Jay, here.

This is it. The final word on Terrelle Pryor. I promise.

But I was at that press conference yesterday. Despite the video evidence and written accounts to the contrary, I was the only one there. And this is what happened:

JJ: So, Terrelle, where are going to play football?

TP: If everyone’s here…

JJ: Uh…It’s just me, Terrelle.  Everyone lost interest a long time ago. You didn’t sign on National Letter of Intent Day. That was like on February 6th, almost a month and a half ago.  Plus, you said you don’t like the attention.

TP: If everyone’s here…

JJ: Yes, we’re all here. It’s just me! No one else is here. Get on with it! Where are you going to go to school?

TP: University of Ohio State.

JJ: Excuse me?

TP: University of Ohio State.

JJ: University of Ohio State?

TP: University of Ohio State.

JJ: What’s that?

TP: University of Ohio State.

JJ: Haven’t heard of University of Ohio State.  Don’t you mean Ohio State University?

TP: University of Ohio State.

JJ: Yes, Terrelle, I can see the hat and t-shirt. The hat has an “O” on it. If I was color blind, it could be Oregon, for all I know. But your t-shirt says “Ohio State University”. After waiting a month and a half of keeping the collective nation of college football fans hostage, that’s your announcement?

TP: University of Ohio State.

JJ: Yes, Terrelle, I heard it the first time. And I can’t believe you said it a second time. It’s Ohio State University. Actually, it’s “THE” Ohio State University.

TP: I’m not worried about none of that.

JJ: You’re not? You should be. Because every time a former Buckeye introduces himself on Monday Night Football, it’s always “THE” Ohio State University. Every single flippin’ time!

TP: I think the football field will speak for itself. I mean, that’s why you are here, right?

JJ: Terrelle, I’m not here for an announcement from the football field. I’m here for your announcement. And after a month and half of thinking about your decision, you drop a University of Ohio State on me? What?

TP: I didn’t ask to be No. 1 in the country.

JJ: Are you kidding me? You drag this on for over a month and you didn’t ask for this? Really? In all that time, you didn’t pick up on the fact that it’s Ohio State University, or “THE” Ohio State University?

TP: I can learn from a senior.

JJ: Terrelle, you are a Senior. Are you telling me that you didn’t practice at all? Ohio State University. The Ohio State University.  What if you had decided to go to one of the other schools you were considering?  Were you going to practice saying, “I’m a Michigan University Wolverine?”  “An Oregon State Duck”?  “A UPS Nittany Lion”?

TP: You don’t want to go through it.

JJ: All we’re talking about is practice, Fred.

And that’s a true story.

Jay, here.

Watchmen is not scheduled to be released for over a year.

But just like the Watchmen’s journal-keeping superhero Rorschach’s name sake, fans are seeing what they want to see in journal-keeping football phenom Terrelle Pryor now.

There’s no real Terrelle Pryor news here, as such. However, I did come across a couple of curious items today regarding his alleged less-than-superhero-like behavior.

Yesterday, The Wizard of Odds posted an entry centered around a photo of Terrelle Pryor’s watch at the Wisconsin-Ohio State basketball game this past weekend. Yes. We’ve now gotten to the point where we’re now watching his watch.

Though, that wasn’t the most interesting part of the blog entry. Actually, that part was not interesting at all. It’s a just a photo of a kid wearing really big watch.

The most interesting part is that The Wizard of Odds linked to a commentary piece about Pryor’s on-court behavior on Bleacher Report.

If you’re not familiar with Bleacher Report, they describe themselves as “the open source sports network”. What does that mean? Anyone can post just about anything on there (kind of like a blog). And it means that you have a virtually anonymous source reporting and commenting on some alleged behavior by Terrelle Pryor at a high school basketball game on an open source blog.

So, take this with a big grain of salt.

The South Fayette fans saw a hard-fought game, worth every penny of the $6 they paid to spectate. Both sides played their hearts out through four periods and overtime. In Terrelle Pryor, they saw a tremendous athlete—fast, strong and agile.

They also saw one of the most disgusting and, quite frankly, disappointing displays of unsportsmanlike behavior they’d ever witnessed. It started before the tip-off and lasted well after the final buzzer.

You can read more about his alleged behavior here.

As interesting as the piece is, the comments make it even more interesting (as they usually do). I was about to suggest you read some of them. But after reading a few, I would suggest that you don’t. They make your typical moderated message boards and forums look like a picnic in comparison.

But there was one comment that caught my eye (as I tried to avert my other in Marty Feldman-like fashion from the other comments): “Someone else noticed Pryor’s behavior too”. Here’s the story.

What does this all mean?

Uncle Ben said it best: “With great power comes great responsibility.” Not only does that apply to the apt athlete, it goes for the anonymous author, as well. Because in sports, where passion and persuasion run high, sometimes all of us see only what we want to see.

For those of you who have been intrigued by the media coverage following the Terrelle Pryor saga, here’s a look at the time line of “headlines” taken from our list at DSN.

There are those who think the media coverage of recruiting is overblown, but as Justin Meyers said on his show yesterday, the media just covers what the public desires to read about. They wouldn’t cover it if no one would read it.

Anyways, here’s a somewhat graphical look at things beginning last June, up until Signing Day.

(click on thumbnail to see larger view)

Download PDF Here: Pryor Recruiting Timeline (PDF)

JJ, here.

Honestly, I don’t know why I’m even writing this.

Actually, I do know why I’m writing this: something just came across our virtual desk that is so ridiculous, it’s kind of funny. And sad.

In the film industry, there’s a saying that once a genre is parodied, it’s dead. For example, it’s been argued that the late Spaghetti Westerns (”My Name Is Nobody”) and “Blazing Saddles” killed the Western genre. Well, maybe not killed. But they sure winged it pretty good.

“How ’bout some more Terrelle Pryor news, Mr. Taggart?” “I’d say you had enough!”

Keeping that in mind, I think reporting on the recruiting of Terrelle Pryor is now officially dead. And you don’t have to look any further than the report coming from Lightning Strikes that Terrelle Pryor has made his decision and will play quarterback for Slippery Rock University (wink, wink, nudge, nudge).

And if I do say so myself, he has chosen a fine academic intstitution.

[Editor's note: Do I really have to state that's not true?]

As Rob Moseley notes in his blog today, chasing down the Pryor story is now a fool’s game. At this point, the recruiting of Terrelle Pryor is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.

Here at Duck Sports News, unless something definitive happens that relates to University of Oregon athletics, we’re not going to link to anymore stories about Terrelle Pryor.

Anything else is a bit of joke…on us…and you. And it’s not fun, or funny, anymore.

Mike Farrell on Rivals Radio this morning said he talked with Terrelle Pryor late last night. Pryor denied the reports that a visit to Oregon is scheduled for Monday, January 28. Pryor is apparently trying to take two more visits before signing day February 6, but has to work around his basketball schedule.

Listen here.

JJ, here. (Not to be confused with “Cloverfield”’s producer, J.J. Abrams.)

1-18-08.

Movie fans have been waiting for this date for almost a year. They’ve been talking about it on message boards. They’ve been chatting about on fan sites. They’ve even started up their own sites in attempt to unravel the mystery that is “Cloverfield”.

What does that remind you of? Or WHO does that remind you of?

Kind of sounds like college football recruiting fans in hot pursuit of one Mr. Terrelle Pryor, the nation’s #1 college football recruit.

Over the last month, I can’t think of two things that have been hyped more in the their respective parts of pop culture: “Cloverfield” and Terrelle Pryor.

So, it got me to thinking…could Terrelle Pryor be the Cloverfield monster?

See for yourself…if you dare.

Cloverfield: The monster can’t live up to expectations.
Terrelle Pryor: The player that can live up to the hype?

Cloverfield: A horror movie.
Terrelle Pryor: A horror for defenses.

Cloverfield: The monster spawns little monsters.
Terrelle Pryor: Sustains the cottage industry of college football recruiting.

Cloverfield: The monster destroys New York.
Terrelle Pryor: Crushes the spirits of the fans of the schools he doesn’t choose.

Cloverfield: Filmed with a shaky, hand-held, amateur digital camcorder style.
Terrelle Pryor: Game highlights filmed with a shaky, hand-held digital camcorder by an amateur.

Cloverfield: Expected to redefine the monster movie genre.
Terrelle Pryor: Expected to redefine the dual-threat quarterback position.

Cloverfield: 1-18-08
Terrelle Pryor: 2-02-08

Cloverfield: “Something has found us.”
Terrelle Pryor: “Someone will sign him.”

Cloverfield: The advertising buzz started last summer.
Terrelle Pryor: Message boards have been buzzing since last summer.

Cloverfield: Targeted at the YouTube generation.
Terrelle Pryor: A YouTube star.

Cloverfield: May cause nauseousness.
Terrelle Pryor: May cause defensive headaches.

Cloverfield: The monster causes damage by sea, land, and air.
Terrelle Pryor: A threat by air and by land.

Cloverfield: A superb, hard-to-miss online marketing campaign.
Terrelle Pryor: A superb, hard-to-miss online presence.

Cloverfield: The monster fights the U.S. Army and is “winning” (according to the trailers).
Terrelle Pryor: Played in the U.S. All-American Army Bowl and won.

Is he the “Cloverfield” monster? Or is he just a monster on the field?

I don’t know. But I’m looking forward to seeing both of them in action.

- JJ

Does anyone else find it odd that the number-one rated high school player, Terrelle Pryor still lists Oregon as one of his college choices? He’s already said he does not have time for a visit to Eugene, and the schools he’s going up against (Ohio State, Florida, Michigan and Penn State) are the best around. Why are the Ducks still on his list?

It was reported late last week that because he was not to make an official visit to Oregon, he had taken them off his list, but after he won the MVP award for the U.S. Army All-American Bowl he insisted that was a mistake and Oregon was still in the mix.

What’s your take? Where do you see Mr. Pryor ending up?

	Where will Pryor go to college?
	Ohio State
	Michigan
	Florida
	Penn State
	Oregon

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