Originally posted by skipper5
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Still, I'm hesitant to throw out the old "join the military" "conventional wisdom". My father threw out that line and my older brother took it and, surprise, surprise ended up in the jungles of Vietnam. He came back, thank God, but the experience was a mixed blessing as far as health and psyche. Since we haven't heard much about Sparks' boy over the last 9 months, it's tough for us to even guess if it's something that would fit for him. No longer does the military want to be a dumping ground for kids whose fathers have decided they need straightening out or toughening up. But, by the same token, it may be worth looking into. A local boy from my home town credits it with giving him the time he needed to grow in a lot of ways, and he was a different pitcher when he came out. Wonder what happened to that Tom Seaver kid anyway?
Jet's recitation of the schedule is a good idea, but it may cut both ways. My wife and I were frankly (but privately) pleased that my son didn't make it onto the varsity of the D1 college he's attending - at best he would have been a benchwarmer and would have gone through the same thing he did in HS - no time for extra curricular activities or a real social life, because he'd have to devote all of his time to baseball and studies. On the other hand, for some kids the discipline of a sport combined with a firm hand from the athletic departments tutoring program (or whatever fancy name they give it) can force kids to shed bad habits. I know one fellow - an ex-college fullback with mediocre grades going into Washington University - who figured out he'd better take his studies seriously in order to stay eligible. He ended up at Yale Law School and became a prominent law professor and law school dean.
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