[Phogge]

So this is how it's going to be like: NIL agents running the show?
"Better NIL or I leave"

Pretty hard for CBS to sell March Madness as "amateur athletes just here for an education, isn't this neat," when they are really professionals, but not recognized as such by the NCAA, while our intelligence is insulted that the schools aren't paying them, but kind of are in a way.

Oh, FFS, CBS lifted that fig leaf eons ago.  NIL is the last nail in the coffin, but before that you had boosters paying for fake jobs, “tutors” doing the work for athletes, fake classes, athletes who were found to be functionally illiterate, one-and-dones, etc.  Newsflash, nobody really cared; revealed preference showed that fans attendance and television consumption increased throughout the period.

I think the combination of NIL and the transfer portal has been brutal for my personal interest in collegiate athletics,  but the numbers suggest that I am in the minority. But also, this has been brewing for as long as I’ve been a fan.  At every point, individuals (coaches, players, etc.) and organizations (the NCAA and the schools) have made choices to maximize revenue over amateurism, academics, etc. I can’t really blame them, presented with similar options, I’m not sure I would have turned down “more” of everything.  But the sum total of the composite actions is why we can’t really have nice things, like a truly amateur collegiate athletics that cared about the students more than it cared about TV.

Maybe it’s time to adopt a local D3 school and root for kids who really do it for the love of the game.

BC

Well, there aren't that many D3 schools in California. There is UC Santa Cruz who operates a volleyball program that schedules against all divisions. They do have club sports (my son played hockey). Perhaps the best nickname in sports. Go Slugs!

The other D3 is Mills, which isn't going to be Mills for long and was a women's school (until the Fall).

I will root for the Whittier Nixons because they are underdogs by definition.

[Phogge]

So this is how it's going to be like: NIL agents running the show?
"Better NIL or I leave"

Pretty hard for CBS to sell March Madness as "amateur athletes just here for an education, isn't this neat," when they are really professionals, but not recognized as such by the NCAA, while our intelligence is insulted that the schools aren't paying them, but kind of are in a way.

Oh, FFS, CBS lifted that fig leaf eons ago.  NIL is the last nail in the coffin, but before that you had boosters paying for fake jobs, “tutors” doing the work for athletes, fake classes, athletes who were found to be functionally illiterate, one-and-dones, etc.  Newsflash, nobody really cared; revealed preference showed that fans attendance and television consumption increased throughout the period.

I think the combination of NIL and the transfer portal has been brutal for my personal interest in collegiate athletics,  but the numbers suggest that I am in the minority. But also, this has been brewing for as long as I’ve been a fan.  At every point, individuals (coaches, players, etc.) and organizations (the NCAA and the schools) have made choices to maximize revenue over amateurism, academics, etc. I can’t really blame them, presented with similar options, I’m not sure I would have turned down “more” of everything.  But the sum total of the composite actions is why we can’t really have nice things, like a truly amateur collegiate athletics that cared about the students more than it cared about TV.

Maybe it’s time to adopt a local D3 school and root for kids who really do it for the love of the game.

BC

Well, there aren't that many D3 schools in California. There is UC Santa Cruz who operates a volleyball program that schedules against all divisions. They do have club sports (my son played hockey). Perhaps the best nickname in sports. Go Slugs!

The other D3 is Mills, which isn't going to be Mills for long and was a women's school (until the Fall).

I will root for the Whittier Nixons because they are underdogs by definition.