Slashdot Mirror
YouTube For High-School Jocks
theodp writes "Used to be college scouts had to put in lots of miles to find a hick from French Lick. But thanks to the Internet, athletic recruiters no longer have to traipse out to actual games to find talent. The players are coming to them via links to video streamed from sports-info websites like Student-Athlete Showcase, iPlayers, and GetMyNameOut. The home-video-meets-NFL-Films highlight reels — which parents commission for a fee ranging from $300 to $5,000 — have become a standard component of college applications for jocks (as well as for aspiring actors, dancers, and musicians). One sales pitch: 'Are you willing to risk your child's potential scholarship with a homemade videotape? Remember, first impressions last forever!'"
I wonder if someone could clear it up for someone who isn't an American, what's a 'jock'?
I can see that this would be extremely handy in the US, given the sheer size of the country. Parents should take advantage of any method to get their kid noticed. I do wonder however whether some ripoff sites will start charging nieve parents large fees for poorly made or badly placed video's.
I think the main distinction is team sports. Football, Basketball, Baseball. When I was in high school, those are where I saw the jocks as described in these definitions. Not even the wrestlers acted like that (and our school was big into wrestling, with several of our guys wrestling at the state and national level). Nor did the track, or cross country athletes (of which I was one, as well as being a 'band fag').
Of course not all football/baseball/basketball players were like that, but I didn't see that behavior at all in any other sport.
Fast forward to today. Those adults playing team sports still strike me as dumb jocks vs. those who are runners, triathletes, cyclists, endurance athletes.
Just my observations in the central pennsylvania area. I realize it's likely different elsewhere.
Request your free CD of my piano music.
'nuff said.