July 8th Hustle Bag: Saturday is the new Friday edition

Each week during the summer, we open up the HustleBag for all your questions and queries regarding sports, life, and general advice. Come for the MAC sports love, but stay for the life guidance. It’s the least we could do.

I know you were anxiously awaiting with bated breath this week’s Hustle Bag mailbag. No, the calendar hasn’t shifted or you fell in a black hole, but sometimes life here at Hustle Belt Manor gets a little hectic and things backslide down the to-do list a bit. Hence, your Friday Hustle Bag is now your Saturday Hustle Bag.

I wish I could tell you it was something exciting. I’d love to write that I was caught in the middle of an international incident that required my unique skills built over a lifetime of hunting criminals. It was decidedly less “aw, cool!” than that. Just an overflowing to-do list and a shrinking amount of time to get it all done.

And to me, that’s the biggest thing that’s sort of numbing about getting older. In the blink of an eye, your day is gone or by the time you sit down at the end of a workday you literally don’t want to do anything other than relax. Mad props to the parents of the Hustle Belt universe. You people are saints. How you manage life, work, and children and don’t lose your collective mind like a mind collector with amnesia amazes me.

On to the Hustle Bag...

From Mark....
As Frank Solich ages, are recruits hesitant to sign with the Ohio Bobcats? Most recruiting in Athens is probably by assistant coaches, but havingan older head coach, is it a detriment in recruiting?

I gave up trying to figure out the whims and wishes of recruits a long time ago. When I launched my first site, the always epic Ball State themed OverThePylon, we talked to recruits from time to time. Some were awesome. Others? Eh. I wasn’t a star athlete in high school so I can’t say how I would have reacted to being the target of the nation’s best coaches. I’d like to think I’d be humble, excited, and enjoying the moment. Many were not that.

I think age plays a part in terms of connection and relating to the recruit, but I think it’s just as attractive to play for a coach that has a lengthy track record. I’d say young coaches are high risk high reward. In other words, they have the ability to for recruits to REALLY love them. But they also have the possibility of recruits to REALLY not for a whole host of reasons. Solich has a sort of gravitas that is attractive to some I would imagine.

From Jason...
Is PJ Fleck the Lavar Ball of the MAC?

I was going to make some snarky comment about Fleck not being the anything of the MAC anymore, but it’s a valid question. The short answer is no from me. Fleck is passionate about coaching and though catch phrase heavy, I think he genuinely believes his stuff. More importantly, I am a firm believer that it’s authentically PJ Fleck. Not a caricature or a gimmick.

I want to think Lavar Ball is just playing a character to get eyeballs on him and his brand. At least, I hope that’s the case. If the dude genuinely believes what he’s saying and selling then there’s something seriously wrong with him.

The sad part about all of it is that his behavior is trickling down and impacting his kids. Maybe not directly and maybe they don’t think so, but tell me there weren’t a large majority of people who watched the first Lakers summer league game hoping that Lonzo would fail. I certainly did. And it had nothing to do with Lonzo.

I’m a wrestling fan, so I get the need and desire to have heels to boo and bad guys to root against. If that’s Lavar’s approach, then good on him, because a large number of us have bought it hook, line, and sinker.

From Steve...
I notice Alan tweets a lot about Live PD. Don’t you think that’s an invasion of people’s privacy and showcases the worst of society?

Oh, 1000% no. If you aren’t familiar with this, LivePD is a show on A&E where police departments across the country have embedded camera crews and their interactions and such are broadcast live. Think of it like Cops only not edited and live. It may sound not awesome. You are wrong.

Admittedly, I’m drawn to it because one of the departments that participates is in my native southern Indiana area. So that’s kind of cool. But I think it serves a much better and more noble purpose. At bare minimum it showcases the absolute garbage that police have to put up with on a regular basis. It also shows that police have an infinite amount of discretion sometimes. How you treat them often triggers how they are going to treat you.

On nearly every show I’ve seen there’s a person who is pulled over absolutely wasted who had “two beers a few hours ago” or someone who believes they know more about criminal law than a ten-year veteran or someone with a bag of weed in the center console who gives permission to search. I almost think it’s less a running commentary on the worst of society and more a commentary on two things:

One, if you are chill and not an asshole, life gets remarkably easier for you in your interactions with the police. Really, even if it’s not the police, not being a complete d-bag is good advice in general for life.

Two, if you’re breaking the law, don’t speed. Check your taillights. Don’t have windows tinted so deep it looks like a black hole on your windshield. It’s amazing to me how many big things are found and dealt with because of some minor thing that was so easily avoidable. Of course, I guess if you had those sorts of solid critical thinking skills you wouldn’t have four or five outstanding warrants or be driving three sheets to the wind.

If you want to follow along with the blazing hot LivePD takes, you can follow along @AlanRucker.

HustleBag runs Friday afternoons here at Hustle Belt. You can submit questions via Twitter (@HustleBelt) or via email at HustleBeltBlog (at) gmail.com.