re: To those who followed recruiting before it became popular do you remember

You must have been sheltered.

I have followed recruiting closely since the mid 80s. Talk radio in Baton Rouge covered LSU recruiting very closely. While there is certainly more info out now with the internet, as far as databases, etc., there was no black hole back then. We knew of every commitment the day it happened, within minutes (or possibly hours, depending on the time of day).

Tiger Rag came out weekly with recruiting lists, but the talk radio shows filled the void of the internet with constant recruiting info.

Also, the local newspapers covered it better back then, when they did not have to compete with the internet.

Even on signing day, LSU had a hotline you could call where a REAL PERSON answered the phone and gave you updated signing lists.