ame

Headig north tomorrow to hopefully watch the Jacks win. ;D

[Hidden Content] Commentary: For now, it’s much ado about nothing By JEROME SOLOMON Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle Feb. 5, 2009, 1:01AM Melissa Phillip Chronicle National Signing Day is over-hyped and Jerome Solomon is willing to admit this time it's the media's fault. Share Print Email Del.icio.usDiggTechnoratiYahoo! BuzzWednesday was signing day. Whoopee. If you are looking for names of some of the top players or a list of the schools that did the best (who the heck knows?), your eyes have led you to the wrong place. The day is overhyped. Oh, it’s important to the athletes signing scholarships, to the parents who don’t have to come up with nearly as much money as most for college, and to the schools the players choose to attend. But for most of us, the school to which Fast Freddie or Roger the Refrigerator faxes a letter of intent means nothing. Most of these players will never be heard from again. Some of those heard from again will be mentioned only in a negative light. If you have ever been around a young man torn between Texas and Oklahoma, Texas and Texas A&M or Texas A&M and Texas Tech, you probably understand my feelings about how we depict the process. This is the one time I am willing to join the masses and say it’s the media’s fault. We need to do better. Or more accurately, do less. ESPNU — on a day like this, it’s ESPN Upchuck — ran a shift-and-a-half of signing day info. It was NFL draft-like coverage. Signing day is not like the NFL draft, and journalists should stop referring to the two as equals. Signing day is to the NFL draft what an elementary school sack race is to the Olympic 100 meters. The Texans are competing with 31 NFL teams for draft prospects. When the Texans are on the board, they can choose whomever they like. The University of Houston and Rice are competing with more than 100 schools for prospects. The Cougars and Owls don’t get to choose. They are required to woo. College football players who enter the NFL draft are told: “Prepare to impress.†Top high school prospects are told: “Prepare to be wooed.†The media shouldn’t participate in this as much as we do. There are legitimate and documented issues with standardized tests. As bad as they are, those tests are a far better indicator of collegiate success than recruiting grades and Top 100 lists. If a kid is outside the Top 100, does that mean he can’t play? If a kid is on the list, does that mean he will do well? Leave them in peace Teenage athletes are under pressure to make life-altering decisions, and we should allow them to make those choices in peace. I know it’s naive to think people will back off, but the fact these so-called recruiting services and a host of no-account Web sites run rampant with this information doesn’t make it major news. Is it news when we’re told a high school football player has narrowed his college choices from four schools to three? Really? Come on. It is bad enough that we put these players on a virtual worship-me pedestal. For the most part, we can’t help that. On-the-field accomplishment deserves recognition on the sports pages. So when a young man is all-district, All-Greater Houston or all-state, he deserves applause. Noting accomplishment is different from projecting it. How do we get away with claiming a player — a high school player we anointed as great before he set foot on a college campus — failed to live up to expectations when he doesn’t lead a college team to a national championship? Whose expectations? Impossible expectations Are there repercussions for reporters when the person we tabbed “The Can’t Miss Kid†misses? Many times that’s the kid’s fault, but more often we established a standard that was impossible to reach. (If we ever use the words “Heisman Trophy†near a high school player’s name, we should be ashamed.) Though it’s better and more accurate than ever, newspaper evaluation of high school athletes bothers me. Let’s debate who had the better season, who did the most for his team, or who deserves to be listed as an all-star. This isn’t just semantics. I loved covering high school sports. I would put players on my All-Greater Houston teams because they deserved to be there for what they did for their teams, not because some service claimed they would be great college players. Maybe I’m the one who is nuts, but recruiting rankings mean little to me. I wish there weren’t any. As for the alleged No. 1, No. 2 and No. 100 recruits? Enroll in school, get a jersey and at least do something at practice. Then we can talk. All you did Wednesday was prove you can sign your name. The real scrutiny should begin now.

Great win Ladies. ;D

In my opinion they should not publish the names of a Coach when they apply for other jobs. Not done in the private sector and puts the Coaches in a awkward postion. Just my opinion.

dude are you kidding me? he is always hurt always.

Sfa wins over the Cowboys by two.

Huffman was in good shape but laid a egg with a loss to SP last night. NOT GOOD

Coldpsring and Cleveland are tied for first and Huffman is in third with Splendora a game back. I think

Good luck KPark. ;D

What happen to Lamar this year? Were they picked much higher than seventh?

who is that?

[Hidden Content],137624

They finished third right bc we (Huffman) was second in our district and played them.

Bond

Who will it be Hicks and Schneider? sp Hicks came back from the private school right?

I will try to get some this week.

what are the current standing for both women and men in the slc?

Is this district going to be that strong anyway? Who will be the top teams?

Gonna have to check out UCLA.

Rice may have something to say about who goes and stays home. If lsu gets Rice not good for the tigers bc Rice owns the boys from baton rouge. ;D Would not have a problem if Gig'em goes instead of Rice but bayou fellers ate going anywhere.

What tv station?

I like Tarkington and have watched their kids play hard over the years.

East Texas are you trying to stir the pot?

Yes, he was the 3rd baseman and leadoff. Good player.

Enjoyed watching the Robertson kid last year at Humble in the playoffs. He was the third baseman right? Was he the leadoff?