Quiet period? Come now, recruiting dreams never end

There's a thing in recruiting called the Quiet Period.

Obviously, it doesn't apply to fans.

Looks like Hamga to UK

Oklahoma's Jeff Capel finds the obsession with recruiting to be, 'very, very odd.' (Getty Images)

Here is the big man I was telling you about

I visited three random message boards, found those titles on three threads within seconds. It was an exercise in boredom, to be clear, yet still useful because it confirmed what I've long believed, that there is no Quiet Period -- and sure as hell no Dead Period -- when it comes to basketball recruiting.

Coaches might not be able to leave campus from time to time, or call prospects and sell, sell, sell. But all around the chatter is constant and loud, and whether a coach is at a scheduled engagement or a random restaurant it's understood the conversation will eventually turn toward recruiting.

"Recruiting is a promise for the future," said Seton Hall's Bobby Gonzalez. "Fans like to talk about the future more than the present."

There were reports last month about how Yahoo.com was close to buying Rivals.com for $100 million, this after FoxSports.com bought Scout.com for $56 million two years ago. On the surface, the notion is insane, that two sites built on the narrow industry of recruiting could fetch such large figures. But in reality the developments aren't that insane at all, and they serve as statements about fans, if not humans in general.

Fans are similar to the rest of us, really.

They enjoy talking about the future more than the present.

Just like we enjoy talking about the future more than the present.

The only difference is fans spend their time talking about recruiting and the next wave of prospects, and we spend our time talking about our next car, our next house, our next job, our next anything. Either way, it's the same principle at work, lesson being it's better to dream than live, better to imagine than enjoy.