• The KillerFrogs

UNC lost 51 players, added 35 via portal

Wexahu

Full Member
Want college football to become minor league NFL? Fine. But guess what minor leagues have? Salary caps, contracts, and waivers. At least that’s some kind of structure. This current model where the big money schools get to siphon away all of other teams star players is just killing the game.
Is anyone remotely surprised?

I knew the second they allowed free transfers it was going to be a giant cluster scheiss. I couldn't believe they gave in so easily to that basic rule that is so critical to any kind of competitive balance, it's as if the people making the rules have never followed sports before.

The situation for TCU and other B12 schools is bad enough, but why on earth would a school like North Texas or Tulsa even bother having a football team? They literally have ZERO chance to be anything but fodder for bigger money programs.
 

NovaScotiaFrog

Active Member
I couldn't believe they gave in so easily to that basic rule that is so critical to any kind of competitive balance, it's as if the people making the rules have never followed sports before.
That's the root of the issue, eh?

The league doesn't exist to protect "competitive balance" because they continue to argue that they are an amateur endeavor tied to universities. So they run in to antitrust issues when they try to restrict "student athletes" for that very reason, and courts have quite rightly struck those down. They can't have their cake and eat it too.

If they want to be a sports league, they can do that. They could solve the issue in a day. They don't want to.
 

Wexahu

Full Member
That's the root of the issue, eh?

The league doesn't exist to protect "competitive balance" because they continue to argue that they are an amateur endeavor tied to universities. So they run in to antitrust issues when they try to restrict "student athletes" for that very reason, and courts have quite rightly struck those down. They can't have their cake and eat it too.

If they want to be a sports league, they can do that. They could solve the issue in a day. They don't want to.
The root of the competitive balance issue is unlimited player movement, yes. I know everything seems illegal that restricts "student-athletes" in any way, but I just don't get it, and I don't get how all these rules were fine for over a hundred years and now all the sudden none of them are. Amateur competition is basically illegal I guess.

What's next, an athlete suing an official for calling a bad foul on him, claiming the negligent action restricted his/her earning potential?

I'm just rooting for the entire thing to collapse.
 

NovaScotiaFrog

Active Member
I know everything seems illegal that restricts "student-athletes" in any way, but I just don't get it, and I don't get how all these rules were fine for over a hundred years and now all the sudden none of them are. Amateur competition is basically illegal I guess.
I think it's two things. First, the nature of Division 1 football changed significantly over the last 40 years but especially in the last twenty five since the advent of the BCS. It's not really the same endeavor that Knute Rockne was coaching. Second, some of those rules were probably always illegal but it's taken a while for justice to be shown through, as we've seen with scores of other rulings in our society.

Amateur competition isn't illegal, but "amateur" competition sells billion dollar television deals and acts in every other way as a professional sport, while at the same time trying to restrict players' opportunities, surely is.
 

Wexahu

Full Member
Amateur competition isn't illegal, but "amateur" competition sells billion dollar television deals and acts in every other way as a professional sport, while at the same time trying to restrict players' opportunities, surely is.
This is what I don't understand, but obviously I'm not an attorney.

From a purely legal POV, what does money have to do with the rights for a governing body to set rules of competition? It's a purely voluntary activity. Nobody is being forced to participate that doesn't think it's right.

This idea that all these poor kids were being taken advantage of is laughable. Never have so many kids, and their parents, spent (and in so many cases, wasted) so much time, money and effort so they could potentially participate in something that took advantage of them like college sports. Heck, programs had any number of walk-ons that were willing to participate truly without getting much of anything in return, voluntarily.
 

NovaScotiaFrog

Active Member
From a purely legal POV, what does money have to do with the rights for a governing body to set rules of competition?
Well first, money definitely changes whether or not your claim of being an amateur endeavor and entitled to the protections that amateur athletics have enjoyed right?

More to the point though, sports leagues can be tricky in this sense, because what's good for the league (as you say, competitive balance to keep the public interested) might be at odds with what is good for the team (win the most games with the best players) or the individual player (maximize their opportunities to make money and move to the NFL when eligible). Since the schools could be considered "competitors", rules to prevent individual teams from bettering themselves could be considered collusion, which is obviously illegal. Pro leagues have sidestepped this with a combination of antitrust exceptions and CBA's / contracts, neither of which the NCAA has attempted. Honestly I think that's where we are headed though. Get a CBA, sign the players to multi-year contracts, and this problem disappears. The NCAA to date has tried to avoid this, but that has caused them to lose most aspects of control over the conferences.
This idea that all these poor kids were being taken advantage of is laughable. Never have so many kids, and their parents, spent (and in so many cases, wasted) so much time, money and effort so they could potentially participate in something that took advantage of them like college sports. Heck, programs had any number of walk-ons that were willing to participate truly without getting much of anything in return, voluntarily.
The issue here, as with a lot of industries but especially major league sports, is that the line between "this is voluntary, you don't have to work here" and "the employer has significantly more negotiating power than the worker so they can force wages down with monopoly power" is a grey one.
 
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SW toad

Active Member
This is what I don't understand, but obviously I'm not an attorney.

From a purely legal POV, what does money have to do with the rights for a governing body to set rules of competition? It's a purely voluntary activity. Nobody is being forced to participate that doesn't think it's right.

This idea that all these poor kids were being taken advantage of is laughable. Never have so many kids, and their parents, spent (and in so many cases, wasted) so much time, money and effort so they could potentially participate in something that took advantage of them like college sports. Heck, programs had any number of walk-ons that were willing to participate truly without getting much of anything in return, voluntarily.
I think what a lot of us have been missing including me(I'm at the top of the list) is that the current mind virus in academia, MSM-ESPN-Fox sports mostly have believed that the kids have been very mistreated for the last 50 years. Hey folks let us bring out this new, fair, compensating for past wrongs thang called Name Image Likeness. Segments of society along with MSM, academia were brainwashed that Eric Dickerson, Tim Couch, Deion Sanders, Saquan Barkley, Eli Manning and thousands of other CFB players didn't receive just Compensation for their contribution to the program(s). I think they were right but those upper echelon players represented maybe 10% of the players in CFB. Now, people are attempting to fix and compensate players who played 30, 20, 15 years back and it does not work.

If you search compensation analysis "tournament theory" the solutions through of all places academia show up.

The president met with Nick Saban last week and they will come up with a solution that society, academia, legal eagles and especially legacy media will buck hard against. The charade that Academia and MSM believe they themselves are colonizers will likely become a Mt. Mckinley obstacle, and this will rock on for several more years. Unfortunately, it may take a few dozen programs to cease to exist for anything meaningful to happen.
 

Wexahu

Full Member
I think what a lot of us have been missing including me(I'm at the top of the list) is that the current mind virus in academia, MSM-ESPN-Fox sports mostly have believed that the kids have been very mistreated for the last 50 years. Hey folks let us bring out this new, fair, compensating for past wrongs thang called Name Image Likeness. Segments of society along with MSM, academia were brainwashed that Eric Dickerson, Tim Couch, Deion Sanders, Saquan Barkley, Eli Manning and thousands of other CFB players didn't receive just Compensation for their contribution to the program(s). I think they were right but those upper echelon players represented maybe 10% of the players in CFB. Now, people are attempting to fix and compensate players who played 30, 20, 15 years back and it does not work.

If you search compensation analysis "tournament theory" the solutions through of all places academia show up.

The president met with Nick Saban last week and they will come up with a solution that society, academia, legal eagles and especially legacy media will buck hard against. The charade that Academia and MSM believe they themselves are colonizers will likely become a Mt. Mckinley obstacle, and this will rock on for several more years. Unfortunately, it may take a few dozen programs to cease to exist for anything meaningful to happen.
Basically every player in college football is entirely replaceable. And it's always been that way. Every once in awhile you'll have a Johnny Manziel-type situation where a certain player makes a real measurable difference, but it's very rare. The players benefit from the stage far, far more than the other way around.

It's not much different in the NFL, for the most part all the players are replaceable. Other "stars" will emerge and take the place of those that leave. The difference is there is a draft, a salary cap, and even minimum 4-5 year contracts for drafted players.....the players union obviously understands that certain things need to be in place for the good of the league.
 

Hemingway

Active Member
Is anyone remotely surprised?

I knew the second they allowed free transfers it was going to be a giant cluster scheiss. I couldn't believe they gave in so easily to that basic rule that is so critical to any kind of competitive balance, it's as if the people making the rules have never followed sports before.

The situation for TCU and other B12 schools is bad enough, but why on earth would a school like North Texas or Tulsa even bother having a football team? They literally have ZERO chance to be anything but fodder for bigger money programs.
Even basic endorsement deals for most athletes have non-competes, like only drink Pepsi when under contract with Coke, only sign Topps trading cards etc…. Most competitive jobs have non-competes, with most being 1-2 years as long as they’re reasonable. This only exists in college sports.
 

TooColdU

Active Member
Season 4 Episode 21 GIF by The Simpsons
 

SW toad

Active Member
Basically every player in college football is entirely replaceable. And it's always been that way. Every once in awhile you'll have a Johnny Manziel-type situation where a certain player makes a real measurable difference, but it's very rare. The players benefit from the stage far, far more than the other way around.

It's not much different in the NFL, for the most part all the players are replaceable. Other "stars" will emerge and take the place of those that leave. The difference is there is a draft, a salary cap, and even minimum 4-5 year contracts for drafted players.....the players union obviously understands that certain things need to be in place for the good of the league.
True, the players benefit from the stage/circus far more than the other way around. In Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Miami, Ann Arbor, Columbus and many many other metros, regional and national media have elevated these players way beyond their true worth.

I see the path for the CFB athlete turning into a true Employee-Employer situation. A true employee/employer relationship would involve non compete agreements, defined weekly and monthly salary disbursements, CTE support and quasi-Lloyds insurance protections.
 
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