Stop Blaming Athletes and the NCAA for Ruining College Football

[Meangreen Fight]

The Athletes did not have a say in when college sports when the seeds of its ruin were sowed.  Actually a former College Athlete on the Supreme Court DISSENTED against this majority opinion:

"The NCAA position that an interest in maintaining a competitive balance justified the television plan was also rejected.^[21] While agreeing with the desire to maintain such a balance, Stevens noted that there was no evidence that the plan succeeded in that effort.^{[fn 9]} The decision of the circuit court was affirmed.^[26]"

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_v._Board_of_Regents_of_the_University_of_Oklahoma

So please keep this in mind before you come for the athletes and their "disloyal ways" because it is the system that has the power and teaching them their "disloyal ways".   Everyone else Media Distributers, Commercial Sponsors, NIL contributers and Private Individual Sponsors are just buying product. 

And if you are a secondary fan of the Oklahoma Sooners on this board complaining about the system please preface criticism of the system or greedy immature athletes with "I know I am a hypocrite but....."

 

 

Edited Saturday at 01:04 PM by Meangreen Fight

[Graddean]

I believe the Univ of Georgia was also backing the lawsuit.

[Hunter Green]

Leave it to lawyers to screw things up.

[Dannymacfan]

Lawyers are the worst part pf our society!

[Aquila_Viridis]

Take away the courts, contracts and legal process and see what sort of ‘society’ you have.

[Rudy]

I'm pretty sure it was the Northwestern players that started all of this back in 2013 when they started to demand compensation. So yeah, the players are just as guilty. 

[gangrene]

32 minutes ago, Rudy said:

I'm pretty sure it was the Northwestern players that started all of this back in 2013 when they started to demand compensation. So yeah, the players are just as guilty. 

I believe UCLA basketball player, Ed O'Bannion, is the one that started this mess when he sued the NCAA for profitting from his name/image/likeness on EA Sports NCAA Basketball video game back in 2009. 

[El Paso Eagle]

No doubt a lot of the institutions are very greedy but the players are doing their damned best to catch up on the great factor as quick as possible and they are making up for lost time. Say what you want about who's responsible,  but when your transferring three to four times you are greedy. So you can blame everyone they are equally at fault but don't think for a minute that 90% of the players give a damn about what's best for the game just as the university presidents are hypocrites in the fact that they let this run so far out of whack.

[MAX KOCH]

30 minutes ago, El Paso Eagle said:

No doubt a lot of the institutions are very greedy but the players are doing their damned best to catch up on the great factor as quick as possible and they are making up for lost time. Say what you want about who's responsible,  but when your transferring three to four times you are greedy. So you can blame everyone they are equally at fault but don't think for a minute that 90% of the players give a damn about what's best for the game just as the university presidents are hypocrites in the fact that they let this run so far out of whack.

word

[rojomojo]

Capitalism enters college athletics and suddenly the 60 year old Texans lose their shit... Do not blame the players. This is a system that has been coming for the past few decades. We choose to worship college athletics in the United States unlike any other culture, so understanding HOW this came into reality is actually quite simple...

 

I hate it... I always will hate it and obviously I am not alone... But if you had a son that was getting offered hundreds of thousands or MILLIONS of dollars to transfer, would you still be blaming the players?

 

 

 

[rojomojo]

This is the responsibility and result of greedy corporate interests, Misuse and lack of NCAA regulation towards large athletic brands, and a general shift away from the amateur style of athletics that dominated the collegiate level for over a century....

 

We unfortunately are not going back. The cat is out of the bag and the elite programs have snagged all the necessary power to ensure they get what they want. 

[rojomojo]

2 hours ago, El Paso Eagle said:

No doubt a lot of the institutions are very greedy but the players are doing their damned best to catch up on the great factor as quick as possible and they are making up for lost time. Say what you want about who's responsible,  but when your transferring three to four times you are greedy. So you can blame everyone they are equally at fault but don't think for a minute that 90% of the players give a damn about what's best for the game just as the university presidents are hypocrites in the fact that they let this run so far out of whack.

Are you really going to call a 20 year old college student "greedy" for trying to make the most amount of money they possibly can? Look up the statistics of how many college players go pro and then tell me money shouldn't be important to them...

 

Hate the game, not the player. 

[wardly]

3 minutes ago, rojomojo said:

Are you really going to call a 20 year old college student "greedy" for trying to make the most amount of money they possibly can? Look up the statistics of how many college players go pro and then tell me money shouldn't be important to them...

 

Hate the game, not the player. 

Plus 1

[meaniegreenie]

1 hour ago, rojomojo said:

Are you really going to call a 20 year old college student "greedy" for trying to make the most amount of money they possibly can? Look up the statistics of how many college players go pro and then tell me money shouldn't be important to them...

 

Hate the game, not the player. 

Yes, they are.
It's not simply that they are trying to maximize the money, but HOW they are doing it.  Each player is entitled to do it however they want, but doing it in a way that is completely self-centered and void of any commitment to your team, your school, and its fans, then that is being greedy.  Again, you're allowed to do it, but don't be offended if somebody calls you greedy for doing it.

A simplistic analogy that stays on the sports field would be a running back that breaks away for the final first down with 20 seconds to go in a 1 point game.  Instead of sliding down at the 40, he chooses to keep running in order to score another TD, but he gets the ball knocked out.  The other team runs it back inside the 10 and is able to kick a last second FG to win. You could say that he's just trying to maximize his stats (true and valid), but his GREED in doing this cost his TEAM the game.

Now, as has been said, this situation isn't the fault of one specific side but from multiple sources.  But as was stated, the students are now starting to increase their impact on this runaway system.

BTW - it was questioned in an earlier thread as to who started this whole NIL thing and as someone mentioned, it was Ed O’Bannon UCLA BB.

https://www.on3.com/nil/news/what-are-nil-collectives-and-how-do-they-operate/

[wardly]

12 hours ago, meaniegreenie said:

Yes, they are.
It's not simply that they are trying to maximize the money, but HOW they are doing it.  Each player is entitled to do it however they want, but doing it in a way that is completely self-centered and void of any commitment to your team, your school, and its fans, then that is being greedy.  Again, you're allowed to do it, but don't be offended if somebody calls you greedy for doing it.

A simplistic analogy that stays on the sports field would be a running back that breaks away for the final first down with 20 seconds to go in a 1 point game.  Instead of sliding down at the 40, he chooses to keep running in order to score another TD, but he gets the ball knocked out.  The other team runs it back inside the 10 and is able to kick a last second FG to win. You could say that he's just trying to maximize his stats (true and valid), but his GREED in doing this cost his TEAM the game.

Now, as has been said, this situation isn't the fault of one specific side but from multiple sources.  But as was stated, the students are now starting to increase their impact on this runaway system.

BTW - it was questioned in an earlier thread as to who started this whole NIL thing and as someone mentioned, it was Ed O’Bannon UCLA BB.

https://www.on3.com/nil/news/what-are-nil-collectives-and-how-do-they-operate/

I find it hard to fault the athletics when they see their coaching staff and athletic administration personal doing the same thing you are criticizing them for.

[Tom McKrackin]

7 minutes ago, wardly said:

I find it hard to fault the athletics when they see their coaching staff and athletic administration personal doing the same thing you are criticizing them for.

Correct.  How much NIL money did Eric Morris and his staff contribute to UNT’s NIL?  I think we all know the answer to this don’t we?

[NT80]

59 minutes ago, Tom McKrackin said:

Correct.  How much NIL money did Eric Morris and his staff contribute to UNT’s NIL?  I think we all know the answer to this don’t we?

The players are not in a career.  They are students.  Nobody is forcing them to accept an athletic scholarship and get an education just to play football.

Now they are simply trying to rob the golden goose.  If they want coaching $$ they can apply the same as anyone can.

[wardly]

Perhaps for a number of the players the only path to a college education is to play a sport in an exchange, so  they are taking the route that best suits them. Regarding robing the golden goose, it looks like the multi million dollar coaches and P4 schools with media contracts worth 10's of millions of dollars beat them to it. Unless the rules for obtaining an athletic scholarship have changed , which they may have, it is only guaranteed  for one year and renewed at the option of the university. Why would we expect more than a one year commitment from players when it is the same as what we give them? I know it really chaps your ass that players can receive compensation for services rendered but don't understand why. Oh well.

[meaniegreenie]

1 hour ago, wardly said:

Perhaps for a number of the players the only path to a college education is to play a sport in an exchange, so  they are taking the route that best suits them. Regarding robing the golden goose, it looks like the multi million dollar coaches and P4 schools with media contracts worth 10's of millions of dollars beat them to it. Unless the rules for obtaining an athletic scholarship have changed , which they may have, it is only guaranteed  for one year and renewed at the option of the university. Why would we expect more than a one year commitment from players when it is the same as what we give them? I know it really chaps your ass that players can receive compensation for services rendered but don't understand why. Oh well.

These players had already chosen to get a free education at a given school when they first committed and they should have factored their degree options/quality into that decision.

Now, if after playing for a while, an offer to a BETTER UNIVERSITY (not FB team) for their career is now being offered, then transferring is a valid choice.  However, I doubt that is much of a decision factor in the majority of transfers. 

BTW here's an interesting NCAA site that provides data on graduation, majors, etc.
Click on the columns to view different breakdowns, i.e. By Sport.

https://www.ncaa.org/sports/2018/5/15/division-i-diploma-dashboard.aspx

Also, the NCAA claims that graduation rates have been trending up since the reforms in 2002.  While this may be true, I suspect it also has to a lot to do with the general increase in college graduation due to the introduction of numerous less-rigorous majors.

More information can be found at the additional links found on the following page:

https://www.ncaa.org/news/2024/11/20/media-center-di-graduation-rates-remain-at-highest-level.aspx

https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/research/gradrates/2024/2024D1RES_GSRTrends.pdf

[El Paso Eagle]

1 hour ago, meaniegreenie said:

Also, the NCAA claims that graduation rates have been trending up since the reforms in 2002.  While this may be true, I suspect it also has to a lot to do with the general increase in college graduation due to the introduction of numerous less-rigorous majors.

Would be interested in seeing a breakdown of how graduation rates have gone up since the impact of COVID and more online classes. I would be interested in knowing what percent of classes are athletes taking online.

[wardly]

1 hour ago, meaniegreenie said:

These players had already chosen to get a free education at a given school when they first committed and they should have factored their degree options/quality into that decision.

Now, if after playing for a while, an offer to a BETTER UNIVERSITY (not FB team) for their career is now being offered, then transferring is a valid choice.  However, I doubt that is much of a decision factor in the majority of transfers. 

BTW here's an interesting NCAA site that provides data on graduation, majors, etc.
Click on the columns to view different breakdowns, i.e. By Sport.

https://www.ncaa.org/sports/2018/5/15/division-i-diploma-dashboard.aspx

Also, the NCAA claims that graduation rates have been trending up since the reforms in 2002.  While this may be true, I suspect it also has to a lot to do with the general increase in college graduation due to the introduction of numerous less-rigorous majors.

More information can be found at the additional links found on the following page:

https://www.ncaa.org/news/2024/11/20/media-center-di-graduation-rates-remain-at-highest-level.aspx

https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/research/gradrates/2024/2024D1RES_GSRTrends.pdf

I guess this is where I respectively disagree with you and NT 80. The players are not getting a "free" education. They are providing a service to North Texas in "exchange" for tuition and room and board. Part of the education process at any college is learning enough to be marketable when you are seeking employment. I hate both the portal and the NIL but it is a legal reality in the world of college sports and athletics, and athletics have learned what they need to do in order to be "employed" at a higher income elsewhere, just like in the real world.