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Friday, June 22, 2007
Gimme Five: Peachy preps grow where?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Scout.com recruiting analyst Scott Kennedy gives us the five Peach State high schools where college coaches are sure to find a star prospect whenever they come calling:
1: Stephenson
2: Tucker
3: Westlake
4: LaGrange
5: Peach County
You give US five: Is this list right on or way off? Shoot us YOUR top five schools college coaches should visit when seeking grade-A Georgia football talent.
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‘Two-a-Days’ exposure too much?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The good ol’ days are gone for high school football.
Where local media used to be the only outlets paying attention to local teams, national outlets are showing more and more interest. Small towns like Hoover, Ala., used to have their beloved teams all to themselves. Then came MTV’s “Two-a-Days” program, which took the Hoover team to a national, reality-TV level.
And now, Hoover’s football program is entrenched in a grade-changing scandal that has caused the resignation of athletics director Jerry Browning, who cited philosophical differences with the school’s leaders, according to the Birmingham News. Former U.S. district judge Sam C. Pointer Jr. will lead the school’s investigation.
The Hoover High program wanted widespread attention. But the result is not the sort of spotlight some metro area coaches would like to have.
“I’m not real crazy about opening up our program for everyone else to criticize it,” said Marist coach Alan Chadwick, who has led the Eagles since 1985. “A lot of coaches want to be in that situation, where football is an end-all deal. And that’s kind of losing sight of what high school sports should be about.”
While Chadwick might turn down MTV if its suitors came calling, Woodstock coach Mike O’Brien — a 12-year coaching veteran in the state and former Valdosta coach — indicated he would lean toward embracing the exposure, if given the opportunity, for the interest it would generate in his program.
Most coaches are going to have their own philosophy, but the question becomes whether it’s good for high school athletes to be exposed on a Hoover-type, ESPN-type level.
You make the call: Are scandals the by-product of such TV shows? Are 16-year-olds equipped to handle it? Would you want your school to sign on with MTV or ESPN if it meant greater exposure for the team? Debate starts here.
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