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Does anybody get the feeling college football as we know it

Skynyrd Dawg

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is about to be a thing of the past? The Gundy situation really bothers me. This guy wore a t-shirt of a news network that he watches. I don't even know what OAR is. But the fact that a firestorm can now be started by your star player by what NEWS NETWORK you watch is a sure sign of the times. What if Kirby wore a Fox News polo to a charity golf tournament? Are our players going to turn on us now?

I absolutely love college football but if this is the road we are going down I don't know if i'm in anymore. All matter of respect is being eroded. The players should be treated fairly but they should respect the coaches and administration of the university they play for. Throwing your coach under the bus for the news network he listens to is not ok with me. Does OAR broadcast racist stuff or what...I really don't know. If it really offended the player why did he not go into Gundy's office and talk with him like a man? Going to social media should only be a last resort and is not even a good option at that point.

I'm just afraid the sport I grew up with is going the way of the NFL. I gave the NFL up a few years ago and can honestly say I have not watched 10 seconds of NFL football in at least 3 years. Hell the whole world is changing and I admit I have no clue what to make of it. I don't have a racist bone in my body and I think some great conversations are coming out from all of this. But I don't have a lot of tolerance for this new participation trophy generation that are offended with EVERYTHING. I really don't want to lose college football but I'm afraid the end is in sight.
 
is about to be a thing of the past? The Gundy situation really bothers me. This guy wore a t-shirt of a news network that he watches. I don't even know what OAR is. But the fact that a firestorm can now be started by your star player by what NEWS NETWORK you watch is a sure sign of the times. What if Kirby wore a Fox News polo to a charity golf tournament? Are our players going to turn on us now?

I absolutely love college football but if this is the road we are going down I don't know if i'm in anymore. All matter of respect is being eroded. The players should be treated fairly but they should respect the coaches and administration of the university they play for. Throwing your coach under the bus for the news network he listens to is not ok with me. Does OAR broadcast racist stuff or what...I really don't know. If it really offended the player why did he not go into Gundy's office and talk with him like a man? Going to social media should only be a last resort and is not even a good option at that point.

I'm just afraid the sport I grew up with is going the way of the NFL. I gave the NFL up a few years ago and can honestly say I have not watched 10 seconds of NFL football in at least 3 years. Hell the whole world is changing and I admit I have no clue what to make of it. I don't have a racist bone in my body and I think some great conversations are coming out from all of this. But I don't have a lot of tolerance for this new participation trophy generation that are offended with EVERYTHING. I really don't want to lose college football but I'm afraid the end is in sight.
Players have more power than they ever realized... and they're starting to realize it.

When you are a leader of a team that's 75% young black men, and you promote a "news" organization that those same men will despise when they learn what it stands for, you're an idiot. Gundy could believe in Qanon and every other bats*** insane thing, but he should do it quietly given the people he needs to succeed will most likely disagree.

Right now, CFB players see how valuable they are. Not just in terms of money for themselves, but how much money they bring to the schools. If CFB ended tomorrow, the NFL or someone would find a way to create a minor league to feed into the big leagues. The players would have a place to go.

If CFB ended tomorrow, major universities around the country would crumble, and their entire athletic departments would be gone.
 
Players have more power than they ever realized... and they're starting to realize it.

When you are a leader of a team that's 75% young black men, and you promote a "news" organization that those same men will despise when they learn what it stands for, you're an idiot. Gundy could believe in Qanon and every other bats*** insane thing, but he should do it quietly given the people he needs to succeed will most likely disagree.

Right now, CFB players see how valuable they are. Not just in terms of money for themselves, but how much money they bring to the schools. If CFB ended tomorrow, the NFL or someone would find a way to create a minor league to feed into the big leagues. The players would have a place to go.

If CFB ended tomorrow, major universities around the country would crumble, and their entire athletic departments would be gone.

The NFL isn’t funding a 125 team minor league.

CFB might lose the top-end talent, but there would still be PLENTY of willing players that would accept full scholarships to play for major D-1 colleges, and there would still be PLENTY of people signing up to watch it.

Amazing all these people don’t start calling out they NFL for why they’re the ones blocking them from being drafted earlier, and why they’re the ones unwilling to fund a minor league system willing to pay them for their services.
 
Players have more power than they ever realized... and they're starting to realize it.

When you are a leader of a team that's 75% young black men, and you promote a "news" organization that those same men will despise when they learn what it stands for, you're an idiot. Gundy could believe in Qanon and every other bats*** insane thing, but he should do it quietly given the people he needs to succeed will most likely disagree.

Right now, CFB players see how valuable they are. Not just in terms of money for themselves, but how much money they bring to the schools. If CFB ended tomorrow, the NFL or someone would find a way to create a minor league to feed into the big leagues. The players would have a place to go.

If CFB ended tomorrow, major universities around the country would crumble, and their entire athletic departments would be gone.
I'm sure the players support ideas that the coaches or other fellow players may not neccessarily agree with. That's life. People from different backgrounds, belief systems, races, political stances, etc can come together and work together in harmony without agreeing on everything. I do agree with you that I think the system is showing cracks and players do see their value. I wholeheartedly believe that in 10-20 years there will be an NFL farm league and college football will be a thing of the past. We are headed in that direction and fast. There is waaaay too much money involved now in both college and pro football. There has always been lots of money involved but nothing like it is now.
 
While I agree it was unwise to wear that shirt, he could have worn a shirt with an American flag on it and gotten pushback.
Yes, even from some of his current players.
That bothers me.
I don't think this is true at all. Literally no one on OKST's team would have said a damn thing if he wrapped himself in the flag while fishing.
 
Players have more power than they ever realized... and they're starting to realize it.

When you are a leader of a team that's 75% young black men, and you promote a "news" organization that those same men will despise when they learn what it stands for, you're an idiot. Gundy could believe in Qanon and every other bats*** insane thing, but he should do it quietly given the people he needs to succeed will most likely disagree.

Right now, CFB players see how valuable they are. Not just in terms of money for themselves, but how much money they bring to the schools. If CFB ended tomorrow, the NFL or someone would find a way to create a minor league to feed into the big leagues. The players would have a place to go.

If CFB ended tomorrow, major universities around the country would crumble, and their entire athletic departments would be gone.
This is the correct answer. CFB players have discovered slowly that they’re essentially funding entire athletic departments, and they’re going to use their power. That’s not necessarily a bad thing in my opinion, but obviously the thought of changes to the status quo makes some people uncomfortable.
 
It’s been the minor leagues for the NFL for sometime now. People are just starting to see what the reality has been for the past 20 years or so.
Think about how often we (the fans) have contributed to that? How much we care about UGA players getting big paydays. We care not because it helps them, but that we'll use it to sell the program to other kids. How often fans rip other players who flame out in the pros like it's an indictment on UGA (or whichever school they went to).

The fans have bought into the NFL-ization of CFB, but it's been a long time coming. I grew up in Nebraska and would always crack up on the Husker haters who would use NEB's lack of NFL talent on offense against them while NEB was running through every team. I personally didn't care, but A LOT of Husker fans did. They bought into the need to produce NFL players as evidence of program greatness, even above winning.
 
is about to be a thing of the past? The Gundy situation really bothers me. This guy wore a t-shirt of a news network that he watches. I don't even know what OAR is. But the fact that a firestorm can now be started by your star player by what NEWS NETWORK you watch is a sure sign of the times. What if Kirby wore a Fox News polo to a charity golf tournament? Are our players going to turn on us now?

I absolutely love college football but if this is the road we are going down I don't know if i'm in anymore. All matter of respect is being eroded. The players should be treated fairly but they should respect the coaches and administration of the university they play for. Throwing your coach under the bus for the news network he listens to is not ok with me. Does OAR broadcast racist stuff or what...I really don't know. If it really offended the player why did he not go into Gundy's office and talk with him like a man? Going to social media should only be a last resort and is not even a good option at that point.

I'm just afraid the sport I grew up with is going the way of the NFL. I gave the NFL up a few years ago and can honestly say I have not watched 10 seconds of NFL football in at least 3 years. Hell the whole world is changing and I admit I have no clue what to make of it. I don't have a racist bone in my body and I think some great conversations are coming out from all of this. But I don't have a lot of tolerance for this new participation trophy generation that are offended with EVERYTHING. I really don't want to lose college football but I'm afraid the end is in sight.

Student-athletes have a ton of value, and are beginning to realize it.

This is not the extension of some SJW agenda, or the BLM movement, it's simply capitalism.

Some of the college athletes are worth millions to these organizations, and the upside of the free education/housing/benefits is failing to stack up in comparison.

But I have to ask, what do you think is actually going to change as a result of this shift?

These kids, whether most around here want to accept it or not, are already exclusively making BUSINESS decisions about their future (at least the ones we're recruiting now). Do not get it twisted, there is no irrational love for one program over the other, one culture over the other, they are putting themselves in the best position for the future, on and off the field.

So if some want to use their position of value to spread a message, then so be it. Schools will make a calculated decision on if that player risks costing the program more than he makes, like people made about Kaepernick or the Bills are currently making about Jake Fromm. On the contrary, guys that are less likely to cause a stir like Chubb will see their relative value increase.

It's literally just capitalism.
 
Probably not - and it’s worth pointing out that for about 20 years now there has been discussion in some form over whether “this” (whatever it is at the time) is the “beginning of the end of college football as we know it”

I would suggest that college football “as we know it” is always evolving. Elite high school players don’t have to go to Ohio State anymore just to “be on TV” (though they still recruit very well, just not for that reason). Think about that... it wasn’t that long ago that a school would recruit off of TV appearances and bowl games.

Conferences have realigned for broadcast instead of geographical reasons. The fact that under the current format, Alabama and Ole Miss come to Athens once per generation while Missouri is here every other year stinks from a fan’s perspective, but it hasn’t hurt college football any (though I’d argue it didn’t help as much as some thought).

Players will soon be able to monetize their NIL, and I guarantee the biggest outcome from that will be the realization of about 98% of college football players that their NIL just isn’t that valuable.

It’s always evolving. There is too much money and interest for it to go away. All that said, this is going to be quite a season to navigate. It’s true that the players have more power now than ever before, but that would all be destroyed by something like a boycott. And I think they realize that too.
 
It’s been the minor leagues for the NFL for sometime now. People are just starting to see what the reality has been for the past 20 years or so.
You’re probably right. I would like to think a lot of these guys are getting educational opportunities they may not have gotten otherwise, but that may be the minority now.
 
You’re probably right. I would like to think a lot of these guys are getting educational opportunities they may not have gotten otherwise, but that may be the minority now.

I think some are for sure. Most of these guys won’t make the NFL and I’m sure there are lots of dudes that take advantage and launch themselves on career paths they would not have had access to without a college education.
 
Honestly I can't blame the players for wanting to get paid. If you have a skillset that can generate millions of dollars I would want to get paid too. My whole point is the game is changing. We will have an NFL farm system similar to MLB in the next 20 years. Maybe within the next 5-10 years. When we do, will the interest and demand be there for that kind of system to support it financially? What will become of college football? For me, alot of the allure to college football is the tradition, pageantry and the opportunity to go back to campus and tailgate with old friends on a given Saturday or go travel to one of the other SEC schools. Going to a Columbus Mudcats or whatever minor league team they name it to see the latest 5* stud coming out of high school on his way to the NFL is not my bag. More power to the player if they can do that and get paid but they are gonna lose a lot of college football fans along the way.
 
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Players have more power than they ever realized... and they're starting to realize it.

When you are a leader of a team that's 75% young black men, and you promote a "news" organization that those same men will despise when they learn what it stands for, you're an idiot. Gundy could believe in Qanon and every other bats*** insane thing, but he should do it quietly given the people he needs to succeed will most likely disagree.

Right now, CFB players see how valuable they are. Not just in terms of money for themselves, but how much money they bring to the schools. If CFB ended tomorrow, the NFL or someone would find a way to create a minor league to feed into the big leagues. The players would have a place to go.

If CFB ended tomorrow, major universities around the country would crumble, and their entire athletic departments would be gone.
LOL, that is idiotic that you say that Universities would crumble. That is nonsense. Also, if the sport drops 10% then people are going to be changing their tunes. The NFL was crying out with a 10% drop in ratings. Also, football has the terminal issue of CTE. It is terminal.
 
I think some are for sure. Most of these guys won’t make the NFL and I’m sure there are lots of dudes that take advantage and launch themselves on career paths they would not have had access to without a college education.
Yep not to mention the networks they’re now automatically plugged into. The NFL isn’t the only way to make a great living by being a University of Georgia football player.
 
LOL, that is idiotic that you say that Universities would crumble. That is nonsense. Also, if the sport drops 10% then people are going to be changing their tunes. The NFL was crying out with a 10% drop in ratings. Also, football has the terminal issue of CTE. It is terminal.
Shouldn’t you be on your way up to Vipers office?
 
This fin de siecle anxiety is unnecessary. Things are changing. If you were a player helping a school make millions beyond the worth of your scholarship, wouldn’t this seem unfair?

Why do you think a black football player got mad at him wearing that shirt? That network is not helping us solve the problems of today.
 
Two other thoughts I have:

The schools themselves are creating enormous value, too. Georgia fans don’t buy tickets because Jake Fromm or Todd Gurley is playing here. They buy tickets and follow the program because of an emotional connection to the program (and for tickets, the quality of opponent who is coming to Athens). We didn’t see ticket demand or interest drop off any after Todd Gurley left.

The schools provide a platform, they provide training, nutrition, and healthcare also. Todd Gurley and Jake Fromm added value to Georgia. Georgia added value to Todd Gurley and Jake Fromm too. That often gets lost or overlooked.

The second thing is related to the first. True minor league professional football wouldn’t generate much interest because of the existing popularity of college football. You can even see that in baseball. LSU, Arkansas, Miss State will draw 8,000-10,000 fans for weekend games. You don’t see those kinds of crowds for minor league baseball, even in AAA. Heck, Arkansas will sell 5,000+ tickets for a Tuesday game against SE Missouri.

I think what you’d see from minor league professional football is that the money just wouldn’t be there. And I would argue that it would be harder for a player to create additional value in minor league professional football than he could in college.
 
Honestly I can't blame the players for wanting to get paid. If you have a skillset that can generate millions of dollars I would want to get paid too. My whole point is the game is changing. We will have an NFL farm system similar to MLB in the next 20 years. Maybe within the next 5-10 years. When we do, will the interest and demand be there for that kind of system to support it financially? What will become of college football? For me, alot of the allure to college football is the tradition, pageantry and the opportunity to go back to campus and tailgate with old friends on a given Saturday or go travel to one of the other SEC schools. Going to a Columbus Mudcats or whatever minor league team they name it to see the latest 5* stud coming out of high school on his way to the NFL is not my bag. More power to the player if they can do that and get paid but they are gonna lose a lot of college football fans along the way.

This is what I have been screaming. Regardless of all the "oppressed vs. oppressor" name calling going on today, OP you are on point. College football has been and will be minor league football in the not too distance future. The money is driving all decisions of the NCAA, the college presidents, etc. and the players can see that. I too see why the players want a piece. I can see the unfairness in the enterprise.

But the problem with this logic is that many fans will quit caring. I mean college football attendance is already falling off. I don't watch minor league baseball, do you? Anybody watch the NBA d-league? College football is the best sport bc it is the last true team sport played at a very high, competitive level. The professional leagues have devolved into players being more important than the team. The NBA has been this way since Magic and Bird, and when they stopped playing zone defense. MLB has been this way since 1994. In fact, the NFL is the most resistant to this effort but the way QBs are valued over every other player means it too is heading that way.I too stopped watching the NFL like you and pretty much all professional sports. For better or worse, college athletics is heading that way. I mean, really there are 10 competitive teams right now and the rest don't have a chance of winning it all. The power has already been whittled down to the top programs. The true question is this - how many people will stop caring and watching. Like you OP, I think a lot will.
 
Being bothered by the Gundy stuff is so funny to me. He can wear whatever he wants, and the players can live their lives how they want. If he feels like it is the most important thing for his life, or the most important thing for his program, for him to wear OAN shirts, then go for it.
 
One thing that has proven to be true over the last few years in sports is ‘get woke, go broke’... Look at what happened to the NFL ratings when Kap and others were kneeling every week. You can think whatever you want about Goodell or guys like Jerry Jones but they understand that this is a business and alienating up to half of your audience is bad business. This is also why Jimmy Pitaro got ESPN away from being so political the last few years because he knew it was hurting ratings. I can also promise you that the NBA will see a big ratings decrease when they come back (note: their ratings this year were already bad this year) with everything they are trying to do.

This isn’t about if the players or owners have a ‘right’ to do this stuff or understand their ‘power’ or whatever else you want to say. MAJORITY of actual sports fans don’t care about the politics of their players/coaches and actually like to use sports as an escape from everything because it is the one place where everyone is supposed to be together regardless of race, gender, political affiliation. We literally live in a 24/7 news cycle so you can find plenty of channels, websites, etc for your political and current events information. But when people turn on a game or buy a ticket they want to get away from that.
 
This is what I have been screaming. Regardless of all the "oppressed vs. oppressor" name calling going on today, OP you are on point. College football has been and will be minor league football in the not too distance future. The money is driving all decisions of the NCAA, the college presidents, etc. and the players can see that. I too see why the players want a piece. I can see the unfairness in the enterprise.

But the problem with this logic is that many fans will quit caring. I mean college football attendance is already falling off. I don't watch minor league baseball, do you? Anybody watch the NBA d-league? College football is the best sport bc it is the last true team sport played at a very high, competitive level. The professional leagues have devolved into players being more important than the team. The NBA has been this way since Magic and Bird, and when they stopped playing zone defense. MLB has been this way since 1994. In fact, the NFL is the most resistant to this effort but the way QBs are valued over every other player means it too is heading that way.I too stopped watching the NFL like you and pretty much all professional sports. For better or worse, college athletics is heading that way. I mean, really there are 10 competitive teams right now and the rest don't have a chance of winning it all. The power has already been whittled down to the top programs. The true question is this - how many people will stop caring and watching. Like you OP, I think a lot will.


Football has had its popularity because it has been closely associated with Americana and being a very patriotic sport. Look at the Cowboys being America’s team and the entire concept of the Patriots. Once you start disrespecting the nation and driving a huge wedge between you and a lot of your fans it is not the same sport. This is happening in college football also. I think some are myopic on here. A sport that brings people together is being brought down. Really a foreign enemy country could not be more happy with this. Folks need to realize that when the entire sport falls so does the players power. If the sport loses its since of patiotism and Americana it will no longer be the most popular sport. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.
 
Being bothered by the Gundy stuff is so funny to me. He can wear whatever he wants, and the players can live their lives how they want. If he feels like it is the most important thing for his life, or the most important thing for his program, for him to wear OAN shirts, then go for it.

Except this isn’t how it actually works. You just don’t agree.
 
While I agree it was unwise to wear that shirt, he could have worn a shirt with an American flag on it and gotten pushback.
Yes, even from some of his current players.
That bothers me.
Thats my thing too. Players are looking for things
 
is about to be a thing of the past? The Gundy situation really bothers me. This guy wore a t-shirt of a news network that he watches. I don't even know what OAR is. But the fact that a firestorm can now be started by your star player by what NEWS NETWORK you watch is a sure sign of the times. What if Kirby wore a Fox News polo to a charity golf tournament? Are our players going to turn on us now?

I absolutely love college football but if this is the road we are going down I don't know if i'm in anymore. All matter of respect is being eroded. The players should be treated fairly but they should respect the coaches and administration of the university they play for. Throwing your coach under the bus for the news network he listens to is not ok with me. Does OAR broadcast racist stuff or what...I really don't know. If it really offended the player why did he not go into Gundy's office and talk with him like a man? Going to social media should only be a last resort and is not even a good option at that point.

I'm just afraid the sport I grew up with is going the way of the NFL. I gave the NFL up a few years ago and can honestly say I have not watched 10 seconds of NFL football in at least 3 years. Hell the whole world is changing and I admit I have no clue what to make of it. I don't have a racist bone in my body and I think some great conversations are coming out from all of this. But I don't have a lot of tolerance for this new participation trophy generation that are offended with EVERYTHING. I really don't want to lose college football but I'm afraid the end is in sight.


Because he is not 40 and a man
 
Student-athletes have a ton of value, and are beginning to realize it.

This is not the extension of some SJW agenda, or the BLM movement, it's simply capitalism.

Some of the college athletes are worth millions to these organizations, and the upside of the free education/housing/benefits is failing to stack up in comparison.

But I have to ask, what do you think is actually going to change as a result of this shift?

These kids, whether most around here want to accept it or not, are already exclusively making BUSINESS decisions about their future (at least the ones we're recruiting now). Do not get it twisted, there is no irrational love for one program over the other, one culture over the other, they are putting themselves in the best position for the future, on and off the field.

So if some want to use their position of value to spread a message, then so be it. Schools will make a calculated decision on if that player risks costing the program more than he makes, like people made about Kaepernick or the Bills are currently making about Jake Fromm. On the contrary, guys that are less likely to cause a stir like Chubb will see their relative value increase.

It's literally just capitalism.
Forcing one to adhere to group think is not capitalism
 
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I could not agree more, this has been obvious for a while now. But we will see some things that will change college sports forever in the next few Years!
 
Forcing one to adhere to group think is not capitalism
No on is forcing him to adhere to group think. Are the core of capitalism is an individual's freedom to spend their time, money and labor as they see fit. If a player says he doesn't want to play for Gundy because he doesn't like his news sources, that is no different than an individual saying they don't want to subscribe to the NY Times.
 
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Two other thoughts I have:

The schools themselves are creating enormous value, too. Georgia fans don’t buy tickets because Jake Fromm or Todd Gurley is playing here. They buy tickets and follow the program because of an emotional connection to the program (and for tickets, the quality of opponent who is coming to Athens). We didn’t see ticket demand or interest drop off any after Todd Gurley left.

The schools provide a platform, they provide training, nutrition, and healthcare also. Todd Gurley and Jake Fromm added value to Georgia. Georgia added value to Todd Gurley and Jake Fromm too. That often gets lost or overlooked.

The second thing is related to the first. True minor league professional football wouldn’t generate much interest because of the existing popularity of college football. You can even see that in baseball. LSU, Arkansas, Miss State will draw 8,000-10,000 fans for weekend games. You don’t see those kinds of crowds for minor league baseball, even in AAA. Heck, Arkansas will sell 5,000+ tickets for a Tuesday game against SE Missouri.

I think what you’d see from minor league professional football is that the money just wouldn’t be there. And I would argue that it would be harder for a player to create additional value in minor league professional football than he could in college.
This is correct, and that’s why the claims about player power are a bit overstated, although they certainly have a great deal of power. The reality is both sides stand to lose a ton if college football were to disintegrate. If the institutional/geographic bond is severed, a lot of interest would dissipate, particularly in areas outside the southeast that have started shifting away from football already.
 
It’s been the minor leagues for the NFL for sometime now. People are just starting to see what the reality has been for the past 20 years or so.
Yeah I think it's more fans are starting to realize what it is they've actually been watching/supporting for a long time, and more players realizing how the machine operates, more than the thing itself changing.
 
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