COLLEGE RECRUITING PART 1: From the cradle to the game

Opportunities in life come in all forms. For young athletes who aspire to go to college and receive an education, no better opportunity can come than that of an athletic scholarship.

While schooling is considered the best and most productive way to prepare a young person for the rigors of adult life, the cost of attending college can reach six figures.

For those who excel in sports—and in the classroom, the price tag for a college degree can decrease significantly if the student chooses to put in the hard work required to compete in their sport at a higher level.

In today’s ultra-competitive society, finding these types of opportunities can be difficult. That adds a third element to a young student athlete’s preparation during his or her prep years: getting themselves on the recruiting landscape.

But how does that happen? When and how will college coaches take notice of your child’s athletic skills? When does a top performer on the field and in school begin to think seriously about getting a college scholarship?

The answers vary depending on the sport and the region the student plays in. The days of a college coach showing up on the sidelines with a scholarship in hand are long gone—and only really ever existed in extreme circumstances, or in the movies. It is now up to the student athlete and their parents only, to get educated on the complicated processes involving recruiting for an athletic scholarship. So, if the goal to seek such an opportunity is determined early then the answer is right then and there.

Parents begin exposing their children to organized sports as early as four years old. It starts with local park and recreation activities and often moves into accelerated leagues that compete all across the nation. As the child grows, the time and money invested by the families goes into the tens of thousands of dollars.

There are team fees and high costs for the best equipment. There are personal instructors, trainers, nutritionists and often doctors or physical therapists. Travel ball expenses including fees, hotels, fuel and food quickly mount up. For something that begins merely for fun, it can quickly turn into a life-altering commitment.

This level of competition is not always just the child wanting to play either. Frequently, this involvement is driven by mom and dad.

Kids can be serious competitors, but they do it for fun. They love to play the sports they’ve been involved with since being very young and they enjoy being with their friends. Parents do it for control.

Sometimes it’s a case of the mother or father living vicariously through their child, attempting to create something that they may or may not have experienced during their own youth. Many times it’s as simple as the parents wanting their child to experience the camaraderie and safety of being involved in a positive group setting. The reasons are many and differ from family to family. One thing is for certain, however, expressed or not, the ultimate dream would be to receive a full athletic college scholarship once this road has been traveled.

What doting father, who has spent years coaching, taking time off from work, coming up with funds to travel weekend after weekend, would not fight back tears of pride if his son or daughter were to achieve such a pinnacle? Not many.

The disheartening part of all this hard work can be when it amounts to nothing beyond the fine memories. That might be good enough for some, but not for most.

Often there is a time of realization as a young athlete grows older and faces tougher competition that he or she is just not good enough to go on. That happens. It is the parent’s duty at that point to recognize the end may be near in their kid’s sports endeavors and simply enjoy the moments of watching them participate as they come to a close.

Then there are the ones who are good enough--the kids who are the best players on their teams. The ones who everyone talks about season after season and proudly says, “she’s going to play in college someday.” But will she? Will that opportunity ever come?

If that player or her parents have not taken any steps beyond just competing on the field as their way to get recruited, then the chances are no.

Just playing on a travel ball team and participating in top tournaments in your region, is not enough. That, simply stated, is just the beginning. It is necessary for development as a future college athlete, but it will not get a student recruited for an athletic scholarship. Next time you attend one of those types of tournament events in your child’s sport, take a look around. Behind every set-up of lawn chairs and coolers, is a parent, or parents, grinding their teeth and sweating bullets because their child is going to be a senior and has yet to receive a call from a college.

This is important to digest. Only such a call—or email, or even direct contact from a college coach who handles the recruiting for his or her team, is the indicator that your son or daughter is being recruited. Not the friendly and positive “coach-speak” most will hear at the close of a college camp that the parent paid for, for their child to attend.

The competition for athletic scholarships in college is intense. There is no shortage of worthy athletes. Depending on the sport, schools only have an allotted amount of scholarships to give with hundreds, and even thousands of qualified kids wanting those scholarships.

The larger Division 1 universities, such as the schools in the PAC 12, SEC, or powerful independents like BYU and Notre Dame, hold most of the cards when it comes to recruiting. Because of the high exposure of these schools, they are the most desirable for the serious student athlete. These institutions have the budget to use the most effective recruiting techniques, such as having full-time recruiting coordinators or the use of the latest software to weed through the thousands of prospects to locate the ones who fit their needs.

Many things come into play for these coaches, from the academic standing of the athlete, to the year they will be available, to the position they play on the court or field.

These types of requisites are often broken down by a staff of coaches to identify the top few who will get the chance to visit the school and perhaps offered a scholarship by the head coach.

The smaller schools don’t have these luxuries in some cases and must rely on outside sources such as scouting bureaus, or camps to find prospects they can actually have a shot at attaining.

Standing in the shoes of a smaller college coach, finding the best student athlete for their program--that they can afford, can be a daunting task. They often recruit the blue-chip athlete, but lose out to the bigger schools. Their recruiting boards, for this reason alone, must be much deeper.

A major misconception with the smaller schools, and these are the Division II, Division III or NAIA institutions, is that they do not have the academic or athletic standards of the DI schools. This is not true.

While the number of scholarships may be fewer, the product on the field can be as, if not better than, some DI competition. And let’s not overlook the main reason for going to college… the education. If a D3 or NAIA school is strong in a young person’s chosen field of study, and competes at a high level in their conference athletics, then how could one turn their nose up to such an opportunity? Especially since USC has yet to call.

COLLEGE RECRUITING PART 2: Scoring on the field and in the classroom

The popularity of college athletics has existed nearly as long as the institutions themselves. Embedded in our nation’s history are some of the most infamous moments in sports that took place on the collegiate playing field.

Coast to coast, students, alumni, family, friends and neighbors of colleges at all levels wear their school’s colors with pride. Those who follow the sports teams of their schools are well aware of who it’s players are. They know when one is in their final year and they are aware of who the school has signed to join the team the next. If you follow college sports, this information is readily at hand.

NCAA is big business. It has placed itself in the forefront of going to college, which is, without argument, one of the most exciting things about college life itself.

Let’s not overlook the main purpose for going to college in the first place: to get an education. To perhaps earn a degree in an area of study that will gain employment to set a young person’s life on the right track for future success is the goal of the college institution. Not necessarily to hit a game-winning basket during March Madness.

When a student enters high school, his or her counselor will help devise a strategy for graduation. Which courses to take, when to take them, and at what level, are all things that go into consideration.

If that student is an athlete and participates on one of the high school’s teams, it is in the best interest of the teenager and their parents to make sure the courses they are taking keep them eligible to play in college should the opportunity arise.

It is often difficult to determine when a freshman will blossom on the field. Sometimes a student won’t even make a varsity squad and begin receiving ample playing time until their senior year. To wait and see if this will happen is a lack of planning. There is no harm in being prepared for what might transpire during the student’s athletic endeavors.

It is out of our hands as mere mortals to know when a skinny 5’10” freshman linebacker will blossom into a 6’2”, 225 lb all-region player as a senior. Why not be prepared for that?

Just as it is on the academic end—as far as planning a course of study for college, it is just as imperative to plan for the possibility of playing a sport in college. Not doing so could be eliminating possibilities unforeseen when getting a child going once they enter their prep years.

Receiving athletic scholarship consideration at a university is not an easy thing to acquire. If a female is already the top sprinter on her track team as a high school freshman and has tremendous potential, due to work ethic along with natural ability, then that track scholarship becomes a little more in focus early on.

In a team sport, such as track or wrestling, where individual performances decide the success of the team, college coaches can spot these talents easier than say that of a midfielder on the soccer team.

No matter the athletic situation, however, colleges rely on players being students. NCAA eligibility, accumulative grade point average, and ACT or SAT scores are generally among the first questions a student athlete will get when confronted by an interested college coach. Height, weight, graduation year and three-pointers scored in conference games are all statistics easily found by a college coach. A serious student athlete should be ready to rattle off some very good academic numbers to keep those initial conversations going.

Good students reflect well on a university, more so than a good athlete. Only a small percentage of the student body makes up its athletic teams. And only a small percentage of those participants make up the contributing players on those teams.

It is naïve to place the future of a young student in the hands of chance.

If playing football on the D1 level was an obvious destination for a high school player, then that would more times than not be determined before his junior year. Rarely does a school participating on a high level of athletics have athletic dollars remaining after a preps senior season.

If an opportunity such as that arises late in the game, that player must show records of being an excellent student if any scholarship assistance is to be offered.

Egos must be put to rest at this time. Academic scholarship money is the same as athletic scholarship money. It is green and it pays the astronomical college bills.

COLLEGE RECRUITING PART 3: The time is now!

Graduating from high school and moving on to attend college is one of those rare moments in life when a young student athlete and his or her parents feel a definite shift in their destinies.

Behind them now are all the wonderful years of recreation league ball. The bragging rights that come along with competing in accelerated travel tournaments are all in the past.

Making the high school team, being named a captain, receiving a varsity letter and ultimately getting that diploma, are all now moments set in stone.

Ready or not, the future is now.

If your new graduate is all set for a summer of relaxation and fun, perhaps even a rewarding vacation in the plans, and has already been given a time to meet with his or her college academic counselor and a date to report to their new coach, then you as a parent, and your student athlete have done the necessary work.

If you are still wondering how to get your son or daughter on a college team at this time, then you may have underestimated the need to take the very important steps needed in the recruiting game.

Chances are, at this point, that only a junior college, and an out-of-state one, at that, is the only option ahead. And even then, in the state of Utah, where there are only three junior college institutions, that can be a tall order.

The NJCAA is an excellent organization, however. Not all students are ready, athletically or academically, to compete at a D1 or D2 university. Junior colleges are well worth their weight in gold in these circumstances.

The only crime in this scenario is if the student athlete has the ability to play at a higher collegiate level right away, or worse yet, carries a high GPA with outstanding ACT scores, and will now have to spend perhaps an extra year of college seeking a degree just to compete on a college field.

And if the junior college is not picking up the tab, or at least half of it, then mom and dad are forced to pay these first year college expenses. This can be avoided.

High school coaches and counselors, along with the excellent administrations that employ such wonderful people, can only do so much when it comes to helping a student athlete advance to play in college.

Their position in a young person’s prep life is to guide them through the high school years. To educate them, to coach them, to nurture them, to help them grow into fine young citizens prepared for the difficulties that college life will no doubt throw in their direction. They are not wholly responsible for finding a student athlete a college scholarship, just as a university is not responsible for finding its graduates a career position once they graduate.

It is up to the student and their parents to educate themselves on how scholarships in college are obtained.

Getting college scholarship assistance is not some big secret—at least it shouldn’t be treated as such. Information is readily available through the counseling departments at the high schools to help students find scholarship opportunities. These, however, are academic scholarships and come in small bunches that the awarded student can apply to his or her college bill. Receiving one or more of these, along with high ACT scores, can alleviate a significant amount of financial pressure.

The only scholarship you won’t find posted on the school bulletin board is the athletic one. It is one of the toughest to get and without knowing how to gain the proper exposure to the athlete’s abilities on the field, and to project to a college coach what they could possibly offer their program, then they are nearly impossible to get offered.

The search for an athletic scholarship can be overwhelming to both the student and the parent, especially without any direction on how to look. A short list of email addresses and cell phone numbers of college coaches given to you by a friend of a friend who once was a neighbor of that coach when they were kids may be a place to start but not near worthy of your student’s college future.

Banking on that, or camp invitations that resulted in a few positive words from a college coach, can be playing with fire. Openings can close and closed doors can unexpectedly open when it comes to athletic scholarships. The best thing to be is prepared from the beginning for anything that could arise.

There is a notion that preparing a student in their freshman or sophomore year for an athletic scholarship is too early. This is exactly when the preparation should begin. Especially if the student is showing signs of being able to play on a D1 level and handle the schoolwork at the same time.

D1 and D2 schools that compete at a high level in athletics are recruiting kids as early as the eighth grade. And while there can be an uncomfortable feeling as a parent, putting your kid out there to college coaches while they are barely into their teens, it is often necessary if getting into a D1 program is the goal.

Coaches often like players they cannot get because they learn about them too late.  Their scholarship money has already been spent for that student’s first eligible season. They will often offer a walk-on situation, which, while excites the athlete and their parents, it could be a dead end to the scholarship journey. Once a talented athlete commits to playing on a team on their own dime, it is easier for a college team to hold off on offering any money in subsequent years, banking on that student’s loyalty.

This isn’t to say that a scholarship is never offered in a second or third year after a walk-on year, it just reduces the chances. Coaches do recognize when they can keep an athlete for free.

Their job is to get the most top-tier players they can to be competitive on the amount of money they are allowed to spend. There is a new crop each and every season. The competition for these scholarships never ends. A player who is third or fourth on the depth chart at their position and competing only as a back-up on the team for a percentage of tuition only, may never receive a penny more because a blue-chip recruit will be earning a full-ride in the class behind them.

The most productive way to avoid having a student athlete end up in this situation is to get them exposed to multiple institutions and as early as possible. This puts the choice in the hands of the athlete. If the student is receiving multiple contacts from colleges in their underclass years, then those will most assuredly turn into solid offers once the athlete is of age to commit.

Timpanogos weathers the storm, Wasatch rally

OREM – As far as season opening high school football games go, the contest between the Timpanogos Timberwolves and the visiting Wasatch Wasps had a little bit of everything.

In a game that approached four hours in length from opening kickoff to final gun, Timpanogos held on against a strong Wasatch comeback and took the opener for both teams 25-22.

The game saw two lengthy delays--one for a serious injury in the first half the other for lightning shortly after the second half began.  The weather delay seemed to work in the favor of the Wasps, who came out of the locker room 45 minutes later to threaten the once comfortable lead built up by the T-Wolves.

“We had them late in the game,” said Wasatch head coach, Steve Coburn. “But we made too many mistakes at critical times that cost us. We were the better team in the second half. We won the fourth quarter, we just didn’t win the game.”

Shortly after Wasatch received the opening kickoff rain began to fall. The natural grass field quickly became slick and play by both teams got a bit sloppy, especially for the Wasps, who rely on their passing attack.

Wasatch quarterback, Garrett Davis, had a difficult time early on finding his receivers in the wet conditions and his team was forced to punt on its first three series.

Quarterback Garrett Davis looks for a receiver during the game's first drive just before the heavy rain came.

Timpanogos, however, had no such problem using a ground game that caught the visitors off guard at the line of scrimmage. Halfway through the first quarter, Timberwolf running back Tyler Shade broke through the left side of the line, cut to the outside and scampered 72 yards for a touchdown. David Hurst converted the extra point kick and the home team was quickly up 7-0.

After a Wasatch fumble, Timpanogos took control of the ball near midfield and worked its way just inside the 20. Running back Jake Ware took a first and ten handoff and broke lose for a 19 yard touchdown run for a 13-0 advantage. The extra point attempt by Hurst was blocked.

The Wasps, seemingly on their heals, turned the ball over again on a fumble early in the second quarter giving Timpanogos just over half the field to pay dirt. It was Shade again scoring on a long run, this time 61 yards to put his team up 19-0. Hurst’s extra point kick was no good.

On the point after attempt, Timpanogos’ Ware suffered a knee injury that required the player, who had scored earlier, to be taken off the field by ambulance. Nearly 30 minutes passed, with both squads on one knee, as medical attention was given to Ware.

The Wasatch bench--players, coaches and cheerleaders all took to silence and one knee as Timpanogos running back Jake Ware is taken off the field in an ambulance.

Timpanogos showed no signs of affect after the break and put together another scoring drive after getting the ball back from Wasatch.

Quarterback Tyler Sweeten called his own number from the five yard line scoring on a keeper giving the home team a big 25-0 lead with eight minutes still remaining in the first half. For the third consecutive time, Hurst’s PAT failed giving the Wasps something to build on.

Wasatch would put together its first solid drive of the game after the T-Wolves kickoff. Running back Spencer Heywood delivered a couple of solid runs and Davis used his legs on a few plays and also hit receiver Carson Law with a 17 yard strike to put the Wasps in scoring position.

As the rain continued

to fall, and at a harder pace as the game went on, Davis found tight end Cade Cloward in the end zone for a 17-yard touchdown connection. Sklyler Southam made the extra point kick and Wasatch was on the scoreboard 25-7.

The Wasps, gaining some momentum, put together another drive after a Cloward interception of Sweeten, but could not convert a third and one from inside the Timberwolves 25 yard line. Wasatch would go for a 40-yard field goal, but Southam’s kick would narrowly miss to the left.

After the halftime break, Timpanogos took the kickoff as the rain started to let up slightly. Just over three minutes into the new half, Wasatch forced a Timpanogos fumble giving them the ball with good field position at the Timberwolves 34 yard line.

Mother Nature would again intervene as lightning entered the area and the game was halted. Both teams their coaches and fans were asked to leave the field and seating areas for a mandatory 30 minute wait. During the delay, the storm seemed to let up and there was no serious danger of the game being cancelled.

Once play resumed, Wasatch took the field with a sense of urgency and a nothing to lose attitude.

Its drive from the 34-yard line only managed 17 yards and the Wasps sent Southam to the field again for a field goal attempt. The kick was wide, but Southam was roughed on the play giving Wasatch a fresh set of downs.

Timpanogos quarterback Tyler Sweeten attempts a pass against a heavy Wasp rush.

This time they took advantage and Davis worked his way into the end zone on a keeper giving the Wasps their second touchdown. The PAT was good and Wasatch had life at 25-14 with 4:03 left in the 3^rd quarter.

Timpanogos continued to keep the ball on the ground and was finding it difficult against the inspired Wasatch defensive front. A muffed T-Wolf punt that wobbled out of bounds gave Wasatch the ball at the home team’s 33-yard line.

After failing to gain any ground, Wasatch attempted yet another field goal by Southam, this time a 54 yarder that just missed dropping over the cross bar.

As the rain returned, this time falling in sheets in a blustery wind, Wasatch relied on a pair of turnovers to keep its hopes for victory alive. A Wasp fumble recovery set-up more solid running by Heywood, who finished off the scoring drive with a one-yard burst with 7:37 left in the game. Wasatch sensing a chance to tie the contest on a field goal later, went for the two-point conversion which was converted on a pass from Davis to Law. The Wasps had closed the gap to 25-22.

Timpanogos, looking for a way to slow the Wasatch momentum, took to the air on its next possession and was intercepted by Chase Adams at the Wasatch 34-yard line.

The Wasps, with time dwindling away, went to strike quickly and Davis hit Law for a 38-yard pass that would have put the Wasps at the one-yard line if not for a holding call. It was the straw that broke the camels back for Wasatch as they unraveled down the stretch with consecutive penalties.

In less than a minute they went from possibly having the ball at the one-yard line with a chance to win, to having a 4^th and 51 with virtually no chance to convert.

“This is a tough one,” stated Coburn. “There’s some tears over there because guys know they didn’t make plays when we needed them. We had the chance to win it, but you can’t with penalties, dropped passes and missed field goals.”

Offensive!

Lady Wasps off to 3-0 pre-season start

It hasn’t taken the Wasatch High School girl’s soccer team very long—in fact, less than a week, to offend three straight opponents.

In the season opener last Tuesday in Smithfield, the Lady Wasps bested Skyview in a close contest 1-0.

After a scoreless first half, co-captain Ashlyn Coleman scored on an assist from Ella Ballstaedt and that turned out to be the only score Wasatch would need. Torri Bills played exceptionally in the goal making several great saves to preserve the first victory of the season.

Three days later on the Wasatch pitch, the girls broke out with a four-goal performance against visiting Cedar City and took the decision 4-1.

Junior transfer Hayden Olsen scored her first goal as a Wasp in the first half and freshman McCall Scovil broke a 1-1 tie with her first career goal on the big stage.

The second half was dominated by Wasatch, on the beautiful Tuesday afternoon, attacking Cedar’s goalkeeper repeatedly as the Lady Wasps began to find some offensive rhythm.

Ella Ballstaedt of Wasatch works the ball towards the baseline where she was able to beat the Cedar City defense and score her first goal of 2014.

Only two minutes into the second half, Ballstaedt took control of the ball and worked it into the corner then along the baseline until she found herself positioned perfectly in front of the goal. The junior finished the excellent play with her first goal of the season.

Senior Emily Benson, after coming up empty on a couple of breakaways, found the back of the net for her first goal in 2014.

Coleman, and sophomore Katie Cranney each missed goals by inches on nice shots as well.

On Monday, the Lady Wasps kept their offense intact against visiting former region rival Park City. Wasatch jumped out quick with three first half goals, two by Cranney and one by Ballstaedt.

Scovil, who is showing early signs of being a scoring threat for the Wasp program, punched in her second goal in as many games early in the second half.

Katie Cranney missed on this attempt vs Cedar City, but scored twice against Park City.

The two dominating preseason victories allowed head coach Dawain Wheatley to rest his starters late and get more playing time for some of his reserves.

The fresh varsity legs will be needed as Wasatch begins region play Thursday night under the lights at Timpview, where the Lady Wasps hope to stay hot offensively.

Going Pro... Need YOUR help!

 Hello fans,

A while a go I wrote a nice letter to you all here on In A Nutshell Sports asking for contributions. I truly desire to cast out on my own as a sportswriter and create a website (which is in the works) featuring not only all Wasatch HS sports, but regional prep, college and of course national topics as well.

I think you know by now that I am relentless and will work my tail off to give you and yours the best, most complete and timely sports coverage our area has ever known.

But I need you, kids! The website costs money to maintain and I will need upgrades on all my electronics. Once up and working I will remain diligent in social media to help further build an audience. That will lead to advertising opportunities right here on In A Nutshell Sports if you would like to expand your company's name to my sports reading fan base.

I ask again, and thank those who have already helped, to click my PayPal "Buy Now" button and contribute to my work.

It won't stop, and I will not give up... but with your generosity it can go even farther.

Please use this button to make your contribution in the name of C2K - Contributions To Kenny. Thank You!

A-Rod: Yankees fans will be final judge and jury on star’s legacy

 It has taken awhile, but MLB and its fans might actually be seeing a bit of light at the end of the tunnel. As difficult and ugly as it has been at times over the past 20 years, pro baseball fans have stuck it out. Choosing to remain true to the sport we love despite the repeated letdown of some of our heroes.

America’s pastime, once the timeless and often magical sport of choice for men who simply tossed and hit a ball with a bat, has been in a two-decade long endurance test against the use of illegal performance enhancing drug use.

At first, we looked the other way. Then we began to drop our heads in shame. Eventually we got fed up. Now we stand having grown weary of steroids. Of human growth hormones and sleazy athletic trainers who hide their drug-dealer status behind pseudo-legitimate titles.

Most of us have not missed the likes of Barry Bonds, Roger Clemons or Sammy Sosa. The brand of baseball we have without those players is a safe and happy one. Where baseball was meant to be in the first place.

With the rules getting tougher, penalties more severe, and the cooperation and desire to rid baseball of PED’s by the game’s participants reaching new levels, the sport may finally be on the verge of being steroid free.

There is, however, at least one larger than life obstacle still standing in the path of baseball’s complete resurrection.

It’s been three games since beleaguered major league baseball player Alex Rodriguez has been in uniform for the New York Yankees. Rodriguez returned to his club on the same day he was suspended from baseball for 211 games, covering the rest of this season and all of next.

Only an appeal of Commissioner Bud Selig’s decision to suspend the three-time MVP has allowed him back on the field.

theatlantic.com

 While Rodriguez, for the most part, has said all the right things since arriving in Chicago on Monday for a three game series with the White Sox, he has garnered little sympathy from the MLB community.

Rodriquez’ controversial relationship with Biogenesis of America, a now defunct rejuvenation and anti-aging laboratory based out of Coral Gables, Florida has been well documented. Near to the point of nausea for some.

A dozen other players received suspensions on the same day as Rodriguez. He, by far the largest profile name on the list of substance abuse violators, was the only one to appeal the suspension.

A-Rod, as he is better known, refuses to be made an example of, it appears, feeling singled out with the severity of his punishment. The rest of the gang all took a spoonful of 50 games without pay as their medicine. Except for Ryan Braun, another former MVP, caught with his hand in the PED jar, who received a 65 game ban.

These are the facts of the whole mess. You would have to be living under a rock without high speed Internet to not know at least something about all of this.

So far, Rodriguez’ return has been less than eventful. He hasn’t played poorly—as a matter of fact he hasn’t looked that far out of baseball shape for being off the field for half the season.

He has been cooperative and cordial with the media and has repeatedly used words like grateful and humbled. He has been assessable to fans, signing autographs and taking photos remaining polite despite jeers.

It is damaged image control at its finest and the slugger is so far batting 1.000.

But… he, and his teammates are in Chicago. The true measure of how A-Rod will be perceived throughout the remainder of this season while his appeal plays out will come on Friday night in the Bronx when the Yankees return home for seven games beginning with three against the Detroit Tigers.

It is one thing to be judged by others in your neighborhood, but it’s a whole different jury to face when it comes to your own family. And that is exactly what awaits Rodriguez.

flickr.com

 For those of us who do not live in New York and are not a part of the mystique that surrounds the most storied professional sports organization in history, we can only imagine the reception their current third baseman will receive when he takes the field.

These passionate fans have booed A-Rod on many an occasion. They pull no punches when it comes to letting a player know just exactly what ground he stands on with them—pinstripes or not.

Since his arrival in New York in 2004, Rodriguez’ relationship with Yankees fans has been as up and down as a tuna boat in an episode of The Biggest Catch. Because of his sizeable contract and prima donna reputation, it was difficult for A-Rod to win over fans in the Bronx, despite his production.

But he seemingly earned his pinstripes with solid years on the field and even contributed to the Yankees’ 2009 World Series Championship. Things have gone south from then on, however, as his hitting—especially in the post season, has left New York fans irritable.

With his last sighting in the batter’s box at Yankee Stadium this past October resulting in a strike out and eventual benching, compounded with this year’s Biogenesis controversy, Rodriguez is no doubt deeper in the fan’s doghouse than ever.

www.upi.com

 While most of baseball surely wants to rid itself once and for all of Rodriguez he seems determined to face the music and keep himself in uniform. Jokingly, it may be up to Yankee fans to do what Selig could not… run him out of the game. I’m sure they have it in them.

It will be worth watching to see the reception A-Rod gets when finally standing before the fans who he needs on his side the most.