Let Them Be Kids a Little Longer

My first job as a sports journalist was to cover high school athletics, so I have a soft spot for high school athletes – even though I have since covered two Super Bowls, two World Series, NCAA championships in football and basketball, and countless other sports.

Lest you think I’m bragging, I’m not. I even once covered a horseshoe pitching tournament. It turned out to be one of the most fun experiences of my life.

But I believe high school athletes deserve recognition and publicity where they can get it. However, I saw something last week that surprised me.

Flipping through the channels, I saw a high school football game that was nationally televised. Complete with announcers, sideline reporters, replays… the whole bit. It was a production that rivaled the National Football League.

I was taken aback. Not because I thought the high school athletes didn’t deserve it; but because I didn’t think they were ready.

Not for that kind of scrutiny, anyway.

Yes, I understand it’s a different time and a different era. Perhaps I am too old-school and set in my ways.

In the same week, I read about two college football players who couldn’t cut it in the NFL and decided to go back to college because they had eligibility left. I definitely raised an eyebrow at that one.

That’s not the way it’s supposed to work, I thought.

But, as I said, maybe my thinking is rooted in a different time. I had this Pollyanna-ish ideal of players that was shattered when I got a job in Michigan and covered my first college basketball game. I was told to park in an area of the arena reserved for players and coaches. The players drove better vehicles than I did.

I never thought I would see high school and college athletes getting paid. Then along came “name, image, and likeness.”

Maybe I’m selling our high school athletes short. Maybe they are ready for a nationally televised game. Or maybe I just don’t want them to grow up too quickly.

Rich Thomaselli is a longtime sports reporter in the Hudson Valley, and currently covers Putnam County. He can be reached at rich.thomaselli@gmail.com.