By Robin Schuppert

A few weeks ago I saw this article on ESPNChicago.com that mentioned that high school sports will be covered on this website in the upcoming weeks. After reading this, I started wondering if this is a good thing, or a bad thing. Should we be exposing young, high school athletes to this sort of national media attention? Or would it be better to let these young minds develop, and save them from some of the pressure and embarrassment that can come with national attention?

We can all remember some of the most recent high school standouts. Lebron James was on the cover of sports illustrated as a junior in high school, and was already dubbed as “the chosen one”. The other person that comes to mind is Matt Barkley, who was called the Lebron James of high school football back when he was a junior in high school. The fact that some of these high school athletes are made into celebrities at such young ages has had its impact on high schools. “The increasing and intense coverage of high school sports, fueled by media-created rankings that can make celebrities out of 11th graders, has led some schools to hire sports information directors and has led educators to wonder if scholastic sports do not need NCAA – style oversight to protect athletes and academics.” (Hardin and Corrigan. 91)

ESPN, the self proclaimed worldwide leader in sports has now come up with a new branch called ESPN Rise, which is dedicated specifically to high school athletes. The claim to fame for high school sports was always the fact that it was considered pure. But with all this media attention that these high school athletes are getting, can we still say they are playing only for the love of the game? Even Hardin and Corrigan argue, “That high school sports and their relationship with media at the local and national levels are in need of closer scrutiny.” (Hardin and Corrigan, 90)

ESPN is now also showing high school football games of the week, which also adds to the national media coverage these high school athletes are getting, which could cause problems: “An admission from a high school football coach in The New York Times two years ago that he studied marketing and business plans as much as game plans is an indicator of how great the degree may be.” (Hardin and Corrigan, 91)

The move from print coverage to televised coverage is also examined in our handbook. “It is noteworthy that, to date, far more critical attention has been paid to television sports than to sports coverage in the print media.” (Handbook, 291) If the trends continue, and high school sports continue to receive more and more television coverage, then soon we will start seeing more and more of these athletes on TV.

Do you guys think this national attention is good for high school athletes? Does it affect recruiting (OJ Mayo case)? I argue that this national attention isn’t good for these young athletes. As mentioned before, high school sports should be about the love of the game. There are so many possibilities for things to go wrong when these kids start facing the pressure of media. What if they feel the need to use steroids to be even better? What if they start slacking off in school? How can they focus on a math test the next day, when they have a football game being televised the night before on ESPN? We can all remember the ones who survived the early media attention and have excelled at the pro level. Sidney Crosby, Lebron, Kobe and others. But what about the ones who didn’t make it? The one’s who were dubbed as the next great thing, and now are not even known. This media attention affects the schools, the recruiters, and most importantly, the minds of these young athletes. I believe that they should be left alone, and given time to develop properly. Not physically, but mentally. Even Lebron James said that he felt all the pressure, and that it was hard for him to deal with. He said it got into his head, and the heads of his teammates. He should be lucky and proud of the fact that he made it past all that.
There's even a debate online whether or not its good.

The Angels won the AL West tonight again! Let's hope we get by the Sox this year! More on this later...

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-Robin