James Hale - losing respect

[landrun]

Well the OU 247sports site now says that Mixon is one of the top 5 players in the country ready to 'flip' to another school.

A couple of weeks ago, the site was hinting that Mixon was thinking about changing to UCLA.

Someone suggested they're publishing these stories to get more subscribers.

All I got to say is, if Mixon ends up at OU, I've lost a lot of respect for this guy. :miserable:

[Widescreen]

I haven't respected him for a long time.

[8timechamps]

Well the OU 247sports site now says that Mixon is one of the top 5 players in the country ready to 'flip' to another school.

A couple of weeks ago, the site was hinting that Mixon was thinking about changing to UCLA.

Someone suggested they're publishing these stories to get more subscribers.

All I got to say is, if Mixon ends up at OU, I've lost a lot of respect for this guy. :miserable:

Hale needs to stick to covering the team already at OU (and even then, he's questionable).

I have ZERO reason to think Mixon is going to sign anywhere but OU. He's already addressed the rumors once, so the service you're referring to is reaching for straws.

[Scott D]

The fact that Hale has respect from anyone at this stage is astonishing.

[olevetonahill]

Who the Hell is hale?

[SoonerInFortSmith]

I heard him in the radio recently saying how he would never post a false headline just to drum up business.

[Therealsouthsider]

I heard him in the radio recently saying how he would never post a false headline just to drum up business.

....I listened to the same interview and then that very night there were contrary headlines on his website....interesting

ss

[TheHumanAlphabet]

James Hale is still alive?

[stoopified]

@4/7 may be saying Mixon may flip but I have bever heard Hale personally say that.I don't use his pay site but listen to him almost dailly on KREF,never heard himsay a word about Mixon switching.,all I have heard him say is that Mixon is solid on OU.

[picasso]

So it's his computer Hal that's saying it?

[stoopified]

So it's his computer Hal that's saying it?You DO realize 24/7 is not just Hale,right? The National 24/7 guys are saying Mixon is wavering,Hale has not said this. In fact,I have heard him say exactly the opposite. He will be coming on air at 11,I will call and ask.

[picasso]

You DO realize 24/7 is not just Hale,right? The National 24/7 guys are saying Mixon is wavering,Hale has not said this. In fact,I have heard him say exactly the opposite. He will be coming on air at 11,I will call and ask.

No I don't know that because I don't listen to any of them.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

James Hale.. Sweet Jesus.

[picasso]

I do know where Hale lives, just down the road from my wife's Grandpa.
He seems like a nice enough lad.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

I've had my own personal dealings with the guy.. Haven't talked to him in years, so I cant say the caliber of person he is now... We argued over some Sooner draft picks until I realized I was the fool for even talking to him.

[stoopified]

Just got off the phone with James,it is exactly what I said,national 24/7 reporters including one he had on his radio show have been pushing this rumor and James has been saying there is nothing to it.

In fact James said he talked recently to Joe and his fanily and Joe was upset about these rumors and confirmed he would sign with OU. Now if Joe DOES flip,I guess that would create a credibility issue.I don't pay for any premium site because I think it is supid and a waste of money with so much info is out there for free.[IWhat I have heard from James on KREF over the last 5 years,he DOES know recruiting because he talks to these kids and their families.FWIW he thinks Quick,Parker,and Frisson will sign with OU.Deandre Clark? He has no idea.

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

Just got off the phone with James,it is exactly what I said,national 24/7 reporters including one he had on his radio show have been pushing this rumor and James has been saying there is nothing to it.

In fact James said he talked recently to Joe and his fanily and Joe was upset about these rumors and confirmed he would sign with OU. Now if Joe DOES flip,I guess that would create a credibility issue.I don't pay for any premium site because I think it is supid and a waste of money with so much info is out there for free.[IWhat I have heard from James on KREF over the last 5 years,he DOES know recruiting because he talks to these kids and their families.FWIW he thinks Quick,Parker,and Frisson will sign with OU.Deandre Clark? He has no idea.

The problem has always been Hale's interviewing style. Yes, he talks to the kids, but he seems to come off as aggressive. In the past this has caused them to say anything to get him off the phone. That was one of the primary reasons that rivals overtook him in the early 2000s. Hale was trying to get info about OU, they were just trying to get info. This subtle difference caused them to have a huge advantage in accuracy over him. I really wish he hadn't jumped ship so many times, because the archives of him reporting on guys who can't say no (like Chijioke Onyenegecha and Donte Nicholson) is comedy gold.

[SoonerMarkVA]

The problem has always been Hale's interviewing style. Yes, he talks to the kids, but he seems to come off as aggressive. In the past this has caused them to say anything to get him off the phone. That was one of the primary reasons that rivals overtook him in the early 2000s. Hale was trying to get info about OU, they were just trying to get info. This subtle difference caused them to have a huge advantage in accuracy over him. I really wish he hadn't jumped ship so many times, because the archives of him reporting on guys who can't say no (like Chijioke Onyenegecha and Donte Nicholson) is comedy gold.

haha! I can absolutely believe that.

[badger]

I am sure some players wish they could sign early so they could just enjoy their last semester/year at high school. Maybe it's time for early signing period in football? It would end a lot of speculation about verbals decommitting late

[stoopified]

I don't anything about people's personal beefs about James,anything about all that other stuff,what I do know is James does a good job of preicting who will sign with OU. I have meet the man on several occassions and personally I think he has a style I would refer to as smothering,that said It doesn't change the fact he knows OU redruiting better than anyone else I know.

[8timechamps]

Just got off the phone with James,it is exactly what I said,national 24/7 reporters including one he had on his radio show have been pushing this rumor and James has been saying there is nothing to it.

In fact James said he talked recently to Joe and his fanily and Joe was upset about these rumors and confirmed he would sign with OU. Now if Joe DOES flip,I guess that would create a credibility issue.I don't pay for any premium site because I think it is supid and a waste of money with so much info is out there for free.[IWhat I have heard from James on KREF over the last 5 years,he DOES know recruiting because he talks to these kids and their families.FWIW he thinks Quick,Parker,and Frisson will sign with OU.Deandre Clark? He has no idea.

I don't know Hale personally, but I do know he has been wrong plenty of times in recruiting. Sadly, I've been an avid recruitnik for a long time, and I think James Hale knows as much about recruiting as the average person does. For what it's worth, anyone can talk to the families/players, and most of the time they (players/families) hate dealing with the recruiting services. There are some exceptions out there (guys that are very respectful, and put in the work to develop relationships), but in all the time I've followed recruiting, James Hale hasn't been mentioned as one of those guys.

Like I said in my initial post, he should stick with covering the team that's already in Norman.

[8timechamps]

I am sure some players wish they could sign early so they could just enjoy their last semester/year at high school. Maybe it's time for early signing period in football? It would end a lot of speculation about verbals decommitting late

There are plenty of players that would jump on an early signing period, but there are probably just as many that would still wait. There are kids that keep the media/services at bay (Steven Parker is a good example). They just don't talk to them.

Anyway, there has been talk over the past year of an early signing period. We'll see if it happens.

[landrun]

Just got off the phone with James,it is exactly what I said,national 24/7 reporters including one he had on his radio show have been pushing this rumor and James has been saying there is nothing to it.

In fact James said he talked recently to Joe and his fanily and Joe was upset about these rumors and confirmed he would sign with OU. Now if Joe DOES flip,I guess that would create a credibility issue.I don't pay for any premium site because I think it is supid and a waste of money with so much info is out there for free.[IWhat I have heard from James on KREF over the last 5 years,he DOES know recruiting because he talks to these kids and their families.FWIW he thinks Quick,Parker,and Frisson will sign with OU.Deandre Clark? He has no idea.

This is my public apology to James Hale for the OP. I didn't realize the situation and though he was publishing the articles about Mixon leaving. I wasn't aware of how the 247 site worked. And I'm guessing there are others that have the same misunderstanding that I did.

My bad. I apologize.

[8timechamps]

This is my public apology to James Hale for the OP. I didn't realize the situation and though he was publishing the articles about Mixon leaving. I wasn't aware of how the 247 site worked. And I'm guessing there are others that have the same misunderstanding that I did.

My bad. I apologize.

I don't use 247, but I know Hale does write for that site, so I just assumed he was the one reporting. Honest mistake.


I'm going to add something that will back 247 just a little:

Mixon did, in fact, make a visit to UCLA this past weekend. Apparently, he started considering UCLA, so he met with his family and decided OU was where he wanted to be, so I didn't believe there was any truth to the rumor, and apparently there was.