College football has completely jumped the shark at this point. Players have zero connection to their schools or states. They transfer multiple times which means they are not meaningfully students in any way. Absurd boomers shelling out millions of dollars in donations to get random kids to play for their favorite football team for a year or two. Conference realignment destroying century long rivalries for marginally better tv deals. There’s no point in watching college football if it’s just NFL-lite because the level of play is well below NFL. The connection to fans and communities was what gave it unique appeal vs the NFL. This would obviously never happen at this point, but they should have never allowed athletic recruiting or scholarships. School teams should be formed from the existing student body, not from millionaire coaches scouring the earth with helicopters on friday nights to find the biggest strongest illiterates from the ghetto to “represent” the university.
I have made same point. I was attracted to CF precisely because it was not the NFL. I think must true college football fans are like us, but the people who make these decisions are not interested in the traditional CF fan. They know we will watch regardless. They want the NFL fan who is a casual CF fan. They will be more attracted to NFL-lite than traditional CF. I wonder though what happens long term
No need to protect right wing watchwords ‘capitalism’ and ‘free markets’. Those sacred touchstones are losing their lustre quickly among the right. And rightly so. College football has become a big money spectacle. Tawdry, indeed.
I don't disapprove so much of Kiffin's leaving one team for another as his attempt to look like a martyr saint in doing so. Shouldn't have said God wanted him to take the raise at LSU, or bitched about not getting to coach Ole Miss through the playoffs.
Good column but I think “extort” is not an appropriate word to use for players jumping ship for more money. They are, by any reasonable definition, employees. When an employee takes a job somewhere else for more money, they’re not “extorting” the previous employer.
I don’t follow CFB closely but I wonder whether its luster and its status as a quasi-cultural totem will fade as its essentially professional nature post-NIL becomes clearer. It takes a while for the symbolic significance of something to match its changing reality - it’s why the Left perpetually engages in the euphemism treadmill. And in a similar vein, I wonder too how long it will take white Americans to have a similar re-estimation of “America” as the demographic and cultural changes work their way through the system.
While who knows what college football will look like in 10, 20 years I'm sure it will still be around. Unlike the NFL, big colleges will always have 10s of thousands of young people around looking for something fun to do on campus on a Saturday.
"It’s hard to fault Kiffin for leaving one program for a rival over money when many of the players do the same." Actually, it isn't. One expects it from short term thinking self interested greedy thug black players who are heavily R selected for the Sub-saharan environment and think only of today and themselves. An aging white man should have a greater sense of personal and ethical responsibility.
Kiffin skeedaddled. Ghat's what Kiffin does. This time, unlike Ten essee, not like an errant tenant sneaking off in the wee hours, but with all the hoopla Jimmy Sexton and ESPN could muster. As a "changed man" and " leaving his "heart in Ole Miss". Spare me. But you know what zLSU does? It fires coaches.
Good article. We need to invest our time and traditions not in things that are dictated by the market but by a higher principle. A similar article could be written about the Washington Redskins, who I used to love and be obsessed with, who now go by a bland garbage corporate brand but still try to milk the history of the team because they want the nostalgia money. It’s so disgusting and blatant that I root against them forever
We’re in the Wild West of NIL and the transfer portal. It’s great that the players are finally getting paid and have more freedom over the work they put in but without good regulations CFB as a whole will become more and more corporatized. Quality and authenticity will keep going down.
"Since college football profits are booming, it seems the consumer has decided in favor of college football’s current model."
I think sports is a lot like religion. You can monetize it, gut it, radicalize it, make it unrecognizable, yet a majority of its adherents will still follow it. It's a familiar routine with an element of morality and identity.
Look at the Catholic Church. There is no reason to be Catholic...for decades, even centuries, it has revealed itself to be a ridiculous monstrosity. And most recently they protected all those child molesters. Billions should have walked away from Catholicism but they did not. Churches are still packed and even "based" Christians claim to be Catholic. Why not become Orthodox? It's 90% the same thing. Yet they remain Catholic.
Same for sports. St. Louisans and San Diegans (not to mention Clevelanders and Baltimoreans) should never have tuned into an NFL game after how it treated those cities, yet those cities are full of NFL fans.
Rich sportsball millionaires know this. Rich Catholic Cardinals know this. People are freaking sheep.
Yeah, those packed Catholic churches and schools. Not like they are closing everywhere in the US compared to their mid-century peak. Seems people HAVE voted with their feet, so your analogy feels more like a personal gripe against the church than accurate.
Unfortunately people will never walk away from college football no matter how much it changes from what it used to be.
College football has completely jumped the shark at this point. Players have zero connection to their schools or states. They transfer multiple times which means they are not meaningfully students in any way. Absurd boomers shelling out millions of dollars in donations to get random kids to play for their favorite football team for a year or two. Conference realignment destroying century long rivalries for marginally better tv deals. There’s no point in watching college football if it’s just NFL-lite because the level of play is well below NFL. The connection to fans and communities was what gave it unique appeal vs the NFL. This would obviously never happen at this point, but they should have never allowed athletic recruiting or scholarships. School teams should be formed from the existing student body, not from millionaire coaches scouring the earth with helicopters on friday nights to find the biggest strongest illiterates from the ghetto to “represent” the university.
I have made same point. I was attracted to CF precisely because it was not the NFL. I think must true college football fans are like us, but the people who make these decisions are not interested in the traditional CF fan. They know we will watch regardless. They want the NFL fan who is a casual CF fan. They will be more attracted to NFL-lite than traditional CF. I wonder though what happens long term
No need to protect right wing watchwords ‘capitalism’ and ‘free markets’. Those sacred touchstones are losing their lustre quickly among the right. And rightly so. College football has become a big money spectacle. Tawdry, indeed.
I'm all about Capitalism and free markets. Liberals are against that
I don't disapprove so much of Kiffin's leaving one team for another as his attempt to look like a martyr saint in doing so. Shouldn't have said God wanted him to take the raise at LSU, or bitched about not getting to coach Ole Miss through the playoffs.
Good column but I think “extort” is not an appropriate word to use for players jumping ship for more money. They are, by any reasonable definition, employees. When an employee takes a job somewhere else for more money, they’re not “extorting” the previous employer.
I don’t follow CFB closely but I wonder whether its luster and its status as a quasi-cultural totem will fade as its essentially professional nature post-NIL becomes clearer. It takes a while for the symbolic significance of something to match its changing reality - it’s why the Left perpetually engages in the euphemism treadmill. And in a similar vein, I wonder too how long it will take white Americans to have a similar re-estimation of “America” as the demographic and cultural changes work their way through the system.
In a lot of cases, it's extortion, such as this one. Fortunately, the player ended up getting screwed over due to his greed https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/tennessee-moving-on-from-nico-iamaleava-strikes-a-blow-against-never-ending-nil-negotiations/
Employee asks for more money in the offseason -> employer says no -> employee leaves
this is “extortion”? C’mon. The article itself says there are no binding contracts!
While who knows what college football will look like in 10, 20 years I'm sure it will still be around. Unlike the NFL, big colleges will always have 10s of thousands of young people around looking for something fun to do on campus on a Saturday.
"It’s hard to fault Kiffin for leaving one program for a rival over money when many of the players do the same." Actually, it isn't. One expects it from short term thinking self interested greedy thug black players who are heavily R selected for the Sub-saharan environment and think only of today and themselves. An aging white man should have a greater sense of personal and ethical responsibility.
Kiffin skeedaddled. Ghat's what Kiffin does. This time, unlike Ten essee, not like an errant tenant sneaking off in the wee hours, but with all the hoopla Jimmy Sexton and ESPN could muster. As a "changed man" and " leaving his "heart in Ole Miss". Spare me. But you know what zLSU does? It fires coaches.
Good article. We need to invest our time and traditions not in things that are dictated by the market but by a higher principle. A similar article could be written about the Washington Redskins, who I used to love and be obsessed with, who now go by a bland garbage corporate brand but still try to milk the history of the team because they want the nostalgia money. It’s so disgusting and blatant that I root against them forever
We’re in the Wild West of NIL and the transfer portal. It’s great that the players are finally getting paid and have more freedom over the work they put in but without good regulations CFB as a whole will become more and more corporatized. Quality and authenticity will keep going down.
I think the term is “enshittification”
"Since college football profits are booming, it seems the consumer has decided in favor of college football’s current model."
I think sports is a lot like religion. You can monetize it, gut it, radicalize it, make it unrecognizable, yet a majority of its adherents will still follow it. It's a familiar routine with an element of morality and identity.
Look at the Catholic Church. There is no reason to be Catholic...for decades, even centuries, it has revealed itself to be a ridiculous monstrosity. And most recently they protected all those child molesters. Billions should have walked away from Catholicism but they did not. Churches are still packed and even "based" Christians claim to be Catholic. Why not become Orthodox? It's 90% the same thing. Yet they remain Catholic.
Same for sports. St. Louisans and San Diegans (not to mention Clevelanders and Baltimoreans) should never have tuned into an NFL game after how it treated those cities, yet those cities are full of NFL fans.
Rich sportsball millionaires know this. Rich Catholic Cardinals know this. People are freaking sheep.
Yeah, those packed Catholic churches and schools. Not like they are closing everywhere in the US compared to their mid-century peak. Seems people HAVE voted with their feet, so your analogy feels more like a personal gripe against the church than accurate.
Unfortunately people will never walk away from college football no matter how much it changes from what it used to be.
You are wrong, sir. Everyone should have a gripe against Catholicism, but I have a personal gripe against the NFL.
Scott, predict your playoff bracket. Should Notre Dame get in?
I thought you were doing a column on Strip Malls today?
I decided to save it for thursday. This is more pressing news!