It’s been interesting to watch the fall-out this week from Evan Berry’s “commitment to Tennessee.”

Surely you know the basics by now:

Berry tells Rivals.com that he wants to go to Tennessee.  He says he wants to play for Monte Kiffin.

Berry is the younger brother of current Vol star Eric Berry and the son of former Vol James Berry.

Berry is also just 13 years old.

The issue that’s been reported but apparently hasn’t registered with writers?  Berry’s father says his son DID NOT commit.  And UT, supposedly, hasn’t offered a scholarship to the wee one yet.

Or to his twin brother Elliott who currently likes LSU, according to his brother.

Tommy Hicks of The Mobile Press-Register is the latest to write on the subject and he makes it clear that the recruiting of 13-year-olds is ridiculous.  And it is.  No argument from me.

But what no one seems to be saying is who’s to blame for these types of stories:

Fans and websites like Rivals, that’s who.

A 13-year-old’s commitment can’t be taken seriously so it’s not the fault of the kid.  He was simply asked a question and provided an answer.

At 13 I probably would have said that I planned to open a lemonade stand on the moon.

This is also not the fault of UT (unless they told Rivals.com to call the young man or DID offer him a scholarship in a serious manner).

Nope, the fault lies with Rivals.  Why are they talking to a 13-year-old in the first place?

Because people like you and me actually seem to care what a 13-year-old says. 

So, yes, the blame goes back to the recruiting-mad fans who beg sites like Rivals and Scout for information on any player from the embryonic stage to puberty.  And then the blame goes on to the sites for being silly enough to give us what we want.

I could get a lot more traffic by including porn and video clips of executions on this site, but I’d just as soon not head down those roads.  Just because somebody wants to know what an 8-year-old is thinking, it doesn’t mean you have to interview him.

There’s one other way to stop this nonsense, of course: mamas and papas, don’t let your adolescent children talk to reporters.  That’d probably put a halt to this silliness pretty quick.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 3rd, 2009 at 10:42 am and is filed under Alabama, Homepage . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.