when I was a kid...

I remember watching college football religiously. It was like a drug almost. Saturday afternoons and evenings in the fall, it's what we did... it's what I do now with my family... the cycle continues.

It's very different now though. It's different for many reasons, one is that my step-son is a big Ohio State fan. It creates a lot of tension in our house and my wife has to step in from time to time and threaten both of us with loss of privileges. She usually sides with me but it's only because she like me better. (kidding of course)

A major reason that it's different now is that college football players seem to be more in the spotlight than just on Saturdays for good reasons and bad. just this morning the Lansing State Journal reported that Michigan State junior defensive end Corey Freeman is suspended from Saturday's spring game at Spartan Stadium after he was ticketed Monday for driving with a suspended license, a misdemeanor, and not disclosing to an officer that he was carrying a concealed weapon, a civil infraction.

This on top of the sentencing of players resulting from a bar fight in Aspen, CO and MSU is having a rough year before the season even starts. But it's not just MSU, many college football teams are embarrassed but the "off-the-field" incidents of players.

But who's to blame? Is it the responsibility of the coaches to monitor their players more closely? Is it the players who need to step up and behave better? What are the parents responsibility in all of this?

From birth, parents need to raise their kids in such a way to respect authority, follow the rules and laws of the land and be upstanding citizens. Collectively, the parents, coaches, administrators and the alumni mentors are all responsible to check in on student athletes and help them through their college experience but ultimately it's the players themselves who need to take responsibility for their behavior. It's the law, you're a grown up when you turn 18. This is college but it's also the real world. You are representing not only your family but the University that is giving you an education MANY times in exchange for your performance on the field of play. Appreciate the gift that was given to you and be the student athlete that your school can be proud of.