Patrick Downey
- Thread starter WEH8ST8HAWK
- Start date
So you make a point of copying athletes' tweets so you have a record of it? May I ask what purpose that serves everyone else in humanity? Seems pretty creepy to me.
And if anyone wants to hear from Downey himself, I talked with him and Coach Moffitt on the latest Short Time Podcast released this morning.
SHORT TIME w/ Moffitt & Downey
You don't see the purpose of preserving a deleted tweet by a prospective student athlete as it relates to him drinking before practice? The purpose is clearly to show that his behavior has not changed as much as he would like you to believe.
Also, ESPN, CNN, Deadspin, and just about every news site that embraces social media saves tweets that are later deleted by those that they cover because they are often controversial and are the basis of a story.
I absolutely see the purpose -- to potentially damage someone else's life by taking a snapshot of something a 21-year-old did in college and trying to get the glorious [h/t] from sites like Deadspin.
I follow Pat on Twitter. I was on the Junior World Team trip with him to Thailand in 2012. How many people do we know in our lives who were a bit rough around the edges when they were 18-21 who are now upstanding people in society, this sport, or wherever? Plenty.
I don't believe our fellow poster works for ESPN, CNN or Deadspin, so the relevance of his own personal use of those saved tweets is, in my mind, completely self-serving. Sugar coat it anyway you want, but it's creepy. I once had a typo on InterMat. I got an email from a person who didn't notify me about it politely, they lambasted me via email, claimed they had a screen shot and will keep it to send to my bosses, threatening to try to get me fired because I transposed a team mascot for all of 15 minutes.
I'd say find better things to do than try to archive other people's shortcomings.
And I would say if the 197 lb NJCAA National Champion is bragging about drinking before on practice on a public profile (that he encourages people to follow him on) then that is something that should be investigated by journalists in wrestling. Wrestling wants to be treated like the major sports for positive coverage but never for the negative stuff (which the media RARELY investigates or comments on) because it may damage the image of the sport. Seriously, imagine if one of the best available JUCO football recruits tweeted that the week before their final game. It would be all over every major CFB publication. But because this is wrestling we have a member of the media come to the site and say SSSHHHHHHH!!! DON'T TELL ANYONE!
EDIT: Also, lets not act like this is the only thing out on Downey's profile. I followed him for a bit last summer and his profile (and Destin McCauley's) was riddled with references and euphemisms to smoking pot and getting high and all that fun stuff. I don't claim to hold the moral high ground on my behavior during my college years but you also won't be able to search my public online profiles and find me bragging about it or making dumb references for the world to see. I don't think the kid is a terrible person and I do wish him well but what I do see is a pattern of poor decision making.
This post was edited on 3/2 2:45 PM by HAWKMANN
EDIT: Also, lets not act like this is the only thing out on Downey's profile. I followed him for a bit last summer and his profile (and Destin McCauley's) was riddled with references and euphemisms to smoking pot and getting high and all that fun stuff. I don't claim to hold the moral high ground on my behavior during my college years but you also won't be able to search my public online profiles and find me bragging about it or making dumb references for the world to see. I don't think the kid is a terrible person and I do wish him well but what I do see is a pattern of poor decision making.
This post was edited on 3/2 2:45 PM by HAWKMANN
Does that mean that what they are doing is right? NO! What if that was your 21 year old kid? I applaud Jason Bryant for standing up for what is right. Kids do dumb shit. End of story.
I would still take Downey in a second and hope he becomes a Hawk.
Well I am 26 years old so if I have a 21 year old kid I would be pimping myself out on the trashy daytime talk shows for cash instead of posting on HR. Sorry bud, I grew up with the FB/Twitter stuff ingrained in my life and social circle and I have zero sympathy for people who post dumb shit all over it and then are shocked when it comes back to bite them in the ass.
Regardless of if Downey becomes a Hawk I hope he gets it together and does well in whatever he wishes but I am not going to lose any sleep over our 197 lb class if he goes elsewhere (even if he beats every Hawk he faces along the way). IC is not the best environment for everyone.
I listened to the interview. Notes:
1. He admits to being an immature jackwad in the past
2. He's SAYING all the right things now regarding his new look on things from individual and team view
3. Plans on taking Oly RS next year and training in Co Springs - leaving him 3 years of eligibility starting 2016/17
4, After RS, has ultimate college plans on going D1 and proving to himself and everyone else he can win a championship
5. His favorite wrestler is none other than Rico Chiparelli - my all-time favorite Iowa wrestler
**I'd keep a close eye on him next year - if he's got things finally figured out and motivated, he might be able to slide right in after Borat graduates.
1. He admits to being an immature jackwad in the past
2. He's SAYING all the right things now regarding his new look on things from individual and team view
3. Plans on taking Oly RS next year and training in Co Springs - leaving him 3 years of eligibility starting 2016/17
4, After RS, has ultimate college plans on going D1 and proving to himself and everyone else he can win a championship
5. His favorite wrestler is none other than Rico Chiparelli - my all-time favorite Iowa wrestler
**I'd keep a close eye on him next year - if he's got things finally figured out and motivated, he might be able to slide right in after Borat graduates.
The standard bearer is TJ Williams. Three final appearances, two NCAA championships, 98-1 overall. But I don't pretend to know how most Juco transfers pan out and I don't know of anyone who has had a ton of success making the transition the past few years.
I don't believe I said, alluded to or even suggested to sweep this under the rug. I found it troubling someone would openly brag about taking a screen shot of a questionable tweet and keeping it for who knows what reason (other than the hopes they get a H/T on Deadspin for exposing a junior college wrestler in a niche sport for doing something viewed as negative).
Yeah, that's earth-shattering journalistic gold right there. But hey, I'm not condoning what the delete tweets allege, but holding on to something like that shows there's a malicious intention. The only reason to keep that is to screw some kid -- who many wouldn't be able to pick out of a crowd -- over in the future.
I'm also not the Twitter police. I've got better things to spend my time doing. I've spent too much of my time responding to this creeper syndrome. That's what it is. Creepers. There might be money in doing it with CNN, ESPN and the Kardashians, but a junior college athlete .. pfft.
I wouldn't mind Iowa going after him if he keeps his nose clean at the OTC and gets a good referral from the coaches there..
Whether I've me him or not really doesn't matter. He's got a pretty clear history and I've seen and heard very little since to make me believe he's anything other than a risk. Hey, if Brands takes him in I will pull very hard for him. But any college coach is going to have to think twice and do homework before making that decision.
He certainly does have a nasty track record. Most of us have all done stupid stuff but how many of us have knocked out another person's teeth from a fight. Dragged another man on the ground from a car? His "silly young stuff" was pretty major if you ask.
Has he changed? Who knows, I'm sure none of us do. Should some of us be skeptical? Damn straight. You mess up it's something you're gonna have to walk around with. I hope he's changed, we don't need big punks walking around this planet.
Has he changed? Who knows, I'm sure none of us do. Should some of us be skeptical? Damn straight. You mess up it's something you're gonna have to walk around with. I hope he's changed, we don't need big punks walking around this planet.
I am in the poster that said if Brands recruits him I am thinking they did their homework and feel he is worth giving him a chance.
