Upon Further Review

And, no, that’s not sarcasm aimed toward one of the most electrifying football players most of the city of Staunton has never seen.

It’s the truth. Because after first saying he was going to go to University of Richmond and throwing an oral commitment down Interstate 64, on Monday, R.E. Lee’s Dae’ Quan Scott said, nah, he’s changed his mind and he thinks James Madison University is a better fit.

Good on Scott. This is awesome.

And what makes it “awesome?“ you may or may not ask. Simple. Here’s a kid, still in high school, who knows he has talent and is taking his future into his own hands. Once Scott joins the ranks of Division I FCS, FBB, Healthy BM or whatever the heck they call the artists formerly known at Division I-AA these days, he no longer will be making his own decisions.

Yep, they will be made for him. And, to top off the fun, the school he plays for will make money off his name, they’ll make money off his successes and they’ll make money off his failures. (You know, when JMU plays some big-time DI school so they, and by “they” we don’t mean the players of course, can pocket some ducats whilst their players get the stuffing beaten out of them.)

Scott won’t see a dime.

Instead, his life will be saddled with weight-room visits, study halls and a little thing called “Making Sure You Get Grades.“ Holding a job to make a little spending money? Yeah, what planet do you live on? Scott’s schedule will be filled up like a four-pound bag holding 10 pounds of pasta.

Yet, if Scott so much as accepts a $5 gift card because he wants to eat a little something more than Ramen Noodles, well, let’s hope he doesn’t take it from a booster or a coach. His playing days will be marred with an NCAA violation hanging over his head.

Yeah, college sports. Yeah, the last bastion of amateurism in America. Yeah, whatever. Take that down the street and try to sell it.

That’s what makes Scott changing his mind so much fun.

If you’ve seen Scott play (and no, most of Staunton hasn’t, but we’ll get to that shortly) and talked to the kid after a game you know the following: Watching him run an offense is fun and exciting and, let’s be honest here, he’s a super cool, very intelligent young man.

He’s got to know every DI-AA (FBC, FCS, BFF, whatever man. Whatever.) football program in Virginia wants him (thankfully, He Who Throws QBs Under A Bus Then Uses His Lack of QBs As An Excuse For Not Winning—- or as you like to call him, “Al Groh”—does not want him) and if Scott wants to change his mind 40 times until he inks his John Hancock on Feb. 4, so be it.

“Look, until his pencil touches the paper, and until next week, nothing is official,“ said his coach, David Tibbs. “It can change again.“

Change your mind again, I say. Throw us all for a loop and tell us you’re not going to JMU, but you decided to attend Hampton. Heck, tell us you’re just going to work full-time at a factory. Really, let the coaches know Mary Baldwin College looks mighty fine for you. Whatever, just keep them guessing.

Good on him. They’re going to make money off you. Why not make them sweat for a little while? This is your decision, not theirs.

And if you’ve met Scott and talked to him for just a minute or two, you know he’s going to make the right decision for himself. And, when you have the talent he has and a head on his shoulders to match, there’s no doubt he’s going to make the right one.

OK, since we’re talking about football in Staunton, I gotta ask: What’s with all this hate (again) for Lee coach David Tibbs? Seriously.

All of sudden, despite coaching the Leemen to back-to-back Southern Valley titles, some Web site has posters hiding behind aliases and ascared to give their real names, complaining that Tibbs—and this is the “complaint” in a nutshell folks—rides his superstars to wins.

Um, well freakin’ duh. HELLO. He’s a coach. And if it weren’t for these mouth-breathing fans putting pressure on coaches —HIGH SCHOOL COACHES (yes, I just all-capped your butt, so what?)— to win games, then calling for their heads when they don’t all the while watching a certain school up around Verona set a dangerous precedent in high school sports (paging Fort Defiance and enablers Jack Tucker and Larry Landes. Paging Jack and Larry. Hello. Anybody home?), maybe Tibbs could play all the little boys and girls on the roster. Instead of, you know, satisfying the whining masses’ lust for victory.

Here’s the bottom line: Tibbs coaches to win because you, as fans, decide that he must win, otherwise you want him gone and you want a coach in there that wins. Then, when he wins, you wonder why he doesn’t play your Pudgy Little Applejohn Jr.? OK, enough. Enjoy the success that is R.E. Lee football. Shut the heck up already or, better yet, put your real name where you alias is.

(Again, let me take this time to point out that some of us—ahem—have to put our names and a big stinkin’ stupid looking photo of themselves over their opinions. Just saying.)

Oh, and Staunton, hopefully this upcoming football season there won’t be a porn-shop trial or 41-year-old murder case out there so, oh, I don’t know, you’ll actually get to see the next electrifying athlete to grace your gridiron. You know, a kid that excels while wearing your high school on his jersey, not his last name.

Again, just saying.