If you read this blog with any regularity, you can tell I’m a pretty big college football fan and ardent supporter of the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Image Credit: Mike Harding

In this dead time before the bowls many online discussions shift toward recruiting, or should I say, rabid speculation about what decision 17-18 year old kids are going to make about their college choice (and more importantly, who they’ll play ball for.) Maybe I’m dense, but I don’t get the attraction of all this speculation.

They’re great athletes, sure, I get that. You want your team to get the best athletes possible. But these are kids in high school for pete’s sake. Cast yourself back to being 18 years old and tell me how sure you were about college and life choices. I know it was a muddle for me, why wouldn’t the same be true for these people? Just because they’re large and fast and can play football doesn’t mean they’re not afflicted with the normal teenage doubts, fears, and uncertainty about what comes next. They simply don’t have the first-hand experience yet.

I frequent a couple of communities where Buckeye football is discussed ad nauseam and there are daily meltdowns by the community because recruit A is going to school 3 and the team will collapse if recruit A doesn’t recant. There are mean and nasty things said about the kids themselves and their families. It’s really pretty repugnant. So, what’s the attraction? Does anyone have a theory? I guess it drives traffic which drives money, is it that simple?