The Shrine Dog Awards

I went to college at Southern Oregon State College (now Southern Oregon University) and have to admit that I never found too many of the serious students that attended classes and studied in the library daily and focused on all that was academic.  My time was spent going to classes and studying occasionally at the student union and focused on socialization and learning where the cute girls went on Friday and Saturday nights.  I know it doesn't sound real aspiring for someone about to begin their university studies without an idea of what to study, but it's tough not to learn something.  There are so many activities that students can be involved in, especially if they live in the dorms for a year or two, that at the very least one can learn much about oneself.  I participated in many extra curricular activities, such as; the Greek Games, pageants, talents shows (with zero talent), etc.  It was fun getting involved with the student body and campus activities!  One cool thing about college, is you can take sports classes and get actual credits for them, so I enjoyed taking volleyball classes all the time.  Then finally, I tried something really different that I never intended.  I had a friend in the residence halls that was a rugby player.  He and I became good friends and he encouraged me to come to rugby practices and try it.  So, I went, and I liked it.  I played for the SOSC rugby club for a while until a shoulder injury kept me out.  However, Kai and I remained close friends throughout the year and I learned things about him and his quirks.  The thing that stuck with me was that he was from Beaverton, Oregon, and he lived close to a Shriner's Hospital.  It's a weird thing to remember, but I found out when I asked him why he kept calling people a Shriner.  He would tell me and all who would listen that he escaped from the Shriner's Hospital and that's why he acted the way he did with an awkward gait and eyes crossed.  Sensitive people will get offended, but it was just Kai and who he was.  Since leaving college, I have adopted the term Shriner and mostly calling myself such a name.  These days, I'm known at work by some by the nickname, "Shrine Dog".  It is a term of endearment because my other nicknames would have to be edited out of this post.  So this is how the title has come about.

Now, the Shrine Dog Awards is not necessarily a term of endearment in the sense of my meaning.  This self-acclaimed award will be what I give to recruits coming out of high school who may make a decision to attend a university that wouldn't really make sense to anybody but the coach recruiting the young man.  Before I go into some examples of who would be ideal candidates for this award and why I feel they would deserve this honor, I want to make sure that every reader knows that this term and type of award is solely for poking fun and helping me keep track of those schools who horde players at certain positions.  I have no intentions of offending anyone because it would offend me above all else due to the nickname I have gained at work - and I don't think it wise to call an award after my given name (that may be even more offensive than most other things).  So, from here on out, when I mention "Shrine Dog Award" or "Shrine Dog Candidate", my readers will know from where it derives and the meaning behind it.

In conclusion, I will give one example from a couple years ago in the class of 2011.  There were some pretty good quarterbacks out there that year and the number one, according to Scout.com, was Jeff Driskel.  He was the man to get and the Florida Gators picked him up.  Well, the National Letter of Intent day arrived and passed and Mr. Driskel signed his letter of intent and waiting to be the next starter for the Gators.  Then, a few days after the NLI day, the number nine guy, Jacoby Brissett, wanted to finally end all speculation to sign his letter of intent.  Now, instead of signing on with the school that his mother begged him to sign with (Miami Hurricanes), who did not have a single quarterback sign with them that year and hadn't had a quality signal caller in a few years, Mr. Brissett signed on to Florida.  My thought immediately was, "Get your transfer papers ready, Jacoby."  Why would you sign on to a team that already has the number one guy in your class if you want to play and start for that team?  At the time, it did not make sense.  Even now, with Jacoby not with Florida anymore, it makes less sense.  So, for me, Jacoby Brissett is a Shrine Dog Award winner.  He should have listened to his mother and signed with Miami.  Someone needs to educate these high school kids about these huge decisions in life that may make a huge difference in their future.  So, if any of my readers have access to influence any of these highly sought after young men, I will be around to call them out to give them a Shrine Dog Award if they have not thought carefully and analyzed their decision of where to spend their college football career.  This decision making is not something new and I don't see it going away as I look at the 2013 class and the makings of the 2014 class shaping up.  I have some awards to pass out and you will be able to read them in my future blog posts.