Don’t Be a “That Guy” on Social Media

Don’t be “that guy” who….

  • Leaves an open-ended post just waiting for someone to chime in. Confused? You have seen them, trust me, you have seen them. They go like this “Such a bad day, can’t believe that just happened….” For the love of all that is holy man, it is so obvious that you are looking for someone to ask you what happened and, honestly, it is a bit pathetic. If you have to profess your emotional needs on social media, you might need to focus on finding some good friends that you can talk to on a more personal level instead of shotgun blasting a question out that says more about you then you even know (or maybe you do, which is even worse).
  • Posts a #WCW (Women Crush Wednesday, for those not in the know) EVERY SINGLE WEEK. We get it, you have a girlfriend. We are proud of you. High five. If your lady friend needs you to continuously tell her that she is your crush, you must be the worst boyfriend in the world. I am hoping that you are showing her enough affection and attention that she can figure it out more than once a week, on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. What makes this even worse, is when you do it with every new girlfriend you have every other week.
  • Talks about your “GRIND.” We get it, you are working hard. So is everyone else and while you took the time out to “talk” about your “grind” your opponent was probably snapping another ball, lifting another weight, stretching another body part or studying some more film. Be silent about your “grind” and let your actions do the talking on the field.
  • Likes their own post. That is beyond sad. You obviously like your own post as you posted it. Come on!
  • Retweets something you find hilarious but others might find offensive. Remember, if you retweet or repost a moron, you are a moron.

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8 Things Every Parent Can do to Help with Recruiting

Follow these easy steps to make your son and/or daughter a more recruitable athlete…

 

  1. Do NOT overstep your bounds. If I have said it once, I have said it a hundred times….the coach will be recruiting your son and/or daughter, NOT you.
  2. Be very supportive of your son and/or daughter. I know they are going through their teenage years and this one can be tough, but remember, you were once a teenager (even if they don’t acknowledge) and times can be tough.
  3. Make sure your son and/or daughter will actually have a chance to go to college. There are tons of hoops to jump through nowadays, and you want to make sure your child has them all covered.
  4. Create a nice, clean highlight tape that is available on YouTube. Remember, you do NOT have to be an award winning director to create a great video.
  5. Review possible questions that a coach might ask your son and/or daughter. Role play if you will. Make sure your child speaks clearly, slowly and is looking you in the eyes.
  6. Do research on schools and try as hard as you can to take some trips to the schools on NON sports days. Sure, every school looks amazing on game day, but that is not reality. It will only look like that about six weekends per year. Go to the campus on a Tuesday, see what is really like. Go during different seasons so you can truthfully understand the different weather the area might have.
  7. Be sure your son is getting the right type of exposure from the right people. Just because someone tells you something, doesn’t mean it is true. Ask around, ask other parents. Do your homework.
  8. Allow your kid to be on social media, but make sure they know you are monitoring them. Nothing personal to the athletes, but they are young and they are dumb (sorry, it’s true and the reason I know it’s true is because every single adult was also, you guessed it, young AND dumb once as well) and they will make mistakes. The only difference is that when an adult used to be young and dumb, only the people that saw them do something ignorant knew about it. Now, with the onslaught of social media, the world can know about it in less than a second. Even saying that, there are so many benefits to social media for them to be off of it (one of the first questions a coach will ask me, “is the kid on Facebook? Have him friend me so I can contact him”).

 

 

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Rubio Long Snapping is, by far, the biggest and best resource for Long Snappers in the country. Rubio has been featured in the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the USA Today, Deadspin and countless other publications.

Offering the best instruction and most exposure in the world, Rubio Long Snapping can help you to become the best snapper you can be!

In just 15 years, Chris Rubio, President and Owner of Rubio Long Snapping, has become the #1 Long Snapping instructor in the country and the go-to man when a college coach needs a Long Snapper. Colleges from across the country rely on “Rubio’s” word day in and day out on who the best Long Snappers are in the country. Rubio Long Snapping has assisted in over 1,000 Long Snappers earning full scholarships and preferred walk-on opportunities to major colleges and universities just for Long Snapping and many into the NFL as well.

 

 

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With Social Media, Just Think R – U – B – I – O

Read each thing you are going to post at least FIVE times before you post it. If, in any way you can be offending someone or something, do NOT send it out to the world.

Understand that once you press Post, Publish, Share or Tweet, your statement is live, all over the world. Even if you delete it later, someone could have saw it and screenshot it.

Be smart and use common sense. If you don’t have any common sense, find someone that does and have them review your posts before you send them out. (Pssst…even I do this)

Intelligent people tend to post intelligent things. Idiots tend to post idiotic things. Don’t be an idiot.

Only you will be responsible for what you post. Good or bad, it is all on you. Be smart.

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How to get Exposure as a High School Athlete

One of the most common questions I receive is “Rubio, how can I get exposure to the college coaches?” Great question that is easily answered once and for all here….

1. Get yourself to a reputable camp that actually has connections to the colleges. 

It is very easy to make a nice looking website and claim things on the website. The problem is that many sites are simply smoke and mirrors with tons of claims and no actual facts. Do your homework, talk to coaches to see who they recommend, check testimonial pages and speak to others that have attended the camp to see if it is worth your time and, more importantly, your hard earned dollar. You should go to a camp because you know it will be good and worth it, not because it might be good and worth it. 

2.  Make sure your high school coach knows that you are serious about your position and getting to the next level.

Once you have decided that you will stop at nothing to make it to college, you must let your coach know. Tell them that you are going to camps, you work on your position year round and are wiling to do what ever it takes to make your dream a reality. This will impress the coach (as long as you are truly doing what you are saying) and make your name stick in his head when the colleges come knocking on his door. Please note: take your coach’s advice on recruiting to a certain extent. This becomes an issue if a coach pushes someone too high. To clarify, unless your coach is VERY familiar with your particular position, take Long Snapper for instance, don’t rely on his word too much. What this means is that quite often a high school coach will tell a player “You are the best Long Snapper I have ever coached! You are definitely going to college for snapping!” This is fantastic if the coach has actually coached several college Long Snappers. If he hasn’t, you just might be the best of the worst and yet another reason you need to attend quality camps (see #1).

3. Always be in the right place at the right time. 

Let’s say you have a top tier running back on your team and college coaches are always on campus to see if he passes the eye ball test at practice. You have essentially hit the jackpot. ANYTIME a college coach is at your practice, you need to MAKE SURE you just happen to showcase your talent in front of them. If you are a Long Snapper, you should just happen to be snapping 15 yard bullets so they can see you. If you are a lineman, you should be working on your stance and steps. Make them notice you. This is your chance, do not let it pass you by simply because you were shy. You don’t want any opportunity to pass you by. 

4. Create a YouTube channel.

First of all, I like the YouTube channels over other film sharing services for a couple reasons. A) You don’t need an account to view a YouTube channel and B) YouTube is such a large company there is rarely issues with their server(s). The last thing you want is to send your coach a link and either he can’t access it, it is broken or takes way too long to load. With YouTube, you are relatively safe in these matters.

Creating a YouTube channel for yourself is very easy to do, save you tons of time in the long run and always will give you a base to send coaches to see you and your improvement. To make your own YouTube channel simply…

  • Go to YouTube. com 
  • Click create a YouTube account. If you already have a gmail account, you can simply use that. If you are starting fresh with this process it literally takes one minute.
  • Once your account is created, there is blueish profile silhouette of a person in the upper right hand corner…click on it.
  • A drop down menu will appear….click on MY CHANNEL and then press OK, I’M READY TO CONTINUE
  • You will now see a very basic version of what your page will look like. You can fluff this up anyway you want and I would recommend a solid action shot of you in uniform to show how great you are in your sport right off the bat.
  • At the top, just to the left of your name, click on UPLOAD and let the games begin!

You should upload practice and game footage once a week during season and approximately once per month in the off-season. If you are below average at first, that is ok and, don’t erase those videos in the end. Leave them, it shows how much you have improved over time. 

5. Associate yourself with a reputable recruiting service. 

Similar to #1, there are tons of services out there that create flashy websites and claim tons of things when, in actuality, they just take your money and do nothing for you. You want to find a service that can be a one stop shop for you. They should be able to  do research for you about coaches and ways to contact them, send out mass email blasts for you, create a page for you, create a video for you, and have it all go to the right people. If you are true D1 athlete, that is the direction they should send your information. If you are more of a D2-D3 athlete, the majority of your blasts should be sent in that direction. You don’t want to waste your’s or the coach’s time by sending them info if you are not at their level. (Please note: I have encountered many of these companies and one of the best I have seen is NCSA).

6. Create a Twitter account and Facebook page to keep in contact.
 

Most already have one, if not both, of the above mentioned social media monsters and they should. The NCAA has not banned college coaches from using them yet, so it is a loop hole that should be utilized. When you begin to make contact with coaches/recruiting coordinators, let them see your personality, keep your pages clean (yes, parents feel free to monitor them as well) and be sure to send them links to your newly created YouTube channel. 

 

Follow these six steps and you should get all of the exposure you could ever imagine. Now, the ball is in your court to put all of the exposure you will be getting to good use.

_________________________________________________________________

Chris-Rubio-2Rubio Long Snapping is, by far, the biggest and best resource for Long Snappers in the country. Offering the best instruction and most exposure in the world. Rubio Long Snapping can help you to become the best snapper you can be!

In just 12 years, Chris Rubio, President and Owner of Rubio Long Snapping, has become the #1 Long Snapping instructor in the country and the go-to man when a college coach needs a Long Snapper. Colleges from across the country rely on “Rubio’s” word day in and day out on who the best Long Snappers are in the country. Rubio Long Snapping has assisted in over 300 Long Snappers earning FULL SCHOLARSHIPS to major colleges and universities just for Long Snapping and many into the NFL as well.

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Social Media for Athletes: To Embrace or Not To Embrace

Today’s teen athletes are actually very similar to those in the past couple decades. They make good decisions and they make bad decisions. The difference is, now, those decisions are amplified a billion times and spread faster than anything the previous generations could even fathom. An athlete can make a slip up on a social media site and it can be shot around the world with a single click on a smart phone in less than a second.

So, the question arises….should an athlete be involved with social media?

My answer is….ABSOLUTELY….but they should be monitored!

There are several types of social media formats out there. However, I am going only going to discuss only the two head honchos at this point along with the goods and bads of each, for a soon-to-be college athlete.

Facebook and Twitter
– Obviously, Facebook is the big dog of the group but Twitter is gaining steam. Pretty much the entire student body of any high school and college has a Facebook account….and they should. It is a tremendous way to stay connected with one another. If you don’t have an account, I am not even going to explain it to you because you are not reading this and you are currently in a coma.


Facebook Positives
– Keeps people connected. You always get to see what people are up to regardless of geographic location. I live in Northern Idaho, but am easily connected with people in Los Angeles, Chicago, Lousiana, Georgia, Maryland…you get the point. Facebook is a tremendous way to keep up with people. I was speaking to some good friends of mine about how Facebook basically is going to wipe out the High School Reunion market. Why even go? Who doesn’t know what is happening with someone simply through their Facebook account?

Facebook Negatives – Imagine your high school hallway, add that group of really annoying girls/guys that are waaaaay too into themselves and amplify that all over the world. That is what Facebook can be. It is a drama-filled machine, if you let it be. The trick is not let yourself get involved. Don’t comment on someone’s post and you will not be involved. If you have a problem with someone, deal with them directly. Don’t just walk outside and scream it. That would be pointless….side note: that is what making a statement or subtweet (sent out to all, but directed at one) is actually doing. You are making yourself look worse than the person you are attempting to ridicule.

Twitter Positives – You can find out information INSTANTLY and you can spread information INSTANTLY. One click and it is gone, to anyone, in the world, that is following you.

Twitter Negatives – Again, y
ou can find out information INSTANTLY and you can spread information INSTANTLY. One click and it is gone, to anyone, in the world, that is following you. Therefore, you say something ignorant and press “tweet” it is out there. Even if you delete it later, someone will have it on their Twitter account.

Facebook Recruit Advantage
– Still pretty much under the radar from the NCAA so college coaches can use it to contact you without penalty. And, if they can’t, they can have assistants (people that work for the program but usually are not getting paid) contact you as somewhat of a “middle” man.

Facebook Recruit Disadvantage – You take a trip to a school or show some interest. Within a couple days, a beautiful student of that campus “friends” you on Facebook. You are amazed and almost break your keyboard clicking “accept!” Not to burst your bubble, but she doesn’t find you attractive…at all. She is on the athletic staff to “friend” you, then search through your account for any incriminating posts, messages, likes and especially photos. She will report everything you have done back to the coaches. Why don’t you take some time and go clean up your account now:)   Don’t want to or think I’m wrong? Check out this excerpt from an interview with Houston Head Coach Tony Levine (thanks M.F.)

Q: How  do coaches monitor social networks when it comes to recruiting? TL: “We monitor it for all of our recruits in more ways than one: position coaches, recruiting coaches, our recruiting coordinator, I do as well. Two things that come to mind: number one, if they’re taking other visits, it’s a great way to find out. When a kid posts a picture of himself at another school on a Saturday with a jersey on, you know he’s on a visit. The second thing is, what they’re posting. The same kid that we dropped because he took two other visits, on his Facebook page, and obviously I was friends with him — posted things nightly that we’re not looking for in our program”

Q: So a recruit can hurt himself by what he posts on his social media pages? TL: “Without question. And he did. In that respect, I think social media has changed (recruiting) for a number of reasons.”

Twitter Recruit Advantage – Still pretty much under the radar from the NCAA so college coaches can use it to contact you without penalty. And, if they can’t, they can have assistants (people that work for the program but usually are not getting paid) contact you as somewhat of a middle man. Easy way to follow your favorite coach or team and feel like you are part of them. Easy way to find other people in your situation, ie: Long Snappers.

Twitter Recruit Disadvantage Anything you say, anyone you follow and/or retweet represents you. You say something asinine, you look asinine. You follow morons, you look like a moron. You retweet something ignorant, you look ignorant. Remember, whatever you put out there, EVERYONE will see. Someone bad mouths your lady, speak to them directly. You post on Twitter and everyone sees it….NOW! You don’t look like a chivalrous man, you look like someone airing their dirty laundry and no one cares. 

Trust me, I get it, there are tons of VERY funny things out there that I would love to retweet, but I don’t…because I am using my brain. Have common sense. You may get the funny line from a movie or inside joke, but just stop and think if the older football coach might not. Even if there is the slightest possibility that something could go wrong with a message or someone could decipher it wrong, don’t do it!


Would I Let My Kid(s) Have an Account
– Yup, but as stated earlier, I would monitor it. It is the old theory of when a teen learns to drive. You are worried about how they will drive but almost more worried about the other drivers out there. Same difference here.

I would insist that I was their “friend” on Facebook or followed them on Twitter. If they put up a stink about that one because they are still at the “it isn’t cool to be friends with your parents on Facebook and/or Twitter,”  I would say “Ok. No problem. I won’t be your ‘friend’ on Facebook or follow you on Twitter, but then I have to have your accounts password to make sure everything is Ok.” If they still rage, then it is simple. They lose their computer, cell phone or any other way they can access their Facebook and/or Twitter account. You most likely bought them and/or pay their bills (yup, electricity counts) so the upper hand is yours.

Parents, I repeat, you have the upper hand AND you are just trying to help your child for the future. If they don’t get that, there isn’t much they will get.

_________________________________________________________________

Chris-Rubio-2Rubio Long Snapping is, by far, the biggest and best resource for Long Snappers in the country. Offering the best instruction and most exposure in the world. Rubio Long Snapping can help you to become the best snapper you can be!

In just 12 years, Chris Rubio, President and Owner of Rubio Long Snapping, has become the #1 Long Snapping instructor in the country and the go-to man when a college coach needs a Long Snapper. Colleges from across the country rely on “Rubio’s” word day in and day out on who the best Long Snappers are in the country. Rubio Long Snapping has assisted in over 300 Long Snappers earning FULL SCHOLARSHIPS to major colleges and universities just for Long Snapping and many into the NFL as well.

Rubio_Card_frontMAGNET

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