National Signing Day: Surprises, Scrutiny, and the status quo

National Signing Day....it's considered the college football draft or a convention of pedophiles obsessing over teenage kids. Call it what you want, but it's not going away anytime soon.

Some follow it 365 days a year, but only one day matters. That was today.

- The highlight shouldn't be the SEC having a successful day group wise, but the SEC West alone on paper looks top to bottom the best division in college football.

- Alabama surprised no one, Nick Saban is still doing work in Tuscaloosa and it's not stopping anytime soon. The Crimson Tide gets another recruiting class ranked #1 in the country.

- Gus Malzahn has filled the gap in the pass rushing problem on the plains by picking up some of the top defensive linemen in the country. Auburn could finish with a Top 10 recruiting class.

- Bret Billema is awaiting the signature of Alex Collins after his mother pulled a classless and immature move by swiping his LOI, preventing him from signing with the Razorbacks. I'm sure there's some underlying issues that led to this, but all should be ironed out in the end. I questioned Billema's transition into a new recruiting environment in the SEC where (let's be honest) there's no gentlemen's agreement. He did very well with his first class in SEC territory.

- Ole Miss has obviously taken advantage of their momentum from the end of last season. Hugh Freeze sold a program that hasn't been remotely relevant since 2003 when a future Super Bowl QB named Eli graced Oxford, MS with his presence. Number One prospect Robert Nkemdiche joined his brother Denzel in Oxford with other 4 and 5 star prospects leading to a successful recruiting season and a Top 5 recruiting class. However, with success comes scrutiny. It's not just the message board goobs who talk a big talk anonymously, it's also members of the national media. How could Ole Miss coming off two consecutive bad season and a mediocre one all of the sudden pull in a recruiting class that would make John Vaught blush? The answer has been "They've got to be cheating". If you go to any message board in Alabama, which means you obviously have nothing better to do or you want to see a nice trainwreck that lacks intelligence, you will hear the back and forth of one fan base saying the other is cheating. Some not familiar with Alabama will ask, why is Alabama not being questioned? They obviously haven't seen a comment section on a AL.com sports story or listened to Paul Finebaum. DER CHEETUN PAWWWWL!!!!! (Examples: Cam Newton Bagman, Dre Kirkpatrick's ride, Julio Jones and Mark Ingram's fishing trip, Stanley McGlover getting paid by boosters for sacks, etc, etc, etc) And how many of those actually led to violations. Despite your theories, they were proven innocent. But since a school in the sticks of Mississippi is all of the sudden being able to sell their program and campus, they're obviously paying them. I wouldn't be surprised if Dan Mullen led a charge to point the NCAA in their direction. However, didn't one of his assistants resign for recruiting hiccups? Hugh Freeze is aware of the scrutiny and sent a message to them a few days ago. If Ole Miss is doing something dirty, what about Vanderbilt? James Franklin has to be doing something under the radar, or maybe it was the fact that Derek Dooley just sucked at recruiting.

If you have facts about a violation, send it to compliance@olemiss.edu. If not, please do not slander these young men or insult their family

— Hugh Freeze (@CoachHughFreeze) February 1, 2013

In other words, come at me bro!!! Even though having a top recruiting class in 2008 show major improvement for Alabama, a Top 5 class doesn't automatically mean SEC Championship. Especially the way the division looks top to bottom. However, the Rebels have made a major step in making the program more than just a BBVA Compass Bowl bid.

- Lane Kiffin really sucks at his job. UCLA, which was the whipping child for USC for over a decade, is now on the verge of getting a Top 10 recruiting class. Even with Kiffin's biggest threat, Chip Kelly going to the NFL, the Trojans got worked by UCLA Head Coach Jim Mora Jr and Steve Sarkasian of Washington. Despite Oregon's slip on NSD 2013, it's not as embarrassing as a traditional cornerstone such as USC getting worked by programs that sit in the purgatory of the Pac-12. Did Lane Kiffin pout and walk away from the podium at his Signing Day press conference when someone asked why he let so many talented prospects slip from his fingers to the other guys? It wouldn't surprise me if he did.

The OTM Radio PUT UP OR SHUT UP CHALLENGE

Ever wanted to live your dream as a sports radio host? Think you can do the job better than me? It's time to PUT UP OR SHUT UP. I've introduced the On The Marks Radio Put Up or Shut Up Challenge. I needed a way to say thank you to my listeners in Huntsville and I thought this was the best way possible. Also, to the people who think that I am so terrible, it's your chance to back up your words. However, I'm not just going to give this away. I'm going to make you earn it.

The 1st step is to send me an e-mail (at either jason.marks@cumulus.com or onthemarksradio@gmail.com) with a sports take that is about 2 paragraphs long. I don't want a novel, I don't want to hear about how it's dream or your destiny. I want you to prove it to me. You have until February 16th to send in your entry. I will contact you if your e-mail makes the cut.

If you happen to pass the next step you will get your chance to do an audition where you are most likely comfortable at first, and that's through the phone. You will call in at the time I set up  (so listen to my show or follow me on Facebook or twitter) and you get 3 min (uninterrupted) to talk as if it was your own show. Myself, Ryan, and a secret celebrity judge will give their praises and critiques and then vote you to either advance you to the next round or eliminate you.

The next challenge will be to cut a promo. If you are able to advance to the next round, we will set up a time for you to come by the studio and cut your own promo/commentary (like the overtimes that use to air on the UMP). These will play during the week (Opening Drive, Midday, and Roundtable). I will then set up a poll to vote for the best commentary. Votes can also be place on The UMP's Facebook page. At this rate, we will narrow it down to the best 4 contestants.

When the Final Four is decided, the contestants will get an entire segment to their own in studio (they have the option to do a monologue, bring in a guest, and/or take phone calls. The segment will last 10 minutes for each contestant. They must do an verbal intro and outro into a commercial break. The order will be determined via drawing. I basically get an hour off to just watch.

The Final winner will be decided by vote of the listeners. The winner will win a chance to be my co-host for an entire 2 hour show.

It sounds like a lot of work, but you get the ultimate radio experience the further you advance. Get your entries in and good luck.

*Must be from the Tennessee Valley Area
*Must be 18 years of age
*Do not use profane language, leave that to me
*Have Fun with this. That's what it's for.

Jovan Belcher.....The football tragedy that has now become a political football?

As I was driving to Atlanta for the SEC Championship game, I glanced at my twitter feed on my phone and saw the tragedy that had happened in Kansas City. My reaction was, "Here we go again."

Why?

I think back to the tragedy of Steve McNair. We all reflected back to his warrior like mentality on the football field and being the centerpiece of the Tennessee Titans glory days.

As the smoke began to clear, a dark cloud and sad tragedy became unearthed.

Unless you were a Kansas City Chiefs fan, you didn't really know who Jovan Belcher was. In Kansas City, he was a story about overcoming the odds to be a starter in the NFL, even if it was with one of the worst teams in the league.

Now, Jovan Belcher's name will live in infamy, as the man who murdered the mother of his infant child and then turned the gun on himself in front of his Head Coach and General Manager.

The conversations I've heard on TV and radio talked about the mental aspects of this tragedy, how someone could catch the signs of distress and maybe able to intervene with help before it's too late.

That's the conversation that needs to be had.

We can all look at situations like this and place a scenario that is familiar to our everyday lives. However, the truth is these players live a much different life than we dol

Jovan Belcher may have been a great teammate, but that now doesn't dilute the fact he was a murderer.

To the Kansas City Chiefs credit, they handled it the right way in Arrowhead Stadium before their kickoff with the Carolina Panthers. They held a moment of silence to pay respects to a tragedy, and didn't honor anyone in any way. They acknowledged the tragedy and paid respects to all that were involved and effected.

However, it never ends there, even when it should. The subject in this tragedy turned from the real issue (intervention and being there as a friend, coach, teammate, family, etc. when problems come afloat) to.......GUN CONTROL!

This is where I believe, the conversation gets into stupid mode. Jovan Belcher and Kassandra Perkins have now become a political football to push an agenda.

As witnessed last night in the NBC Broadcast of Sunday Night Football, Bob Costas made a commentary on the tragedy referencing a piece that was written by Jason Whitlock of the Kansas City Star.

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"You knew it was coming. In the aftermath of the nearly unfathomable events in Kansas City, that most mindless of sports clichés was heard yet again, ‘Something like this really puts it all in perspective.’ Well if so, that sort of perspective has a very short shelf life since we will inevitably hear about the perspective we have supposedly again regained the next time ugly reality intrudes upon our games. Please.

Those who need tragedies to continually recalibrate their sense of proportion about sports, would seem to have little hope of ever truly achieving perspective. You want some actual perspective on this? Well a bit of it comes from the Kansas City-based writer Jason Whitlock, with whom I do not always agree, but, who today, said it so well that we may as well just quote or paraphrase from the end of his article.

“Our current gun culture,” Whitlock wrote, “ensures that more and more domestic disputes will end in the ultimate tragedy, and that more convenience store confrontations over loud music coming from a car will leave more teenage boys bloodied and dead. Handguns do not enhance our safety. They exacerbate our flaws, tempt us to escalate arguments, and bait us into embracing confrontation rather than avoiding it. In the coming days, Jovan Belcher’s actions and their possible connection to football will be analyzed. Who knows? But here, wrote Jason Whitlock, is what I believe: “If Jovan Belcher didn’t possess a gun, he and Kasandra Perkins would both be alive today.”

Reading those words, I have to ask one question: What is more deadly? A gun or your mind? If a gun can mentally empower us into making us invincible, wouldn't the mind be more powerful than the gun? I understand in our culture with music, movies, and video games that firearms are very glorified. If guns are the problem, do we get rid of the other outlets that glorify them? If you said yes, you're more stupid than I thought.

What started as a tragedy and turned into a conversation about battling demons with the help of people closest to you, has now turn into a political agenda push that has gone full retard.

That's a shame, because the families of Jovan Belcher and Kassandra Perkins will now be the centerpiece of a new game, and that game is played with the most disengenous rules.

I grieve for the city of Kansas City, the Belchers, and the Perkins family and hope this tragic story can one day help an NFL player who sees a teammate or a colleague in trouble, be willing to help.

However, it's now been tainted with a political agenda.