Josh Niblett should be ashamed of himself. Not for taking his shirt off in the middle of a Hoover High School pep rally (well, that too). But he and everyone else at Hoover should be ashamed of themselves for scheduling tonight’s game against IMG Academy.
It’s a selfish move and an attention-grab at the expense of real high school football.
IMG Academy brings to Alabama the greatest collection of high school-age football players in the country. But they’re not really a high school team. They don’t play for any championships. They don’t fall under any guidelines that real high school football teams face.
IMG Academy simply pillages the one great linebacker from this high school in Louisiana, and the one great running back from that high school in Tennessee to assemble a made-for-TV product.
It’s all fun and games until the best player in Hoover decides he wants to leave his high school to join the all-star team. It’s even more damaging when a player leaves a school like Austin in Decatur, which has a running back like Asa Martin come along one every few decades.
Martin left Austin for IMG but returned home for his senior season. Austin just completed a perfect 10-0 season and will enter the 6A playoffs ranked No. 1.
This Austin team nearly had their storybook season ruined by an interloper. Programs in Alabama don’t need to be providing the interlopers publicity to help do it again.
For Threaded Fasteners, I’m Randy Kennedy with Nuts and Bolts of the Game.
