On Sports

Hello all! Now that school has started back pretty much everywhere, I hope everyone is settling in well. My local schools have gotten back into the swing of things and sports are picking up. Football's underway. Fall baseball is about to start back locally for the younger kids. Wrestling, bowling, and basketball start back within a couple of months. Finally golf and volleyball are finishing up. Lots to keep track of here.

With so much focus on sports, I think it's really important to keep other things in mind. Just like a business owner cannot afford to be lax, neither can that owner be so consumed by the business that other areas in life suffer. The same goes for students. I firmly believe moderation is key. We must all give appropriate time to God, family, and work.

Student-athletes have a large responsibility in that they need to keep up academically and those that are looking to progress to the next level are not afforded the luxury of just playing for "fun". They have to essentially treat it as a job in and of itself if they hope to get scholarships to the next level. If you are not involved in these sports you may not realize how much time outside of games and practices it takes to really perform at a peak level. Some factors include off-season conditioning, reviewing game film, working on techniques, and going to camps-- with these being all outside of normal practices allowed by each state. I can guarantee you that championship caliber teams are not filled with players that just show up for mandatory practices and barely make it to games or matches.

This also doesn't factor in the student-athletes that are also involved in other extracurricular activities. I would highly encourage all student-athletes, especially those just beginning high school, to avoid overloading with too many commitments. It's important to be active and participate in activities, but it's also very easy to get stretched too thin. Be sure you can do what you're committing to do and can do it well with the proper time commitment.

Good luck to everyone this year! Be safe, study hard, play hard, and have fun!

On Sports.... to Unionize or not?

There's been a lot written over the last few months over whether or not college athletes should unionize or not. See the following for background:

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/college-athletes-step-toward-forming-170258471--spt.html

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/qb-testifies-bid-form-college-163928455--ncaaf.html

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/college-athletes-unionize-federal-agency-192347319--ncaaf.html

 http://espn.go.com/chicago/college-football/story/_/id/10734087/pat-fitzgerald-urges-northwestern-wildcats-players-vote-union

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/10738559/mark-emmert-ncaa-president-says-unionization-attempt-grossly-inappropriate

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/10678393/nlrb-director-decision-follows-road-map-laid-northwestern-quarterback-kain-colter-legal-team

It's fascinating to me to read these articles, listen to podcasts that deal with the topic, and hear the talking heads on the radio & television discuss this matter. There are pros and cons to both sides of the issue, and to me, there is no clear cut answer.

Wanting to protect players' health and provide long term medical treatment is a noble goal. Not wanting to disrupt the lucrative business model that is college athletics is understandable, but at what expense? Would unionizing solve health and medical issues confronting college athletes? Would unionizing be a death knell for college athletics? Or would unionizing simply force a change that would be rapidly accepted and then back to business (i.e., playing the games) with little impact?

Questions abound, but until the appeals process is over and, if warranted, votes are counted, we won't know the direction college sports are headed. We have to be patient and wait & see.