I can't let signing day go without recalling the great hoax of 2008.
Remember that? Probably not.
Kevin Hart of Fernley, Nev., played the hat game and selected the California Bears over the Oregon Ducks before a large crowd of friends, supporters and media at his high school. Nothing unusual about that, except it was a sham.
There were no offers. Criminal charges were considered, but Hart was left with the worst possible penalty -- public humiliation.
Hart, who so desperately wanted to play major-college football he called himself D-1 throughout his senior year, eventually resurfaced at a junior college in California. In 2012, he signed a legitimate letter of intent to play football at Missouri Western, a Division II school, but left after one year.
I bring this signing-day tale up only as a reminder. There's nothing wrong with dreaming big, but the damage you do to your reputation with lies and deceit is irreversible.
Even today, eight years later, I'm sure Mr. Hart still gets asked on occasion "Hey, aren't you the guy who ...?"
COACHES, KEEP OUT
There's a reason why coaches have to wait at the fax machine instead of attending signing-day ceremonies.
In the 1980s, I covered a signing at Blytheville when there were at least three coaches present. They behaved like three drunks at the bar pursuing the same woman.
I only recall a coach from Austin Peay because he was the most obnoxious. Even in the final minute, he was waving his arms in the background trying to entice the recruit into another room to sign with his school.
Can you imagine the circus had the Blytheville prospect been a 5-star recruit?
Many people have a gripe with the NCAA, but the organization relieves much of the stress on signing day by barring coaches from attending.
DONE WITH DAB
Before signing day, I was mostly tired of commercials that featured the two Bozos at Sonic Drive-In and a pasty-white insurance lady named Flo.
Now, it's the dab that's got to go.
The dance move made popular by hip-hop artists and Super Bowl quarterback Cam Newton reached a new low on signing day at Michigan.
That's where 80-year-old Lou Holtz did the move along with Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, former Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland and others. It was not pretty yet ESPN, Holtz' former employer, chose to show the clip over and over.
No more dab, please. It belongs on the same heap where disco was discarded.
SMALL HAUL
Gus Malzahn promised to emphasize in-state recruiting shortly after he was hired at Arkansas State.
Malzahn made good on that pledge by signing 11 players from Arkansas with the help of a coaching staff that included Arkansas natives Rhett Lashlee, J.B. Grimes, Eli Drinkwitz and David Gunn.
Fast-forward to 2016 when Arkansas State signed only one in-state player, Jacob Atnip, an offensive lineman from Sheridan.
"This is really kind of a unique deal," Arkansas State coach Blake Anderson said of a recruiting class dominated by transfers from four- and two-year colleges. "We had to pass on some (in-state) guys that did not fit our needs."
OK, fine. But I'll be the first to bring it up if ASU, or Arkansas for that matter, gets burned by a nugget such as Kenneth Dixon.
Dixon was overlooked in state and signed with Louisiana Tech after high school at Strong. He started four years at Louisiana Tech, where he rushed for more than 4,400 yards and scored 522 points, which is second in NCAA history.
Dixon solidified his status as a top NFL prospect when he was voted the best running back during practices for the Senior Bowl.
THE LINGO
Recruiting is a sport within a sport and something that definitely has its own language.
Dead period, quiet period, hard commit, soft commit, de-commit, redshirt, grayshirt and blueshirt are some of the terms used by those involved in recruiting.
Blueshirt is to new to me, which the NCAA explains as something similar to a grayshirt.
"Whereas grayshirt athletes delay their enrollment until the spring semester, a blueshirt will enroll in the fall and attend as a walk-on without a scholarship for at least the first semester. This allows a blueshirt to participate in practices and perhaps even play in games as a true freshman, then get a scholarship later on."
Got it? Great.
Check back next year when the lingo will surely include purpleshirt and aquashirt.
Sports on 02/07/2016