I was in the shower this morning thinking about what would be on my mind this morning that I could blog about...or in this case...bitch about!! Considering that beginning yesterday morning...like so many other college football fans...I have been glued to the ever changing and unfolding events of that separate Football Season known as "National Signing Day...this decision was easy to make. While my last blog post was somewhat melodramatic and heartfelt...this one is more of a social commentary.
Let me preface this by saying...this is not an opportunity to jump on my "Auburn" high horse or to bash our rivals. This blog is about the state of Football Recruiting and the reactions from ALL fan bases. So...before anyone gets bent out of shape expecting this to be a "I hate Alabama and their Fans" blog...you can rest easy. While that previous statement is true...I won't be broaching that subject today!!
The two biggest problems that I see in Football Recruiting are very simple...1) The grandstanding and "hey look at me" attitude that the media has promoted within the lives of KIDS... and 2) The horrific reactions by fans to the decisions of these KIDS...
To me...the way in which National Signing Day is handled and presented is both appalling and disgusting. No longer is it a great honor for a kid to be asked to play for a storied University...now somehow it should be a great honor to a UNIVERSITY that a KID wants to play for them. Like so many things that are wrong with our society...a sense of entitlement is destroying football. These kids are pampered, babied, wined, dined and let's face it...PAID...as if they are the second coming of Christ. I'm in no way taking away from the talent of these young people...and just like every other fan...I want to see Auburn land the "big fish"...but not at the expense of what a University is supposed to stand for. You can't put a price on integrity...and in my estimation...integrity and dignity are being OUTSOURCED....more and more each day.
Noone should have to BEG a kid to play football at their school. I realize that this is a massive, life changing decision for them...one that shouldn't be taken lightly. However...ultimately...one thing is simple...if you don't want to come to Auburn, Alabama, etc. then they shouldn't want you there!! I don't mean that in a rude or angry way...I just mean that if a kid says "I commit to School A...then School B should say "Best of luck...wish you could have been part of what we are creating"...then MOVE ON!! The entire system promotes an "I" mentality and a sense that "stars" in front of a kids name...somehow equates to success. It is all so absurd that it is laughable. Yet nothing will change because...guess what...as I sit here bitching and moaning about the flawed system...I was participating in the ratings for all media entities yesterday. I was eating up every morsel of it...while some of it made me sick...I never turned away. Guys holding up puppies to signify their allegiance...tear away jump suits to reveal team colors underneath...catch phrases on hats...the old hat "switcheroo" which has become increasingly popular...I never missed a second. So...until myself and all the other people that are so annoyed by all of this "stop the insanity"...a recruit parachuting onto the field of his selected school should be coming soon!!
While all of that makes me mad enough to choke a kitten...it doesn't compare to what I think about the reactions by so-called fans...most of whom are adults...to the decisions of these KIDS!! The things that I read yesterday by Auburn fans and Alabama fans about Brent Calloway and now...Cyrus Kouandjio...were reprehensible at best. "Benedict Arnold", "Turncoat", "Failure", and these were the nice things!! Let me be as clear and succinct as I can be on this issue: If you spend one second denegrating a 17 or 18 year old KID based on their decision as to where they will play football...you are a complete, lowlife, waste of skin who should be blessed that God continues to allow your lungs to fill up with air!! Is that too harsh...not even close!! These people are the lowest common denominator and unfortunately I work with and have to encounter these types of people EVERYDAY!!
And here is where I am going to offend people...but quite frankly I could care less. Most of the people screaming the loudest, being the meanest and getting worked up over nothing...HAVE NEVER TAKEN SO MUCH AS A CLASS AT EITHER SCHOOL!! These "volunteer alumni" as I like to call them...are an embarrasment to those of us who like to think our college allegiance is about a little more than buying a t-shirt at Hal's Flea Market and Gun Imporium!!
Please understand...I'm not saying that you HAVE to be an alumnist to be a fan...what I am saying is that for some of us...screaming "War Eagle" or "Roll Tide" means something bigger. It is the first time we entered that stadium and sat in the student section...we never sat down but it didn't matter...we weren't tired!! It's those sleepless, lonely first weeks in college...when the nights got so long that you just had to get in your car and drive. Somehow that car just steered itself to the middle of campus...as you put it in park...you couldn't help but to glare in awe at this massive embodiment of history that your team calls home. Suddenly all of that loneliness and fear subsided for a moment because you were living your dream and that made you proud. It's about standing up in your chair at a local bar on the eve of one of your biggest rivalry's and leading the entire room in your fight song (yes...I did that!!) It's walking across that stage...and having your college President hand you a diploma...and knowing that noone could ever take that away from you!! But better yet...it's going HOME again...with your wife, children, family etc...placing that Alumni pin on your lapel and knowing that for the rest of your life...you will be part of something bigger than yourself. In the stands...walking down the street...in the grocery store...at church...you never get tired of hearing those words...in my case..."WAR EAGLE." And every morning that I wake and every night that my head hits the pillow...I know that it is ALWAYS great to be an Auburn Tiger and always will be. I have no doubt that it is the same for Alabama alumnists. So please be a fan...support your team...have all the loyalty in the world...but the next time you start running your mouth to say something ignorant and inflammatory...just stop yourself and ask one question "What does being a fan of my team REALLY mean?" or better yet..."What SHOULD it mean?" Just remember...there are people out there that ARE Auburn and Alabama. We don't live FOR our schools...our schools live IN us!!
I hope these recruits will recognize that as well. They are gifted athletes...or they wouldn't be where they are. I just hope...as they run out of that respective tunnel for the first time... that they know they are trodding on hallowed ground!! You guys are folling the footsteps of Jackson, Sullivan, Rocker, Smith, Williams, Newton and Fairley. You will walk in the shadows of Namath, Starr, Teague, Alexander, Muso and Bryant. These hallowed halls were whispering the names of legends long before you kids were ever thought about...and they will continue to do so long after we are all dead and gone. Listen to those whispers...be filled with humility and at the end of the day...you can be part of a new legend and you too can write your name in the history books!!
Until next time friends...
Very well put
ReplyDelete