@fenwaysouth posted:If you don't understand or question any of this, then the top tier of D1 is not for you.
This is a simple sentence, but profound. Every player and parent will SAY the right things. They'll say "I'm not naïve. I know it's going to be super hard." and the like. But it's like the person (like my ex wife) who has no problem saying "I'm not perfect," but stops well short of backing the statement up with examples. For every 10 players/parents that SAY they have an understanding of how hard it will be/what they're up against, less than 1 actually truly KNOW it. They'll tell you that they have no delusions that their Johnny will see the field as a freshman, but inside they're 100% SURE he actually will. They're all 100% sure that Johnny will put in all the hard work AND that the hard work is essentially guaranteed to get him onto the field; and quick. But saying something and actually knowing it (and being able to articulate it in detail) are far from the same thing. But I do think people who frequent this site stand a better chance of actually believing the words that come out of their mouths when they inevitably say all the right things.