They wear black and white striped shirts. They throw flags and blow their whistles. And boy do they take a ton of heat.
The life of an official for a sporting event, especially a high school sporting event, is not an easy one.
Chasing competitive balance is a loss cause. It’s like running a cross-country race and never getting to the finish line. Or chasing that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. You won’t ever find it.
And yet, as usual, our high school association in the state of Florida likes to change the playoff format more than it changes socks.
When I saw the news that Georgia had approved NIL for high school athletes, my immediate thought was Florida has to be next.
I know the Sunshine State has long opposed moving into the world of NIL for high school athletes, but with a neighboring state opting to go all in, the pressure is really on for Florida to do the same.
Football is an emotional game and sometimes that emotion gets the best of an athlete.
I’ve seen it happen in practices countless times in my career, often to the point where full on fights have broken out between teammates, and sometimes, tensions rise among a team as well.
Sometimes I forget how small the world is.
Then you get reminded of that as a nurse makes small talk while poking an IV needle into your arm in preparation for a procedure. Nothing major. I’m still alive. I mean, I wrote this column didn’t I?
Indiana Hoosier football coach Tom Allen went and fired off a post-game rant earlier this month about how Friday night lights should be reserved for high school football and nothing else.
I feel like there is this image in the minds of some that NIL (name, image, likeness) is a bad thing for college sports.
And yes, let’s not bury our heads in the sand here. Scandals will emerge as a result of NIL.
Florida touts itself as the king of football in the country, and in some respects, that statement rings true.
The track record of players from here who have gone on to become big-time stars in college and the NFL speaks for itself. Few states have had that kind of success over the years.
Summer flew by like a cross-country runner sprinting hard to the finish line. That means only one thing.
It’s time for another season of high school sports.
