It's Happening...

[southindycat]

Granted, I never really had much more than a passing interest in college basketball, but total free agency is starting to erode my interest in college football in the same way one-and-done took care of the last of my interest in college hoops.

Still, it's hard to lose interest entirely when the program seems to be holding its own, and football is the sport.

I'm going through a rough adjustment, let's put it that way.

 

[maroon79]

It gets easier man

Then, it’s like the light truly goes off and Bam!

 

[K_TIME]

To be fair….players acting like walking “give me money signs on their back”…

Fans are going to be less and less enamored. I see lesser schools dropping out all together and the slow decline of the sport in total

 

[maroon79]

I’m thinking there will be a totally different division

 

[OleBluCatz]

I am finding myself more interested in NFL than College. It was never that way before.

 

[Girthang]

I've lost interest in this football, NFL and now college. It's not the same game. It's not even close. Add to that the corrupt officiating, the politics, the ncaa bullsht, and now unrestricted/uncontrolled college free-agency...

I think it's great that the players can get NIL now, but this isn't NIL. It's pro football without restrictions. It's tampering, extortion, and racketeering all rolled into one package formerly known as football.

 

[NociHTTP]

I’m thinking there will be a totally different division

If there is I hope it doesn't become worse than it already is. I may take up an interest in Div II or NAIA.

 

[The-Hack]

I guess Iost my cynical “cherry” decades , ago, when my older brother befriended some football and basketball athletes in 1974/75 at UK.

My brother was a decent athlete, and always could find good pot. So, he had lots of athlete friends, and played a pick up game of roundball with Sonny Collins and the Elmore Stephens, the O-lineman who was subsequently convicted of murder, for a killing of a drug dealer three hours after the game. My brother was afraid the prosecutors would go after Sonny Collins and subpoena him to prove that he was with Stephens near the time of the killing.

Sonny was never prosecuted, and I doubt had anything to do with the killing.

I knew the whole illusion of collegiate amateur athleticism was bullsh!t from the age of 12, and that the average college athlete had little to do with the “Rah, Rah,” surroundings and trappings surrounding the sports.

The happenings of the last three years are child’s play compared to the reality I was introduced to very early in life.

I’m glad it’s generally above the table, now, and that the taxes are paid.

Those who feel that much has been lost due to NIL and the portal are like my buds who believed in Santa Clause years after I confronted my parents at the age of 4, pointing out the utter impossibility of the whole North Pole legend. They laughed, and told me to be discreet among my friends.

I was.

Some held to that illusion until age 8.

Hell, the Centre College team of 1921 was filled by HS All-Americans (well, three of them) from Texas, bought and brought initially to Somerset High School, then to Danville. My Dad made sure in the 1970’s that I got to meet some those 1921 folks who stayed local, one running a tobacco warehouse in Danville into his eighties. Old men have no discretion left!!

College sports is to me what it has always been: gathering as much talent as you can, by any means necessary, and beating the boys from Gainesville, Knoxville, Nashville, etc., all of whom have been doing exactly the same damn thing for 80 years.

The fact that the rules have loosened to allow more freedom for the athletes is fine by me.

Kentucky (Stoops and Staff) have maneuvered decently in this strange New World, essentially using the portal in 2021/22 to manufacture a team with talents like Jacques Jones, Dare Rosenthal, Wan Dale Robinson and Will Levis. I attended and enjoyed the Citrus Bowl that year, with hardly a concern regarding the teams those players had left behind, or how much they were earning for their play. At least those players and their sponsors didn’t have to violate tax and other laws to play the game, as had generations of players and “sponsors” prior to them.

 

[SemperFiCat]

I find myself occupying my free time with my aquariums and physical health much more these days over sports. Kentucky basketball is still paramount viewing. But Kentucky loses and other sports in general are all just kinda whatever these days.

 

[maroon79]

Sonny Collins Story

He was from Earlington originally.

Earlington was only about 3,000 or so population wise, so there was no football team.

He ran track, and in 8th grade? Went to state as a sprinter and was like 0.2 seconds or so off the state record.

Went back to Earlington and within a month or so the fam moved to Madisonville, his dad had a new car, and went from working in a saw mill to something else- which I can’t remember, but it was a huge step up

Anyways, as a high schooler in Madville became all world, and the rest is history

So, I always tell everyone that Madville was cheating in HS sports before anyone else knew what was going on there

 

[The-Hack]

which I can’t remember, but it was a huge step up

Oh, there were a lot of “steps up” for decades here, and about everywhere!!

 

[Girthang]

I guess Iost my cynical “cherry” decades , ago, when my older brother befriended some football and basketball athletes in 1974/75 at UK.

My brother was a decent athlete, and always could find good pot. So, he had lots of athlete friends, and played a pick up game of roundball with Sonny Collins and the Elmore Stephens, the O-lineman who was subsequently convicted of murder, for a killing of a drug dealer three hours after the game. My brother was afraid the prosecutors would go after Sonny Collins and subpoena him to prove that he was with Stephens near the time of the killing.

Sonny was never prosecuted, and I doubt had anything to do with the killing.

I knew the whole illusion of collegiate amateur athleticism was bullsh!t from the age of 12, and that the average college athlete had little to do with the “Rah, Rah,” surroundings and trappings surrounding the sports.

The happenings of the last three years are child’s play compared to the reality I was introduced to very early in life.

I’m glad it’s generally above the table, now, and that the taxes are paid.

Those who feel that much has been lost due to NIL and the portal are like my buds who believed in Santa Clause years after I confronted my parents at the age of 4, pointing out the utter impossibility of the whole North Pole legend. They laughed, and told me to be discreet among my friends.

I was.

Some held to that illusion until age 8.

Hell, the Centre College team of 1921 was filled by HS All-Americans (well, three of them) from Texas, bought and brought initially to Somerset High School, then to Danville. My Dad made sure in the 1970’s that I got to meet some those 1921 folks who stayed local, one running a tobacco warehouse in Danville into his eighties. Old men have no discretion left!!

College sports is to me what it has always been: gathering as much talent as you can, by any means necessary, and beating the boys from Gainesville, Knoxville, Nashville, etc., all of whom have been doing exactly the same damn thing for 80 years.

The fact that the rules have loosened to allow more freedom for the athletes is fine by me.

Kentucky (Stoops and Staff) have maneuvered decently in this strange New World, essentially using the portal in 2021/22 to manufacture a team with talents like Jacques Jones, Dare Rosenthal, Wan Dale Robinson and Will Levis. I attended and enjoyed the Citrus Bowl that year, with hardly a concern regarding the teams those players had left behind, or how much they were earning for their play. At least those players and their sponsors didn’t have to violate tax and other laws to play the game, as had generations of players and “sponsors” prior to them.

No one here had any "cherries." I had scholarship and money offers to play football, and those were at div 2 schools. Everyone knows people were getting compensated and always have been. Youve either misunderstood the posts, chose not to read them at all, or have no regard for ethics of any sort. Either way, that's your choice.

No one here minds if the players get endorsement money. No one here minds if they transfer. Coaches have left without a thought for decades. The players should be able to as well.

The NCAA under Emmert just plain sht the bed and did nothing but cower in the corner like the bullies they are and have been exposed as. They've protected their cash cows like ucla basketball and USC football (and others) for over half a century while punishing schools in smaller markets as sacrificial lambs.

I'm talking about the game on the field. It's not the same game and hasn't been for a while. It's not the game I played and loved. Anyone that thinks it is the same game is willingly ignorant.

 

[BluegrassSportsNet]

I have a lot more problem with Barnhart making over a million dollars a year than ANY player making 6 or 7 figures.

 

[BluegrassSportsNet]

My interest would probably wane if they create a landscape where it’s just impossible for Kentucky to be able to realistically compete in football. Unless that happens I will probably always watch.

 

[The-Hack]

No one here minds if they transfer.

Hmmmm.

free agency is starting to erode my interest in college football

southindycat began the thread, citing “free agency,” which is just another reference to the ability to transfer.

or have no regard for ethics of any sort.

I have never seen “ethics” as a subject applied to collegiate sports. And that easily predates my interest in it.

I'm talking about the game on the field. It's not the same game and hasn't been for a while.

If not directly related to free agency/transfers, if not related to players getting money, what has changed for you?

Corruption of officials or athletes?

We received the first death penalty for a point shaving scandal in basketball in 1953, 10 years before my birth.

I’ll grant the game has changed, periodically, over the decades. My great-uncle wore a leather helmet, 70 years later I was taught to use the crown of my helmet for tackling.

Given time, NIL might raise programs in urban areas that can garner the support, but 4 years in, and the landscape looks largely unchanged, as to the rulers of the sport.

 

[Tubbyfan78]

Lol, this was probably the best year in college football in a decade and a playoff is coming next year. College football is healthier than its ever been. Get over your entitlement and BS hypocritical sense of ethics and enjoy what is an improved product.

 

[CaptainBoogerBuns]

I find myself occupying my free time with my aquariums and physical health much more these days over sports. Kentucky basketball is still paramount viewing. But Kentucky loses and other sports in general are all just kinda whatever these days.

I’m the same way with football at UK. If they don’t have a good season, the rest doesn’t matter

 

[Glenn's take]

I wonder how much longer the mockery of actually making them go to class will go on. We don't have college football anymore, we just have a 4th pro league. At least it's probably above the XFL and whatever else they are calling that other league but at least they pay the players themselves and don't rely on the fans to do it.

 

[sobester]

I kind of like it.

 

[BluegrassSportsNet]

I wonder how much longer the mockery of actually making them go to class will go on. We don't have college football anymore, we just have a 4th pro league. At least it's probably above the XFL and whatever else they are calling that other league but at least they pay the players themselves and don't rely on the fans to do it.

The class thing was always a joke. Just a way for the NCAA to go on with that not for profit status for too long.

 

[Glenn's take]

The class thing was always a joke. Just a way for the NCAA to go on with that not for profit status for too long.

Just so we're clear. You think they should take the college out of college football?

 

[optimus-blue]

Truth is nothings changed except Bama and UGA just have to pay more to get same players . Now they can cut bait and let someone else pay for their misses.

 

[sobester]

Truth is nothings changed except Bama and UGA just have to pay more to get same players . Now they can cut bait and let someone else pay for their misses.

Meh. I don’t think that’s why they’re good.

 

[UKBrassowTipIN]

Who cares. Oddly ppl cry about these things but no one has said a word that Georgia's football team ranks 2nd to last in graduation rate...so it's okay son if you play football in college and learn nothing..we just want to make sure that you don't have a bank account while you're learning nothing

 

[BluegrassSportsNet]

Just so we're clear. You think they should take the college out of college football?

That’s not something that matters to me one way or the other man. It’s all about the product on the field on Saturday’s for me and that I have an enjoyable time watching or going to games, which won’t happen if Kentucky is no longer competitive. The NCAA has used the school thing as a way to not pay players for years. I was just referring to the way these guys can get tutors to do the work for them and the way college football is a multimillion dollar business, not some rinky dink non for profit. The NCAA have been criminals for a long time. The boz was right. National communists against athletes.

 

[sobester]

Who cares. Oddly ppl cry about these things but no one has said a word that Georgia's football team ranks 2nd to last in graduation rate...so it's okay son if you play football in college and learn nothing..we just want to make sure that you don't have a bank account while you're learning nothing

That has nothing do with paying players. And even if those stats are true, graduation rates are dependent on a lot of factors,

 

[IFerg1969]

I've lost interest in this football, NFL and now college. It's not the same game. It's not even close. Add to that the corrupt officiating, the politics, the ncaa bullsht, and now unrestricted/uncontrolled college free-agency...

I think it's great that the players can get NIL now, but this isn't NIL. It's pro football without restrictions. It's tampering, extortion, and racketeering all rolled into one package formerly known as football.

Yep, it’s now all of the things I never wanted college sports to be. It’s pro/minor league sports now. These kids aren’t there for an education or love of a school anymore, it’s strictly based on money now. I’m waiting for them to drop the requirement that these kids attend classes, why continue the charade at this point.

 

[IFerg1969]

That’s not something that matters to me one way or the other man. It’s all about the product on the field on Saturday’s for me and that I have an enjoyable time watching or going to games, which won’t happen if Kentucky is no longer competitive. The NCAA has used the school thing as a way to not pay players for years. I was just referring to the way these guys can get tutors to do the work for them and the way college football is a multimillion dollar business, not some rinky dink non for profit. The NCAA have been criminals for a long time. The boz was right. National communists against athletes.

To each his own, but I’d say this thinking makes you more of a fan of professional sports than college sports. There are those of us that always preferred college sports and now that’s gone.

 

[Boz]

I like "free agency" it gives the lesser teams at shot by upgrading their roster. The players deserve to be paid.

 

[southindycat]

I am finding myself more interested in NFL than College. It was never that way before.

Suddenly true for me too. At least no one is pretending to amateurism.

 

[southindycat]

I guess Iost my cynical “cherry” decades , ago, when my older brother befriended some football and basketball athletes in 1974/75 at UK.

My brother was a decent athlete, and always could find good pot. So, he had lots of athlete friends, and played a pick up game of roundball with Sonny Collins and the Elmore Stephens, the O-lineman who was subsequently convicted of murder, for a killing of a drug dealer three hours after the game. My brother was afraid the prosecutors would go after Sonny Collins and subpoena him to prove that he was with Stephens near the time of the killing.

Sonny was never prosecuted, and I doubt had anything to do with the killing.

I knew the whole illusion of collegiate amateur athleticism was bullsh!t from the age of 12, and that the average college athlete had little to do with the “Rah, Rah,” surroundings and trappings surrounding the sports.

The happenings of the last three years are child’s play compared to the reality I was introduced to very early in life.

I’m glad it’s generally above the table, now, and that the taxes are paid.

Those who feel that much has been lost due to NIL and the portal are like my buds who believed in Santa Clause years after I confronted my parents at the age of 4, pointing out the utter impossibility of the whole North Pole legend. They laughed, and told me to be discreet among my friends.

I was.

Some held to that illusion until age 8.

Hell, the Centre College team of 1921 was filled by HS All-Americans (well, three of them) from Texas, bought and brought initially to Somerset High School, then to Danville. My Dad made sure in the 1970’s that I got to meet some those 1921 folks who stayed local, one running a tobacco warehouse in Danville into his eighties. Old men have no discretion left!!

College sports is to me what it has always been: gathering as much talent as you can, by any means necessary, and beating the boys from Gainesville, Knoxville, Nashville, etc., all of whom have been doing exactly the same damn thing for 80 years.

The fact that the rules have loosened to allow more freedom for the athletes is fine by me.

Kentucky (Stoops and Staff) have maneuvered decently in this strange New World, essentially using the portal in 2021/22 to manufacture a team with talents like Jacques Jones, Dare Rosenthal, Wan Dale Robinson and Will Levis. I attended and enjoyed the Citrus Bowl that year, with hardly a concern regarding the teams those players had left behind, or how much they were earning for their play. At least those players and their sponsors didn’t have to violate tax and other laws to play the game, as had generations of players and “sponsors” prior to them.

A large part of me is ready to recognize all of this... thus this a "rough transition " not "the end of the road" for me and major college football.

 

[BluegrassSportsNet]

To each his own, but I’d say this thinking makes you more of a fan of professional sports than college sports. There are those of us that always preferred college sports and now that’s gone.

I prefer college because of the atmosphere and the fans. Going to the games are more fun than NFL. Don’t think most fans care whether a guy is a scholar athlete or a complete shitbird so long as he produces on Saturdays. Maybe I’m completely off base, but I don’t think so.

 

[KYExtemper]

I wonder how much longer the mockery of actually making them go to class will go on. We don't have college football anymore, we just have a 4th pro league. At least it's probably above the XFL and whatever else they are calling that other league but at least they pay the players themselves and don't rely on the fans to do it.

It will last until there is a lawsuit that having to sit out for grades negatively impacts earnings. Then a court will overturn that too like they did the recent transfer rule.

 

[IFerg1969]

I prefer college because of the atmosphere and the fans. Going to the games are more fun than NFL. Don’t think most fans care whether a guy is a scholar athlete or a complete shitbird so long as he produces on Saturdays. Maybe I’m completely off base, but I don’t think so.

Well, it does matter to me, personally I liked it better when the kids were playing for the love of the game, for school pride, I think rivalries have been killed by the portal, the OAD, NIL. Everything all rolled together has affected my enjoyment of college sports as a whole. I was a rabid fan up until a few years ago when you could start to see the writing on the wall. Since then it's been a steady decline in interest for me. I still watch, but I'm not nearly as avid a fan as I once was. Instead of making time to watch every hoops or football game on TV, I'll watch them if I remember now, if I don't oh well.

 

[KYExtemper]

I don't have a problem with giving athletes a chance to make money from their image/likeness/jersey sales. I also don't have an issue giving athletes 1 free transfer or letting them also transfer if a coach leaves and/or they earn their degree from the institution they have enrolled in.

However, having unrestricted free agency each season and no salary cap is going to take a lot of the fun out of the sport as players are going all over the place and there's little attachment to a team over the long haul. We've complained about that with our basketball team for years and now its infecting the entire NCAA. Attendance is also down at a lot of places and I don't see how that's going to improve under the present setup. In fact, it could get worse as ticket prices start increasing when/if a collective bargaining agreement is ever brokered between institutions and players.

 

[Tubbyfan78]

Well, it does matter to me, personally I liked it better when the kids were playing for the love of the game, for school pride, I think rivalries have been killed by the portal, the OAD, NIL. Everything all rolled together has affected my enjoyment of college sports as a whole. I was a rabid fan up until a few years ago when you could start to see the writing on the wall. Since then it's been a steady decline in interest for me. I still watch, but I'm not nearly as avid a fan as I once was. Instead of making time to watch every hoops or football game on TV, I'll watch them if I remember now, if I don't oh well.

Dude, the kids Havnt played for the love of the game or school pride since like the 70’s. That’s a fantasy. The last few years Kentucky hasn’t been very good in basketball. You, like every human being alive, care more when your team is winning.

 

[The-Hack]

Truth is nothings changed except Bama and UGA just have to pay more to get same players . Now they can cut bait and let someone else pay for their misses.

And those paying can take a business deduction.

 

[JHB4UK]

Without question the NIL payments are causing talent to be spread out more in CFB. Few years ago this list would have been Bama, Ohio, Clemson, Georgia.



More talent spreading around prevents dynasties, creates more teams and fanbases who believe they have a chance, so they donate even more to their schools NIL.

 

[BluegrassSportsNet]

Without question the NIL payments are causing talent to be spread out more in CFB. Few years ago this list would have been Bama, Ohio, Clemson, Georgia.



More talent spreading around prevents dynasties, creates more teams and fanbases who believe they have a chance, so they donate even more to their schools NIL.

Hurts to see Missouri and South Carolina on that list. The realization Kentucky is capable of doing it. #BlameBarnhart

 

[The-Hack]

Dude, the kids Havnt played for the love of the game or school pride since like the 70’s. That’s a fantasy.

There are exceptions, but they have been few since at least the 70’s.

Our first probation under Curci resulted from an occurrence in 1975, when a newspaperman asked an Alabama player why he had come to Kentucky instead of Bama or Auburn, and he honestly said the money was better at Kentucky.

In his first year at UK, during his call in show, Hal Mumme was asked the main difference between coaching at a school like Valdosta State and coaching at UK. He bluntly said, “We couldn’t afford players as good as we have here.” Full Stop.

Tom Leach jumped in, and said, “You are
talking about the cost of facilities, aren’t
you?” Mumme quickly affirmed he was talking about the cost of the facilities?!?!?

My old friend RV was at the event, in a restaurant in Lexington. He told me he dropped his fork into his plate when Mumme made the gaff. I was driving my car and shouted at the radio, “You can’t say that publicly. . . .” before Leach’s clean-up.