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re: Saban in Congressional roundtable speaking about NIL today
Posted on 3/12/24 at 4:24 pm to Lg
Posted on 3/12/24 at 4:24 pm to Lg
Scholarships may seem enormous to the average fan but they are microscopic compared to the money that is floating around in the sport right now.
I’m going to say again, and I’m going to get downvoted all to hell as I have before but that’s OK, the reason people are so butt hurt about this is that college football fans in particular because “they pay the bills and they support the teams and they buy the merchandise” think they are the predominant party in the equation.
And their desires are not being and won’t be considered moving forward.
And they don’t want to see people they regard as simply gladiators performing for their entertainment, held in check by old-school disciplinarians like the ones who kicked their asses back when getting water at practice was seen as a sign of weakness, get a cut of the pie because it destroys their illusions of the sport.
Even though it was all a house of cards that was destined to come tumbling down as soon as it was seriously challenged, and the jillions of dollars involved in the thing right now made it inevitable that it would be seriously challenged.
Saban … and I’m a Bama fan and love the guy … can flap his gums to infinity and Cruz can posture and pontificate all he wants to, but the genie is not going to go back into the bottle as far as the basic freedoms to be compensated beyond a scholarship for their efforts and to freely market their services that the players now enjoy.
The fix is contractual. If that destroys your illusions of the sport, don’t watch. The powers that be are counting on new fans to come in and replace the old farts. There’s not a sports organization, from the NFL to the NCAA and everything in between, that cares six cacas about you unless you are 18 to 49.
I’m going to say again, and I’m going to get downvoted all to hell as I have before but that’s OK, the reason people are so butt hurt about this is that college football fans in particular because “they pay the bills and they support the teams and they buy the merchandise” think they are the predominant party in the equation.
And their desires are not being and won’t be considered moving forward.
And they don’t want to see people they regard as simply gladiators performing for their entertainment, held in check by old-school disciplinarians like the ones who kicked their asses back when getting water at practice was seen as a sign of weakness, get a cut of the pie because it destroys their illusions of the sport.
Even though it was all a house of cards that was destined to come tumbling down as soon as it was seriously challenged, and the jillions of dollars involved in the thing right now made it inevitable that it would be seriously challenged.
Saban … and I’m a Bama fan and love the guy … can flap his gums to infinity and Cruz can posture and pontificate all he wants to, but the genie is not going to go back into the bottle as far as the basic freedoms to be compensated beyond a scholarship for their efforts and to freely market their services that the players now enjoy.
The fix is contractual. If that destroys your illusions of the sport, don’t watch. The powers that be are counting on new fans to come in and replace the old farts. There’s not a sports organization, from the NFL to the NCAA and everything in between, that cares six cacas about you unless you are 18 to 49.
2
Posted on 3/12/24 at 5:36 pm to InkStainedWretch
Interesting topic, good thread.
I believe it is fine to listen to Saban as the old coach that was incredibly successful in the old system, as long as we keep in mind who the messenger is. He was an autocratic dictator that could do whatever he wanted, and most of the old dudes here on the rant love that profile of the tough hard nosed coach screaming at his players. Those players were receiving practically no earnings (please do not start with the free college education, not one person on this rant thinks a player is recruited to Alabama football in order to get a degree) while Saban pulled in millions every year. The overall system of money and power was completely out of balance and now that it is flying apart people want to band-aid it back together and make it look like it was before - that should never happen.
InkStainedWretch is right on with most of his comments.
I believe it is fine to listen to Saban as the old coach that was incredibly successful in the old system, as long as we keep in mind who the messenger is. He was an autocratic dictator that could do whatever he wanted, and most of the old dudes here on the rant love that profile of the tough hard nosed coach screaming at his players. Those players were receiving practically no earnings (please do not start with the free college education, not one person on this rant thinks a player is recruited to Alabama football in order to get a degree) while Saban pulled in millions every year. The overall system of money and power was completely out of balance and now that it is flying apart people want to band-aid it back together and make it look like it was before - that should never happen.
InkStainedWretch is right on with most of his comments.
Posted on 3/14/24 at 11:55 am to InkStainedWretch
quote:
I’m going to say again, and I’m going to get downvoted all to hell as I have before but that’s OK, the reason people are so butt hurt about this is that college football fans in particular because “they pay the bills and they support the teams and they buy the merchandise” think they are the predominant party in the equation.
And their desires are not being and won’t be considered moving forward.
That would be an interesting choice not to listen to the fans at all going forwards. If fans don't want the product the money will eventually dry up
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