Would they be greater if?

[xlr8tor]

I know most people tend to respect coaches who put in the second and third teams when they have a comfortable lead. Yet, it appears to some that mixed messages are sent to some of our better athletes. They are told, "do you best," "always bring your A game," "never give up," and so forth, and then they are not allowed to "give it 110%" throughout the entire game. But, that's really not my issue, just another thought that deals with my question. Allow me to use two examples of players, one presently playing and one from the past. Jordan Shipley from Burnet for a present player is a good example. Would he be considered greater if he were allowed to do what he has the ability to do every game, all game? Would he be considered more valuable and more sought after by colleges? Certainly he would have broken some records had he been allowed to play all 4 quaters of the games he has played. Another example is DaBryan Blanton of Forney. I remember calculating his yardage for a season (his jr or sr year, don't remember) and he would have had a monster season rushing and that was not including playoff games. I wonder if guys like these had been allowed to play to thier potential, all game, every game, would the record books look a lot different? I feel certain they would. Would they receive more awards? Would they be better for it? Would they be more sought after by the colleges? I realize neither of these two guys have or are going to have a problem going to the college of their choice, but some have. What do you think? Just my take.

<small>[ September 30, 2003, 06:24 PM: Message edited by: xlr8tor ]</small>

[bellvillefan6699]

if you are good and play on a good team that is good enough to take out their star players every game, then a recruiter will see you. as for the records, that's not what it's all about. bad teams with good players play their good players teh whole game because they don't have runaway victories, their numbers will speak for them.

[3afan2K3]

Ya they might break records but they have a lot more time to get seriously(sp?) injured

[BrahmaMom]

If they play the whole game, every game, that definitely increases the chances of injury, perhaps season-ending injury, which affects those very same stats, especially early in the season. If they are good, the recruiters know about them, they don't need senior year stats. And the recruiters look at scores and know the subs were put in, most of the time. These guys do homework like you wouldn't believe.

[crzyjournalist03]

as far as DaBryan, he didn't get the attention that a lot of people expected, but he's still at OU on an athletic scholarship.

[xlr8tor]

I guess more than anything about this subject is that the record books have a lot of players from towns most people don't know about. And in a lot of cases these players were rarely if ever heard about at the next level. I mean how many people have heard of D.J. Check from Clint, TX? I know where Clint is, but I had to look it up. And I even lived not too far from Clint more than once. And I noticed that some of the greatest running backs aren't even mentioned in the high school record books. On Dave Campbell's web site under the records part of rushing, I couldn't find mention of some of the truly great running backs like Earl Campbell and Eric Dickerson. Billy Sims is on there once as is DaBryan Blanton. I don't think the records accurately show who was truly some of the better players. No doubt, had some of these players been allowed to play to their full potential in all of every game, they would be there instead of some that are there now. I know, more playing time increases chance of injury, but there's always that chance whether on every down of every game. Just an observation. Just my take.

[CatsDen]

I am not a fan of sitting the starters, regardless of the score. If a player is obviously worn out or is nursing a minor injury, then pull him out when he's not needed. Pull your playbook back a little, maybe punt more often, but don't bench the starters. The game may present opportunities to play some of your bench players, but don't yank the starters entirely. I agree that many records would be different (drastically). I also believe that some of the lesser known players would get an opportunity to shine and possibly increase their chances of getting recruitment consideration. If your team has a "stud" RB and you're stomping up and down the field on a team, then give the FB or WR or TE an opportunity to get his name (and stats) out there.

[etcoach]

1. Earl Campbel was only a great high school running back for one year. Before that, he was primarily a defensive player and somewhat of a hoodlum.
2. The all-time rushing leader, Kenneth Hall, RARELY played in the second half of a game. Plus, his freshman and sophomore years, the classification his school(Sugarland) was in, only got to advance to the regional level. So his record could have been much more phenomenal.