[Goose]

They will never come to terms with the fact that football and basketball got too big and outgrew the old world of the college scholarship. It lasted for half a decade, and served us well, but that model needed to change.

This statement is factually incorrect. College football scholarships existed in 1906 when the NCAA was founded. At that time schools could grant as many scholarships as they wished (and could pay for). The only requirement was that the player actually be a student at the institution for which he played. Over the years, additional requirements were added. See https://www.aseaofblue.com/2013/6/11/440...holarships. This model therefore served "well" (more or less) for not half a decade, but well over a century! Obviously that doesn't mean it is still fit for purpose, but the duration needs to be accurate. This model was repeatedly "tweaked" but always was based on the idea that players were amateurs, students first, and didn't get paid to play. The NCAA tried to enforce rules to prevent deviation from this basis. Despite the fact the legal decision was about name, image, and likeness (not playing sports) NIL has morphed college football and basketball into professional sports. If there was any remaining doubt, consider
 https://theathletic.com/5408966/2024/04/...rId=701188
(paywall unfortunately).  tOSU just bought themselves a team, plain and simple. The coach in no way is trying to hide that fact.

The vast majority of the people on this board who continue to gripe about the college sports world coming to an end did not play D1 football or basketball in the 21st century. They don't know what it's like, so it allows them to think like it's the old days. If they did actually play D1 football or basketball in the 21st century, they would think way differently about the problem space. 

NIL and the Transfer Portal are to the benefit of those who actually play the sport. It's not about you, the fan. Or you, the principled academic. Or you, the attorney who wants to find fault. Or you, the grandpa who says "I remember when Rick Barry said he would play for free". It's about the athletes themselves, and they now have options. I wholeheartedly support that.

The vast, vast, vast majority of the fans, both "then" and "now", did not play D1 (or Danything) sports in any century. You wholeheartedly support the fact that college sports are no longer amateur. Fine, that is your right. It would arguably be foolish for an athlete who can make "NIL money" to not do so. To what extent NIL will influence the athlete's educational choices is also their choice. However, many fans do not agree that their university should have professional sports team. These fans believe that isn't an appropriate use of the universities NIL. These fans root for the laundry because the players are "one of us" in some sense and for the ideal it supposedly represents. As that becomes impossible to believe, they will lose interest. I am one of those fans.

I follow the 49ers, the Giants and the Warriors, but I have no illusions that they are in any way aligned with my values or "represent" me at all. I am not emotionally "attached" to them. Stanford athletics in the past at least supported the illusion (if not the fact) that the players were students as I had been and represented Stanford in some way. It wasn't "just a job" that most of them can't expect to do for more than four years. Maybe the majority of college sports fans treat the game like a professional sport already and the fact it is  now officially the case doesn't matter. We shall see.

The ultimate result for "the athletes themselves" is TBD.  IMO it will be a net loss for most. The schools with the most money to spend will gobble up the vast majority of the "good" athletes. Most schools will soon realize they can't compete even if the get lucky (or are "smart"). Their "star" players will all leave for better offers. I don't think even "die hard" fans will put up with that. I don't see a way ahead that doesn't leave some big winners and the rest as net losers. Again, we shall see.

[Goose]

They will never come to terms with the fact that football and basketball got too big and outgrew the old world of the college scholarship. It lasted for half a decade, and served us well, but that model needed to change.

This statement is factually incorrect. College football scholarships existed in 1906 when the NCAA was founded. At that time schools could grant as many scholarships as they wished (and could pay for). The only requirement was that the player actually be a student at the institution for which he played. Over the years, additional requirements were added. See https://www.aseaofblue.com/2013/6/11/440...holarships. This model therefore served "well" (more or less) for not half a decade, but well over a century! Obviously that doesn't mean it is still fit for purpose, but the duration needs to be accurate. This model was repeatedly "tweaked" but always was based on the idea that players were amateurs, students first, and didn't get paid to play. The NCAA tried to enforce rules to prevent deviation from this basis. Despite the fact the legal decision was about name, image, and likeness (not playing sports) NIL has morphed college football and basketball into professional sports. If there was any remaining doubt, consider
 https://theathletic.com/5408966/2024/04/...rId=701188
(paywall unfortunately).  tOSU just bought themselves a team, plain and simple. The coach in no way is trying to hide that fact.

The vast majority of the people on this board who continue to gripe about the college sports world coming to an end did not play D1 football or basketball in the 21st century. They don't know what it's like, so it allows them to think like it's the old days. If they did actually play D1 football or basketball in the 21st century, they would think way differently about the problem space. 

NIL and the Transfer Portal are to the benefit of those who actually play the sport. It's not about you, the fan. Or you, the principled academic. Or you, the attorney who wants to find fault. Or you, the grandpa who says "I remember when Rick Barry said he would play for free". It's about the athletes themselves, and they now have options. I wholeheartedly support that.

The vast, vast, vast majority of the fans, both "then" and "now", did not play D1 (or Danything) sports in any century. You wholeheartedly support the fact that college sports are no longer amateur. Fine, that is your right. It would arguably be foolish for an athlete who can make "NIL money" to not do so. To what extent NIL will influence the athlete's educational choices is also their choice. However, many fans do not agree that their university should have professional sports team. These fans believe that isn't an appropriate use of the universities NIL. These fans root for the laundry because the players are "one of us" in some sense and for the ideal it supposedly represents. As that becomes impossible to believe, they will lose interest. I am one of those fans.

I follow the 49ers, the Giants and the Warriors, but I have no illusions that they are in any way aligned with my values or "represent" me at all. I am not emotionally "attached" to them. Stanford athletics in the past at least supported the illusion (if not the fact) that the players were students as I had been and represented Stanford in some way. It wasn't "just a job" that most of them can't expect to do for more than four years. Maybe the majority of college sports fans treat the game like a professional sport already and the fact it is  now officially the case doesn't matter. We shall see.

The ultimate result for "the athletes themselves" is TBD.  IMO it will be a net loss for most. The schools with the most money to spend will gobble up the vast majority of the "good" athletes. Most schools will soon realize they can't compete even if the get lucky (or are "smart"). Their "star" players will all leave for better offers. I don't think even "die hard" fans will put up with that. I don't see a way ahead that doesn't leave some big winners and the rest as net losers. Again, we shall see.