[tradition]

I have all the respect in the world for JJ Jude . He is an outstanding Jr. high school football player. What I can't stand is all the stupid talk of DI, DII, DII whatevers. Let the boy play football and hopfully choose a college that he is in love with and wants to attend. I have seen way too may athletes choose a college only because they were promised money and everything else only to hate it when they got there. They end up dropping out only to be left not knowing what to do. I understand that many kids can't attend college without a scholarship but what good is it when the kid is misserable and doesn't want to be there. Athletics are great and can take you places if it is the places you want to be. So can academics. Concenrate on both. You never know when your going to need to call on either one to get you where you want to go.

Hopefully Judd will get many offers as well as the other fine players for Johnson Central and they will have an opportunity to choose which college is best for them.

[fewfirstchoice]

Yeah i remember the Couch game i was a Soph. at SCHS at the time. Couch dropped back and tossed that ball to what he thought was a open receiver. But guess what, Scott Davis came from no where and picked the great Tim Couch. It was a great game to watch and great for the SC program.

I agree you cant base a kids potential on one game. But a kid in the mountains needs to impress every game of the year to get looked at by the high D1 schools. An JJ was truly shut down in the SC game. He came out with one good run and then nothing. I wish him nothing but the best and hope he gets a D1 scholly. I just think he will get it in wrestling not football. JJ has to many equals in football but none in wrestling around here. KP SCHS Jr running back is just as good as JJ in football so why arent we talking about him.

[Cardinalfootballguy]

I have all the respect in the world for JJ Jude . He is an outstanding Jr. high school football player. What I can't stand is all the stupid talk of DI, DII, DII whatevers. Let the boy play football and hopfully choose a college that he is in love with and wants to attend. I have seen way too may athletes choose a college only because they were promised money and everything else only to hate it when they got there. They end up dropping out only to be left not knowing what to do. I understand that many kids can't attend college without a scholarship but what good is it when the kid is misserable and doesn't want to be there. Athletics are great and can take you places if it is the places you want to be. So can academics. Concenrate on both. You never know when your going to need to call on either one to get you where you want to go.

Hopefully Jude will get many offers as well as the other fine players for Johnson Central and they will have an opportunity to choose which college is best for them.

:Thumbs:

[Hoot Gibson]

I have all the respect in the world for JJ Jude . He is an outstanding Jr. high school football player. What I can't stand is all the stupid talk of DI, DII, DII whatevers. Let the boy play football and hopfully choose a college that he is in love with and wants to attend. I have seen way too may athletes choose a college only because they were promised money and everything else only to hate it when they got there. They end up dropping out only to be left not knowing what to do. I understand that many kids can't attend college without a scholarship but what good is it when the kid is misserable and doesn't want to be there. Athletics are great and can take you places if it is the places you want to be. So can academics. Concenrate on both. You never know when your going to need to call on either one to get you where you want to go.

Hopefully Judd will get many offers as well as the other fine players for Johnson Central and they will have an opportunity to choose which college is best for them.

:Thumbs: Well said. IMO, most kids are much better off not participating in college athletics if they can afford to turn down the athletic scholarship opportunities. Playing college football or any other varsity sport is physically demanding and it also places a great demand on a student-athlete's time. Unless an athlete has a legitimate shot at a pro career and an overwhelming desire to be a professional athlete, he will be better off focusing on academics rather than athletics after high school.

BTW, I have no idea whether J. J. Jude enjoys wrestling or football more, so my assumption that he will be wrestling on a full scholarship is just that - an assumption. There are personal and financial reasons that a kid might prefer walking on to play in a D1 program over taking a scholarship at another level or in another sport and I cannot say that is not a possibility in Mr. Jude's case. Whatever course he decides, I am sure that he will be very successful after graduation. You just do not often see the kind of work ethic in a high school athlete that has made J. J. Jude such a standout in two very demanding sports.

[Redneck]

:Thumbs: Well said. IMO, most kids are much better off not participating in college athletics if they can afford to turn down the athletic scholarship opportunities. Playing college football or any other varsity sport is physically demanding and it also places a great demand on a student-athlete's time. Unless an athlete has a legitimate shot at a pro career and an overwhelming desire to be a professional athlete, he will be better off focusing on academics rather than athletics after high school.

BTW, I have no idea whether J. J. Jude enjoys wrestling or football more, so my assumption that he will be wrestling on a full scholarship is just that - an assumption. There are personal and financial reasons that a kid might prefer walking on to play in a D1 program over taking a scholarship at another level or in another sport and I cannot say that is not a possibility in Mr. Jude's case. Whatever course he decides, I am sure that he will be very successful after graduation. You just do not often see the kind of work ethic in a high school athlete that has made J. J. Jude such a standout in two very demanding sports.

I agree and disagree. I agree that playing college ball is very demanding and time consuming. For somebody like me, it was very hard with the time because I was one of those who had to really study hard to make the grades. I played at Pikeville College and during the season, it was football football football all the time, it was like having a full time job. I disagree that a kid should turn down a scholarship if can afford it. Although playing college ball was tough, I had a blast playing and made alot of memories and friends that I will never forget.

[The Contrarian]

I have all the respect in the world for JJ Jude . He is an outstanding Jr. high school football player. What I can't stand is all the stupid talk of DI, DII, DII whatevers. Let the boy play football and hopfully choose a college that he is in love with and wants to attend. I have seen way too may athletes choose a college only because they were promised money and everything else only to hate it when they got there. They end up dropping out only to be left not knowing what to do. I understand that many kids can't attend college without a scholarship but what good is it when the kid is misserable and doesn't want to be there. Athletics are great and can take you places if it is the places you want to be. So can academics. Concenrate on both. You never know when your going to need to call on either one to get you where you want to go.

Hopefully Judd will get many offers as well as the other fine players for Johnson Central and they will have an opportunity to choose which college is best for them.

Well said!

I would like to mention, from personal experience, to listen carefully what the recruiter says, verify what he says, and check every source possible, including the veracity of the recruiter. For many of these guys will tell you exactly what you want to hear, and when you get there, it is not as you were told.

Good luck to JJ and all the Johnson Central players contemplating scholarships. For that matter, good luck to all players from Eastern Kentucky
hoping to get a scholarship.

[Bob Seger]

I have all the respect in the world for JJ Jude . He is an outstanding Jr. high school football player. What I can't stand is all the stupid talk of DI, DII, DII whatevers. Let the boy play football and hopfully choose a college that he is in love with and wants to attend. I have seen way too may athletes choose a college only because they were promised money and everything else only to hate it when they got there. They end up dropping out only to be left not knowing what to do. I understand that many kids can't attend college without a scholarship but what good is it when the kid is misserable and doesn't want to be there. Athletics are great and can take you places if it is the places you want to be. So can academics. Concenrate on both. You never know when your going to need to call on either one to get you where you want to go.
Hopefully Judd will get many offers as well as the other fine players for Johnson Central and they will have an opportunity to choose which college is best for them.

Great words of wisdom tradition. One downfall to these message boards is that overly exuberant fans sometimes can lead an athlete to believe that he may be better than he actually is. Two things can happen. 1) the player gets disapointed and frustrated,feels he has failed to live up to everyone elses expectations if the big offers dont come, and ends up not playing at all. 2) Goes to a particular college because everyone else thinks that is where he should go, and ends up not getting to play and is miserable.

Chances are you'll never have the need to call on either one. 99.9% of them will never make enough to buy a cup of coffee to pick playing over the not playing option. The not playing option is way more lucrative in the long run.

[Bob Seger]

:Thumbs: Well said. IMO, most kids are much better off not participating in college athletics if they can afford to turn down the athletic scholarship opportunities. Playing college football or any other varsity sport is physically demanding and it also places a great demand on a student-athlete's time. Unless an athlete has a legitimate shot at a pro career and an overwhelming desire to be a professional athlete, he will be better off focusing on academics rather than athletics after high school.BTW, I have no idea whether J. J. Jude enjoys wrestling or football more, so my assumption that he will be wrestling on a full scholarship is just that - an assumption. There are personal and financial reasons that a kid might prefer walking on to play in a D1 program over taking a scholarship at another level or in another sport and I cannot say that is not a possibility in Mr. Jude's case. Whatever course he decides, I am sure that he will be very successful after graduation. You just do not often see the kind of work ethic in a high school athlete that has made J. J. Jude such a standout in two very demanding sports.

Hard for an 18 year old kid that loves to play, and hates to give it up, but the wise one's focus on what you suggested. Not playing.There may be some memories and good times, but for most kids that challenge of playing and studing is so overwhelming that in the end it puts them so far behind that the playing part is a detriment.

The bulk of scholarships are only partials to begin with. You can send your kid to a state university for less than you can to a private school coupled with a partial athletic scholarship.

[Hoot Gibson]

Hard for an 18 year old kid that loves to play, and hates to give it up, but the wise one's focus on what you suggested. Not playing.There may be some memories and good times, but for most kids that challenge of playing and studing is so overwhelming that in the end it puts them so far behind that the playing part is a detriment.

The bulk of scholarships are only partials to begin with. You can send your kid to a state university for less than you can to a private school coupled with a partial athletic scholarship.

Some sports are more physically demanding than others but all are time consuming, just as some majors are demand much more time than others (which varies greatly depending on the college). I think that the scarcity of NCAA athletes competing in the revenue sports that pursue degrees in technical areas like engineering, computer science, and medicine is a direct result of the difficulty of combining a demanding academic schedule with an equally demanding athletic schedule.

I remember how much attention that former UK and All-SEC football player Dr. Jim Kovach received for playing his final season while attending medical school. Kovach later earned a law degree at Stanford and is now vice-president of a company that specializes in pharmaceutical software. There is no shortage of college athletes who are smart enough to get such degrees but playing sports makes cases like Jim Kovach's extremely rare. But I agree with you. It is hard for an 18-year old to turn down the attention and other perks that come with being a college athlete.