It must be tough to hand pick the college you want to accept a scholarship from. I mean, you've got schools vying for your services for the next four (sometimes 3, sometimes 2) years. I guess I have a problem with the way the current system plays out.
Today is National Signing Day for college football. Usually the recruits give their verbal commitments and sign the letters today. Well, like every year, some of the kids backed out of their commitments at the last minute. My favorite team fell victim to this once again with two players decommiting at the last minute. One came last night - and was a complete shocker. The other - less of a shocker - came today.
Why would an athlete go back on his word so late in the game? It's hard for me to comprehend. But, when you see all of the adulation, attention, and focus placed on these kids, maybe it becomes easier to be selfish and untrustworthy.
How about this for a solution - why have a National Signing Day? What if kids could commit any time they wanted to and that was that? By doing that, perhaps the coaching profession would earn back a little of its respect. Instead of going after other teams' commitments, and convincing kids to back out of their commitments (who knows what they've been promised to switch), they could spend time on the remaining recruits.
If we got rid of the National Signing Day, the emphasis could perhaps go back to what's important about college athletics - the college, learning, and the team. Our society is sometimes so focused on celebrity and the individual that it's hard for 18 year old kids to keep their word. Let's make a better system so that these young kids don't get so caught up in themselves.
