Thankfully, 'The Decision' for Brunson stayed on point

There were a lot of people in Philadelphia who were instantly excited and a lot of others in Champaign-Urbana who were immediately disappointed when Stevenson basketball star Jalen Brunson announced his college choice of Villanova over Illinois on Wednesday afternoon.

And there are likely a lot of people wondering why such a fuss was made about a high school kid, to the point where he is holding a news conference with all kinds of media types in attendance.

The days of quietly making a college decision are gone. If you are a high-profile high school basketball or football player then there is virtually no secrecy to what's going on in your recruiting process.

Does the media - newspapers, Internet websites, television, radio - feed this beast? Absolutely.

Following various recruiting processes, which inevitably included a lot of strange twists and turns, was never one of the most enjoyable parts of covering high school sports. It was a necessity because of its news value.

Especially since there are a lot of consumers out there who want that news - good or bad - and want it now. As soon as Brunson walked into the room Wednesday to announce his college choice, there is no question basketball fans were expecting to get the information on his decision a couple of minutes later.

The good news is Brunson didn't turn this into a big dog-and-pony show by faking out an entire fan base in the way he consistently fakes out defenders. He had some fun with it, but not in a way that would cast him in a negative light.

There is another positive for high-profile recruits such as Brunson announcing their decision this way. In a news conference, he can answer all the questions in less than an hour rather than having to spend a much greater amount of time getting those same questions over and over again during a number of phone calls from reporters.

And it helped everyone get what they wanted in knowing Brunson's choice sooner than later.

Here's looking at you, kid: Congratulations to former Buffalo Grove star Tim Bogar, who got his first shot as a Major League manager last Friday when he took over the Texas Rangers on an interim basis after Ron Washington resigned. Bogar had been the Rangers' bench coach this season for long-time friend and mentor Washington.

Bogar spent a year as a coaching assistant to Joe Maddon with the Tampa Bay Rays when they won their first American League pennant in 2008. During his five-year coaching stint with the Boston Red Sox he worked for current Cleveland manager Terry Francona.

Bogar was also a minor league manager of the year three times and he won 57.6 percent of his games in five seasons.

"I finally get a chance to manage a (major league) team," Bogar said to MLB.com. "It's obvious this is an opportunity ... a small brief window to gain the trust of the players, gain the trust of the front office and organization and do things the right way."

A well-deserved honor: It was great news that John Radtke of the Daily Herald joined Bob Frisk as a recipient of the IHSA Distinguished Media Service Award. John does a great job of covering high school sports in the Elgin and Fox Valley area, bringing a state-wide perspective to readers and fans and ensuring the Herald has a top-notch online presentation.