Print edition: 
Bryce Brown did it almost perfectly.
Harrison Barnes, not so much.
You see, announcing where you're going to go to college when you're a big-time high school athlete shouldn't be as complicated as it has become. Unfortunately, it has.
And I'm here to give any future podium standers some sound advice on the dos and don'ts of this perilous day.
1. Be casual, in both talk and dress. Brown kept it simple: Polo, nice jeans. And when he talked, he seemed like the most relaxed person in a tension-filled room. Barnes, the top basketball recruit in the country for the class of 2010, was decked out in a suit that made him look like a used car salesman and was, um, a tad robotic when he started talking. If you find yourself talking like C-3PO, it's time to reboot: "HELL-O PEOPLE, I AM HERE TO AN-NOUNCE WHERE I AM GO- ING TO COLLEGE TO-DAY. THANK YOU FOR COM-ING."
2. Don't talk about things you know absolutely nothing about, Brown, picking between playing football at Tennessee, Kansas State, Miami and Oregon, said maybe one sentence about each school and kept it moving.
"Coach Snyder's a good coach, they'll do good."
"I like Oregon's facilities."
"Miami's a great school, great program."
And then he put on a Tennessee hat.
Barnes decided to go in-depth on each school as he chose between Oklahoma, North Carolina, Kansas, Duke, Iowa State and UCLA. Bad move. Jeff Capel has not turned Oklahoma into a national power. They were pretty good before he got there. And FYI, Ben Howland has not won a national title at UCLA, yet. It was like watching Sarah Palin being interviewed by Katie Couric all over again, except dude was just doing it by himself.
3. If you're going to use props, hats are the only acceptable ones. Brown had hats. Just hats. Barnes broke out something called Skype, a service that lets you make voice calls over the Internet but sounds an awful lot like the evil computer in the "Terminator" movies. When it came down to Barnes' moment of truth, he walked over to a podium where he had a laptop set up and said he was going to the school "of whatever coach I'm Skyping to right now," which leads me to my next point....
4. Don't treat us like we're stupid. So we're supposed to believe all of these coaches were waiting, ready to get Skyped? Oh, the drama!
It reminded me of when Roy Williams left Kansas for North Carolina and said he had to get up in the middle of the night to find a telephone booth in Los Angeles so he could call the UNC athletic director the night before he announced his decision. Really? You're looking for a phone booth? In 2003?
4. Make sure to thank your family... and maybe your coaches. Brown thanked his family and his mentor, then saved his most effusive thanks for his older brother, Arthur. It was a touching moment and you could tell there was genuine, unconditional love between the two.
Barnes saved his most sincere thanks for about 20 media outlets, then gave his mom and somebody else a quick shout out. Yes, he thanked the media.
Run 'n' Gun is The Eagle Sports staff's weekly look at the offbeat side of sports.
