Colleges started FB programs but WE FANS are the real bosses..

Apr 29, 2022, 1:05 PM

of college football programs all over America from 135+ years ago till today..

thru our supporting it (financing it if you will thru ticket sales & donations, like IPTAY) and thus paying for the athletic departments, coaches, assistants and you name it..like stadiums, parking lots, lighting, equipment, officials to ref the game, insurance, housing, food, weight rooms and the player himself who was/is listed as a Student first.

The student part has become the stumbling block since the STUDENT in too many instances in the past & recent modern times too has been sort of a hoax what with easy class courses made up for them due to the need for getting the best athlete so the school can win & make $, etc..

and in return the Player/Athlete got free room, board & a 4-year Schollie worth what that particular college enrollment fee demanded from the non-athletes or true students.

Now that the farce of it is out in the open..that athlete/players (aka Team) are the Crux of the overall success of a college FB operation and maybe many are not at college to be students..but simply be players, win, have fun and possibly move on to the Pros if good enough..

we are able to see more clearly or at least admit why the Players want that name title to be equal to that of having the Student title since they now understand they are the important agent in the college football money mix & simply want more of the $ Pot..and boy are they getting it year one.

Now, where does that leave the Fans or Athletic supporters who are the "real" $ engine for this College Football Team concept to work and continue..

and what about Players needing to be called STUDENT/Athletes to qualify to enter a college as is mandated by the NCAA.

Would calling them members of a CLUB be more fitting than Student-Athletes of a college team? And if so, do they need to even attend many classes (in person vs online) because at many colleges from day one till recently (hello Tar heels) they basically didn't or don't attend all classes to receive a diploma.

Brings me to Coach Dabo, whose players DO attend classes and who does discuss this current problem, even though he is old school and has supported the old Student/Athlete concept being still valid thus a stipend (much higher now), room, board & 4 year Education is still the way to go.

And Yes he has accepted the NIL situation but slower with the Portal system because he is flexible enough mentally so to survive, teach, inspire & hopefully still win in the new system. Time will tell.

Like ole me I believe he's been seeing the light but is smartly continuing to focus on Education, life after football, recruiting & building character and winning with fairness & zesto..and let the "All-In" chips fall as they will.

Afraid the Tiger has gotten out of the cage and those neat days of "non-professional" football on lovely college campuses are gone since maybe it all was a farce anyway but still sad to see it go even if thru nature's way of progress and equality for all participants.

Still, the paying Fan & Alumni Supporter and their $ will have the final say when all is said & done.

What thinks you?

Go TiGERS..ROCK!

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There are still plenty of young men and women who desire a college experience for what is inherent in that. Who want an education and who will frequently select a college based on academic as much as the athletic possibilities available. They will still be offered scholarships (and all the trappings and perqs those scholarships included), they will go to class, and they will earn degrees. They will perpetuate the student/athlete model.

There is another group of young men and women who have been raised to believe that the world owes them support, applause, adoration, idolization, and a life of ease. Whether they came to that conclusion based on a "silver-spoon" upbringing or that they had remarkable talent that has been the focus of their lives is irrelevant. Dealing with this mentality within the context of a higher ed academy is worth avoiding.

Thus, a system will eventually emerge that will accommodate the 80% (+/-) that are still interested in a traditional, residential, academically challenging and empowering experience and those who simply want to be pampered, paid, and passed-though.

It is incumbent on the NCAA, however ineffectual they have been for the past 10 years, to assist colleges in universities in developing policies that allow for some athletic compensation without completely devaluing the "amateur" model. Or, rather, the NCAA can dissolve (or exist for those schools in D2/D3, and make way for a governing organization that can and will be effective.

I can assure you that accrediting organization such as SACS are effective at managing the behavior of colleges and universities regarding academic policies - and similar organizations can exert the same moderating influence on those schools athletic divisions.

Higher education institutions routinely reward "merit" with academic scholarships - sometimes up to full tuition, room, and board. Do you think that those enterprising engineering, architecture, mathematic, philosophical, musical (fine art) prospects are long going to be satisfied with "full cost of attendance" scholarships when athletes at the same institutions are being fantastically compensated for just being an athlete? Colleges and universities CAN EXIST without sports, but could they exist in a market that puts a premium on HIRING the best students? Some of the USA's premier institutions have endowments that would allow them to buy the absolute best students in the country, if not world. Those without such recourse would be soon reduced to servicing the remainder and employers would develop tiered salary scales to address the academic disparity, employing in their best entry positions, only those from the elite backgrounds.

No, this phenomena cannot go for unabated and unchallenged. For the sake not just of athletics, but for the academies themselves, someone is going to need to say "This far and not a wit further!"

Colleges started FB programs but WE FANS are the real bosses..

Re: Colleges started FB programs but WE The FANS were the real employers

Re: Colleges started FB programs but WE The FANS were the real employers

Re: Colleges started FB programs but WE The FANS were the real employers

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