[BillBradley]

NIL has changed my attitude toward WBB players, and not in a good way.

When the players were college students who played basketball as amateurs, with a tiny handful of them having the opportunity to go pro for a salary less than a grade school teacher's, I felt quite good about cheering for them and also felt it was our responsibility to be restrained in our criticism.  I also felt as if the players deserved privacy about their lives and their decisions, and that there was something vaguely distasteful about older (often much older) fans becoming obsessed about kids who were doing their best to balance school and a sport.  

But the moment a player takes money for her name, image, or likeness--and begins to intentionally cultivate celebrity status-- I think she has forfeited the expectation of privacy or restraint on the part of fans.  Players cannot reasonably expect to have it both ways--to be "influencers" and public persons for the sake of profit but to be private college students when it suits them.   They have earned the same level of scrutiny as professional athletes, Hollywood celebrities, and the like--because that is what they have chosen to become.

I say that with a heavy heart, because I have always hated that aspect of professional sports.  Unlike my friend Chimera, I don't think I can transfer my loyalties from the minor-league university system to the big-league WNBA system, since for me the motives of the players matter.  I was never in this just to see the highest quality of basketball that could be played--I was in it because there was something virtuous about playing for education, for sisterhood, for unadulterated joy, and simply for the love of the game.  Pro sports have left me cold for a long time, and now college sports is beginning to as well. 

I suppose I might be able to work my down, but with my luck high school girls will soon be getting collectives and NIL contracts.

Well said 81, you’ve expressed my sentiments, exactly when you stated, "I was in it because there was something virtuous about playing for education, for sisterhood, for unadulterated joy, and simply for the love of the game." Beautiful!
I would add that I was attracted to the sport of basketball as I learned it so many decades ago. I appreciated a game played below the rim, where players pitted their skills against others within the parameters of the game, without chest beating and "me, me, me!", where individual play disappeared into team ball, where the players connected with fans and were motivated by fan support, where the emphasis was on fair play and not trash talk, and where players showed humility in the end by shaking the hands of their opponents, and waving at their fans. Respect was the rule of law.
Of course, the current status of the rules will change. I don’t expect that things will get worse, the pendulum should swing back to support a greater balance among the various principals of the game — coaches, colleges, and ruling bodies have been caught in a momentary free-for-all, but they will have their day, too. What emerges from the current chaotic era of ego and commercialism is yet to be seen. Each of us will make our choices based on what the game becomes in the future. I will be watching, too. If the future product embraces my values, I will be back at Maples cheering on the team, if not, well, my wife and I have other competing interests that will get our attention.

But don't you guys think that players can still be in it for a lot of the right reasons AND make money (that they deserve IMO)? I think Cam and Haley are great examples of playing for sisterhood, for unadulterated joy, and have a real love of the game. Watching Betts play, I think she's also in that category. It's not like all these players are completely selling their souls. I don't think they are all obsessed with making money to the point that's the sole reason they play. They are just getting paid. People can make money and it doesn't have to be a turnoff. This topic reminds me of a couple friends who where the biggest U2 fans ever back in the early 80's, but when their records started going platinum, their concerts got too large, they made music videos for MTV, and Bono went on the talk shows, they accused them of selling out and refused to listen to their music. Apparently, they weren't "artists" anymore. Here we are 40 years later, they've made countless incredible albums, have done a ton of social/political work that's important to them and has benefited many, but because they got rich along the way my friends have sworn them off (and missed out on enjoying their music as a result).

I also have a different opinion on the education piece. College sports has been riddled for years with players who don't really give a darn about their education. Skipping class, fake grades, majoring in basket weaving just to stay eligible, etc. That stuff hasn't changed and it's no different now than 40 years ago. Stanford is and will always be a different animal in this area, but even in the 80's there were a lot of Stanford athletes who didn't give a crap about their education. I agree it needs to be watched in some way (which is why I'm advocating Stanford get in the game!), but I don't think NIL necessarily will swing the academic pendulum so far in the wrong direction at Stanford. Take Cam, Haley, Fran, Ashten, Hannah etc...some are better students than others but I'd say they all care. I might go so far as to say Cam and Haley will be exiting Stanford as more well prepared business women than the typical business undergrad.

[BillBradley]

NIL has changed my attitude toward WBB players, and not in a good way.

When the players were college students who played basketball as amateurs, with a tiny handful of them having the opportunity to go pro for a salary less than a grade school teacher's, I felt quite good about cheering for them and also felt it was our responsibility to be restrained in our criticism.  I also felt as if the players deserved privacy about their lives and their decisions, and that there was something vaguely distasteful about older (often much older) fans becoming obsessed about kids who were doing their best to balance school and a sport.  

But the moment a player takes money for her name, image, or likeness--and begins to intentionally cultivate celebrity status-- I think she has forfeited the expectation of privacy or restraint on the part of fans.  Players cannot reasonably expect to have it both ways--to be "influencers" and public persons for the sake of profit but to be private college students when it suits them.   They have earned the same level of scrutiny as professional athletes, Hollywood celebrities, and the like--because that is what they have chosen to become.

I say that with a heavy heart, because I have always hated that aspect of professional sports.  Unlike my friend Chimera, I don't think I can transfer my loyalties from the minor-league university system to the big-league WNBA system, since for me the motives of the players matter.  I was never in this just to see the highest quality of basketball that could be played--I was in it because there was something virtuous about playing for education, for sisterhood, for unadulterated joy, and simply for the love of the game.  Pro sports have left me cold for a long time, and now college sports is beginning to as well. 

I suppose I might be able to work my down, but with my luck high school girls will soon be getting collectives and NIL contracts.

Well said 81, you’ve expressed my sentiments, exactly when you stated, "I was in it because there was something virtuous about playing for education, for sisterhood, for unadulterated joy, and simply for the love of the game." Beautiful!
I would add that I was attracted to the sport of basketball as I learned it so many decades ago. I appreciated a game played below the rim, where players pitted their skills against others within the parameters of the game, without chest beating and "me, me, me!", where individual play disappeared into team ball, where the players connected with fans and were motivated by fan support, where the emphasis was on fair play and not trash talk, and where players showed humility in the end by shaking the hands of their opponents, and waving at their fans. Respect was the rule of law.
Of course, the current status of the rules will change. I don’t expect that things will get worse, the pendulum should swing back to support a greater balance among the various principals of the game — coaches, colleges, and ruling bodies have been caught in a momentary free-for-all, but they will have their day, too. What emerges from the current chaotic era of ego and commercialism is yet to be seen. Each of us will make our choices based on what the game becomes in the future. I will be watching, too. If the future product embraces my values, I will be back at Maples cheering on the team, if not, well, my wife and I have other competing interests that will get our attention.

But don't you guys think that players can still be in it for a lot of the right reasons AND make money (that they deserve IMO)? I think Cam and Haley are great examples of playing for sisterhood, for unadulterated joy, and have a real love of the game. Watching Betts play, I think she's also in that category. It's not like all these players are completely selling their souls. I don't think they are all obsessed with making money to the point that's the sole reason they play. They are just getting paid. People can make money and it doesn't have to be a turnoff. This topic reminds me of a couple friends who where the biggest U2 fans ever back in the early 80's, but when their records started going platinum, their concerts got too large, they made music videos for MTV, and Bono went on the talk shows, they accused them of selling out and refused to listen to their music. Apparently, they weren't "artists" anymore. Here we are 40 years later, they've made countless incredible albums, have done a ton of social/political work that's important to them and has benefited many, but because they got rich along the way my friends have sworn them off (and missed out on enjoying their music as a result).

I also have a different opinion on the education piece. College sports has been riddled for years with players who don't really give a darn about their education. Skipping class, fake grades, majoring in basket weaving just to stay eligible, etc. That stuff hasn't changed and it's no different now than 40 years ago. Stanford is and will always be a different animal in this area, but even in the 80's there were a lot of Stanford athletes who didn't give a crap about their education. I agree it needs to be watched in some way (which is why I'm advocating Stanford get in the game!), but I don't think NIL necessarily will swing the academic pendulum so far in the wrong direction at Stanford. Take Cam, Haley, Fran, Ashten, Hannah etc...some are better students than others but I'd say they all care. I might go so far as to say Cam and Haley will be exiting Stanford as more well prepared business women than the typical business undergrad.