What's Up With Wills: Why Signing Day Is Great

Note: Todd Wills writes on Dallas-Ft. Worth high school sports every Monday on VYPE.com By Todd Wills From about the time I was 9 or 10-years old — I'm old and past 40 now — national signing day has always been one of my most anticipated days of the year. It probably has something to do with the year that Johnnie Johnson signed with Texas out of La Grange High School. And it reached a fever pitch in the early 1980s when Marcus Dupree, out of tiny Philadelphia, Miss., picked Oklahoma over Texas. As national signing day approaches Wednesday, there is much to celebrate and wonder about as Christmas in February for college football programs arrives. National signing day is different for me now. The seniors in high school signing national letters of intents are kids I know. High school players I've covered. I didn't have a reporter-athlete relationship with my childhood heroes Johnson and Earl Campbell. That's changed now. Take Rex Burkhead. I've known Plano's "Superman" for four years now. My middle child, Paige, is 9-years old. I've known Rex for half her life. I was at Rex's best games. I was there when his seasons ended in the playoffs against Southlake Carroll, Euless Trinity and Trinity again. I've interviewed him countless times. He practically feels like family. Being this close to the recruiting process also has made me sour on it just a little bit. I'm no scout, but the fact that Burkhead's teammate, Kris Lott, might not sign on Wednesday is astounding. I watched Lott's father Thomas run the Wishbone for Barry Switzer's Sooners. He was a great player. Kris is too. I've watched him make sensational catches. OK, he might not be Larry Fitzgerald, but you would think I guy like the Arizona Cardinals superstar receiver would open up some doors for a receiver like Lott that runs 4.5 40 and catches everything. Or Wylie's Nikita Whitlock. If that guy can't play nose guard in college — and thankfully Wake Forest finally decided he could play for the Deacons — then I'll never try to evaluate another high school athlete in my life. I will commend the NCAA on its ban of text messaging between college coaches and high school athletes. I don't think it's a coincidence that far less high school football recruits have disconnected cell phone numbers when you call them because of the outrageous bills college coaches were running up on them. I also wonder about an early signing period for football. What will it really accomplish? Coaches like Mack Brown and Bob Stoops will just start evaluating sophomores instead of juniors way too early. And the first Wednesday in February? An early signing period would take away a holiday that has been a part of my life for 30-plus years. What's next? The Fourth of July? After all, in March of 1776 American forces captured British artillery from Fort Ticonderoga and General George Washington rushed his Army to New York City, signaling that the American Colonies were prepared to fight for their independence. VYPE HOT 10 TEAMS (records through Feb. 2) These are the teams that currently have the best chance of winning a state championship: 1. Cedar Hill boys (24-2) 2. Duncanville boys (19-8) 3. Mansfield Summit girls (24-4) 4. Plano West boys (23-2) 5. Cedar Hill girls (21-4) 6. Irving McArthur girls (29-3) 7. Carrollton Newman Smith boys (25-2) 8. Madison boys (21-3) 9. Episcopal School of Dallas boys (20-4) 10. Arlington Seguin girls (29-4) VYPE HOT 10 TOPICS The Cedar Hill-Duncanville boys rematch is set for Friday in Duncanville at Sandra Meadows Memorial Arena. Cedar Hill won the first matchup, 68-67, at home and has been the No. 1 team in the area ever since. Something makes me think Duncanville will make a strong statement in the rematch. The Panthers' Roger Franklin has been hot of late, averaging 23 points per game. The key for Duncanville is point guard Reger Dowell. He has to make sure Franklin and Shawn Williams get their looks while looking for his offense when the time is right. A few area coaches have told me that too often Dowell dominates the basketball and that might be a reason for Duncanville's eight losses — of course most of them to elite teams from around the country. Cedar Hill beat Duncanville because of its balance the first time as four Longhorns scored in double figures. The Cedar Hill-Duncanville girls is hardly an undercard matchup on Friday. The Lady Longhorns have been red hot and have wins over Irving MacArthur and Waco Midway. But Cedar Hill's lone loss in its last nine games was a 50-44 setback at Duncanville. So the Lady Longhorns will be looking for home-court revenge. One possible playoff game to mark on your calendar would be the potential Plano West-Arlington Bowie boys game in the regional quarterfinals. Bowie assistant Tom Inman coached at Plano for years and used to dominate Plano West. It was an incident at Plano West when someone at the West scorer's table passed on incorrect information that eventually led to Plano athletic director Gerald Brence suspending Inman for a game last year. Prestonwood Christian freshman forward-center Zach Peters has received a ton of attention for being one of the top recruits in the class of 2012. Peters had a big week averaging 24.5 points in two wins for Prestonwood. You might not have seen it because a certain area newspaper doesn't acknowledge the Texas Sports Writers Association All-State teams, but Allen quarterback Matt Brown was selected as the 5A Offensive Player of the Year. Wylie's Nikita Whitlock was the Defensive Player of the Year and Allen's Tom Westerberg was the Coach of the Year. Brown has been snubbed in the past, so it's good to see a great player recognized. Pitchers and catchers and all other high school baseball players reported for the first day of practices last Friday. Thank God. Is basketball season ever going to end? The positive reports on Plano West junior pitchers Andrew Blum and Robert Huber are very encouraging, and while Coppell is pretty much the consensus No. 1 baseball team in the area, I'm sticking with the Wolves. Blum is only going to improve off last year's spectacular effort in the playoffs on the way to the state title. Huber, who struggled in the postseason, is reportedly back in a groove, giving Plano West the potential for a dynamic one-two punch. FC Dallas Juniors soccer club has a set a terrible precedence by trying to keep their players from playing high school soccer. So it was good to see the three Jesuit players — Nathan Dombrowski, Trey Rayfield and Alexei Reyes — pick their high school teammates for a club team. Look, club teams are great for development and exposure. But this just opens up too many doors for AAU basketball and volleyball teams and whoever else to to try and pressure teammates from blowing off their high school teams. Kyle Geller is an interesting pick as coach at Carrollton Creekview. Geller's Mansfield Summit teams didn't dominate, but he did work for Tim Beck, the recruiting ace now at Nebraska, and that put Geller over the top in Creekview's coaching search. Creekview had a breakout season last year. It will be interesting to see where Geller takes the program in a district with Lake Highlands and Skyline. Did I say welcome back baseball? And softball for that matter. No whistles and you cant foul out. THE RANDOMNESS THAT IS ME If you've read this column in the past, you know I'm a big fan of referees — well about three of them anyway. I hope I'm not alone in the opinion that Super Bowl 43 was mostly ruined by the zebras, and if not for Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald, and Ben Roethlisberger and Santonio Holmes, we would have been mostly deprived Sunday night. This was like watching an NBA game. The refs called everything, but then didn't throw flags for either an obvious holding penalty or a block in the back on Joey Harrison's 100-yard interception return for a touchdown. Those seven points were the difference in the game. Of course it's a bitter pill to swallow for Cowboy fans that the Steelers got ring No. 6 before the Pokes. But easier to take considering the fact that the Steelers are a real "T-E-A-M" and the Cowboys, well, they're a collection of divas starting with their Cabo quarterback. There is no doubt that "24" is my favorite TV show of all time. Here's why: I got hooked on the show during Spring Training of 2003 when I was in Surprise, Ariz. It was my only day off for six weeks and my mom was telling me how good the show was so I went to Blockbuster and rented the first season. I watched eight episodes that day and around 5 p.m. I was bouncing off the walls, so much so I had so I had to stop watching and leave my condo. But I've been hooked ever since. Speaking of "24", there is so much to like about Season 7, but last week's episode dealt with way too much stuff, making it the worst hour so far. "24" is at its best when dealing with only a few issues, but the writers and directors are under a lot of pressure to have more plot twists after a disappointing Season 6. OK, it's time to step up and watch tonight's episode of "Chuck" in 3D. This is perhaps the most clever show on TV and America is starting to tune in — ratings have increased 12 percent since the season premier. Time to join the crowd.