Signing Day

For college football knuckleheads, Signing Day is like Christmas.  And that's been seen by not only the  around the clock coverage on things like ESPN, but also sites like rivals and scout, which rank the players starting in their freshman years of high school.  Now I admit, I look at those sites constantly, so I'm not really one to talk but giving out these "stars" is ridiculous.

The stars and rankings given to these kids are what going to ruin the high school sports world, if it hasn't already.  But what is truly sad about it all, is whether it is the kids, the "experts,", coaches or PARENTS that are doing the "pimping out" of the student-athletes. 

To be on one of those sites, someone needs to send in a video of the athlete, so he can be "evaluated" and then given a ranking or star.  A five-star ranking means you are one of the top kids in the nation, a three-star means you are pretty much an average player, while anything lower usually means you are a fringe player.  If a parent or athlete sees they are "only" s three-star and want to get better scholarship offers, which might mean doing anything going from extra lessons from professionals to possibly doing steroids.  The extra push, however, can also burn out the kid. 

The one thing the coaches, parents or kids seem not to realize is that all these stars, rankings and such are all other people's OPINIONS.  There are time where the different sites disagree with how good of a kid is.  I'll give you the example of Missouri, since it's my alma mater and a school that has been known for getting lesser rated kids and getting them to play better than those rankings.  Let's look at the Tigers' last three first round draft picks, Jeremy Maclin, Sean Weatherspoon and Ziggy Hood.  Sean Weatherspoon came to Mizzou as a two-star safety prospect and left as the third-highest tackler in school history with 413 tackles and a two-time All-American.  Maclin was the highest rated of the three, garnering four stars from rivals and three from scout, but was rated the 70th best wideout by scout.  All he did was leave as the school's all-time leader in all-purpose yards, third in career receiving yards and fourth in career receptions.  All in two years.  Hood is now a starter on the Super Bowl-bound Pittsburgh Steelers.

Of the 62 athletes that were given five stars by scout, 11 made it to the NFL or lived up to expectations. That's 17 percent.  Now that may seem a lot, but let's not forget these were cream of the crop kids who people expect to come in and have a big effect on their teams.  Well that wasn't the case for 52 of them.  In a smaller sample size of 26 five stars, the 2006 class also had 11 players that made an impact of play(ed) in the NFL.

Now don't get me wrong, I truly appreciate and respect what all of the analysts who go out all across the country all year.  But my problem is that everyone takes too much stock into these stinking rankings.  Sure, most of the time it turns out to be right, as you see the Alabama's USC's, Florida's, etc. always getting top classes and succeeding.  But what about the schools like TCU or Boise State and up to this year, Oregon?  The rankings are good and all, but they're mainly there to make all the fans and those associated with the program go crazy.  As long as a school gets players they need, that fit their system and those who they feel are perfect for the, who says they won't succeed?