com-mit-ment [kuˈmit-munt] ...
1. the act of committing.
2. the state of being committed.
3. the act of committing, pledging, or engaging oneself.
4. a pledge or promise; obligation: I have made a commitment to play for Cornell..
I bolded definition #4 and altered the example given by dictionary.com to make it relavent to hockey. The definition also reminds me of the old saying "A promise is a promise". Well maybe a promise is a promise but a commitment apparently means diddly-squat.
News out of the QMJHL yesterday has promising 17-year-old forward Jordon Escott moving from his Jr.A team in Amherst, NS to the QMJHL's P.E.I. Rocket. Happens all the time, I know, but not usually a month after the player made a commitment to a NCAA program.
As TPS's comrade Nathan Fournier talked about on his blog, Escott had pledged his allegiance to Cornell not long before representing Canada East at the 2008 World Junior A Challenge in Camrose earlier in November.
Not to sound hypocritical because both Dean and I are on the record as saying we believe kids should be able to put off their NCAA commitments until they are 18, but, those aren't the rules in place. We've talked to players who admitted they committed to the NCAA when they were very young and may have made a different decision as they became 17 or 18 but those guys all followed through on their promise anyway because that's the right thing to do.I feel bad for the NCAA programs who have to constantly cope with recruits who leave after a year or two - like Michigan, North Dakota or Boston College. I wrote back in the summer that I think the rules should be changed.
During he 2008 WJAC in Camrose I kept hearing whispers about Canada West defenceman Dylan Olsen. Olsen has yet to commit to a NCAA program although he told us in October that he'd narrowed his choices down to 5 teams (North Dakota being the only one he named). He was scheduled to fly down to Grand Forks in November to check things out.
The rumors in Camrose were that Olsen might jump to the Medicine Hat Tigers, the WHL franchise that owns his major junior rights. That hasn't happened but I still haven't confirmed if Olsen has committed to a school or if his trip to Grand Forks went as planned - although I have been told that Olsen may have been in North Dakota last weekend taking in the action at Ralph Engelstad Arena. That comes from a media source down there but just in case, I'll keep the name off the record.
Today's news of Escott ditching Cornell for PEI reminded me of Olsen although the two scenarios have one major difference; if Olsen joined Medicine Hat tomorrow, at least he wouldn't be doing so while slapping a NCAA school in the face in the process.
It would be interesting to know the details of why Escott is suddenly enamored with P.E.I. when a month ago he had pledged... promised... committed to attending Cornell. What could P.E.I. have done to sway him? Does it all really boil down to cash or is there more to it?
This one might be interesting to keep an eye on and dig a little more into.
In the meantime, the Rocket are pleased to add a talented youngster like Escott to their organization. Here's the story the day after according to The Guardian and beat writer Charles Reid.
What's your take?
1 comment:
I think he has been listening to your comments on the strength of the Cornell schedule.
Sounds to me like the "family advisor" (or by the sounds of things crazy parents) was hearing something along the lines of your draft position would improve with a better quality of competition. "Family Advisor" turns into agent. The kid has changed his mind twice in the past 2 seasons, according to the PEI release he was a top 10 pick in the QMJHL draft, but his decision to try for the scholly dropped his position to the sixth round. I definately think that the Rockets are picking up a little bit more than the high school expenses & university expenses in this case.
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