College Football IV: The Hand over Fist Cash Grab Time, or Bowl Season for short.

[unofan]

Re: College Football IV: The Hand over Fist Cash Grab Time, or Bowl Season for short.

They're called "asset-athletes" for a reason.

Oh, wait. They're called "student-athletes".

Can't wait until these social values percolate down to the high schools. There's money to be made.

Like it already hasn't. Didn't some high school in Texas spend $50 million or some other ungodly amount on a 25,000 seat stadium?

 

[alfablue]

Re: College Football IV: The Hand over Fist Cash Grab Time, or Bowl Season for short.

You'd think these massive federally funded land grant schools would have a class where someone would explain the myth of Pandora's box.

You might think that, but I also bet that many of these schools are happy to open their books and point out that the athletic department does not take money from acedemics, and can survive on their own. So all of that federal, state, and whatever funding isn't a part of this argument. That's what I *think* they will say.

 

[WeWantMore]

Re: College Football IV: The Hand over Fist Cash Grab Time, or Bowl Season for short.

Like it already hasn't. Didn't some high school in Texas spend $50 million or some other ungodly amount on a 25,000 seat stadium?

They did. Was that really a terrible idea though?

 

[moe24]

Re: College Football IV: The Hand over Fist Cash Grab Time, or Bowl Season for short.

You might think that, but I also bet that many of these schools are happy to open their books and point out that the athletic department does not take money from acedemics, and can survive on their own. So all of that federal, state, and whatever funding isn't a part of this argument. That's what I *think* they will say.

They can say that all they want, but it's only true at about a dozen or so schools.

 

[Handyman]

Re: College Football IV: The Hand over Fist Cash Grab Time, or Bowl Season for short.

And people wonder why I dont watch much college football much anymore. The BCS cabal has basically destroyed it. They are now just the NFL-Lite these teams might as well not even be affiliated with a school.

Listening to Delaney pretty much backs up the belief that there was nothing that could have happened that would have let BSU or TCU get to the title game. You think the vitriol from the cabal was bad at this meeting, they would be rioting.

As far as I am concerned D1 college football and the BCS Title are fraudulent.

 

[Kepler]

Re: College Football IV: The Hand over Fist Cash Grab Time, or Bowl Season for short.

And people wonder why I dont watch much college football much anymore. The BCS cabal has basically destroyed it. They are now just the NFL-Lite these teams might as well not even be affiliated with a school.

Listening to Delaney pretty much backs up the belief that there was nothing that could have happened that would have let BSU or TCU get to the title game. You think the vitriol from the cabal was bad at this meeting, they would be rioting.

As far as I am concerned D1 college football and the BCS Title are fraudulent.

The insistence on a national championship, with sports media and BCS presidents screaming anything else is Un-American, is what destroyed college football. In 1975 there were 20 schools that ended their seasons very happy. Now 1 does (and it immediately starts fretting about next year and/or preparing for the discovery phase of its investigation). That's what the fascism of ESPN has done. And it has made them A LOT of money. A playoff will be the apotheosis of this philosophy.

There is nothing wrong with college football that a cap on budget and an insistence on actual academic standards wouldn't cure. It would force the NFL to start operating a real minor league system rather than leaching off our educational system, and of course they don't want to do that and will use their megaphones to stop it. But the Rose Bowl and the Cotton Bowl and god help us the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl and every conference title would matter again, and people would use college football the way they do non-revenue athletics, rather than just abuse it for profit.

 

[unofan]

Re: College Football IV: The Hand over Fist Cash Grab Time, or Bowl Season for short.

They did. Was that really a terrible idea though?

That school had better have brand new editions of every textbook within its walls, and brand new computers in all its science labs, if it can afford $50 million on a football stadium.

 

[WeWantMore]

Re: College Football IV: The Hand over Fist Cash Grab Time, or Bowl Season for short.

That school had better have brand new editions of every textbook within its walls, and brand new computers in all its science labs, if it can afford $50 million on a football stadium.

What if the stadium is bringing in more money to the school though? Thus enabling them to buy new editions of textbooks, new computers, new....

I'm not defending them necessarily, I just don't know that we can automatically assume it was a bad thing.

 

[bigblue_dl]

Re: College Football IV: The Hand over Fist Cash Grab Time, or Bowl Season for short.

What if the stadium is bringing in more money to the school though? Thus enabling them to buy new editions of textbooks, new computers, new....

I'm not defending them necessarily, I just don't know that we can automatically assume it was a bad thing.

Plus, just because the school built that large of stadium, doesn't mean that the school paid for that large of a stadium. There could have been big time donors that specified that their money should be used on a stadium. There isn't enough information about this topic to condemn the school district, if someone knows more, then maybe we could get somewhere.

 

[unofan]

Re: College Football IV: The Hand over Fist Cash Grab Time, or Bowl Season for short.

I'm not defending them necessarily, I just don't know that we can automatically assume it was a bad thing.

The odds are highly against, them, though. Most college teams lose money on football, even at the I-A/FBS level. In the absence of other evidence, it's logical to presume it isn't going to rake in the cash.

And even if "boosters" (do we seriously need boosters for high school sports?) paid for it themselves...it's still such an out of whack priority that they deserve to be mocked.

 

[blockski]

Re: College Football IV: The Hand over Fist Cash Grab Time, or Bowl Season for short.

The insistence on a national championship, with sports media and BCS presidents screaming anything else is Un-American, is what destroyed college football. In 1975 there were 20 schools that ended their seasons very happy. Now 1 does (and it immediately starts fretting about next year and/or preparing for the discovery phase of its investigation). That's what the fascism of ESPN has done. And it has made them A LOT of money. A playoff will be the apotheosis of this philosophy.

There is nothing wrong with college football that a cap on budget and an insistence on actual academic standards wouldn't cure. It would force the NFL to start operating a real minor league system rather than leaching off our educational system, and of course they don't want to do that and will use their megaphones to stop it. But the Rose Bowl and the Cotton Bowl and god help us the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl and every conference title would matter again, and people would use college football the way they do non-revenue athletics, rather than just abuse it for profit.

This is the key phrase.

For everyone who raises the issue of academic honesty, "student-athletes," and so on, I say take a long, hard look at European soccer and European sports.

In Europe, professionalism isn't tied to education. Collegiate sports are more like our D-3 sports. If an athlete has potential to be a pro, they are groomed by a professional team in their academy, rather than by a college or a high school.

America's problem is that we have college athletics acting as a minor league. And when you give these schools minor league talent (with potential for great things), fans will be interested and thus money will become an issue.

 

[bigblue_dl]

Re: College Football IV: The Hand over Fist Cash Grab Time, or Bowl Season for short.

If you guys are suggesting that only players that don't have the skills to eventually play at a professional level should be playing college sports, I don't even know what to say. The idea of bringing all NCAA sports to a level of D3 competition and fan involvment is simply a bad one. The economics of it just don't work, and I'm not talking about money for the schools or TV contracts. How much more money is made by businesses in the downtown/campus area of Madison on a football weekend compared to a non-football weekend? I have to imagine that amount is significant and it is the same story all around the country.

 

[Kepler]

Re: College Football IV: The Hand over Fist Cash Grab Time, or Bowl Season for short.

The economics of it just don't work, and I'm not talking about money for the schools or TV contracts. How much more money is made by businesses in the downtown/campus area of Madison on a football weekend compared to a non-football weekend? I have to imagine that amount is significant and it is the same story all around the country.

"It makes too much money to change it" is always really good logic.

 

[Kepler]

Re: College Football IV: The Hand over Fist Cash Grab Time, or Bowl Season for short.

If an athlete has potential to be a pro, they are groomed by a professional team in their academy, rather than by a college or a high school.

We have this distinction. It's the line between FBS and FCS.

 

[bigblue_dl]

Re: College Football IV: The Hand over Fist Cash Grab Time, or Bowl Season for short.

"It makes too much money to change it" is always really good logic.

I think the argument is more "It makes too much money for us to be able to change it"

 

[Kepler]

Re: College Football IV: The Hand over Fist Cash Grab Time, or Bowl Season for short.

I think the argument is more "It makes too much money for us to be able to change it"

Things change.

 

[blockski]

Re: College Football IV: The Hand over Fist Cash Grab Time, or Bowl Season for short.

If you guys are suggesting that only players that don't have the skills to eventually play at a professional level should be playing college sports, I don't even know what to say. The idea of bringing all NCAA sports to a level of D3 competition and fan involvment is simply a bad one. The economics of it just don't work, and I'm not talking about money for the schools or TV contracts. How much more money is made by businesses in the downtown/campus area of Madison on a football weekend compared to a non-football weekend? I have to imagine that amount is significant and it is the same story all around the country.

Oh, I don't think it will ever change, but let's just be clear on what we're talking about.

Long ago, England made the decision that split the professional sport development track (for soccer) away from the educational track. The US never made that split, hence college sports are essentially minor leagues.

If you want a contemporary, North American example, just look at the contrast between college hockey and Major Junior, vis a vis CIS college hockey in Canada.

The point is that NCAA football is essentially minor league pro football, it just hasn't admitted it yet. Hence, I don't find the statements about the sanctity of student athletes compelling when put against the grand traditions of college football. The grand traditions they speak of weren't exactly free and clear of any market influence, either.

 

[MinnesotaNorthStar]

Re: College Football IV: The Hand over Fist Cash Grab Time, or Bowl Season for short.

Things change.

False. This is America. Things change...unless it's going to lose money.

 

[Patman]

Re: College Football IV: The Hand over Fist Cash Grab Time, or Bowl Season for short.

If you guys are suggesting that only players that don't have the skills to eventually play at a professional level should be playing college sports, I don't even know what to say. The idea of bringing all NCAA sports to a level of D3 competition and fan involvment is simply a bad one. The economics of it just don't work, and I'm not talking about money for the schools or TV contracts. How much more money is made by businesses in the downtown/campus area of Madison on a football weekend compared to a non-football weekend? I have to imagine that amount is significant and it is the same story all around the country.

some days I'd wish the professorship would get what they want and then see their institution sink... can you imagine some of the farmland campuses or college towns would last long without popular athletics?

edit: UConn wouldn't be where it is today without the performance of basketball.

 

[WeWantMore]

Re: College Football IV: The Hand over Fist Cash Grab Time, or Bowl Season for short.

Army-Navy in half an hour. First time since 96 (I think?) that both teams will be going to a bowl game.