There was a time a few years ago when National Signing Day would come along and by late afternoon, I would fax a list of signees from the sports department to my Notre Dame-loving brother.

If that sounds so 1988, it’s because it was.

There will be no fax machines humming this afternoon with signee lists. By this afternoon, National Signing Day will be nothing more than a bag yawn. In fact, when NSD rolls around these days, it’s already a big yawn.

In an effort to do something that nobody really thought was necessary, there is now an early National Signing Day in December (during bowl season, when college coaches don’t have anything else to do) and a regular National Signing Day, still held on the first Wednesday in February.

Only nobody cares. The vast majority of prospects have already signed and many have enrolled early and flunked/slept through multiple “sports management” tests. Whatever this is supposed to be in February is for the remaining few. It’s mostly those prospects who want a major ego stroke and don’t have to share the spotlight when they pull a hat out from underneath the table.

Gone are the legendary stories of breathless fans who would take off work on the first Wednesday in February just to see who might be signing with State U. No more drunken bacchanals that were held to drum up fan interest. Hardly anybody loses a commitment at the last minute these days which would send fans into an absolute frenzy.

Now, it’s all so neat and orderly and … uneventful. All that’s left are the inevitable quotes from the head coach, stating “We feel really good about this class. We got everybody we wanted and really feel like these young men are going to be outstanding Lions/Tigers/Eagles/Panthers for many years to come.”

Go ahead and fax that quote in.