And there are very few limits, caps, or regulations apparently, in the current NIL. I think it's great that the players are getting compensated. I think it's great that we have a coach who players want to play for and is a relatively good recruiter, to his culture and program.
It is just very hard to get used to and I hope NIL doesn't continue in it's present form. Wealthier fan bases can buy a 'better' team, player-wise, BB and FB now. That shouldn't be. And the fans shouldn't have to pay the burden, in general, at least not all of it. Especially with the ungodly amount of money the P2 conference members are now getting with their media deals.
Hi T,
I tend to agree with you, but I often come back to this.
Why should college athletics be ANY "WAY"?
Why are there college athletics? At one time some students thought it would be fun to compete against other schools in the name of their school, so they put together a club and started playing. Then, the schools themselves saw that this was a good activity that brought some attention to their school, provided something for their students to attend and have pride in and eventually became both a way to stay connected with alumni and to get their name out there past the county line.
Eventually it grew to a rather big time enterprise, with budgets rivaling medium sized companies with salaries for the few at the top rivaling those of lower paid CEOs.
It has evolved a lot over time. There are many colleges today where the student athletes are barely supported. They have to pay their way through college and participate in their school's athletics for the joy or pride of doing so. (Sometimes not paying for beer all the way through college might be an ultimate goal.) Those students are probably the closest thing we have to the origination of college sport participation.
There were others that got full rides and preferential treatment and training rooms and an opportunity to hone their skills to put on display the abilities they gained for people to pay them to play the sport they wanted to make their profession.
There were yet others that "went pro" without letting anyone (especially the NCAA) know about it. That is what was breaking the NCAA before. Cheating, getting ahead, gaining more money from that cheating AND possibly bigger support (you can't look past that) and staying ahead becuase of those factors. A few schools made that happen through lack of morals and/or fanatical financial support.
What we have now is a system that is in need of regulation. The students, who, let's face it, have become employees, were asking for a little bit of compensation and ended up in the middle of firestorm created by the "adults" in the room. They, of course, are not innocent in all this. Once they saw the bags they could get, they gladly looked for them. There is a good and fair way to do all of this, I doubt if we will get to a point that the cheaters won't cheat, but there are logical rules that could be struck to make most everyone happy.
We just need to wait for a while to get to the other side.
But, the one thing that we probably can't do is wish for the "good 'ol days", becuase what you are looking for is gone and hasn't been what you thought it was in generations.
If you DO want/need that, then I'd suggest you drop down to Division III athletics and root on the true student-athletes. Schools like Coe, Buena Vista, Luther, Wartburg, University of Dubuque, Cornell, Central, Simpson, Loras, and Grinnell all have nice programs and facilities to go spend your time at. They are close enough that you should be able to get to the games and catch them on local radio or, at worst, audio streaming when they are a little further away. Those young men and women are participating becuase they love the sport and support their schools. They will likely play for their teams for 4 years and develop along the way. OR they might give up on collegiate sports all together. It may prove too much of a load while they are on their way to graduating with their fellow DIII athletes at about an 88% clip. Either way, it seems they will be there for you to get to know for a while at least.
Unfortunately, ISU and most of DI and DII is far past this and is not going back. You don't have to add to the mess, but I don't think you can stop it. We can either hope that our coaches continue to bring in athletes that represent the school well, that buy in to what we are about and appreciate the fans as much as we appreciate them OR we can give up and go sit with few hundred people in small towns around Iowa on gamedays.
This has been the choice to a LONG time now.
