Ok kids, last week was a busy week. I haven’t actually written or read so much in the last few years. I would like to thank all of those morons who kept me from X-box all week. But here we are on a Monday, and I have been reading all these claims from teams an leagues about their NCAA commitments, their alumni and how great their team or league is.
Well I got to tell you, when I see the same player claimed by multiple leagues as someone they developed or got committed, my bullshit detector went off! Seriously, when are these guys going to figure it out that people actually do a little research!
See, the problem here is these guys know that you players and parents don’t do the research. You guys just read this stuff and accept it as truth. You look at one league and say “Wow, this is a great league” or “I need to play in that league”, or “Look at how many players they move”.
Yep, and you know you do it. You get so sucked into chasing propaganda that you cant even see straight. So, here’s what I’m gonna do for you. Let me break it down in the simplest terms for you.
If you’re not willing to do the research to see if these claims are completely true, partially true, or not true at all, then you need to quit playing because you aren’t as serious as you say you are.
So here’s a little help for you. I am just going to talk about the NCAA D-1 Final Four right now as an example. Why? Because I have read so many statements claiming how may players come from certain leagues that if you add up all the claims you have enough players for 5 teams not four. So, reading comprehension is required here.
The USHL and NTDP say 57% of the Final Four players “played in the USHL”. That’s a fair and pretty accurate statement. They say 62 players played in the USHL, again another accurate statement.
The NAHL claims 16 “alumni” are playing in the Frozen Four. A true and fair statement.
The BCHL claims 17 “graduates” are playing in the Frozen Four. A true statement.
The USPHL claims “nearly 25% of all NCAA D 1 Players at the Frozen Four”, they also go on to say there are 19 “USPHL alumni” playing in the Frozen Four. Somewhat true statements.
But if you add the numbers up, there are 102 total players claimed among those four leagues. But the rosters of all Frozen Four teams add up to 109 players with 3 players from Boston College basically on Injured Reserve. So, I guess only 7 players came from places other than these four leagues, right?
So lets look at each NCAA teams official roster shall we?
Boston College Interesting stuff here huh? They list the team and league that each player was on when they made their commitment. They don’t list any teams or leagues where the player may have played a few games or played when he was 10 years old.
Quinnipiac Crazy I know, they do the same thing. You know, listing where the player played last or where he made his commitment from.
North Dakota Holy crap, they do just what BC and Quinnipiac do.
Denver Can you believe that Denver would do exactly what the others do? Shocking I know.
See what I found is that the Alberta League has 6 players listed, the Ontario Junior League had one player listed, and the Saskatchewan league had 3 players listed.
Prep and High schools accounted for 9 players and there was on D-1 transfer.
So going back and doing the math again, you add the junior league claims with the other leagues commitments and you have 135 players! See how the numbers don’t add up?
There are either 26 inaccurate claims, or no one bothers to get their calculator out.
Bottom line here is how do you determine what statements are true? Its simple. Do not fall for any propaganda.
Heres the deal;
No one puts more players into D-1 than the USHL. The NAHL and BCHL run neck and neck for second place. Everyone else is behind. Period.
Just because someone played in one league as a 16 year old does not mean that league gets to claim him and make it “look like” the player committed to the NCAA program while in that league.
When one league says they are better than another, do the research. Get the facts straight. Stop just believing what ever is told to you.
Leagues do not make the player. The players make the leagues, and its the people within the teams in those leagues that develop the player. More than anything, it is the individual organization that helps the player, not the league. Just because you play in a good league doesn’t mean you’re going anywhere.
If a player committed to a school while in prep school, does the junior team get to claim him as anything more than an alumni? No.
When a league or team trys to make it look like they are responsible for the players development do your research kids. Some claims are total garbage. All you have to do is spend a little time and you can figure it out.
So, when the next carefully crafted misleading press release comes across my email box, I am going to light it up for what it is.
David Wagner – The Angel Of Death – For Those Who Live Stupidly I salute You
*The Death Pool is a mix of comedy, and satire in connection with recent events. It is not an official report of current events although it may look as though the news is so accurate that it could one day happen or may be happening
