National Signing Day

National Signing Day just passed and I would like to congratulate all the young men and women who signed with their respective academic institutions. My younger cousin signed with the UC Davis Aggies Football team and I am extremely proud of him and his achievements.

I was inspired today by ESPN First Take (rare occurrence for sure). I was inspired to continue on this path of spreading knowledge of the parallel of life and sports to the youth. The on air personalities of First Take were debating whether or not the media and the sports world should make such a big deal of 'National Signing Day.' I thought to myself 'Why would that even be something to debate?' but these gentlemen were clearly concerned with the amount of attention these young people were getting at a young age. Coming from an era where you didn't get much exposure unless you were the best athlete in your state I can appreciate the exposure these athletes get these days. Although I think this attention needs to be clarified. I think the concern is that these athletes will get too cocky and let the attention spoil their character and work ethic. I was inspired because these are the very things 3-D was meant to develop in our athletes. Today I still see a need for this development. I still see that these student athletes who are going into college need guidance. They need to be shown that no matter how much praise they get they need to work hard and perform and not forget why they are participating in their respective sports. They need to respect the institution of athletics. Now I know part of the problem is the media while they try to perpetuate the athlete of today as the problem but I plan on influencing the athletes of tomorrow so that when the media is in the wrong we as fans will know it.