re: College Football Luxury Tax and Salary Cap

quote:

---

I think you'll see a lot of schools opt out of such a system. Penn State, I'm very confident, will be one of them. It's hard to tell with SEC teams though.

---

If everyone does it the SEC will follow, imo.

That said, if we must put a price and monetize every fricking thing... Those salaries we pay to coaches and trainers aren't chump change and it's ignorant for players to think they're not getting anything out of that -- they have a MUCH better shot at the pros with the training we and the power conferences provide. Those facilities and weight rooms aren't there for eye candy nor is topflight medical care and sports rehab cheap or easy to come by. And those TV contracts they bitch about? THAT is called free exposure and without it you're likely to get overlooked or undervalued even if you're a great player. Those contracts also help PAY for all these things they're more than happy to take advantage of. Great players don't just arrive on campus ready to go and with no need for any of that - they're made out of talented and even not so talented ones utilizing the enormous resources we provide. Maybe we need to start charging them for all that - after all many club sports have to scrape together to rent facilities, buy their training, AND pay a coach.

Let them take out a student loan like everyone else (and they will if they want the best training, best competition, and exposure) the same as any other student paying for a shot at their future -- academic training, degrees, research facilities, libraries, and so much more are hardly cheap and less so when you're outside the university environment and buy a la carte (but hey players get that and extra academic support for free as well). Most will qualify for grants and all will qualify for loans.

If they had to minus out all the $$$ various universities' spend on them (the resources they use for free and seem to think they're entitled to) before adding in whatever 'value' they think they bring, they'd be shocked to find themselves deep in the red.

quote:

---

It's just so fricking complicated and it's all about greed. I hope if anything this is the beginning of the pull-back

---

I honestly hope it doesn't come to that. I love my team because their my team and scholarships give a lots of players an opportunity to attend college and/or graduate when most wouldn't get that chance and lack the academic support they need (another university paid for and athlete-only benefit) and even attending college pays off in the job world. Special admits get them into better unis than they'd otherwise qualify for and academic support services and tutoring (regular students have to pay for that too) help keep them from flunking out. Those who have the talent and work ethic have he chance to utilize resources to make hundreds of thousands of dollars to millions - a chance most regular college grads will never get.

The players, the courts, and the sportswriters need to understand one fundamental thing about CFB: we cheer for what amounts to laundry not specific players. I've never once bought a ticket, cheered harder, or bought more stuff because player x played although I support any player who plays for my school.

Once they leave, I take some pride in their pro-careers or lives after UT but I don't watch them in the pros. I'm not a fan of them but rather my TEAM - my university.