The breathless anticipation of national signing day has arrived.
It's not Super Bowl Sunday, but for college football fanatics, few things are better.
Perhaps that is why on Tuesday, ESPNU televised its signing day preview show from 4 to 6 p.m.
Today, ESPNU's "National Signing Day Special" airs from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m.
Many high school players will repeat a similar scene for the cameras. The young men will sit at a table, caps of several colleges in front of them.
Some will feint toward one before picking up and donning another.
If you can't miss work to watch these Emmy Award-worthy performances, do not despair. ESPNU will repeat the show from 11 p.m. until 4 a.m.
Talk about must-see TV.
Or, maybe you will be able to attend the signing-day pep rally in John Paul Jones Arena at the University of Virginia. There, Cavaliers coach Mike London and his staff will lead the cheers for the two dozen or so teenagers who have signed with the Cavaliers for at least a season.
On ESPNU, at Virginia, on the conference call with Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer today, players who will become stars will be mentioned. And so will players who never will be heard from again.
National signing day is full of hope . . . and silliness.
A pep rally? For players no one really knows?
Every player who signs today is more suspect than prospect.
No one knows how a recruit will perform against higher-level competition. No one knows if he'll avoid injuries, avoid off-the-field trouble, avoid going to class.
Today is filled with hope, as well as heated debates on fan bulletin boards over which school had the higher rated recruiting class.
But other numbers matter more, such as: Virginia Tech 38, Virginia 0, from their 2011 game; Auburn 43, Virginia 24 in the Chick fil-A Bowl; Clemson 38, Virginia Tech 10 in the ACC championship game; Michigan 23, Virginia Tech 20 in the Sugar Bowl.
And fans always should remember the Danny Coale story. Neither Duke, Maryland, N.C. State, Vanderbilt nor Virginia thought the wide receiver was scholarship-worthy.
Coale was practically an afterthought in the 2007 Virginia Tech recruiting class.
He became one of the team's best all-around players. In his career, he caught 157 passes for 2,541 yards. He was considered the Hokies' best blocking wide receiver. He returned punts. This season, he even punted.
He graduated in four years and began working on a second degree in his fifth season. Duke, Maryland, N.C. State, Vanderbilt or Virginia might have been able to use Coale.
On signing day, it's not what a coach knows about a recruit that's important. Ultimately what matters is what a coach doesn't know about a player.
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