But now that tax season is almost over we are able to breathe just a little and it's also time to get out the lawnmower and forget life's little troubles. The golf courses around Findlay are really greening up beautifully and I suspect that I'll be chasing the little white ball in a few weeks when it drys out. Baseball and softball teams in the area are really hitting their stride right now with some teams playing almost every day by the looks of the boxscores. The big track meets are beginning to pop up on the screen and this year's area athletes look to be rounding into form.......

 

The traffic here on the RC is also much less that just a month ago......Intelligent conversation is more easily found and the topics seem to run much more smoothly. I see that even the football forum guys have scaled back their attacks and are now discussing things more rationally. (hope that's an omen for next season!) I'm sure all of you are aware that the Huddle has relaxed their rules to be more in line with what they are here on the RC......I'm sure it was quite humbling for them to swallow their pride and admit that what they were doing was turning more people off than they could have imagined......they even welcomed back some of their banished members with open arms during this time.....some of the topics posted there make even me blush now.....I can't wait until college football season cranks up in the fall and the banter starts with the anti-OSU vs. Buckeye faithful crowd. It will be must-watch TV......

 

We also have a new sponsor to add to the RC's advertising list. The Great Lakes Soccer Academy has joined us for a few months to help promote their soccer skills camps this summer. If you're a soccer nut click on their link and find out what they have to offer you for the advancement of your soccer knowledge......the GBA will also be with us for a little while longer as the spring and summer basketball tournaments come to a boil in the next month or so. If you're a business out there who's looking to target an audience like ours feel free to send me an email to find out what we can do to help.......

 

I see where Double MM Productions and Zsportslive are also doing a lot of broadcasts of all the spring sports. It's really great to see someone taking a chance on enhancing the exposure of these athletes at a time when no one else is covering them..... On a sidenote, I see where Ottawa-Glandorf HS is inviting some Recruitment Service into their school this week.....now call me old-fashioned, but paying some guy hundreds, if not thousands of $$ to send out information to colleges is a bit much........before any of you fall victim to this I want you to ask them one question.......

1. How many athletes have you sent to the D1 ranks?..........why is this question important?...because if it's D3, all they can give is so-called academic monies......now I ain't the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I know that they make it sound really enticing to a young athlete.........it goes something like this........

 

Say you're thinking of Capital University in Columbus.....very nice school with great academics.......great campus, secure feeling, and pretty good in most sports........$35K more or less to go to school here for one year including room and board. If you're an athlete with good (notice I didn't say great) grades you can probably get around $15-18K in grants.......out of pocket for mom and dad.........$15-20K more or less..........some will get more, some less....but I think I'm in the ballpark with my math......if you don't attend the school the seat probably goes empty also.....college is a business my friend, and if they can get you to pay the above amount it really just goes to the bottom line.....(professors don't get paid per student)........you can also attend a state school (Wright St., BGSU, etc. for around $17-18K per year).....so the out of pocket expense is about the same.......only thing is, the D3 athlete then has to participate in a sport.........enough of the Recruitment soapbox

 

Prom season is also nearly upon us and so I ask our young members to please take it easy.......we all know "it's Prom" but this is not a time to be reckless.......we all remember our times at this very important event in your lives, but I'm just basically asking you to slow down and think it out..........take care and have fun..........but like the guy in Hill Street Blues used to say....."take it easy out there!"...........thanks zoooooom