I coached my son through Jr high/middle school in soccer. I remember going to semi/pro baseball games with my father back...when. All enjoyable. That's when a reasonable ticket for a family to a baseball game, didn't set you back a week's salary.
Today's environment is/has become toxic to just pure enjoyment of sport, at any level. High school, college and especially at pro level (bend the knee)...it's more about money and stance, than about the sport.
And if Cox Cable is tracking...they can see I never tune into any pro/college or local games.
I'd disagree. But, I may be misunderstanding your comment.
My grandson plays, and enjoys multiples sports throughout the year - soccer, baseball and basketball. Which in fact, adds other layers of complexity, not necessarily for the good of the kids playing a particular sport.
I don't agree with the focus on just one sport . They are missing out on great experiences with their teammates (if they are good enough to play more than one sport). But "specialization" is a big deal. Travel baseball is a big deal in my town - with kids as young as 8.
Sports used to be, for lack of a better word...fun. Nowadays, it seems that the focus on kids having fun, has morphed into - kids professional path to college/pro sports.
its everywhere. Both my kids excelled at baseball, 1 ended up playing college ball. It was baseball, baseball, baseball. Summer teams traveling around the state. Fall ball. I kept telling them to try out for other teams, football, basketball. Neither of them ever did. Now that there done all I hear was i shoulda played football.
College sports, actually [] college football[,] developed into something outside of the purpose of higher learning and which merely serves the crass goals of those who do not have our best interests at heart. I like playing sports (baseball/softball). My father was one of those super athletes. Personal and team sports are very important for young people (especially those cooped up studying for long hours[)], but I do hope that when the collapse that now seems inevitable occurs, televised, advertised-propagandized college-sport spectating will be gone. Build and rebuild libraries, laboratories, workshops, museums, music halls, art studios and -- yes -- playing fields, but with only meager stands for serious friends and family of those playing the sports.
Dear Mr. Oshinskie, did I say to spend more on colleges? There are too many [ ̷t̷h̷e̷r̷e̷] already as a economic system's holding pattern for youth. There is a better type of economy that can be constructed if the influence of financial capitalism and financial communism are dealt with appropriately. There are many types of training schools, agricultural schools and the like that should be being enabled to flourish. The anti-material ideology, masquerading as green environmentalism is merely the fraudulent face serving a type of de-materialized, central planning that pretends as though addicting the public to dehumanizing junk (cell phones, spectator sports, celebrity obsessions, psyop Holloywoodism, sexual compulsivity, consumerist buying as dopamine hit, war sport, computer gaming, TV-driven gelatinization of the mind, and more!) is somehow indicative of a great economy as long as a few stock prices soar through the roof for a few useless eaters at the top. (Oooo, I like that, "useless eaters at the top.")
No, I agree, cut the number of traditional colleges and develop a few new ones and see if some of the old ones, at least the brick and mortar, cannot be reused by new institutions constituted by real scholars. And, please, no "federal-meddling," contaminating monies.
As far as the other facilities that I mentioned, there is absolutely no reason why every parish or Christian church should not have a library for its members and its children.
Sorry, I replied in the general comment box. Thanks for the reply. Here is what I said: Mr. Oshinskie, I do believe that we mostly agree. I would tweak this a little differently on one point, however. We do NOT have enough libraries and the American Library Association has taken over and corrupted the public library systems as well as university and college library systems.
The "internet world" is not a good answer to non-trackable study from paper books and other hardcopy materials. Plus, there is the human interaction that can occur in a brick-and-mortar library outside of the stacks and reading areas that is very important. This would be far more useful to a developing, self-maintaining culture, economy and nation that extravagant stadii and TV set tuned to the basest behavior of degraded sports fans.
Well, just as fewer people read books now, in the future more people can be reading more. I do not accept the "in-the-current-year" arguments as having any merit or foundational meaning. Frankly, that people run towards and over a cliff, the rest of us need not follow. As a one-time college professor, and now as a concerned Citizen, I consider it my job to make good things happen, to make things that are not, come to be as things that are.
Sadly, I lost interest many years ago. Of course since I am an Ole Miss fan, I still enjoy the every few times they beat Alabama. I was at the '88 game.
I remember sitting in a college classroom when they brought in a football star about 2 weeks after the class started to join us. He would come in, put his head down and go to sleep.
After a couple of days, the instructor woke him up and asked him to leave the room (snoring). He jumped up and started to threaten the old man, when the rest of us got up and made him leave the classroom. All of us had access to hand tools and several of us were carrying hammers. We seriously thought he was going to attack the man.
He was never punished and just moved to another area where he was a failure (but he could run with that ball).
That was in the early 80's. Haven't had much respect for college ball ever since.
My sister attended a major midwestern university in the late 1970s and one of her jobs was to "tutor" a football player through a course required for graduation. Her analysis of him? "Dumbest human being I have ever met". Decades later, my daughter attended a similar midwestern university and had to do the same service for a star football player. Some things never change, they just become more obvious.
The real vulgarity is the fact that while top athletes are getting money thrown at them, students in just about every academic major are having to take on enormous debt just to get through and earn an undergraduate degree.
Yes, and even more than that: Many of these students who have been conditioned to think they HAVE to have a college degree to be successful in life ... really don't. But they have to have that piece of paper to get a job interview at most/many companies, which I think is a form of discrimination.
I'm sorry Bill. I used to love college sports too, especially football. Once I really understood the level of corruption of the entire college system, not just the sports but the academic research and the student debt and everything else, I had no choice but to follow my conscience and walk away from all of it. I've had to do the same with pro sports. I no longer own a television at all. Couldn't stomach paying to be propagandized and brainwashed. Maybe you could start coaching your local kids team. I bet you'd be a great coach.
I used to follow the NFL, NBA and MLB, but that turned me off years ago. All I had was college football and maybe other college sports. The change in the rules in just 4 or 5 years is staggering.
The most pure sport - and my favorite now - might be softball. But I bet those ace pitchers command top dollar!
I completely lost interest in watching college football after they implemented vax requirements or negative PCR as a condition for entrance to the stadiums. Some schools had mask mandates in stadiums as well but wasn't really enforced, though most complied like sheep.
Can't say that I miss it, though I occasionally watch highlights on YT for close games involving top teams. Also got rid of cable in 2021. Happier because of that.
Agree that they are killing college football for reasons you mentioned. The other big issue is the declining enrollment at most universities, with average enrollment drops of about 30% in many colleges/universities from Fall 2019 through Fall 2023. That's more to do with the shots than the typical "demographic changes" or "college is expensive" excuses. The impending collapse of higher education is a welcome development in my opinion. The same for public K-12 education...good riddance, hope they all collapse. Homeschooling is the way.
I'd further your comment above. How do you justify paying the star quarterback without also paying the offensive linemen who protect that star quarterback allowing him to be a star? If those offensive linemen feel they are being deprived their just benefits, they may start missing blocks rather than sacrificing their bodies stopping a rushing defensive end, and suddenly your star quarterback is leaving on a stretcher.
The way college ball is getting in the elite teams does seem to be a reflection of the mentality of the NFL.....I mean most of Florida State's team bailed prior to playing their bowl game - that strikes me as a sort of "entitled" sense individually versus the sake of the team and all the team means over the years.
I agree college ball at least in the "big leagues" is losing its lustre - but there always will be games and teams organized and that can never be taken away by love of mammon.
~
With that said, as much as the NFL pisses me off, I can't help but cheer for the team I loved in my formative years. So - Let's Go Buffalo!
Go Bills - beat the daylights out of the so-called Chiefs out of Kansas City - is that Missouri or Kansas I query!
Go Bills!
~
Best to you Bill - this is a fine article, but we will always have teams to cheer for, to play within, and to coach players individual - that is basic "human 101" -.......
If we've pulled for a team our whole lives, it's hard to suddenly stop caring about the same team ... So I still pull hard for Bama ... but my passion and interest is no where as great as it was, say, 20 years ago or two years ago.
I don't think after a college boy signs up for a team he ought be able to just swap teams like that - that is bullshit. Same goes for the college girls.
Bowl games have lost their prestige with the expansion of playoffs. The bowl game was a big deal before the BCS and you had to win at least 7 games in an 11 game schedule to make a bowl. Plus, with the transfer portal, why risk injury for a rather "meaningless" bowl when everything now is about making the playoffs. Though I would argue playing in the Orange Bowl is still an honor and indicative of a successful football season.
Good point, Alvin. The bowl games used to be a big deal and a real reward for a good season. Now the only star players who play in the post-season are players on the four teams picked for the playoffs.
The new thinking is "Playoffs or bust." That's the way it is in the NFL. The regular season doesn't really matter. The same with college basketball. In the past, "your" team could win eight or nine games - beat your big rival - and then win the bowl game and the fanbase was super happy. They went into the long-season feeling good about their programs and looking forward to next year. Now, it's just "did we make the playoffs." And then, once you get in the playoffs, or the "Big Dance" in basketball, your team is probably going to lose its last game ... and that will be a downer as well.
The bowls allowed half the teams to end the season on a winning, upbeat note. Now the emphasis is only on having a "real" champion ... from a tournament.
Bill, I have the same reservations as well and I have had them from day one. Besides living in LA (Lower Alabama) and supporting the’Tide I see the affects of the TP and NIL as being the death nail of “traditional college sports”. The intent of distributing money to the players is outside of the Athletic Department which makes the entire process beyond the reach of the coaching staff.
College sports will be dominated by 3 to 4 conferences, the rest will be feeding players into those conferences with players that show talent. In short, it farm system is in place.
We will soon see schools, like Vanderbilt, made offers to leave their conferences in order to accommodate schools with better athletic departments.
Scholarly athletes is a thing of the past, we now just need to follow the money.
I'm somewhat unique that I have two "favorite teams" - Alabama and Troy, which represent both extremes of the wealth spectrum.
I think interest will remain high among fans of the "have" programs but will continue to decline among all the far-more "Have Not" programs. This trend will not be good for college sports in general (nor the athletes that play sports at the other minor colleges).
Fairhope... euphemistically known as “No Hope”. Troy was excellent this year, unfortunately Duke eked out a bowl victory over the Trojans as the QB of Duke is from Fairhope HS.
I agree. And disagree. And disagree more than agree. You've stated why you don't like the new rules without really addressing the other sides of each situation. I'll point out what I'm thinking, maybe you will discuss?
1. Portal: good thing, but churn is too high. Need to return to sitting out a year before resuming play.
2. Portal exceptions: Bama will lose at least half of the top 100 players due to Saban leaving. Players enter portal for 2 reasons: the coach(es) they trust with their future left, or they have a better opportunity available.
I'd argue portal eligibility when head coach leaves is a great rule. Coaches leave for millions, sometimes to do nothing (see Jimbo Fisher). And BTW, I'm an Aggie Class of 1985. We lost at least half of our top tier talent (not from Troy, from the very top). And I argue strongly they should have the right to choose without penalty.
Why should college football generate a billion dollars and the stars that create the market get little or nothing?
Lot more on the subject, but I will stop with this: college player churn is now what NFL got with free agency. I ignored NFL for more than a decade bc it broke my player/team bond. And then I watched Brady and DelHomme (sp?) in a long ago Superbowl. Decided I wanted to see the best do in real life what I dreamed of in my backyard as a kid.
Things change. People change. They just need to correct what was changed too much.
Keep the faith. College games will still be exciting, crazy and full of traditions in 20 yrs. As they say about A&M, it's a cult. To some degree, all big time college fan bases are cults. That won't change.
You make good points which are hard to argue against ... if you are a libertarian and believe athletes should be able to make decisions that will benefit them.
I really can't criticize some player for transferring (and getting more money to "help his family.")
Still, in the Big Picture, I do believe this trend will turn off many fans - fan interest will decline over time, which will hurt more programs (and athletes) than it helps.
I also don't think these "exploited" athletes were nearly as exploited as we're led to believe.
They got full-ride scholarships worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. They got 3 great meals a day and free room and board, plus great Swag and got to be the "Big Man on Campus" and play sports they presumably love. They got to prepare for the NFL or pros. They got to enjoy experiences most people only dream about. The trade-off is that they had to be "poor" for a couple more years ... while the coaches were making millions.
These players actually get cost-of-living stipends and Pell Grants so they weren't going without tooth brushes and they could go to Pizza Hut every now and then.
I also agree most (but not all) fans will continue to be passionate about "our" teams. But the teams that are going to be fine are only the richest "Blue Blood" programs - maybe 60 college programs. The catch is that there are thousands of colleges that have sports programs.
Even the bottom 60 of D-I are going to now be perceived as the "minor leagues" and will suffer in the future. I don't know how many programs will give up offering sports, but some will - or they will go back to Division II or cancel sports teams that don't make money.
... BTW, my late father was a college football player at Alabama. A good one. He said the practices were hell and he thought about quitting all the time. Still, he stuck it out and received immeasurable benefits the rest of his life because he was a football player at Alabama. He was poor then just like all of his teammates were. I never heard him cursing because he was "exploited" for four years at Bama. He thought playing football at Alabama was the best thing that ever happened to him. Heck, this helped me in my life. I think some people look at me differently because my late father played football in the SEC. This opened doors for me.
Yeah, no perfect answer other than maybe creating a defacto NFL minor league. Seems to be one of those already.
Aggie Coach E (now DC at Syracuse) convinced many recruits on the 40 yr value of going to A&M. The cult really is strong with us, and for those below the top tier, that will make a lifetime of difference.
Zero disagreement on the value of competing on teams. So many life lessons.
Alabama's roster used to be made up of 90 percent of players who were from Alabama. Today, it might be 10 or 15 percent. But if you play for Alabama and plan on living in Alabama the rest of your life, you are going to have great benefits from having played for your state's highest-profile team. My late father was an example of this.
It's a complex philosophical issue for me as well. On the one hand, what's wrong with paying athletes that make your team a lot of money? On the other hand, this trend will kill "amateur" athletics as we knew it for more than 100 years.
I don't know how you justify paying the star quarterback but not the track athletes. Is it "fair" that Texas can make many of its teenage athletes wealthy, but 99 percent of the colleges could never do the same thing?
The bottom-line for me is that we are probably killing the proverbial goose that laid the golden egg.
I walk my dog down to the local park and watch pick-up cricket every summer. People are screaming and going nuts - the excitment is off the charts and they practice all year. Don't need the government or TV for that. India v. Pakistan is the highlight - the arguing begins as they set up the cones for the field and just escalates...of course, they can never agree on borders LMAO.
These guys are entertainers. They are here to sell snack foods for Frito Lay and Pepsi. The football is a sideshow. Most of the players aren't smart enough to work at Google or Amazon, this is their shot. We need to start identifying talent at the grade school level. Nurture it, so we can sell $150 sneakers to boyz in the hood.
Yes. I grew up with the very original Carnegie Library and Museum across town. We also had branches of the same around town. As I entered my teen years, I would stop in the latter. It was built like a castle and, by the 1970s, had been renovated to retain the beautiful, giant-stone superstructure and had new windows and nice carpet inside. It was a treat to stop in there. It was at the transfer-bus stop between the high school and my neighborhood. I loved the math and science section in the mezzanine. I had no idea what some of the mathematics books were about. But is that not the point? The enticed a curious young boy who had a "worlds-to-conquer" attitude. Not having grasp of the mathematical language with its seductive graphs and formulas only served to make me more curious! And all those biological and medical books!
Now, a few years ago, I stopped in three of the libraries, on a Carnegie library, near my Western, tumbleweeds town. Save one or two almost worthless, trashified examples, there were almost no, and to use the mathematical term, "zero," mathematical books. This is the result of the ALA that I mentioned earlier. That septic organization has been contaminated with Marxist and homosexual ideology. This has turned these libraries into cesspools of sordid, teen-sex magazine racks.
So, we can turn this around. People advocating the destruction of books -- which these lexico-criminals are doing at a rapid pace (literally, please excuse the pun) -- have taken these places over. We need to either form groups to reclaim these institutions where we can, or we need to rebuild the library system. Digital books are a 1984 dream for the oligarchs. flip a switch and the best books and histories are erased. They'll be gone faster than a Columbus or Robert E. Lee statue in Detroit.
I suggested in an earlier comment here that we could promote churches to make the building of libraries a critical task. I do not mean only religious books. In fact, a good church library will allow patrons to read and encounter contrarian ideas (excluding porn and smut, of course, which has no intellectual value). Each confessional group could handle this matter of selection as they see fit.
Library societies and -- in a sufficiently large enough town to draw enough interest -- philosophical societies.
Also, parents need to not only turn OFF the TV, they really should consider getting rid of the TV completely. The internet -- used prudently and astutely -- and reading books and discussing with intelligent people and conversing in coffee shops, are adequate means of revivifying culture around you. Encourage children and grandchildren in these values.
Here is a podcast by a guy with a tortured, non-radio voice with some ideas:
In sort, always have an empty bookcase on hand. Also, give a book case as a Christmas of birthday gift to a nephew or niece. Through in an American Heritage Dictionary for kicks. (Older AHDs from a used bookstore are even better, and they only cost $2 or $8 bucks.) The dictionary is an amazing plaything --- and a serious tool of scholars, like the title that I suggested. Having books around is the start with supportive parents. I you read, the children with read eventually (without being forced.). An old set of Encyclopedia Britannicas (~$10 at a used store) can provide reading for a lifetime.
Try getting architectural drawings from the library (to get the kiddos used to visiting there even if it could be easier from the internet), get some craft board and razor knifes (you'll supervise right?) from the hobby store, and then glue enlarged or reduced line drawings of Greek architectural classics to the boards and cut out. You'll figure out how to make 3-D models. Then this can lead to a child's curiosity about history and the you are off to the races.
Reforms aren’t about social benefit
Climate isn’t about temperature
Pandemic wasn’t about germs
IDs aren’t about security
Voting isn’t about accuracy
They’re about forcing unquestionable compliance up our asses that we are powerless to stop.
It’s about showing us who’s boss.
Messing with our heads.
In a generation or two all will be normalized.
Logic is treason.
Committing crimes, then acting innocent and calling it logic IS about throwing daggers at the heart of humanity.
Yuval Harari and friends want to rip out that heart and eat it while it’s still beating. The question is will humanity stop them?
You are soooo right.
it changes when the pedocrats start getting clipped
it's a version of everyone has a plan until they're punched in the face mixed with how you correctly handle bullies
when enough of them are killed, the rest will learn to act right
Unfortunately, historically that’s the only language they ever understand.
Hard Times Create Strong Men, Strong Men Create Good Times, Good Times Create Weak Men, Weak Men Create Hard Times.
Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia. Seems to be a theme here.
Winston! Is that you?
I coached my son through Jr high/middle school in soccer. I remember going to semi/pro baseball games with my father back...when. All enjoyable. That's when a reasonable ticket for a family to a baseball game, didn't set you back a week's salary.
Today's environment is/has become toxic to just pure enjoyment of sport, at any level. High school, college and especially at pro level (bend the knee)...it's more about money and stance, than about the sport.
And if Cox Cable is tracking...they can see I never tune into any pro/college or local games.
And they expect kids to play a single sport, year 'round. I don't know how kids do it. I would have hated that.
I'd disagree. But, I may be misunderstanding your comment.
My grandson plays, and enjoys multiples sports throughout the year - soccer, baseball and basketball. Which in fact, adds other layers of complexity, not necessarily for the good of the kids playing a particular sport.
That's not how it's done in NJ. The better players in each sport play only one sport. Summer AAU, mandatory off-season work-outs, etc.
Year 'round, or not at all. Coaches demand it.
I don't agree with the focus on just one sport . They are missing out on great experiences with their teammates (if they are good enough to play more than one sport). But "specialization" is a big deal. Travel baseball is a big deal in my town - with kids as young as 8.
Sports used to be, for lack of a better word...fun. Nowadays, it seems that the focus on kids having fun, has morphed into - kids professional path to college/pro sports.
Yep. How many athletes are going to make it to the pro level or even college level? Just play for fun.
its everywhere. Both my kids excelled at baseball, 1 ended up playing college ball. It was baseball, baseball, baseball. Summer teams traveling around the state. Fall ball. I kept telling them to try out for other teams, football, basketball. Neither of them ever did. Now that there done all I hear was i shoulda played football.
Have anyone who believes their son or daughter “has what it takes to be a pro” read Andre Agassi’s autobiography, it’s an eye opener.
College sports, actually [] college football[,] developed into something outside of the purpose of higher learning and which merely serves the crass goals of those who do not have our best interests at heart. I like playing sports (baseball/softball). My father was one of those super athletes. Personal and team sports are very important for young people (especially those cooped up studying for long hours[)], but I do hope that when the collapse that now seems inevitable occurs, televised, advertised-propagandized college-sport spectating will be gone. Build and rebuild libraries, laboratories, workshops, museums, music halls, art studios and -- yes -- playing fields, but with only meager stands for serious friends and family of those playing the sports.
I'm not so sure spending more on colleges is a good idea. Look what the academically credentialed did to us during the past four years.
Dear Mr. Oshinskie, did I say to spend more on colleges? There are too many [ ̷t̷h̷e̷r̷e̷] already as a economic system's holding pattern for youth. There is a better type of economy that can be constructed if the influence of financial capitalism and financial communism are dealt with appropriately. There are many types of training schools, agricultural schools and the like that should be being enabled to flourish. The anti-material ideology, masquerading as green environmentalism is merely the fraudulent face serving a type of de-materialized, central planning that pretends as though addicting the public to dehumanizing junk (cell phones, spectator sports, celebrity obsessions, psyop Holloywoodism, sexual compulsivity, consumerist buying as dopamine hit, war sport, computer gaming, TV-driven gelatinization of the mind, and more!) is somehow indicative of a great economy as long as a few stock prices soar through the roof for a few useless eaters at the top. (Oooo, I like that, "useless eaters at the top.")
No, I agree, cut the number of traditional colleges and develop a few new ones and see if some of the old ones, at least the brick and mortar, cannot be reused by new institutions constituted by real scholars. And, please, no "federal-meddling," contaminating monies.
As far as the other facilities that I mentioned, there is absolutely no reason why every parish or Christian church should not have a library for its members and its children.
Thanks for the comment.
I thought you meant that colleges were going to get the money to build more libraries.
But there are already many libraries and they've greatly de-emphasized books. It's an Internet world now.
How about if governments give less money to colleges and "forgiving" student loans? We need more plumbers and electricians.
Sorry, I replied in the general comment box. Thanks for the reply. Here is what I said: Mr. Oshinskie, I do believe that we mostly agree. I would tweak this a little differently on one point, however. We do NOT have enough libraries and the American Library Association has taken over and corrupted the public library systems as well as university and college library systems.
The "internet world" is not a good answer to non-trackable study from paper books and other hardcopy materials. Plus, there is the human interaction that can occur in a brick-and-mortar library outside of the stacks and reading areas that is very important. This would be far more useful to a developing, self-maintaining culture, economy and nation that extravagant stadii and TV set tuned to the basest behavior of degraded sports fans.
I'm sure we agree about most things.
Re: libraries, people read fewer books now.
Well, just as fewer people read books now, in the future more people can be reading more. I do not accept the "in-the-current-year" arguments as having any merit or foundational meaning. Frankly, that people run towards and over a cliff, the rest of us need not follow. As a one-time college professor, and now as a concerned Citizen, I consider it my job to make good things happen, to make things that are not, come to be as things that are.
Sadly, I lost interest many years ago. Of course since I am an Ole Miss fan, I still enjoy the every few times they beat Alabama. I was at the '88 game.
I remember sitting in a college classroom when they brought in a football star about 2 weeks after the class started to join us. He would come in, put his head down and go to sleep.
After a couple of days, the instructor woke him up and asked him to leave the room (snoring). He jumped up and started to threaten the old man, when the rest of us got up and made him leave the classroom. All of us had access to hand tools and several of us were carrying hammers. We seriously thought he was going to attack the man.
He was never punished and just moved to another area where he was a failure (but he could run with that ball).
That was in the early 80's. Haven't had much respect for college ball ever since.
My sister attended a major midwestern university in the late 1970s and one of her jobs was to "tutor" a football player through a course required for graduation. Her analysis of him? "Dumbest human being I have ever met". Decades later, my daughter attended a similar midwestern university and had to do the same service for a star football player. Some things never change, they just become more obvious.
The real vulgarity is the fact that while top athletes are getting money thrown at them, students in just about every academic major are having to take on enormous debt just to get through and earn an undergraduate degree.
Yes, and even more than that: Many of these students who have been conditioned to think they HAVE to have a college degree to be successful in life ... really don't. But they have to have that piece of paper to get a job interview at most/many companies, which I think is a form of discrimination.
I'm sorry Bill. I used to love college sports too, especially football. Once I really understood the level of corruption of the entire college system, not just the sports but the academic research and the student debt and everything else, I had no choice but to follow my conscience and walk away from all of it. I've had to do the same with pro sports. I no longer own a television at all. Couldn't stomach paying to be propagandized and brainwashed. Maybe you could start coaching your local kids team. I bet you'd be a great coach.
I used to follow the NFL, NBA and MLB, but that turned me off years ago. All I had was college football and maybe other college sports. The change in the rules in just 4 or 5 years is staggering.
The most pure sport - and my favorite now - might be softball. But I bet those ace pitchers command top dollar!
They got plenty of local coaches already. What's missing are kids who want to play.
I completely lost interest in watching college football after they implemented vax requirements or negative PCR as a condition for entrance to the stadiums. Some schools had mask mandates in stadiums as well but wasn't really enforced, though most complied like sheep.
Can't say that I miss it, though I occasionally watch highlights on YT for close games involving top teams. Also got rid of cable in 2021. Happier because of that.
Agree that they are killing college football for reasons you mentioned. The other big issue is the declining enrollment at most universities, with average enrollment drops of about 30% in many colleges/universities from Fall 2019 through Fall 2023. That's more to do with the shots than the typical "demographic changes" or "college is expensive" excuses. The impending collapse of higher education is a welcome development in my opinion. The same for public K-12 education...good riddance, hope they all collapse. Homeschooling is the way.
I'd further your comment above. How do you justify paying the star quarterback without also paying the offensive linemen who protect that star quarterback allowing him to be a star? If those offensive linemen feel they are being deprived their just benefits, they may start missing blocks rather than sacrificing their bodies stopping a rushing defensive end, and suddenly your star quarterback is leaving on a stretcher.
The way college ball is getting in the elite teams does seem to be a reflection of the mentality of the NFL.....I mean most of Florida State's team bailed prior to playing their bowl game - that strikes me as a sort of "entitled" sense individually versus the sake of the team and all the team means over the years.
I agree college ball at least in the "big leagues" is losing its lustre - but there always will be games and teams organized and that can never be taken away by love of mammon.
~
With that said, as much as the NFL pisses me off, I can't help but cheer for the team I loved in my formative years. So - Let's Go Buffalo!
Go Bills - beat the daylights out of the so-called Chiefs out of Kansas City - is that Missouri or Kansas I query!
Go Bills!
~
Best to you Bill - this is a fine article, but we will always have teams to cheer for, to play within, and to coach players individual - that is basic "human 101" -.......
~
BK
If we've pulled for a team our whole lives, it's hard to suddenly stop caring about the same team ... So I still pull hard for Bama ... but my passion and interest is no where as great as it was, say, 20 years ago or two years ago.
I don't think after a college boy signs up for a team he ought be able to just swap teams like that - that is bullshit. Same goes for the college girls.
~
Go Bills!
Ken
Bowl games have lost their prestige with the expansion of playoffs. The bowl game was a big deal before the BCS and you had to win at least 7 games in an 11 game schedule to make a bowl. Plus, with the transfer portal, why risk injury for a rather "meaningless" bowl when everything now is about making the playoffs. Though I would argue playing in the Orange Bowl is still an honor and indicative of a successful football season.
Good point, Alvin. The bowl games used to be a big deal and a real reward for a good season. Now the only star players who play in the post-season are players on the four teams picked for the playoffs.
The new thinking is "Playoffs or bust." That's the way it is in the NFL. The regular season doesn't really matter. The same with college basketball. In the past, "your" team could win eight or nine games - beat your big rival - and then win the bowl game and the fanbase was super happy. They went into the long-season feeling good about their programs and looking forward to next year. Now, it's just "did we make the playoffs." And then, once you get in the playoffs, or the "Big Dance" in basketball, your team is probably going to lose its last game ... and that will be a downer as well.
The bowls allowed half the teams to end the season on a winning, upbeat note. Now the emphasis is only on having a "real" champion ... from a tournament.
Bill, I have the same reservations as well and I have had them from day one. Besides living in LA (Lower Alabama) and supporting the’Tide I see the affects of the TP and NIL as being the death nail of “traditional college sports”. The intent of distributing money to the players is outside of the Athletic Department which makes the entire process beyond the reach of the coaching staff.
College sports will be dominated by 3 to 4 conferences, the rest will be feeding players into those conferences with players that show talent. In short, it farm system is in place.
We will soon see schools, like Vanderbilt, made offers to leave their conferences in order to accommodate schools with better athletic departments.
Scholarly athletes is a thing of the past, we now just need to follow the money.
I hope it will not turn out this way...
ROLL TIDE!!
Well said! I echo your excellent comments!
I'm somewhat unique that I have two "favorite teams" - Alabama and Troy, which represent both extremes of the wealth spectrum.
I think interest will remain high among fans of the "have" programs but will continue to decline among all the far-more "Have Not" programs. This trend will not be good for college sports in general (nor the athletes that play sports at the other minor colleges).
BTW, where do you live in L.A.?
Fairhope... euphemistically known as “No Hope”. Troy was excellent this year, unfortunately Duke eked out a bowl victory over the Trojans as the QB of Duke is from Fairhope HS.
I agree. And disagree. And disagree more than agree. You've stated why you don't like the new rules without really addressing the other sides of each situation. I'll point out what I'm thinking, maybe you will discuss?
1. Portal: good thing, but churn is too high. Need to return to sitting out a year before resuming play.
2. Portal exceptions: Bama will lose at least half of the top 100 players due to Saban leaving. Players enter portal for 2 reasons: the coach(es) they trust with their future left, or they have a better opportunity available.
I'd argue portal eligibility when head coach leaves is a great rule. Coaches leave for millions, sometimes to do nothing (see Jimbo Fisher). And BTW, I'm an Aggie Class of 1985. We lost at least half of our top tier talent (not from Troy, from the very top). And I argue strongly they should have the right to choose without penalty.
Why should college football generate a billion dollars and the stars that create the market get little or nothing?
Lot more on the subject, but I will stop with this: college player churn is now what NFL got with free agency. I ignored NFL for more than a decade bc it broke my player/team bond. And then I watched Brady and DelHomme (sp?) in a long ago Superbowl. Decided I wanted to see the best do in real life what I dreamed of in my backyard as a kid.
Things change. People change. They just need to correct what was changed too much.
Keep the faith. College games will still be exciting, crazy and full of traditions in 20 yrs. As they say about A&M, it's a cult. To some degree, all big time college fan bases are cults. That won't change.
You make good points which are hard to argue against ... if you are a libertarian and believe athletes should be able to make decisions that will benefit them.
I really can't criticize some player for transferring (and getting more money to "help his family.")
Still, in the Big Picture, I do believe this trend will turn off many fans - fan interest will decline over time, which will hurt more programs (and athletes) than it helps.
I also don't think these "exploited" athletes were nearly as exploited as we're led to believe.
They got full-ride scholarships worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. They got 3 great meals a day and free room and board, plus great Swag and got to be the "Big Man on Campus" and play sports they presumably love. They got to prepare for the NFL or pros. They got to enjoy experiences most people only dream about. The trade-off is that they had to be "poor" for a couple more years ... while the coaches were making millions.
These players actually get cost-of-living stipends and Pell Grants so they weren't going without tooth brushes and they could go to Pizza Hut every now and then.
I also agree most (but not all) fans will continue to be passionate about "our" teams. But the teams that are going to be fine are only the richest "Blue Blood" programs - maybe 60 college programs. The catch is that there are thousands of colleges that have sports programs.
Even the bottom 60 of D-I are going to now be perceived as the "minor leagues" and will suffer in the future. I don't know how many programs will give up offering sports, but some will - or they will go back to Division II or cancel sports teams that don't make money.
... BTW, my late father was a college football player at Alabama. A good one. He said the practices were hell and he thought about quitting all the time. Still, he stuck it out and received immeasurable benefits the rest of his life because he was a football player at Alabama. He was poor then just like all of his teammates were. I never heard him cursing because he was "exploited" for four years at Bama. He thought playing football at Alabama was the best thing that ever happened to him. Heck, this helped me in my life. I think some people look at me differently because my late father played football in the SEC. This opened doors for me.
Yeah, no perfect answer other than maybe creating a defacto NFL minor league. Seems to be one of those already.
Aggie Coach E (now DC at Syracuse) convinced many recruits on the 40 yr value of going to A&M. The cult really is strong with us, and for those below the top tier, that will make a lifetime of difference.
Zero disagreement on the value of competing on teams. So many life lessons.
Alabama's roster used to be made up of 90 percent of players who were from Alabama. Today, it might be 10 or 15 percent. But if you play for Alabama and plan on living in Alabama the rest of your life, you are going to have great benefits from having played for your state's highest-profile team. My late father was an example of this.
If I was at Texas A &M I'd sell that same point.
Bill,
I have not studied this issue enough. Generally, I prefer more competition than less. I think that will make everyone better.
It does seem that the idea of "getting a higher education" has been smothered in cash.
It's a complex philosophical issue for me as well. On the one hand, what's wrong with paying athletes that make your team a lot of money? On the other hand, this trend will kill "amateur" athletics as we knew it for more than 100 years.
I don't know how you justify paying the star quarterback but not the track athletes. Is it "fair" that Texas can make many of its teenage athletes wealthy, but 99 percent of the colleges could never do the same thing?
The bottom-line for me is that we are probably killing the proverbial goose that laid the golden egg.
And Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia. Seems to be a theme.
I walk my dog down to the local park and watch pick-up cricket every summer. People are screaming and going nuts - the excitment is off the charts and they practice all year. Don't need the government or TV for that. India v. Pakistan is the highlight - the arguing begins as they set up the cones for the field and just escalates...of course, they can never agree on borders LMAO.
These guys are entertainers. They are here to sell snack foods for Frito Lay and Pepsi. The football is a sideshow. Most of the players aren't smart enough to work at Google or Amazon, this is their shot. We need to start identifying talent at the grade school level. Nurture it, so we can sell $150 sneakers to boyz in the hood.
Yes. I grew up with the very original Carnegie Library and Museum across town. We also had branches of the same around town. As I entered my teen years, I would stop in the latter. It was built like a castle and, by the 1970s, had been renovated to retain the beautiful, giant-stone superstructure and had new windows and nice carpet inside. It was a treat to stop in there. It was at the transfer-bus stop between the high school and my neighborhood. I loved the math and science section in the mezzanine. I had no idea what some of the mathematics books were about. But is that not the point? The enticed a curious young boy who had a "worlds-to-conquer" attitude. Not having grasp of the mathematical language with its seductive graphs and formulas only served to make me more curious! And all those biological and medical books!
Now, a few years ago, I stopped in three of the libraries, on a Carnegie library, near my Western, tumbleweeds town. Save one or two almost worthless, trashified examples, there were almost no, and to use the mathematical term, "zero," mathematical books. This is the result of the ALA that I mentioned earlier. That septic organization has been contaminated with Marxist and homosexual ideology. This has turned these libraries into cesspools of sordid, teen-sex magazine racks.
So, we can turn this around. People advocating the destruction of books -- which these lexico-criminals are doing at a rapid pace (literally, please excuse the pun) -- have taken these places over. We need to either form groups to reclaim these institutions where we can, or we need to rebuild the library system. Digital books are a 1984 dream for the oligarchs. flip a switch and the best books and histories are erased. They'll be gone faster than a Columbus or Robert E. Lee statue in Detroit.
I suggested in an earlier comment here that we could promote churches to make the building of libraries a critical task. I do not mean only religious books. In fact, a good church library will allow patrons to read and encounter contrarian ideas (excluding porn and smut, of course, which has no intellectual value). Each confessional group could handle this matter of selection as they see fit.
Library societies and -- in a sufficiently large enough town to draw enough interest -- philosophical societies.
Also, parents need to not only turn OFF the TV, they really should consider getting rid of the TV completely. The internet -- used prudently and astutely -- and reading books and discussing with intelligent people and conversing in coffee shops, are adequate means of revivifying culture around you. Encourage children and grandchildren in these values.
Here is a podcast by a guy with a tortured, non-radio voice with some ideas:
https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/deschmitt/episodes/2021-06-20T23_54_53-07_00
In sort, always have an empty bookcase on hand. Also, give a book case as a Christmas of birthday gift to a nephew or niece. Through in an American Heritage Dictionary for kicks. (Older AHDs from a used bookstore are even better, and they only cost $2 or $8 bucks.) The dictionary is an amazing plaything --- and a serious tool of scholars, like the title that I suggested. Having books around is the start with supportive parents. I you read, the children with read eventually (without being forced.). An old set of Encyclopedia Britannicas (~$10 at a used store) can provide reading for a lifetime.
Try getting architectural drawings from the library (to get the kiddos used to visiting there even if it could be easier from the internet), get some craft board and razor knifes (you'll supervise right?) from the hobby store, and then glue enlarged or reduced line drawings of Greek architectural classics to the boards and cut out. You'll figure out how to make 3-D models. Then this can lead to a child's curiosity about history and the you are off to the races.
I hope this helps, somewhat.