Where is my Signing Day news conference?

BFD. Who cares?

 

I have explained to many parents, coaches and athletic directors that a National Letter of Intent is a one-year binding contract, exchanging scholarship money for sports performance. Unless they can show me the money, the newspaper is not interested.

The Ivy League and most Patriot League programs fall into that category as well. We've been persuaded to include all D-I programs on our Signing Day chart, but that's about it.

We also stopped going out to signings after a kid pulled that blank piece of paper BS, and it was obvious in the photos. The only signing ceremonies our reporters have personally attended in probably five years is because s/he has a relationship with the family. The parent/coach/AD can submit the posed shot.

If you want the newspaper to cover a party, we shoot photo galleries of proms.

 

My philosophy on this has evolved over the years. I used to be D-I or bust, but I've softened a lot. Nowadays, I'll cover damn near any signing with a story and a picture. We have a lot of junior college signings (juco ball is actually quite competitive here, so it's not always a "he couldn't play anywhere else" situation), as many as two dozen a year across all the sports and schools. It's an easy local story that's well-received, takes about 90 minutes to do from stem to stern, and can carry a page on a slow day. It might even be the linchpin for a bigger feature.
Especially this time of year, when we hit the dead zone between the end of high school ball and the start of summer ball, I embrace those things.

Now, understand that this is coming from someone at a small paper. Shops our size should do as many of these things as they can. Bigger papers obviously can't get to as many, nor should they. As with all other stories, it's not a one size fits all solution.

 

We have had pictures submitted of a mass signing with D3 kids involved. MOre than one AD says the D3 kids were signing blanks pieces of paper to make it look like he/she was signing a real form.

We'll go out on National Signing Day, but in most cases, the best kids have already made their college choices and we have written about them previously. However, we'll take any submitted photos from schools or parents for an ongoing photo gallery that people in our area eat up for some reason.

 

There is a palatable middle ground to the signing picture.
You go out and do the signing story. Take the grip and grin if you want, and run it as a secondary photo, on a jump page, wherever. We have a photo of the day item that those are perfect for. After you do the interview, pull the kid aside for two minutes and snap a more featurey photo. You can catch up to him at practice or just pull an action shot from the season if you have one, too. Then you get a nice feature story and decent art without the ghastly, played-out signing photo dominating the page and it takes all of an extra five minutes.

 

TJ Anderson, cornerback
5-foot-9, 200 pounds
1-year starter
40 time: 5.3 seconds
225 lbs bench: 1.5 times (w/ spotter)
Bio: Our top prospect this year would be a solid addition to any D3 program. The son of two lawyers, tuition won't be a problem, and any program can likely leverage future donations from the parents when mom makes full partner. Anderson had 18 tackles last season, four of them solo, and one interception on a tipped pass. He may have to switch to safety at this level, but he shouldn't mind, considering he sees himself as "an Ed Reed-type playmaker." Could also see action on kickoff coverage and extra-point blocking teams early in his career. Expect him to make his decision soon, right after the family returns from a vacation in Vail, where they co-lease a time-share ski lodge.

 

Call it a commitment, not a signing if you're covering these things unless they are actually signing the paper to receive an athletic scholarship. And, no, "recruited walk-on" doesn't count.

 

We don't cover D-I verbal commitments, since they're non-binding. Isn't this the same?

 

I think we always say, "Has accepted an offer to play at Podunk Christian College. Podunk Christian is a Division III school that does not award athletic scholarships, but Jimmy Tryhard will receive some academic scholarships and other financial aid." Followed by, if it's relevant, a quote about what he's going to school for or why he picked Podunk Christian.

 

Never had a problem with D2 signings. It's a level a lot of athletes here top out at, plus there's a D2 school nearby that recruits well in baseball in the area.

Juco's are a different matter. There's five within a 40-mile radius and don't think scholarships are much more than an application for a Pell Grant here.

D3? I'll mention it in a column or notebook, but mom and dad can take their own photo and put it up on Facebook.

How di y'all feel about academy appointments? Last one we had involving an athlete I gave to the newsies, since a) they needed a breaking-the-maiden story for a just-hired education reporter and b) as I argued, "he's not going there just to play water polo."

 

Verbal/oral commits should be notebook at most, but YMMV depending on the market. When they sign is the time to make a fuss.

 

Both papers in Boston don't do Signing Days as such. They run short roundups on D-I kids, usually leading with one who doesn't go to BC, and then have lists of all the top players and their choice of school, without saying if it's a letter of intent or not. That takes care of the ones who go to Bentley, UNH, Amherst, etc.