!

  • Matt says:

    also, more posts from THE Ryan Broyles 🙂

  • CoachStauder says:

    Here’s the bottom line…an arrogant, self-absorbed website owner decided to take a petty shot at you guys for no reason at all. No reason to take it to the public forums. If he had a problem he should have addressed that man to man, but instead decided to immaturely start a twitter spat. Pointless. He says it was because he has integrity, yet his posts showed a lack thereof, not to mention little class. Regardless of anyone’s thoughts or feelings about what you guys do, he didn’t communicate like a grown man and caused an unnecessary exchange.

    I appreciate how you guys took the high road. Something Carey Murdock didn’t do and couldn’t admit any wrong doing because of his pride. I appreciate the apology because that’s grown man stuff.

    • PA Sooner 95 says:

      I guess he doesn’t like this site providing team information/game breakdowns/recruiting insight all while NOT behind a pay-wall.

      The straw-man arguments are no way to get/keep me as a subscriber.

    • Super K says:

      Appreciate it coach. Hope you and the family are having a happy new year!

    • JY says:

      Happy New year Coach!

    • JSam says:

      I think we know the reason he took the shot – it’s just unfortunate. You know, I’d give a pass to the Brainiacs before a Rivals/Scout paid contributor BECAUSE they are PAID as professionals. That said, The Brainiacs would never have started the tickle fight in the first place.

      As mentioned elsewhere, these guys are knocking it out if the park with fresh, creative content and independent evaluations and people are taking them seriously… Seems that in this case ridicule is the highest form of flattery – kind of like at the end of an argument you’ve lost all you can think to say is, “Yeah… well… you’re STUPID!”

      Keep up the good work, bruthas.

  • thegoodmagneto(CJ) says:

    I enjoy both sites…Keep up the great work!! I love the blind test’s and player evaluations you guys provide here.

    • Super K says:

      Blind Tape Tests are my favorite thing as well. Happy New year bro!

    • JY says:

      We’re just as big a fans of those as you guys are. We’re like kids on Christmas morning waiting for the results of those when they come out.

  • Rob Turner says:

    You guys do an awesome job!!! I am on this site multiple times a day for my addiction to SOONER football. I love all the POSITIVE info.

  • SoonerBredCD says:

    Man… I’m real sorry I missed out on this exchange.

  • Randy Grant says:

    Having been involved with HS football across the country for many years….I agree with your thoughts on player evaluations….Had a great convo with Chris Carter several years ago about the magnitude of national HS tv, coverage, ect…will never forget his response….”Now that you have the networks and their money involved (ie check the websites and follow the paper trail as to who subsidizes certain websites) it will not go away…it will only get bigger. If you don’t like the way things are….then get involved and make them better.” You guys ARE doing exactly that. Appreciate your work….keep it up

    • Super K says:

      Thanks for the kind words Randy! And thanks for the insight! One of our goals is to have the kind of reach that allows us to point out underrated kids (especially in the state of Oklahoma) and make sure they at least get a look. That was our goal with Papi White. That was our goal with Tristan Hill. Local news sites do a great job of that but unfortunately coaches don’t look at those sites to find “hidden gems” if you will. But I know for a fact coaches know about our site. We’ve had high school coaches specifically tell us. What people often times forget is that coaches are people who have family responsibilities and other things on their plate and they can’t know every kid in the country. So they do look at recruiting type websites to at least point them in a direction. I’m not saying that’s all they do. They have a strong network of course. But one of their sources of information is recruiting websites.

      • Randy Grant says:

        No problem….most fans don’t understand how difficult evalutions are….just because Lil Johnny is the best player on his team and runs wild 90% of his games,,,,,but gets checked when playing equal talent …doesn’t mean he’s always a D1 star…lol…combines the way they are these days are a good tool for physical evaluations….covered a game in SC recently …with probably 8 D1 players on the field that will sign this year….but 3 plays into the game the kid I noticed was a sophomore….keep an eye on Steve Davis 2015….kid is special….and yeah,,,,he’s the son of NFL RB Steven Davis

      • Randy Grant says:

        In my opinion…the best recruiting staffs use those lists as a cheat sheet …anyone can find the blue chippers…looking and finding the kids you are talking about takes a lil more insight

  • ou oldtimer says:

    I follow everything OU I can find,also a member of rivals.This is my first post on any site and I,ve been around a long time,You guy,s are like a breath of fresh air!!!!

    • Super K says:

      Thank you! Happy New Year!

    • JY says:

      Thanks Oldtimer! Folks like you is one of the primary reasons we started this site. We want people to be able to post without being ridiculed. We didn’t like our options, so we started our own place. Glad you’re here!

  • jesse says:

    Keep up your great work…I too belong to rivals and have been for along time.
    Sone one needs to put a mussel on one guy over there. I like both sites.

  • Sonny Schovanec says:

    What Ive noticed with CM is he gets his feelings hurt after asking Coach Mike and OU coaches stupid questions when he gets a “stupid” answer. He carries that hurt to his blogs and rips OU and or it’s coaches in the name of “objectivity”. Weak attack on Sanchez with the Lockett tweet. And where did he play football?

    • Super K says:

      Yost goes to most of the press stuff and from what he’s said Coach Mike seems to do a great job of answering questions as openly as he can. But that’s just my take. I think Coach Bob Stoops is more guarded but he’s obviously in the most difficult position in trying to balance a number of interests. Also coach Jay Norvell seems to do a really good job of trying to be as open as possible.

      • Sonny Schovanec says:

        by stupid answers I meant according to CM. CM asked Coach Mike after the OSU game “what did you tell Blake Bell after the game considering he bailed your defense out”? Mike’s answer hurt CM’s feeling so he writes a blog ripping the state of OU football in SS. It was a stupid question. If it wasn’t for OU’s defense playing their tails off while OU’s offense got on track there wouldn’t have been a final drive.

  • ToatsMcGoats says:

    Sounds like someone got butt-hurt because you guys are bad ass for free. I say elevate your game and dominate them even more. You guys are what everyone wants, he’s just pissed because he knows it.

    • Sooner Ray says:

      You nailed it Toats! Why pay for second hand info when it’s all laid out here for free and usually with sources.

  • Jesse Wall says:

    You guys do a great job and anyone who has spent time on this site knows you guys are genuine, honest , and aren’t trying to get national media attention . Please keep up the good work and don’t let anyone stop you guys….

  • connie usa says:

    Super K; Over the years, I’ve been on the paid sites. I’ve done so, because I now live in PA and it gets me info on OU. BUT, in the few months on your site, there is no question in my mind that y’all are #1. I love the “inside info”, insight, rumors, etc… While at work, I probably refresh your site 50 times. I cannot get enough. Keep up the great work!!! And to all you Brainiacs, and your family; a happy, healthy and wealthy 2014!!!!

    • Super K says:

      Thank you! A happy and healthy new year to you! 🙂

    • JY says:

      Connie, where in PA? I have some friends in the Pocono area. I lived in Jersey for two years. Thanks for hangin out with us!

      • connie usa says:

        JY; About 2 hours from the Pocono Mountains. About 40 miles NE of Philadelphia. Very beautiful part of PA, but I miss my Sooner state. We usually fly in for 2-4 games every year. Y’all keep me attached to OU. Being here, it’s all about Penn State. PS: Y’all are far more informative than Murdock. It’s shameful that he is worrying about this site; he should concentrate more on making his better.

  • Ed Cotter says:

    I love this site because I can get OU recruiting information, and it’s free. I have friends that get the other sites and they provide me with info, but you guys are pretty much right there with the information as well….and it’s free. Blind Tape tests, frequent updates and the Trench Warfare pieces are all top notch. Thanks for doing what you do to help recruiting in the state of Oklahoma.

    • JY says:

      Thanks Ed. We’re going to continue to try to get better. Once the holidays are behind us, we’ll be freed up to get some other things going we’re excited about.

  • L'carpetron Dookmarriot says:

    Last night’s thing was fun to watch. That’s what Twitter is for.

    I’ve railed against Carey several times at SS. He didn’t like that I called him out on poorly written articles that had zero thrust, poor grammar, and told us nothing. Moreover, he didn’t like that I called him on his “talk about…” questions, which aren’t questions (gentlemen here at TFB, please don’t ask “talk about…” questions). Those are lazy questions, asked by someone who put very little thought into the questions prior to showing up for an interview.

    So, to the point of my own rant that I’m sure no one really cares about, but I’m going to tell you anyways ;). I really like Josh and his evaluations. He does a good job, and also highlights players who are underrated or aren’t getting much publicity. Carey, however, is not those things. I respect people who can say WHY they have an opinion. Carey can’t. Josh can. JY can. Super K can. I’m sure the other gentlemen on here can as well, I just don’t have enough knowledge of their posts. The one thing I do respect Carey for is that he has Josh on SS.

    That is also the reason why I respect the gentlemen here. You gentlemen have knowledge and are respectful yourselves. Don’t let time dissolve that respectfulness. I can’t say the same for myself though. 😉

    /rant
    *thumbs up*

  • Jordan Esco says:

    Just to clarify and follow up on K’s point, the mistake made and referenced above was mine and mine alone. Again, as K said it has since been corrected. And while somewhat regrettable from an accuracy standpoint, it did not take away from anything I wrote at the time or take away from the point I was attempting to make.

    IMO, it was an incredibly petty comment and irrelevant at the time it was made within the context of the “argument” that was taking place on Twitter. But this is far from a first time occurrence w/ the individual K was “arguing” with.

    Regardless, the mistake was made on my part and I’ll gladly acknowledge and own it.

    Must be nice to have never done something similar and feel free to cast stones via social media.

    • Sooner Ray says:

      Hang tough Jordan! I’ve seen you in the heat of the moment and mistakes or not you’re usually correct and you always own up to errors when they happen. Keep putting out stories for us, you brought a lot of people in here with you. You’ve done film breakdown before so I’ve been wondering why you can’t compliment JY’s Trench work with a little D And skill position breakdown?

    • JY says:

      No worries Jordan. Heck man we all screw up. Glad to have you aboard!

    • pitbull17 says:

      You know you’re doing good when you got haters bro, Murdock is a moron anyway.

  • Sooner Ray says:

    Happy new year to all in Sooner Nation! Super K and all brainiacs, Nice job getting this thing going. Keep up the good work and don’t even worry about making someone’s butt hurt. People will decide where they want their information from and they usually go to where the info is fresh and honest. The content on this site is top notch but there are a few tweaks I would like to see on the function side. I know that it is impossible to lay out a perfect product that is perfect for everyone but I know you all will do your best. I was wondering what you thought about putting up an idea post for all the readers to post their preferences in. It would be fun to see what others are thinking and some really neat ideas could spawn from it. Love the site and keep throwing that good info at us!

    • JY says:

      Thanks Ray! We’re ready to make some tweaks as well. Thanks for stopping by! The idea post is a heck of an idea.

  • Dallasooner says:

    Let’s be honest, most are dealing with Carey in order to get Josh and Eddie’s info.

  • Dustin Madson says:

    I’ve recently discovered yall’s site this past month and I’ve gotta say it’s the best OU recruiting site I’ve ever come across. I’ve been waiting for a site like this for years. I’ve always been really big into recruiting but I never wanted to pay for the recruiting sites. Carey Murdock came off as an unprofessional immature jerk last night. Your initial tweet about Sanchez and De’vante was in no way out of line and it made a good point. No reason at all for him to attack all of you and the whole site like a child and start and internet flame war. You guys are the best. You are true fans who genuinely care about giving fellow OU fans info about OU’s recruiting and the kids; For FREE! Keep up the great work guys. Boomer Sooner and Happy New Year.

  • Shelby is a Patriot says:

    I prefer this site along with Scout, anyway.

    • ToatsMcGoats says:

      I hear ya. I used to use a friend’s account to view some of the articles on Scoop a few years back (yeah, I’m a freeloader, so what?) but I really wasn’t as impressed as he was w/the content. I found that I could get get the same info on twitter, YouTube, or hudl for free. Then I discovered CCM, which ultimately lead me to this site (Thanks, Jordan Esco!). I’ve found a home here. I get a little touchy when people start picking on people that I know go out of their way to make a product that serves people, and they do it for free. Especially when those people are supposed to be “paid professionals”.

      I believe it was the same guy that jumped Jordan Esco on twitter awhile back when Jordan was calling them out on not asking real questions during press conferences. He’s got an axe to grind with these free sites. He needs to learn how to deal.

      • Sooner Ray says:

        Yeah buddy! If our CCM buds grouped up, they couldn’t handle the keyboard beat down we would lay on them!

      • Shelby is a Patriot says:

        I actually used to read CCM a lot. I really enjoyed it. I love this site and I followed Bob P from SoonerNation to Scout because I trust his information and thoughts on how recruits are leaning and what not. As for this site it is unique and unlike any other I’ve found and I look forward to checking it everyday.

  • jaybarbh says:

    Happy New Year to each of you!!
    We love what you have to offer. . . such great insights and information as you see it! We appreciate all the effort your put into this site, and if you ever go to “pay for view” we will still be right here! Thank you for a job well done! Keep up the good work!

  • Mr. CHE says:

    Hated to see all the twitter “thing” last night. I’m a member of Rivals also and CM seems to have changed since he’s part of WWLS now. IMO CM was trying to read between the lines and there wasn’t anything there.

  • blaster1371 says:

    Dude, your tweet was taken out of context. Seems like he was wearing his feelings on his sleeves. I am convinced that in no way would people talk in such confrontational ways that appear on social media than if the words were said in person. And I don’t mean in just a physical intimidation way but just a civil discourse manner. The art of civil disagreement is being lost in society.

    However, you are correct in the content of your tweet. For kicks last night I scrolled through the OU commits since 2002 on a “professional” site by the name of Sc#^t.com and am utterly amazed of the non-rated or low star recruits that not only did well at OU but became all conference and some being drafted- Jeremy Beal, Juaquin Iglesias and Cater (the safety) being ones that immediately come to mind.

    Keep doing what y’all are doing. It is greatly appreciated and is well done at that.

    • ToatsMcGoats says:

      Good point on the “art of civil disagreement”. It’s getting harder and harder to argue with people without someone getting angrier than they should. Not sure what the problem is, but it’s a damn shame.

      • JY says:

        It’s really hard for most people to disagree without accompanying hostility. I love to have constructive debates.

        • ToatsMcGoats says:

          I feel the same. Sharing our different opinions is how we learn new insight. To reject a different point of view is the ultimate statement of a shallow, narrow mind. While I may not agree with you, a different opinion will definitely make me think of things in a different light, if only for the duration of the argument. It should be a win for both sides, no matter who makes the best points.

    • Super K says:

      Good point blaster. We’ve actually specifically discussed the need to ensure that our community is a place of civility. We can disagree but a disagreement doesn’t have to be framed in a condescending way.

  • pitbull17 says:

    I love this site and I love the fact that I don’t have to pay for the quality info you guys put out there! Love the ideas for improving the site, I was wondering if there was any way we could get a “live thread” feature where we could all come here and chat while the games are being played? I just think it’s a cool way for everybody to enjoy the game and offer thoughts on what we are seeing in real time.

    • ToatsMcGoats says:

      ^^^^^^^^^^Agree w/ this^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

    • JY says:

      We’re looking into that, and we plan on having a thread tomorrow night for that purpose. K will be manning the twitter and I’ll be on here. It’ll be fun.

      • Sooner Ray says:

        I would like to see how a live thread would work in here, One of the changes I’m looking for is how the fan posts are displayed. I like things flowing top to bottom in a fluid conversation. Right now there will be a two hour post between a 5 min. and 8 hour post which makes a conversation hard to follow if you come in late. Maybe it’s just my O.C.D. or the format I’m on. Let’s just try and see how it goes. BOOMER!

        • JY says:

          Yeah, we had no idea the popularity of the site would take off like it has. There is an option to sort by newest comment that I just found the other day. It kind of helps.

  • pitbull17 says:

    I just read the entire conversation on twitter and really it just reaffirms my thinking that carey murdock is a douchebag. That’s the way he’s always came off on WWLS and twitter and I’m pretty sure of it now. Oh well, you Brainiacs are far better IMO and I think we’ll all stick by you no matter what he says.

  • Steve Cooke says:

    CM is a jerk! It’s funny how he called someone’s integrity into question when he has none! I’m a member of OUInsider but I love this site and will continue to visit.

  • AlexOU says:

    I chimed in couple times on Twitter last night defending you guys, not that you need it. Caused a Carey response to one, telling him he must feel threatened. Acted like he’s not threatened at all by competition, yet……I’ve yet to see anyone in my life attack without feeling threatened ironically. By threatened I mean by your format & insight that real fans can easily see. If your being attacked, you’re obviously doing a great job guys, he admitted it without saying it. Why attack something you see as irrelevant….people don’t. So take it as a direct compliment from Casey, polar opposite of his intent LOL
    Just couldn’t sit idly by when someone’s attacking pitifully like that.

  • Jared William Reininger says:

    Well funny thing is a lot of my insider or subscriber renewals on other sites are coming up and I thought, at least I got the braniacs. lol. While other sites have some good info…I just see it as a factory setup. Quickly process and pump out information as fast as possible without regard to actual quality. Orso was NR, then 2 star, then 3 star just because of the offers he got. Just seems like they are following trends with offers more than anything. But I digress, you guys do a great job and I for one consider this my main source of information. Which is funny when you consider this is just a part time thing for you guys. Keep up the work!

  • Sooner_Ace says:

    keep calm and calm carry on…

    or…

    keep calm and return fire!!!

    Boomer !