OT: More NIL Buffoonery [merged thread]

[MSSportsGuy]

The NCAA has been content to let the money roll in and didn't give a darn about the student athletes or its members. I too have some hesitations about kinds and lucrative NIL deals, but the players at major D1 football programs are the only ones who haven't been making money of these games, apparel, TV deals, merchandise, etc.

Many years ago I was a traditionalist who said the players shouldn't get paid, maybe an increase in the stipend or some spending money. Now I say bring it on. Greed took over college football and there isn't a major D1 program that hasn't benefited from it.

The NCAA could fold as far as I'm concerned and be replaced by an actual logical, functioning governing board who actually cares about student athletes as opposed to money. I won't live to see the day.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

My whipping point has long been college coaching salaries, which are exorbitant - at least in the abstract - in football, men's basketball, major women's basketball and a few isolated "star" coaches in other sports.

I constantly get criticism for this, as though I am saying they don't somehow deserve it or shouldn't get paid. Not at all. I am objecting to the fact they have risen to this point, not that we should then go backwards. It is what it is, at this point.

What I am also saying is that as coaching salaries escalated, as well as the facilities wars, it has become clear that schools are making - or at least spending - a lot of money on their sports. None of it particularly shared with the athletes. Like @MSSportsGuy I long thought the education was enough for the athletes, but it has become clear that a lot of them - while thankfully getting education, I suppose - are not there for that reason, really and the schools only care about on-field / court performances.

Disaster that the NIL is working at being - it is the way in the new, really pro-style college sports.

 

[LoboDays]

Some genius at the NCAA will decide that payment caps are the way to go…..like pro teams. So, after the caps are reached, back under the table the boosters go.

 

[jchusky]

Some genius at the NCAA will decide that payment caps are the way to go…..like pro teams. So, after the caps are reached, back under the table the boosters go.

yea but better for Ncaa to at least say see we did all we could than to look like they are enforcing buying teams which is basically what is happening in cfb. Did you see Usc? They got the best wr out of PITTSBURGH to come there. We are at a horrible state of college sports.

 

[kibblesnbits]

This is just the tip of the ice berg. This is going to get a whole lot messier before it gets better. When the NCAA refused to adopt some sort of NIL protocols, it basically let the schools run amuck unchecked to do what ever thay wanted. Of course many schools saw this as "open season" to attract recruits with lucrative NIL deals. I have no doubt that Saban is correct in his assertions. When the cat is away, the mice will play.

I have no doubt that he's correct about A&M. I'm equally sure he's full of it when he said that Alabama didn't buy any players

 

[TCC Kid]

As Rebecca Lobo once noted (after Svet pointed out to Geno that she had “only” two fouls):

”You might think it, but you don’t say it”

Hey! I score, I don't have to play defense! (Sveta)

 

[TCC Kid]

My whipping point has long been college coaching salaries, which are exorbitant - at least in the abstract - in football, men's basketball, major women's basketball and a few isolated "star" coaches in other sports.

I constantly get criticism for this, as though I am saying they don't somehow deserve it or shouldn't get paid. Not at all. I am objecting to the fact they have risen to this point, not that we should then go backwards. It is what it is, at this point.

What I am also saying is that as coaching salaries escalated, as well as the facilities wars, it has become clear that schools are making - or at least spending - a lot of money on their sports. None of it particularly shared with the athletes. Like @MSSportsGuy I long thought the education was enough for the athletes, but it has become clear that a lot of them - while thankfully getting education, I suppose - are not there for that reason, really and the schools only care about on-field / court performances.

Disaster that the NIL is working at being - it is the way in the new, really pro-style college sports.

Most , if not all is accurate., I agree. I'm a purist with a compassionate bend. I don't believe players should be paid. They are not. (at least on the surface). Some, a few, Coaches are way way overpaid. Big schools have big money, smaller schools have less. Economics 101??? The problem is one of "fairness".
When the likes of Paige and Fudd Arnold are no longer recruit-able, what then happens to Uconn's teams?
To me it is on the cutting edge of "immoral" for schools to pay players to advertise their own school~~
If coaches make 3 million or 10 million annually for and around coaching--the kids doing the physical work deserve a share. It becomes a circular argument. Big schools big money --players get money, no money no NCAA big game--no recruiting--

 

[Alydar]

Saban is most assuredly a cranky old man. But his complaint is not completely unfounded. Around the country, well-healed alums are attempting to figure out the best way to “legally” entice top recruits within the patchwork of state NIL rules.

As opposed to doing it illegally, which they have been doing for many decades? And NIL isn't a bunch of alums funneling cash to recruits. At least not in wcbb. If they weren't doing it before NIL they won't now.

Most , if not all is accurate., I agree. I'm a purist with a compassionate bend. I don't believe players should be paid. They are not. (at least on the surface). Some, a few, Coaches are way way overpaid. Big schools have big money, smaller schools have less. Economics 101??? The problem is one of "fairness".
When the likes of Paige and Fudd Arnold are no longer recruit-able, what then happens to Uconn's teams?
To me it is on the cutting edge of "immoral" for schools to pay players to advertise their own school~~
If coaches make 3 million or 10 million annually for and around coaching--the kids doing the physical work deserve a share. It becomes a circular argument. Big schools big money --players get money, no money no NCAA big game--no recruiting--

It's all about money. Go to a UConn football or basketball game and you have to pay to get in. And everyone but the fans and the players are getting paid to put the game on. It's a charade to pretend that D1 college basketball or football is amateur athletics. At least now the athletes can declare the income and pay taxes on it like the rest of us.

 

[TCC Kid]

As opposed to doing it illegally, which they have been doing for many decades? And NIL isn't a bunch of alums funneling cash to recruits. At least not in wcbb. If they weren't doing it before NIL they won't now.


It's all about money. Go to a UConn football or basketball game and you have to pay to get in. And everyone but the fans and the players are getting paid to put the game on. It's a charade to pretend that D1 college basketball or football is amateur athletics. At least now the athletes can declare the income and pay taxes on it like the rest of us.

I consider my life as an Observer of the Human condition. Whom ever said: Money corrupts and big money corrupts completely. Knew how money effects "weak" people. However, it has been proven that Big money corrupts those once thought incorruptible or at least considered to be so. However, no phrase or statement will ever be a blanket covering all approached. Some decent honest people are actually honest and decent.
NIL money, will not corrupt the players. Corrupt colleges or coaches or "business" men with something to gain are the bane of people actually trying to make an apparent unfair system fair.
There was a time in the Olympic games when the Soviet Union and EasterBloc paid player/ Olympians, from cradle to adulthood to be professional athletes. Finally, with the Dream Team America saw the wisdom of professionals playing against professionals (i.e. paid performers). That to me is what NIL is attempting to do.

 

[baggerbob]

I consider my life as an Observer of the Human condition. Whom ever said: Money corrupts and big money corrupts completely. Knew how money effects "weak" people. However, it has been proven that Big money corrupts those once thought incorruptible or at least considered to be so. However, no phrase or statement will ever be a blanket covering all approached. Some decent honest people are actually honest and decent.
NIL money, will not corrupt the players. Corrupt colleges or coaches or "business" men with something to gain are the bane of people actually trying to make an apparent unfair system fair.
There was a time in the Olympic games when the Soviet Union and EasterBloc paid player/ Olympians, from cradle to adulthood to be professional athletes. Finally, with the Dream Team America saw the wisdom of professionals playing against professionals (i.e. paid performers). That to me is what NIL is attempting to do.

And that is why in a few years no one will care about what will be a minor league. Except for a few schools everyone else will find other things to do.
When you have the NFL, whe cares about semi pro's?

 

[LoboDays]

It could also turn ugly from a fan perspective. From rooting for your school’s team to screaming. “You’re a millionaire now and playing like $&#@#”. Or a players perspective “ they made her a millionaire and I’m the leading scorer”.

The goal in all of this was to compensate athletes. If the NCAA and conferences sat down and got serious, they could have come up with a manageable plan that could have been controlled. Instead we have the Wild West. So, there will be blood in the streets.

 

[Bone Dog]

I have such mixed feelings about this. I also taught at a school with division 1 sports in SoCal -- in this case, baseball and basketball -- and I could see the abuses and the friction on the teams. But what I mainly saw was the "academic coaches" whose job was to ensure continuing academic eligibility. In other words, their job was to prevent the kids from actually getting an education.

Will NIL fix this? Of course not. But the system has always been so tawdry and dishonest that it can hardly make it worse. At least now, the coaches, bookies, and other admins aren't the only ones getting rich off the players' backs. And you even see a few cases where players who may not be exactly great have been clever enough to leverage their "images" to get a piece of the NIL pie. I'm thinking of the Cavinder twins as just one example. I say, more power to them if they've managed to build a following and squeeze some money out of endorsements.

Of course, I hope UConn can keep it together during this turbulent period. They lost 3 players to the portal last year, and for all I know it may have some connection to NIL frustrations. When we guess it's about playing time, that might as well be about NIL opportunities as well. Nobody riding the bench gets an endorsement deal.

 

[Alydar]

It could also turn ugly from a fan perspective. From rooting for your school’s team to screaming. “You’re a millionaire now and playing like $&#@#”. Or a players perspective “ they made her a millionaire and I’m the leading scorer”.

The goal in all of this was to compensate athletes. If the NCAA and conferences sat down and got serious, they could have come up with a manageable plan that could have been controlled. Instead we have . So, there will be blood in the streets.

Be careful before calling it the Wild West. The media doesn't like uncertainty. It makes projecting profits difficult. NIL means less money to ESPN? Oh Boy! So I keep reading all these nightmare "scenarios" where college sports is controlled by cartels of wealthy alumni who ensnare these athletes with huge bribes disguised as "compensation".
Compare that to what we have now, where these young athletes (or their advisors) get huge cash payments to come to their school (or the kid signs due to someone's influence). The net result of the current method is that the kids can now be blackmailed by the bribers, who never seem to get punished when caught. "Do what we say kid or you'll be the next Connie Hawkins" The extent to which wcbb is a clean sport now is mostly due to it's relative poverty. Very few bookies will take large wagers on wcbb. There's no money in fixing a game for gambling profit.

Yeah, I sound a little cynical. I think I'm being real. If wcbb ever rose to the level of popularity/revenue the men have today then the corruption would only get worse.

And for the record, while money also corrupts the quote mentioned earlier was about power.