In the “Who’s Hot, Who’s Not” feature of the Feb. 14, 2011 issue of Sports Illustrated, college football’s “National Signing Day” was panned:

“Signing day for top high schoolers has
 gone over the top.  Last week’s low lights:
 accusing mom of forging a signature,
 committing, then decommitting,
 decisions announced on Twitter/
 Facebook and, as always, 18-year olds
 choosing schools live on national TV.”

It’s nice that Sports Illustrated would finally notice what high school sports administrators have long criticized and SI itself has helped to create with, for example, stories about sought-after 6th-graders, as well as far too much reliance on and promotion of the adults who rate and rank players and pontificate about their prospects.

Rather than pointing out the obvious excesses of college football’s national signing day, SI would do better to point its wonderful writers and excellent editorial staff toward the causes – including the almost complete disconnect between higher education and major college football (and men’s basketball), the business enterprises that exploit that disconnection and the unsavory cottage industries which prey on it.  All of which conspires against focusing high school athletes on the real business of schools, which is to encourage and equip students to be lifelong learners.

Corporate interest in summer 7-on-7 tournaments and the proliferation of all-star games during the academic year masquerading with increasing frequency as educational experiences add to the challenge of those who believe things are getting out of hand long before national signing day.

Occasionally the same media who complain that things have gone over the top will complain that we down here in the trenches are too conservative in our philosophies or too restrictive in our policies.  In fact, MHSAA policies are well aligned with the best practices for high school sports:

• From the 2010-11 Handbook of the National Federation of State High School Associations:

 “The NFHS, the NJCAA, the NAIA and the NCAA urge the support of high school administrators in discouraging participation in high school all-star games scheduled during the academic year.  With this support, the exploitation of high school students by promoters of such competition can be curtailed.”

• From the National Council of State Boards of Education:

“There is an urgent need to address this issue as professional sports increasingly encroach upon academics.  Indeed, the problems that have plagued college athletics – such as unscrupulous agents, mercenary coaches, questionable recruiting practices, and extravagant benefits bestowed upon players – are now becoming more frequent at the high school level and, in some instances, the middle school level, all which are associated more with all-star events and national tournaments than regular season play and state high school tournaments.”