We’re more than a week removed from National Signing Day, but some story lines are still at the forefront of sports media.
Signing Day is just the beginning of a continuous high school football recruiting process where players, including several local players, will ink with colleges in the coming weeks, mostly with smaller schools.
While community-minded newspapers such as the Plant City Observer will cover these commitments, most will go overlooked across the country as the top college recruits already have made their announcements official.
With National Signing Day in the books, it is important to look at the crazy progression college recruiting has experienced over the years, especially during NSD.
There was a time — just a few years ago — when only the most die-hard fans and niche media outlets covered NSD. It wasn’t until my sophomore or junior year in college that I began to notice all the hoopla that surrounds the day when top high school prospects make commitments.
Signing-day ceremonies used to consist of just the recruits, high school coaches, families and friends and possibly a reporter from a local newspaper or TV station.
Since then, it has grown into a huge spectacle. Reporters and camera crews of regional and even national media now fill high school gymnasiums and libraries for the announcements.
Recruits used to come to these ceremonies with their minds made up and their college choice known and documented. Now recruits, especially the top-billed ones, will play the shell game with hats of college suitors, while coaches at those colleges wait on the edges of their seats to see if the recruit picks their school.
This carries a unique perspective for me. On one hand, the whole recruiting process has gotten out of control. It is the athletes that should be vying and pleading for colleges to pick them, not the other way around. After all, these kids are getting the opportunity many don’t have — the chance to play football at a big-time university and get a free quality education to boot.
With injuries, off-the-field troubles and more, many players fall off the grid and their only time in the spotlight ends up being on NSD. Players should earn publicity in college by what they do in the college ranks — not on Friday nights in high school.
I’m fine with local and regional media covering signings, but they shouldn’t be the leading story on Sportscenter or on the cover of national newspapers or magazines.
Conversely, the sports fan in me loves NSD and all the drama that goes with it. Although I don’t appreciate or respect the cat-and-mouse game some recruits play with colleges, you have to admit it is entertaining for most college football fans, especially if your team is one of the suitors.
Heck, after I finished with work Feb. 6, including covering a signing ceremony at Plant City High School, I fired up my laptop and watched a replay Georgia Southern’s (my alma mater) signing class. All two hours of it.
The die-hard fan in me couldn’t wait to see what kind of talent we pulled into our program and from what larger schools, including ACC and SEC programs, we stole prospects.
It comes down to finding a balance. There should be less soap opera with NSD and more football. It’s fine to have signing-day specials for your college of choice, and it’s great to be informed on the direction your favorite school is headed, but signing day should be left to local media and fans of the game.
We don’t need ESPN and others giving 18-year-olds big heads before they even get to college.“>http://firedime.com/oformit-kreditnuyu-kartu-bank-leto.php