I feel like sour milk in the college football fridge

[sportsart]

My first taste of college football was back in the early 70's when I for some reason got caught up in the Oklahoma vs Nebraska rivalry. (for some reason I rooted for Oklahoma)

I then decided I was a bigger baseball fan and my years following the Yankees began mid 70's. (was in my middle teens). I did pay attention to the Corny Thompson, Carr, Weston and Alexinas days of UConn basketball in the 70's but that faded until the late 80's.

College football, in my mind went away, and you can then fast forward to 1999 when the excitement of UConn going to the bigtime hit. I became hooked immediately. (Ironic we finally ended up playing Oklahoma, my first college team, and now the sky truly is falling)

The first raid by the ACC set me back a bit but I recovered and moved forward, putting up with all the talking heads bashing the Big East.

Then TCU was coming to the rescue, so to speak, so all would be well.

Then RE leaves, in a way I could never imagine, and my love for college football (UConn first of course) takes a major hit. Not only was I a big fan of RE I was a bigger fan of the consistent ride we were on. Love him or hate him you at least knew what to expect.

Change is very hard for some/me and now the unknown was about to take place (insert HCPP here).

After a rough start for the coaches AND the team I was wondering how things would turn out.

Then BAM!!

Conference expansion comes calling and out the back door go Pitt and SU. All hell breaks loose and college expansion is at break neck speed....or so we think.

The musical chairs was suddenly put on hold and left many not knowing where to sit when the music starts again.

Frankly I'm sick of the greed and the lying and have a sour taste in my mouth that I don't think will ever go away. I used to love watching all the BE games on TV and some of the other big games as well.

Not sure I can stomach this anymore. The reason I loved college football was for the purety of it (the NFL was a business but college was for the love of the game) How could I have been so blind?

The uncertainty of the future of the BE, the recruiting hits the BE is going to take and the greed, lying and backstabbing is going to cause college football, and more importantly UConn, to take a hit.

My escape from a sometimes difficult world no longer exists. How sad....

 

[ctchamps]

I feel your pain. Most of us in these forums do. The reality has always been about survival and $$ are just an extension of survival.

If you could root for the Yankees during the $teinbrenner years you might be able to overlook the dirty part of college sports. Good luck.

 

[jpm25]

The difference is that this time it is happening to you. Lots of teams have been left out over the years - the BE kicked Temple out, the smaller Texas schools were squeezed out when the Big 12 came together. It sucks, but it has always been a business, now the stakes are a little bit higher and lying and cheating are commonplace.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Sportsart - you pretty much captured my exact sentiments. Right down to being a Yankee fan in the late 70's on (you're a little older than me).

I grew tired of the Yankees in the early part of this century. In fact, I moved away from pro sports because of all the greed and dishonesty involved. College sports became my passion. Being an alum of UConn drew me into being a full blown Husky fanatic.

I am sickened by what is going on and feel like all that stuff than I seemingly left behind in pro sports is following me into the college world. I wasn't naeve enough to believe college sports was whole and pure, but I didn't think it was at the level of professional sports. I was wrong. In some ways.....OK a lot of ways......it is worse.

Look at Nordenberg. I know what he did was in the best interest of Pitt, but the man conducted himself in such a disgraceful manner. And he is not alone. UConn may come out of this just fine, and I hope they do, but I'm really starting to question just how much to emotionally invest myself into this any more.

 

[CTMike]

I'll continue to be emotionally invested, warts and all.

Like you said, Pitt (and Cuse) acted in their best interests... as every institution should. Their responsibilities (and Herbst's) are to ensure stability and growth for their institutions now and in the future. I bear them no ill will for that. I would have chosen the same course of action. I will say that I do appreciate that Herbst appears to be a real straight shooter in all of this.