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The fax is in for National Signing Day

Taylor Made

By Daniel Taylor, For The Miami Student

National Signing Day has passed us once again. High school athletes have now made their college choices known. Fan bases celebrate or retreat to the bars to sip their tear-soaked beer, all because of what some high school kid decided.

But there is still something crazier about National Signing Day.

The fax machine.

High school football players make the biggest decision of their life. They have worked hard, practiced hard, endured injuries and so much more.

And it comes down to this moment: The pick of a hat and the sending of a fax.

Wait, what?

Yes, you know, the piece of machinery that was forgotten in 2003.

The machine that was invented in the 1800s is now used to transmit the most important piece of data in this athlete's life.

Let's start at the beginning, in 1843, with Alexander Bain, a Scottish inventor. He developed a machine that sent electric currents through cable and was transmitted at the opposite end, replicating message. In essence, a fax.

Even if we look at the "modern" fax machine, you have to look all the way back to 1947 when Alexander Muirhead patented his machine.

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I'm sure Bain and Muirhead thought their invention would be used to change lives decades, even centuries, later.

Just as sure as I am that we should render this piece of machinery obsolete. We have e-mail, cell phones, wireless printing, scanners and e-signatures now.

Yet, we still use this 19th century technology.

Why?

Well, it's not mandated. The National College Athletic Association allows scanned signatures. Which may be the first thing the NCAA has ever done right.

But universities across the United States still refuse to budge.

The only sensible thing one can conclude is simply tradition.

Some people still prefer the pony express instead of e-mail. Some still have a home phone, I think, and some still use a cell phone with actual buttons!

That the fax machine still stands firm is amazing in itself.

We live in the age of futuristic uniforms and training. From the University of Oregon's insane uniforms to Marshawn Lynch and his bizarre oxygen mask; the fax machine is the only thing left standing.

Even crazier than the use of the fax machine, is some schools setting up webcams that record every long, drawn-out second of fax coverage. Alabama did it in 2011.

And the fax machine is one of the most imperfect machines in the tech field. It has created some awfully weird situations.

Rich Rodriguez, current Arizona head coach, was at West Virginia and trying to land a Florida recruit who was having a tough time deciding on his school.

He had until midnight to decide. And he finally did, choosing West Virginia. The only problem was his National Letter of Intent (the sheet prospects fax) had expired. Rodriguez instructed him to go to a kinko's and luckily sent it in at 11:15 p.m.

Another story, not directly because of our friend the fax machine, happened in 2013.

Alex Collins, then a four-star recruit, chose to go to the University of Arkansas. His mom was not happy about that.

So, of course, she refused to sign his NLI, rendering it absolutely useless unless the recruit is over 21-years of age. Collins was not. However, it all worked out, as he was able to get his father to sign it. Collins now plays for the Razorbacks.

And maybe the craziest of all fax-related incidents occurred in 2011.

Floyd Raven, a corner, wanted to go to Texas A&M University.

His mother did not want him to.

So, she forged his signature and faxed it to the University of Mississippi.

However, he would ultimately get his way.

So, every February we pay homage to the past.

We dust off the old fax machine and bring it out for another fun-filled day.

It may not make the most sense, but it does create some insanity. And that is the core of college football.

Just like the zaniness that plays out on the field, National Signing Day creates its own magical memories.

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