kshoe Posted September 18, 2003 Share Posted September 18, 2003 I saw this article on a Mighigan State site. Its pretty funny and although its about football most of it can be applied to the responses on this board. How Can This High School Punk Not LOVE MY SCHOOL???? - Jason Foster - Big 10 Columnist - While we sift through the plethora of meaningless corporate sponsored football exhibitions, we are in the midst of the recruiting period for college football coaches. All across the country, coaches are eating chicken-fried steak, staying in Red Roof Inns and missing out on quality time with the family as they schmooze 17 and 18 year old kids and their parents/street agent representative/friend of the family/girlfriend. I don’t get bent out of shape over recruiting rankings or scouting services. I find the method that some services use in evaluating different classes ridiculous. There are so many instances of “can’t miss†prospects who flame out. Players aren’t physically mature, and good coaching can go along way in player development. What cracks me up is how some fans of a school have a conniption when a player signs with some other school than the one they root for. When this happens, the reactions typically fall into one of the following categories: The spurned fans question why “so-and-so†would want to go to school there? My school is better academically, it has a better tradition, the nachos are better in the dormitory cafeteria, etc. KNOCK DOWN THE SCHOOL THAT WAS CHOSEN. Determine that my school really didn’t want the kid anyway. Decide to harp on the C– the player received on a pop quiz in English class and decide he is an academic risk. KNOCK DOWN THE RECRUIT. Decide that if a kid leaves the state to attend another school (especially if the other school is in the same conference), then you promise that the kid will have no future outside of football in his home state. “I’m sorry, boy. But you could have had a job selling used cars or insurance anywhere you wanted if you’d have gone to State U. Don’t plan on settling back here, boy.†MAKE IRRATIONAL THREATS. I have some news for some of you fans. This is especially true for fans of schools with a national stature. While you have an insatiable passion for your school and its football team, a lot of recruits do not have the same passion for your pile of bricks and mortar that you do. While there are a few “Rudies†who always have dreamed of playing for Notre Dame, Michigan, Penn State or whoever, a majority of recruits decide on a school not because of a love for your quad, the funny looking helmets or your funny looking statue/mosaic/fight song. A recruit will choose a school for his own selfish reason rather than to please you and your fellow fanatics. Such reasons may include: Geographical proximity to the recruit’s hometown. A desire to play far away from home. A strong relationship that develops with an assistant coach. A dream to play for a head coach whom he has never met. A desire to play right away. A desire to red-shirt and wean into the system. A 2:1 female to male student ratio. A $500 handshake from a boisterous booster. A desire to play in a program that plays by the rules. A team that will be on TV a lot. A school that will better prepare him for the NFL. A pretty co-ed winked at him during his on-campus visit. He sees an ad in the local sports section during his recruiting visit that has a nudie bar that allows 18 year old patrons. They offer a strong engineering program. They offer “Rocks for Jocks†in the Geology Department. The bottom line is that for many high school players, their college choice is no different than what a college graduate goes through in selecting their first job. If a graduate is fortunate enough to receive multiple job offers, why do they select the company that they do? Could it be because: Geographic proximity to your hometown. Desire to work in a different part of the country. A strong relationship develops with a mentor in the company. The desire to work for a legendary manager/executive you never have met. (Such as Chainsaw Al Dunlop). The desire to assume management responsibility right away. A desire to be an assistant and learn the ropes for the first few years. A bunch of hotties in the secretarial pool. A signing bonus and other perks. A company that will cut corners and ignore ethics to win market share. A company that is well known and on CNBC & CNNfn a lot. A company that will prepare you for a more prestigious company in four to five years. You had a one-night stand with the boss’s wife during your site visit. Your office is located next to a Blimpie’s. They have a strong R & D department. You know you can be a faceless cubicle inhabitant and be a slacker from nine-to-five. Now if you start work with ABC instead of company XYZ, I’m sure there will be many employees and retirees from XYZ who think you are making a huge mistake. ABC will go downhill, you are a fool for wanting to work there, don’t ever call on XYZ Human Resources in the future. So if you are wondering why someone would play for someone else rather than your beloved institution of higher learning, I have one bit of advice: Get over yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NashvilleBilliken Posted September 18, 2003 Share Posted September 18, 2003 That was a fun read. One paragraph in particular sure sounds familiar.... "Decide that if a kid leaves the state to attend another school (especially if the other school is in the same conference), then you promise that the kid will have no future outside of football in his home state. “I’m sorry, boy. But you could have had a job selling used cars or insurance anywhere you wanted if you’d have gone to State U. Don’t plan on settling back here, boy.â€" I found that amusing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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