By Greed, I really mean the so-called âBigâ conferences and their media partnersâŚThe PAC12 learned the hard way that they werenât the prize it thoughtâŚnow UCLA has a conference game with Maryland? Greed and monopolistic power is destroying the games.
I always favored the concept of NILâŚa kid should have gotten a piece of the pie if the school or Walmart was making a boat-load of money by selling his jersey number, or using his likeness on merchandise. But, as we all know, this new system is making Pony Excess look tame in comparison (IMHO). Couple that to unlimited transfers, the system is abusing the athlete in other waysâŚthese kids arenât matriculating toward a degree when theyâve been at four different schools in four yearsâŚthe NCAA held onto the amateur model too long, with too little flexibilityâŚcourts get involved and BAMâŚgoodbye Toto, we ainât in Kansas anymore. This is all just my opinionâŚbut reflects how I feel about it now.
This. Iâll always root for Charlotte, but the emotion and the commitment win or lose and my willingness to donate excessive money time and emotion into this incarnation of college sports just isnât there. Itâs crazy that the environment has done to my fandom what losing couldnât. Killed it.
What made college sports special was they were not pros. They were college students like we all were. They were going to class, juggling responsibilities, eating at the dining hall, and graduating as one of us.
I know some kids got benefits - especially those 5 star kids but for the mass majority of athletes they were one of us. That is most certainly not the case today and itâs just not the same dynamic.
Once upon a time, sports did fit into College, because it attracted a different student, with different perspectives. Admissions sought people with all sorts of skills for that exact reason. Athletes, musicians, chess players, whatever⌠And then, college became a mixing pot, where everyone could mix with others, and learn from others. Athletes came from all walks of life, and thus, sports became a different path for success. Iâve seen athletes go on to success in many fields, such as insurance, real estate, politics, or sales. They came to college to play, and came away with an education, and used it to become successful.
Sports is still a path to success, but itâs more direct, now. The education is not the value, itâs the potential for the NFL, or a career in coaching. Thatâs all well and good, but, what is the tie to college? What is the role of professional sports as a part of college life? Myself, I think that colleges should continue to offer club sports, but spin off their major sports teams to become professional franchises.