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people get funny about things. This entire NIL PORTAL Circus is new to the kids. They are not yet pros in their own minds. They were recruited to colleges with the old “Tradition, loyalty, whatever” pitch. So some of this is ingrained. At least for now.

They are saying what 100 years of tradition has told them they should say. But it’ll change fast. This is, imho a temporary stage in the downfall of my beloved sport. I don’t mean that the sport isn’t going to crash. It’s just that it’s the uncontrolled no rules, no one really knows what to do stage. The next stage will be revenue sharing and contracts of some sort. Then we’ll see the concentration and death of a lot of teams.

What’s left will be anyone’s guess but I’m suspecting we end up with a NFL-lite Super conference where those who want to be pro-employees go. Fine, let it happen and be done. I think it’ll Permanently diminish the fandom of the sport but the $$ will keep rolling in for a long time and eventually we’ll forget it was really ever part of college.

The remaining schools will either switch to some kind of D3 format or just drop sports entirely. And I can live with both of those options as well at this stage. I just don’t want any of it further disrupting that whole academic part the Universities should be focusing on.

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the echo chamber is strong down south.

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I’m still in favor of a 16-team playoff but I don’t expect the first round to be all barn burners. they are the chance for upsets and Cinderellas but they will always tilt toward the big teams. I think what we see this year also has to be filtered through the chaos and uncertainty of portal and NIL. I think the playoffs will stabilize and the round of 8 already looks like much better matchups. But having this first round did mean that teams like PSU went through a vetting process and weren’t just moving on based on eyeballs.

There will always be bad games..the bowl games have been bringing us joke matchups for years. I think this way this at least some enforced quality control because you have to win to move ahead.

Under the prior system teams like SMU and Indiana wouldn’t have even been given the chance to fail.

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he is better than Umass. Everyone is better than Umass. I wish him well he was thrown into a terrible situation.

That being said, he wasn’t the right choice for our long term OC situation. So glad he found a place to land.

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I just can’t agree that having the sport become full time, non-stop mercenary transfer chaos is exciting.

I recognize it as a hot take…but…

I decline to agree.

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Fan comes from Fanatic. Loyalty aka Branding aka Tribalism.

Coke v Pepsi. I’ve seen people pitch a total fit t a restaurant because one was served instead of the other and I know for a fact that the person in question didn’t notice the difference when I passed them the wrong product in a glass in the past.

In other words.. It’s all marketing. We have been convinced as consumers (that is what we are… cheering $$ machines) that our identity is somehow tied to the success of some sports team. We are called the 12th man for a reason…because it makes us FEEL like we matter so we keep participating and paying. If it wasn’t about the money, we would be watching intramurals and sitting on wooden benches still.

I was a season ticket holder for 20+ years…I donated crazy amounts to the CC. And I still enjoy watching my team win so my own lawn needs some mowing here I admit.

Still I find this video puts it back into perspective now and then….worth a watch once a year Sports go sports

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is this how those blue laws that prohibit riding a donkey backwards in town square came into being?

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I’ve moved my donations from the CC to academic departments. I’ve dropped my season tickets and don’t even buy more red gear (though I honestly have more than I have room for anyway).

My viewing of CFB has dropped from 10-14 hours a week to maybe 1 game. And my attitude is rapidly moving into full disinterest.

I’m getting tired of the greed and the lack of team identities and mercenary like attitudes. I’m sick of watching conferences blow up. I’m sad that historic rivalries are simply gone. And I’m bothered that kids in the English department subsidize sports teams where the players are being paid more than professors could ever dream of.

So is it the last straw? I oddly feel like I may be riding it out with Whitt…I’ve had plenty of issues with him these last couple years but I’m also interesting in seeing how the story ends.

But I won’t be spending a dime on it. Which is several thousands of dollars a year back in my pocket …well till I go to buy some eggs or a new computer I suppose 😛

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As Employees the University would have to provide employment protection, manage things through HR, pay taxes, workers comp and be far more responsible for actions and insuring payment etc.

Under NIL someone outside with little or no controls is handing over money.

If they were employees there would be an entirely different set of rules around outside employment, conflicts of interest, etc.

As an employee there would probably be limits or controls on what they could accept as gratuity for performing their University Work.

Frankly employment is both the solution to the current problem AND an end to college sports as we currently know it. It is pulling the final bandage off the wound.

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a lot depends on the conditions of that specific employment. If the players were unionized or under individual contracts, then many elements can be negotiated. Are they independent contractors or actual employees?

If they were employees of the “state” then there are conflict rules that may also come into play. A state employee has to disclose everything and can be denied employment if they persist in something seen as a conflict. So, NIL might fall on either side of that depending on how it was set up. State employees also may fall under gift restrictions and I’m not sure how NIL would be considered. I suspect a lot of attorneys would argue for some time over the specifics when we do cross that bridge.

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