Well, the phone isn’t ringing today. I won’t 
be sending a fax. No official commitments. For the 27th year, I won’t be signing on National Signing Day.
Excuse me as I deal with the disappointment.
OK, I’m over it.
National Signing Day is the human version of deer rut: Sane people go nuts and there are bucks involved. My Facebook and Twitter feeds are full of smack between schools. Never has there been so much riding on the whims and decisions of 18-year-olds. (OK, except war — but that’s important.) Today’s the day that if your football coach sees his shadow, you get four years of good football.
I signed a scholarship when I was 18. It was an Alumni Academic Scholarship to the University of Tennessee. It helped negate the out-of-state tuition I was taxed with since I was from Georgia. My parents were probably the only two people who cared. But that’s what’s really important to me — that they were proud. And I’d like to think it was a good investment for the school. I did lots of cool stuff when I was there and contributed to campus life. I’ve been a decent alumni and love my school. I didn’t win the Heisman trophy, but did nearly with the Pulitzer Prize a couple of times. And I was named the nation’s top editorial cartoonist for my college work.
Excuse me while I finish patting myself on the back.
OK, I’m over it.
I take National Signing Day with a grain of salt. It’s a national holiday when we all celebrate potential. Don’t get me wrong, I pray my team gets good players. But always think of what Coach Terry Cadenhead told me after I was named by the Atlanta paper for having “potential” in football: “Potential is a little French word that means you aren’t worth a damn yet.” Teams are loading up on a lot of potential today. Now, the fun part starts. Let’s see how the signees all turn out.
That’s where championships are won.