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February 8, 2010

Zack Cunningham: Signing day brings the little and big schools together

— National Signing Day is an interesting period for high school students and collegiate athletes.

It’s a fun time for parents and the athletes who are actually signing, but unfortunately, it’s also an opportunity for the cynics among us to sneer at the prospect of “the rich getting richer.”

After a busy day here at the Times-Review on signing day, I went home to read about how the University of Texas had done in its recruiting hall.

I wasn’t surprised by the analysis.

Texas pulled in the No. 2 recruiting class in the country while the University of Florida landed the top signing bunch.

The article seemed to be written with an exasperated sigh that this year was just another year of upholding the status quo; and the power conferences became, you know, more powerful.

In my opinion, the accomplishments of the day are further worn down by the conspiracy theorists who try and take away from what a lot of athletes who sign have done in the past.

For example, “Oh, that Jeffcoat guy? He’s living off his father’s legacy with the Cowboys!”

Were I to say what I truly thought of that sentiment, you’d be looking for a new sports editor by tomorrow.

Regarding Johnson County, signing day was exciting and as I told a few of the signees, it’s going to be fun to watch them play on bigger stages the next couple of years.

After rewriting the record books at Alvarado High School, Broam Hart will don the colors of the Air Force Academy and personally, I’m excited to see how he does against the likes of TCU and BYU in the future.

Burleson’s Blake Smith will be playing tailback, most likely, for Angelo State in the very near future and I’m excited about the prospect of him succeeding at the Division II level.

I was also happy to see my alma mater, Abilene Christian University, land two Johnson County signees in Burleson’s Colten Carnes and Grandview’s Nathan Chance.

I follow ACU, Angelo State and the Lone Star Conference very closely and it’s fun to see athletes that I cover here in Johnson County go and get to have the opportunity to play for either the school I graduated from, or take the field against them.

So, as to that whole “rich getting richer” thing, yeah, of course it’s true.

But for those athletes that don’t sign with the big schools such as Texas or Florida, their big day shouldn’t be soiled by an overreaching assumption that this is only about the Longhorns, Gators, etc.

As the Beatles would say, “Come together, right now, over me.”

Whether you’re going to ACU, ASU, UT or somewhere in between like Weatherford or Navarro Colleges, signing day is supposed to be a reason to celebrate, not bicker.

Not every high school athlete gets the chance or the opportunity to continue their athletic career at the next level, and it’s cool that Johnson County put almost a dozen kids into that category on signing day.

At other periods throughout the past six months, plenty of other local athletes have already signed to play sports in college.

As the athletes themselves, their parents and families, and their friends know, upholding such a commitment isn’t always as easy as it looks.

And the road to get to that point isn’t always the smoothest, either.

Hats off to our Johnson County signees.



Zack Cunningham can be reached at 817-645-2441, ext. 2334

and at sports@trcle.com

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