Back in the 1960s and 1970s, all the craze was to build the most boring sports stadiums on earth: The cookie cutters (the P.C. term was "multi-purpose"), complete with rock-hard artificial turf, boring dimensions for baseball and bad seats for football. But, since two franchises could play in one venue, it was half the price and thus twice as appealing.

St. Louis, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Anaheim, Atlanta, Washington D.C., Seattle, Minneapolis, Cincinnati, San Francisco, New York, Oakland, San Diego and Miami have all had multi-purpose stadiums built in that era that shared baseball and football. What resulted were stadiums that were so-so for football and awful for baseball.

Since then, the economic boom of sports has destroyed the cookie cutter. Of all those cities mentioned above, only six have those same stadiums still in use. Oakland, Minneapolis and Miami are building new baseball stadiums. San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium and San Francisco's Candlestick Park (or whatever they call it these days) is football-only now. And when the L.A. Rams left town, Anaheim's stadium was renovated to be baseball-only.

Well, almost. Angel Stadium actually played host to the CIF-Southern Section football championships in December, squeezing a full football field over the infield and left field of the Orange County venue. On one play, Long Beach Poly quarterback

Morgan Fennel

Some images from that final game, a clash of the unbeatens won by Long Beach Poly over a gritty Tesoro team, are below:

Apologies for the left-field foul pole getting in the way a couple of times. Playing football at a baseball stadium always leads to a few quirks. Thankfully, most cities are starting to correct that misjudgement--at least at the professional level.

It is my great pleasure to finish this blog with a picture of Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Imploding. May all the cookie cutters eventually have the same finish.

The NCAA recently wrapped up the early signing period for college-bound student-athletes.  This signing period allowed basketball, baseball, softball, track and field, tennis and wrestling prospects to sign national letters of intent to formally decide which college to attend.

Early Signing

I played high school ball in Missouri—-one of the few states that maintains softball as a fall sport. I knew my performance each game was under the microscope and that a scholarship offer could depend on it. Conversely, for athletes that play a winter or spring sport, signing early means there’s no pressure to catch the eye of a college scout during their last high school season.

!http://active.typepad.com/.a/6a00d834515ff769e20105361d6279970b-320wi|style=margin: 0px 0px 5px 5px;|alt=Trish Oberhaus Action7|class=at-xid-6a00d834515ff769e20105361d6279970b |src=http://active.typepad.com/.a/6a00d834515ff769e20105361d6279970b-320wi!For college coaches it means they can lock their roster early in the academic year so they can dedicate all of their time and energy to the current season. If they haven’t signed enough recruits to complete their roster for next season, they must worry about continuing the recruiting process on top of coaching duties for the current season.

Seven years ago this week, I signed my letter of intent in a small conference room at my high school in the presence of my family, high school coaches and athletic administration. I felt very fortunate to formalize my commitment to attend Loyola University Chicago on a softball scholarship during the fall of my senior year. It had been my goal to negotiate an offer and make it official during the early signing period so that I could enjoy my senior year without the stress of the recruiting process

Not every student-athlete makes a decision regarding their collegiate career during the early signing period. According to the NCAA, about half of the nearly 20,000 signees from the 2007-2008 academic year signed during the early period. However, signing early does seem to be on the rise. Those 9,805 student-athletes marked an eight percent increase in early signees from the year before.

Late Signing

Athletes that don’t sign during the early signing period need not panic—some voluntarily wait until the late period to sign. The next signing period runs from April until August. The extra time allows recruits who aren’t completely satisfied with their choices the opportunity to improve their situation.

Prospects will have time to scrutinize potential schools and get a better idea of how they might fit into a program for the next season. For example, in my four years of playing there were several major changes to the lineup that took place during the spring season as well as in the summer. We had a talented player get kicked off the team, a head coach accept a job at another school and two of our best and most integral players—-a pitcher and a catcher—-transferred. This drastically altered the composition of our team and program and affected our recruiting needs for the next year significantly.

In addition to seeing how one would fit into next season’s depth chart more accurately, waiting allows an athlete to use their senior season to further their marketability in the eyes of college coaches.

The Future

While I am a proponent of settling the deal early, there are important aspects to consider for both committing early and waiting until the spring to sign. In the end, it depends on the individual student-athlete and how comfortable they are with their decision. Good luck to those that have signed already and to those who hope to in the spring.

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Leslie was playing short and came flying across the field from close to 3rd base all the way over to 2nd base to catch this one! 

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Patrick Aves hit a grand slam for the win at Dreams Park, Cooperstown New York. 

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San Diego Chargers linebacker

Shawne Merriman

-Even in the Beijing Olympics , China track star

Liu Xiang

If Merriman wanted to play through this injury while at the University of Maryland, does that change things? What about during his high school days in the Washington, D.C. area?

It's a gray area worth visiting. Merriman wasn't the first player to ignore a doctor's orders. You can bet he won't be the last.

Michael Husted played professional football for nine years  as a placekicker in the NFL. He is also the co-creator of ActiveRecruiting.com an innovative online video recruiting tool that connects student

athletes with coaches through the use of interactive video profiles.

Choosing the right college to attend is something that will take some

time. You will want to find a school that fits you both academically

and athletically.

The first step is to make a list of 12-15 schools

that you, initially, would like to attend.

I would categorize them in this way:

• Dream schools

• Realistic schools

• Fall back schools

Of course, there could be some overlap between the Dream and Realistic

schools. Having simple categories will help to organize your choices as

you start this process.

Your Dream schools could be a big time college athletic program, like

UCLA, Notre Dame, Texas or Florida. Maybe you have grown up watching

that program, members of your family have attended that school or you

simply like their mascot and colors. There are many colleges that offer

both big time athletics as well as incredible academics, Virginia, Cal

Berkley, Boston College, etc. Therefore, attending one of these

programs would appear to be ideal.

However, you need to be "realistic" with your athletic abilities and

decide if you would get significant playing time by attending one of

these programs. If so, great. If not, then you will need to decide if

just being on the roster is good enough for you. Otherwise, finding a

program, athletically, that will allow you to get a lot of playing time

might be at a "Realistic" School.

Being a "Big fish in a small pond," is something that will provide for

a great college experience. There are dozens of incredible academic

institutions that play at smaller divisions, Amherst, William and Mary

and all of the Ivy league schools.

You have heard or you will hear that "College is one of the best times

of your life." The great thing is that you can do many things to ensure

that you have an incredible experience.

Finally, have your "Fall Back" Schools. These are schools that you

would still enjoy attending, but they are not necessarily the first ones

that pop up in your head. They still combine the academics and

athletics and offer the expected experience.

Do your initial research on these schools, their location (Do you want to stay close to home or leave the state?), student

size, academic offering, players at your postition (How many? When are

they graduating?),etc. Your list and rankings may move around after

your research. Some schools may drop out and some new ones may be added.

Two sites where you can begin your research are:

CollegeBoard.com

NCAA.com

You have to work just as hard off the field, to find the right school, as you do on

the field.*  *

One of the most important questions that you should ask

yourself when trying to select the right college is "If something were

to happen that prevented me from playing my sport in college, would

I still want to be at that school?"

Leveraging your sport to go to college is a great way to be a starter, get an education and have an incredible experience that will set the foundation for the rest of your life.

Once you have narrowed down your school options, the next step is letting them know that you are out there.  The most efficient way is to create an online video profile with www.activerecruiting.com

Good luck!

So you want to play sports  in college? Whether you’re an All-American, All-State, All-District or just a starter  because you were left off those lists by mistake, in order to play at the next level there are mandatory procedures.

The NCAA considers a  Prospective Student-Athlete as “someone who  is looking to participate in intercollegiate athletics at an NCAA Division I or  Division II institution in the future.” To play in college  ALL Prospective Student-Athletes must sign up with the NCAA Eligibility Center.

As of August 1, 2008, NCAA Division I will require 16 core courses. Division II requires 14 core courses, but  will increase to 16 core courses beginning August 1, 2013. View the NCAA  Freshman Eligibility Standards Quick Reference Sheet for more information  on these requirements.

This important step allows for college coaches to verify that you are eligible and provides them academic  information on the student-athlete. You  are encouraged to submit transcripts and test scores (SAT/ACT) for their review. You will be assigned a pin number that they can use to confirm this information.

Just like there are rules to  follow in games, the NCAA is all about rules and guidelines to better serve  student-athletes and their parents.

Once you have registered, it is time to let them know that you are out there. The internet is a great way to create  exposure. Creating an online interactive video profile is a solid way to make that all important introduction to college coaches.

If you haven’t registered  with the eligibility center, do so ASAP.

Through my experience playing in the NFL and being a union

representative for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, I saw first-hand what

happens to athletes when their playing days come to an end and they

haven't prepared for their second career. A very small percentage of

athletes make it to the pros. Of those who do, a smaller percentage

play long enough to retire comfortably for the rest of their lives.

In the NFL alone, the average career is only 3.5 years. You don't qualify

to become an unrestricted free agent (where the big contracts are

usually signed) until you have played four years.

There are a lot of sad stories about pro athletes who didn't prepare themselves

enough for life after their sports career is over. Don't let that

happen to you. It is a long shot to play professional sports. However,

going to college, playing the sport you love and getting a great

education will provide you with an incredible experience that will carry

you through the rest of your life.

No matter what sport you play, your coach develops plays that you use to help the team win. Most

teams have a playbook. Being a student-athlete and trying to have a

game plan for college requires its own "playbook." The NCAA has done a

great job trying to take the burden off of athletes and parents by

creating a game plan to follow. The process to get into college can be

overwhelming. However, using the Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete is a very smart thing to do.

Have you gone to NCAAStudent.org site? It is a really cool interactive site.

It is essentially a playbook with information about being an NCAA

student-athlete.

The site itself was designed to look like a playbook. It is a three-ring binder that "is dedicated to helping you

understand the balance between academics and sports required of every student-athlete for a successful life in school, and out. Here you can learn about the NCAA, download the Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete, and discover how you can go pro in something other than sports."

When you go to the site, the first words that you read are: There are over

380,000 student-athletes, and just about every one of them will go pro

in something other than sports.

I really enjoy the emphasis that the NCAA has put on "going pro" in something other than sports. The

inside folder pocket has an envelope with pictures that open to the

television commercials they have played.

I certainly was not aware of the Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete

when I was in high school and there wasn't an interactive website for

me to review. The site and its design effectively simplify the

information.

This playbook discusses:

• Amateurism-Eligibility Requirements

• Academic-Eligibility Requirements

• Core Course, GPA, Tests, Special Conditions

• NCAA Eligibility Center

• Questions to Ask as You Consider Colleges

• Information for Parents and Guardians

• Details for High School Counselors and Athletic Administrators

• Recruiting Regulations

The media gives a lot of emphasis to professional athletes and thus every

kid wants to grow up to be one. I can tell you personally that although

it is a great experience, it sometimes is not all that it is cracked up

to be.

So check out the site, read it, download the playbook

and follow it. I am confident that if you follow the plays in this

playbook you will be successful.