One discussion I find myself revisiting quite a bit is the increased hype of college recruiting -- specifically football.
The hype has become so exponential that there is an actual signing date that includes press conferences and round the clock media coverage.
Go to any message board and you’ll read, “School X, Y or Z just signed the No. 1-rated linebacker in the country.”
These kids haven’t even played a single down of college football and in some cases have yet to finish their high school athletic career, and they are already being tabbed the savior of their college program.
There have been a few times in my career where I have covered a game and was told beforehand that a player involved either had a full-ride scholarship to a Div. I school or was being actively recruited by such.
After the game when I have conversations with people it amazes me the comments I get from various people: “That kid really impressed me,” or “Eh, I wasn’t impressed,” or “In the game I saw, he/she didn’t do squat.”
Of course, we live in a world where making snap judgments is more of the thing to do as opposed to letting things play out. We tend to forget that a person’s resume is their body of work over a period of time, rather than just one game.
When you think of Joe Montana’s Hall of Fame career, what do you think of first? The three-year stretch where the 49ers were eliminated in the first round of the NFL playoffs with decisive losses, or the four Super Bowl titles he led them to?
The latter, definitely, but the truth of the matter is that his Hall of Fame status is based on his collective resume over his 15-year career.
Having covered sports regularly at the high school level for the last 16 years (mostly in Napa Valley, CA) before changing careers recently, there are three examples that I keep coming back to that are stark reminders that a person’s resume is their body of work:
Steve Skinner
When people think of great high school baseball players in Napa County, the ones that immediately come to mind are Brett Wallace, Todd Pridy and Bill Buckner just to name a few. I could go on, but in the interest of time I’ll keep it to those three.
When I first moved back to California in 1998 I landed a job with the Napa Valley Register (the parent publication of the American Canyon Eagle, St. Helena Star and Weekly Calistogan). I heard various colleagues raving about then-Vintage High shortstop Steve Skinner.
Several months later, baseball season rolls around and I am sent to cover a Crushers game. Skinner goes 0 for 4 and makes three errors. At first I thought, “What the heck is all the fuss about?”
So I interviewed Vintage head coach Rich Anderson after the game and he said something to the effect of that possibly being the worst game of Skinner’s high school career.
Every game I covered thereafter, Skinner showed why he was the player my cohorts hyped him up to be. Years later, I say to myself, “Good thing I listened to my own advice and didn’t make any snap judgments.”
Granted, Skinner did not have the same success in baseball after high school as Wallace, Pridy or Buckner but anyone who watched him regularly in high school would concur the guy had an outstanding career.
Dallas Bernstine
I had the opportunity to cover Bernstine’s junior and senior seasons at Jesse Bethel High (Vallejo, CA) for a now-defunct internet news service.
Suffice it to say, Bernstine was as spectacular as any high school athlete that I have ever had the chance to witness “in person,” including Napa High great and former University of Oregon star John Boyett.
During his junior year, I remembered Bernstine rushing for a Northern California-record 551 yards rushing in a 59-38 win over Vintage in 2001.
Bernstine was such an impressive athlete that at the annual Nike Football Training Camp on the campus of Stanford University, he rated ahead of Reggie Bush. Yes, that Reggie Bush.
As in the Reggie Bush that won multiple collegiate awards, including the 2005 Heisman Trophy — but allegations that he received improper benefits were central to a controversy surrounding the USC program that led to severe NCAA sanctions against USC, including a two-year postseason ban, the loss of football scholarships and the vacating of wins in the 2004–05 championship season. In September 2010, Bush voluntarily gave up his Heisman Trophy.
Anyhow, that’s a completely separate matter.
Bush just completed his ninth NFL season and for whatever reason, Bernstine’s talents did not translate beyond City College of San Francisco.
Jahvid Best
Best’s NFL career was cut short after three seasons with the Detroit Lions because of muliple concussions. Best starred at Salesian High (Richmond) being playing his college ball at the University of California.
Best faced both St. Helena and Justin-Siena High in 2004, and the former again in 2005.
In 2004 when facing both St. Helena and Justin, Best was the second-best running back in both games. St. Helena’s Robert Covey rushed for a school-record 266 yards on 29 carries and five touchdowns. In that same contest, Best (then a sophomore) rushed for 89 yards on 16 carries, including a 63-yard touchdown. I remember covering that game, and Covey looked like a high school version of John Riggins.
Later that season in a 68-14 loss to Justin-Siena (Napa), Best was limited to 46 yards on 21 carries, along with one catch for minus-2 yards. Once again, it was another running back that outshined Best that day — Justin’s Bryan Patton, who had 149 yards on just nine carries and two scores.
The point of my rambling — yes, we live in a world where people like to make snap judgments, but just remember that resumes are a body of work over a period of time, not just one game.
