second verse, same as the first
(part two)


well, that happened.

kind of a weird day if you were like me and following the national signing day action most of yesterday. during the morning hours, the headlines were made by all sorts of schools not named alabama. ole miss, tennessee and lsu around lunchtime when they officially signed the nation's consensus top recruit in reuben randle. heck, even auburn made a splash, stealing away a longtime lsu wide receiver commit when, rumor has it, said wide receiver fell victim to a little second-fiddle syndrome and skipped town along with one other high profile, almost-lsu wide receiver that just so happened to land in tuscaloosa. the afternoon, though, went to alabama as the two biggest southeast fish left in the sea donned, each, their own respective alabama caps and rang in the new year the same way julio and his boys rang in 2008, with a mythical recruiting national title.

the most interesting part of national signing day to me, as i've gotten older, is the point/counterpoint that you hear all day. the point? national signing day should be a national holiday, recognizing that these classes are the lifeblood and the future of every college football program. the counterpoint? these seventeen year-olds don't deserve all of this attention and all of this hype when 98 percent of them are still months away from officially enrolling in their college of choice.

personally, i don't understand the counterpoint at all. what do you mean, "they don't deserve the attention."? if you are a college football fan at all, these are the names you will be cheering for come august! look no further than alabama's recently concluded dream season. just take a look at alabama's class of 2008. now count the names of those pesky seventeen year-olds (this time last year) that made significant on-field contributions for the tide later on in the same calendar year. i count seven or eight, and that comes nowhere close to the number that at least made it into a game and played some role, if even a minor one, in alabama running off an undefeated regular season.

now look at the class of 2009. if you can get past all the stars by the player's names, you'll see at least five or six, maybe more, that will figure seriously in the depth chart come this fall. you may not like the idea of high school athletes being treated as kings for a day, but again, in my mind, they deserve it. they will make or break my heart, as an alabama fan, soon enough. once they put on the crimson and white and once they screw up, all of a sudden i and the rest of alabama nation will curse their name as quickly as we championed it yesterday. so what? give them their day in front of a group of reporters and family and friends, all there to wish them well and see them on to the "next level". let them celebrate. let them rejoice. let them soak in what it feels like to be wanted and loved. soon enough, their college coaches will wake them from that dream.

the only point i will cede to those that argue that the fame and the hype surrounding some of the higher profile athletes is too much too soon is this. if seventeen isn't too young, what is? in ten years, will i be subscribing to some online recruiting site that is tracking the best and the most talented eighth graders? will i worry about which high school is recruiting them because some high schools have better relationships with the coaches at alabama? probably not, but it's a valid argument. but, when it comes to the attention placed onto high school seniors, let's face it, that ship has sailed. for better or for worse, these young men who have the talent to play football or basketball are about to make these universities buckets full of cash. they are about to make my and my friends' saturdays better, because their presence gives me the hope that my team is going to win. and the only thing they will get for that tangible and compensatory harvest is a free education. not a bad deal, mind you, but considering where some of these universities would be without the windfall of money that is brought to them by these "undeserving" seventeen year-olds that, as they mature, cbs, epsn, abc and others can market and manipulate into more and more massive and ridiculous television contracts, it's mere pennies.

so, please spare me the mock outrage and join with me in celebrating what we already know. these seniors, these seventeen year-olds are about to make our life a better place. hell, yesterday gave me mythical bragging rights over every male that shares my table at church on wednesday nights for another year. my life is already better.

congratulations, guys. and roll tide.

i hear nick saban doesn't expect much from his players and that his practices are really easy. no worries.

see you in atlanta in about eight months. virginia tech hits harder than pinson valley high school. have fun. i'll be cheering for you.

or yelling at you.