National Signing Day?

Issue: What is that?  Some sort of Declaration of Independence recreation?

Short Answer: I wish it were.

Reasoning: Tomorrow, February 2, 2011, marks the day when numerous high school seniors (who also happen to be fairly good at football) finally decide where they are going to "attend" college.  Or, shall I say, where they are going to play football, all the while acting like a college student.  Sort of.  If you are reading this, and you are excited about "national signing day," then you are part of the problem.  You, and ESPN, who is televising 10 hours of coverage on ESPNU.  That's right, 10 hours of children (yes, 17 and 18 year olds are still children) sitting in front of a slew of microphones, announcing that next year they will "take their talents" (I guarantee that at least one kid uses LeBron's line, thinking it's funny, even though it will be nothing more than sad) to some university by picking one of the five hats in front of them and putting it on their head.  And people care about this.  Or, perhaps more acurately, there is money to be made off of it.  Why else would ESPNU televise it for 10 hours?

Folks, this is utterly ridiculous.  Most of these kids will not be prepared to play at the college level next year anyway.  The game will be too fast for them.  So, in turn, a lot of them will redshirt, maybe unwillingly.  Then the kid is going to be upset and transfer somewhere else, or sit out the entire year as a redshirt.  Then, why should we have cared about his "press conference" in the first place?  We shouldn't have.  And the fact that ESPN is telling you that you should care, makes me think, that ESPN thinks, that you are dumb ("you" meaning second person everyone, not "you" in particular).  Now, to say that a recruiting class, as a whole, means nothing, is incorrect.  Having a good recruiting class for any school, in any sport, is extremely important.  And, I don't mind if fans pay attention to that and care about that, i.e., "our recruiting class was ranked 2nd in the nation...I hope these guys pan out!"  But, to have individuals picking a school on national TV, is asinine at best.

Let me tell you about the day I decided when I was going to take my talents to Atlanta (that's where Georgia Tech is, for those of you who don't know).  The early signing period for baseball players is sometime in November (c'mon people, this was 14 years ago - I don't really remember the exact date!).  So, a few days before that magical date, I received my "national letter of intent" in the mail (remember, this was 1996 - I wonder if they are e-mailed and electronically signed these days?).  A few days later, on "national signing day," I sat down at my kitchen counter, with my dad, signed my name on the dotted line, folded the paper back up, stuck it in the envelope provided, and put it in the outgoing mail.  Dad patted me on the back, and I went back to watching TV, with a smile on my face.  No cameras.  No fanfare.  No media.  And I was ranked as the #1 prospect in the state of Ohio.  No joke.  Now, I realize that baseball does not make millions of dollars for universities, and, well, football does.  But when I was 18, I didn't live under the delusion that anyone really cared (outside of my immediate family and friends) where I was going to go to school.  Today's youth has been brought up in the "me" era of reality TV and people who are famous for no reason (the Kardashians, Paris Hilton, everyone on MTV, etc.).  These kids have been lead to believe, probably by those closest to them, that they deserve the attention they are getting.  They don't.  Yet.  Too many "top prospects" fizzle out in college (mostly because of beer) no matter what sport they play, so it shouldn't be a big deal where these kids are going to college in the first place.  Let's wait and see if they can handle the pressures of wearing a big time school's name on their chest before we start telling these kids how great they are.

So, when you are looking for something to watch on TV tomorrow, please, please, please, avoid ESPNU.  Don't be part of the problem, start being part of the solution.  If there is one.