Overhyped, But Not Overrated, Part 2

As promised, more hot sports opinions on recruiting...

As I was coming home from the airport the other night, there was a recruiting show on the radio. It reminded me of how much demand there is for recruiting information. All over America, grown men are losing sleep and having conniption fits over the impending decisions of some 18-year olds. Fans take pride in ratings of recruiting classes, and stress out if their class is not in the top 10.

There is a booming industry of recruiting services that feed upon this frenzy. Some of these guys started as scouts providing information to coaches. This is still the case. However, they also sell their information to the general public. Recruiting experts such as Tom Lemming and Max Emfinger paved the way for others such as Jamie Newberg, Bobby Burton, Jeremy Crabtree, and others. These guys spend their time attending practices and summer camps, reviewing film, and on the phone with coaches, obtaining information and rating recruits. Often, recruiting analysts will rate players based on the schools recruiting them, and will sometimes increase or decrease ratings based on their choice of schools. Lemming is infamous for inflating the ratings of players headed for Notre Dame. I believe these guys work hard for their money. They are talent scouts for the college football industry.

Here is my pet peeve about recruiting: Too many fans take it way too seriously. Recruiting matters, and talent matters. However, many take it every bit as seriously as the games on Saturdays. I'll never forget a few years ago, when Tommie Harris committed to OU. Someone that I worked with was a UT fan, and was crushed. He was crushed, then offered me congratulations, and told me how awesome he was going to be. It turned out that Tommie Harris was a great player for OU, and now is a great player for the Bears. However, for every recruit like that, there is one that totally bombs out.

The whims of 18 year-olds are not worth the stress of grown men, whose livelihood do not depend on it. A lot of fans will spend $29.95 per month, or whatever the various fees are, to subscribe to a recruiting service. I can see the need for coaches to subscribe to scouting services. However, for those of us in the great unwashed, who do not depend on football for a living, this is a waste of money. As I said earlier, the recruiting analysts work hard for their money. And, if they can get a bunch of subscribers to pay for their service, more power to them. I wish the analysts well.

I believe it is so silly to get so worked up over recruiting. Recruiting matters, but it is not everything. And, it is information that is not worth the subscription. Recruiting analysts are laughing all the way to the bank.

Wednesday will be a great day for a lot of young men signing football scholarships. I wish them well.