<p>i watch some shows and well in one of them the high school kid who is now a junior and plays football just started to be scouted by a recruiter… who’s an older white guy.</p>
<p>the first time the recruiter showed up i just got a bad feeling. he goes up to the kids parents in the stands and compliments their son and gives them his card. then in the next episode he’s inviting himself over to their house! (does anybody else think that’s moving a bit fast?) and when the time comes the kid has to impress him with answers to questions, by dressing nicely and being funny, by showing interest (not only in the school but in the recruiter himself; one of the questions he asks when he’s asked if he has any questions is how the recruiter got to be doing what he does, and this instigates a creepyish exchange because the recruiter seems flattered by the personal interest and comments how most kids just want to know how the parties are) and by, in sum, appearing as a likeable, well rounded individual, more than just a jock. his parents are really anxious about it too, hounding him before the visit on behaving his best and on how important this visit is, how it could decide his future, almost like the guy coming is a “suitor” and the kid is the daughter they are looking to marry off. im not saying that to be provocative or anything, it’s just how it feels to me. </p>
<p>and it’s more than just the guy being old. that doesn’t help it but its really how they interact, its the formalities of it that bothers me, it looks like courting. but i know it’s not that okay! it’s recruitment to A COLLEGE. but then why do i have to keep reminding myself of that?</p>
<p>there’s also the scouting business, how they watch the athletic adolescent boys and “evaluate” them. partly to blame is how the recruiters may be competing with each other to recruit the same kids. when multiple of them are vying for the same kid you’ll have those uncomfortable dynamics. .</p>
<p>and maybe how the show depicts it isn’t entirely fair. i don’t think it wasn’t trying to make it creepy at all. i think it was going for realism. well, maybe it was poking fun at the process and exaggerating that aspect of it. im not sure. but if that’s how it really plays out a lot im just wondering if anyone finds it all a tad creepy.</p>