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Picking the Right School
Published: 2/3/2010 4:08 PM
Last Modified: 2/3/2010 4:08 PM

High school football stars all over the country made their choices on Wednesday.
In many cases, they made the wrong decision.
Kids decide on a college for all kinds of reasons.
Here's a simple rule. Pick the school with thee academics that match your life's goals.
In other words, if you are being pursued by all of the major football schools, but you really want to tackle the toughest academics, then pick an Ivy League school.
Surprise everyone. Take Columbia over Texas. Put on that Harvard hat instead of USC.
So many of these young football stars think they are headed to the NFL. Here's the reality. You probably aren't.
In fact, it is a long shot even for the guys considered five-star recruits to eventually reach the NFL.
So, plan on the alternative. Face some reality. You'll probably be searching for a job with, hopefully, a degree in hand.
That's how you pick a college. Pick the college. Not the coach. Not the best recruiting weekend. Not the biggest stadium.
Plan on a future that doesn't include football. Because, that's the most likely scenario.



Reader Comments 3 Total
Antle (3 years ago)
John you are so right. The majority do think the next level and the odds are so against making it to the pros. The problem is excerbated by the glory of bigger is better, this is a worldly condition driven by the masses. Let's not forget the love of money, it can create all kinds of ill. Whatever happened to the days when you played for the love of the game? Man I loved playing football, snot-knockin' for free, who's the toughest sumbuck on the field. Those were the days, thank God I got my degree.
E.R. (3 years ago)
Good luck with that. When you are an eighteen year old athlete, the idea of life without sports, of being a regular work-a-day citizen (like your parents!) is too horrifying to contemplate. Might as well shoot for the moon, because the day that football (or whatever sport your life revolves around) ends is the beginning of the end of your life.
OSUArthur (3 years ago)
I agree with the sentiment, but not with the specifics of the analogy.

When it comes to several fields (especially anything related to petroleum or energy in general), Texas is a better school than Columbia. The same goes for USC over Harvard. For my field, Texas is far more prestigious than Harvard, though I doubt you would believe it.

I apologize for the diatribe, but state schools verses private schools is kind of a pet peeve of mine.
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Klein's Korner

Tulsa World senior sports columnist John Klein is in his fourth decade of covering sports. He started his newspaper career at The Daily Ardmoreite in 1977 and moved to the Tulsa World in 1978. He served 10 years as sports editor for the Tulsa World before being named to his current position in 2005. He also spent five years as the Southwest Conference beat writer for the Houston Post. He has won many writing awards and is a former Oklahoma Sports Writer of the Year.

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