Football Signing Day

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PIS said....Anybody have any thoughts?

Ridiculous. I will not watch it. I can't think of an event that sickens me more.

I don't think it's a big deal at all, but that's just me. Would I do it this way? No, I'd have my parents and high school coaches in the loop. FWIW, I don't think they owe the college coaches any particular communication other than signing the NLI.

The first time I ever saw a spectacle like this that I can remember was way back when Cory Alexander committed to UVA basketball, whenever that was, probably 18-20 years ago now I guess. I remember thinking, dude, you haven't proved anything yet, why all the self-promotion?

Today, that is a quaint thought. Self adulation rules.

Back when Midlo Son signed (November 2007), we just faxed the paperwork back in. His high school later set up a posed shot with some teammates who also signed -- sort of a re-enactment -- and sent out some publicity photos to local papers, etc. I thought it was nice for the high school to give 'em a little fun attention from their classmates and neighbors, but I never would've thought it qualified as national news.

MidloDad - What your son & school did is great, and well deserved. This scenario is repeated many times over across the country with newspaper and TV. I really enjoy watching/reading about the local kids making it to the next level in all sports.

What irritates me is the guy on TV who is holding court with the media and places numerous college hats on a table. He proceeds to fake to one hat, picks up another hat, drops it, and picks the last hat by putting it on his head. It is disrectful to the other schools that pursued the recruit. IMHO I think it shows a lack of class, and he looks like a clown.

I remember seeing that with a particular area football player a few years ago. Lineman with a very large frame and head, plus he had one of those hairstyles that piled the hair up high. The spectacle was made all the more comical when he tried to put the cap of his choice on his head and it looked like one of those ill-fitting fast food cap situations.

Then the guy didn't pass admissions and had to do a prep year before he got to his chosen school. Though I guess that guy's story ends OK, I thought it was not only disrespectful to those he declined, but also to the one he selected.

One can only hope it's just a charade for the cameras and that he's actually taken the time to communicate with his suitors before going on camera.

Are these kids any different from the charade that LeBron did a few years ago in choosing Miami? I don't agree with any of this, but it's hard to tell some of these kids that getting on TV and holding court is "wrong" or could leave the wrong impression.

IMO, I'd rather see kids go through the process of Midlo's son, but again, if a kid is given a choice of a local HS ceremony or national TV, you'll get plenty choosing TV.

I for one actually am REALLY EXCITED for the event that some kids have. As it is a reward for all of the hard work for the 16-19 years they have put in to have a moment to shine on their local stage in front of the people that have helped them or tried to drag them down along the way. Most of them have done their homework and know within reach which school they are going to attend. But don't see it through your eyes see it through theirs. These kids have worked hard so enjoy it. I would only hope that other schools can embrace all the athletes who sign at their high school as even going to a small school, some of these are the first in their family to go to college and yes IMO it is a very exciting time.
But in saying that i do think it is very bad to be making a public announcement then have to go to a prep school becuase you didn't get in. OR the utter embarrassment, this year if you didnt see Alabama over recruited and had an offer for a young man who committed to bama late, and was getting ready to turn in his LOI, and bama pulled the offer becuase they recieved to many committments from other kids. Sad day when that happens.

Also on another note do you guys remember it was last year or two years ago the kid made fun of all the specticals and held a press conference saying he will sign with school-X, come to find out school-X never offered, well he signed with a d2 school officially this year. just FYI.

Hate the player or the game? Hard to blame a 18 year old for mugging it up for a TV camera if it's shoved in his face.

For some of them it will be the biggest day of their life. That is something to truly dispair.

This is done mostly for football where the fans are straddling the borderline of sanity in some places. Between this and the mock NFL drafts it is a little nuts out there.

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...you'll get plenty choosing TV.

And the platforms (ESPNU, et al) need content. Why? The eyeballs want the content. If the eyeballs weren't interested, it wouldn't be broadcast, and the players wouldn't preen on the screen. Players thump chests, platforms get content, eyeballs watch. Everyone's happy.

To a minor degree, this happens with baseball. In VA, the schools have a ceremony (minor), the announcement is made on VAPreps/ WaPo/ GameDay, the summer team posts a notice, and the press release is put out by the university. Now suppose collegiate baseball had the same popularity (here's the latest Harris Poll) as collegiate football: take that local coverage and expand it exponentially. Players would thump chests, platforms would get content, eyeballs would watch.

Right or wrong, it's the market at work.

One thing that I noticed in these announcements was that, harkening back to our thread where we discussed the relationship between strength of baseball program and size of student body, that relationship is often totally absent from football. Many of the most populous schools had zero guys signing this week. When you consider that there are so many more football signings than baseball, that's a head scratcher.

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OR the utter embarrassment, this year if you didnt see Alabama over recruited and had an offer for a young man who committed to bama late, and was getting ready to turn in his LOI, and bama pulled the offer becuase they recieved to many committments from other kids. Sad day when that happens.

It took me awhile to find the story. I never heard of a "grayshirt" option before. The other thing the story said was that the kid that this happened to looked pretty miserable during the signing day event. He probably had just found out about the grayshirt offer and hadn't had the time to look at his other options yet. Too bad. It should have been a very happy day for him. Hopefully, Arkansas will be kinder to him.