Wednesday, February 13, 2008

SPARQ's flying!


We were in Miami this past weekend because my son was attending the NIKE football combine. It's pretty much a testosterone meat market for aspiring college athletes. They measure you, weigh you, test your strength, test your athletic prowess: speed, power, agility, reaction and quickness (SPARQ), and at the end of it all they give you a grade that measures where you are, relative to the competition. The NIKE combine is seen as somewhat of an indicator as to whether or not you should continue to pursue a D1 athletic scholarship or focus completely on figuring out ways to pay off your student loans when you're done with college.



The top ranked guy at the combine scored a SPARQ rating of 116. Now let's not get technical and start a discussion about what goes into how they tabulate the score. For the purposes of our discussion today let's just say a 116 rating is... well, quite frankly, unbelievable! Pretty much every D1 school would be lining up to sign an athlete like that to their program. There were people who scored in the 20's on their SPARQ rating and the lowest score was actually a 12.7. If you're currently a junior in high school and you score less than a 68 on your rating, you should probably consider pursuing things other than athletics. I was thrilled to find out that my son scored a 91.4 on his rating. He was the top ranked defensive lineman at the combine and twenty-first ranked over all player (more than a thousand participated). At 6' 3" and 235 pounds, he has aspirations to get a D1 football scholarship to pay his way through college.


I can't tell you how proud I am as a father to see my son working so hard to accomplish his dreams. It is every fathers dream that his son will be better than him. I dare say that, with his commitment to his faith, his excellent academic work ethic, and his unimpeded athletic drive to become better each day, my son is well on his way to fulfilling my dream while fulfilling his.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Way to go Demi!!! I'm going to have our art department take the pic, turn your shirt red and plop a KC Chiefs logo over the Nike one. I'm mean if you are going to have goals, set them high!

Joseph said...

Eh, Steve, his shirt is red!!! Besides he is probably going to the Broncos if I have anything to do with it. Kansas City Chiefs indeed!!! :)

Anonymous said...

6'3" and 235!! When did that happen!? I remember him running around your WPC office as a little guy when I was in high school! Time goes so quickly - I have a feeling my little ones are going to grow up faster than I can imagine...

Can't wait to hear about his football scholarship down the road! What an awesome guy you & Sola are raising :) Send parenting tips our way!!!
Thea

Joseph said...

Thea, if you blink you might miss a year or so. Time really does go by so quickly. I am considering buying a gun since my daughters are also growing up into young ladies quite quickly. Seriously though, we are really blessed to have such great kids (it's all Sola's doing, I just watch and learn):)

Anonymous said...

Congratulations to you both and praise the Lord!

Anonymous said...

Haha - Eric has already gone gun shopping...partially for home security but having a daughter has made him HIGHLY aware of protecting her...I love that side of him :) She's only 1 1/2! I saw pics of your girls from Hope's birth photos - they are both growing up so fast and are quite the beauties!! With Sola you can't be surprised though...she has always been so beautiful.

Joseph said...

Thanks Thea, if you check out my facebook you'll see albums showing the whole family.

Alison G. Altmayer said...

Congratulations on your boy! If I take Stella to Disney on her 15th birthday I might take a chance and travel a little more to go to The Well :-) You sound such a nice and caring family!

Anonymous said...

There is a college that goes by the name OU and happens to be the best college football team in the land minus a few bowl games. He should consider my Sooners if he can really play. Tommy Harris was a great defensive lineman as a freshman.

Awesome, congrats.

Joseph said...

Alison, you should do it and then have lunch with my family and I after service.

Scott, I don't know about those Sooners, it's been a while since they smelled National Championship so we'll just have to wait and see. Pay attention though, you'll be hearing about him before too long.