College Football Puts Limit on Text Messaging Aug. 1

Friday's Frat Boy News Daily Sports Page (compiled by Mike Farrell, The Sporting News)

That silence you hear could be the result of a cell phone not chirping or vibrating when a text message is received.

On August 1, college coaches across the nation will have to change how they recruit top high school football prospects. A ban on text messaging goes into effect that day; however, the ban might not last long.

If you don't know what text messaging is by now, you're likely one of a handful of people left in the world without a cell phone.

The text message is one of the communication breakthroughs of the century, and it has become a huge part in recruiting potential college athletes. However, the NCAA passed legislation earlier this spring that banned all text and instant messages to recruits effective August 1, 2007. This ban is like buying a new car because you have a flat tire -- it's nonsensical.

The ban on text messaging was suggested by the Ivy Group, citing the invasive nature of sending messages to recruits on an unlimited basis. How could kids study if their phones were constantly buzzing or chirping with text messages?

Listening to the Ivy League schools on a matter like this is like turning the NFL into a two-hand touch league because little Jimmy got hurt playing Nerf football in the front yard.

Text messaging certainly needed to be curtailed, with some players complaining that they received more than 100 per day. However, going from 100 messages a day to zero is a bit extreme.

With a lot of hard work and plenty of pleading phone calls, Notre Dame assistant coach Rob Ianello got 34 schools together asking for an override of the ban. Ianello, the chairman of the Division I assistant coaches committee for the American Football Coaches Association, helped convince the NCAA to reconsider the ban.

An NCAA Board of Directors meeting will be held August 9 to consider other proposals. However, this is the same group that voted 13-3 in favor of the outright ban. Because of that fact, many who disagree with the complete ban aren't getting their hopes up at this point.