I think I’m out….

Thx for all you’ve brought to the boards AKA. I understand fully. I went from being a rabid watcher of all things sports, to gators only, to now just watching the postgame hilites and reading the threads about how things went. I found that I was to emotionally invested and that there were so many other things that I could make better usage of the time with. Still cheer for all things Gator, but decided to maximize my time in life.

 

Man, going to miss your posts but completely understand. College sports as we all have known and followed over the years have drastically changed, and definitely not for the better. My passion has waned and I’ve actually missed multiple home football games each of the last few seasons after missing just a handful the previous 30 years or so.

I did go to San Antonio and had a great time but now getting back to NIL and the transfer portal crap, the luster of seeing UF win another NC is starting to quickly wear off.

 

Don't leave us, Brent. I think change will come to make things more equitable. I'm frustrated too, but for me this drives up the rivalry with UK from mutual respect to HATRED. This was an obvious shot to weaken UF by them. They didn't need Zel. He'll contribute, but won't make a difference for them. The move is to hurt UF. We need to remember this forever and keep pushing for our team to take them down.

 

After you get tired of fishing please come back.

 

I used to be that way. I have found much more happiness in life enjoying the victories and not getting too down with the defeats.

 

and if you are like me aka...some of it is just about life itself. When I started watching Gator basketball I was a college student and then a young professional. Then I had one kid and it got a little harder to make time. More games on tv and less in person. Then a second kid....then a third. Now if you asked me if I'd rather watch my 12 year old's 7 on 7 football game or a Gator game it is an easy call. Go outside and shoot hoops or fish with the kids or Gator game? Another no brainer.

 

To me it seemed like coach Donovan encouraged at least one player to move on every year. Is that incorrect? Not sure....

 

Ican live with NIL, its the portal I despise.

 

It’s the combination that’s toxic

 

Sad to see you go, this forum is heat for true basketball lovers so losing one is tough.

My wife probably wishes my fandom would fade, but I was a grown man that had tears after the Texas Tech comeback. Todd has really gotten me too emotionally invested!

 

I've been there, but on Championship Monday we had a celebratory group hug with my kids in the living room. They got to meet the Chiozza era team after a game one night. They were like 13, 11 and 7. Now they are 21, 19 and 14. My son (the 14 year old is a pretty good player and a hoops junkie. They are huge fans now. As your kids grow, you get to enjoy it with them and it gives new special memories.

 

I understand some of the sentiment, but I enjoyed this ride just as much as the first 2.
What happens afterward doesnt change the memories of this exciting run.

This was an all time great team with maybe the toughest March run of all time.

The ratings are huge, up 22%. The sport Is very healthy despite its changes.

DA was huge in the title game, but far from an irreplaceable piece. Big core pieces return. Young recruits are coming and we will work the portal.

I am fine with all of it. I love the game. I dont really care about the politics that get us to gameday.

 

Now imagine how Golden must feel about it. He strikes me as a guy who doesn’t forget easily.

 

Hopefully a little off season downtime and you will recharge your batteries and come back stronger than ever. I can always count on your for some great perspective. It is understandable because the fans are the only group that has any loyalty and we are constantly getting pooped on. The players, coaches and admins are all getting paid.

 

He’s just mad because I turned out to be right about White and Golden. A man’s ego can only take so much .

He will be back, no one ever truly leaves. But if he is the rare exception, thanks for the debate without hate, and the info you have had over the years. You have made this site a better place.

 

I don’t even mind “the portal”. I quite liked everything about this years team. Our main portal addition was a player moving from mid-major in FL to delivering FL its 3rd title. Grad transfers shouldn’t bother anyone. Players with multiple years of eligibility shouldn’t bother anyone. What rubs me the wrong way is 4 schools in 4 years.

When a guy moves within conference that’s almost like tampering. Still, I don’t think anyone whined about Kuegel ending up at MSU. So I guess not every move is viewed the same. A number of guys have already transferred within the SEC. Probably something the league needs to put an end to just because of the possible tampering angle. This one went down so fast it seemed a deal might’ve already even been in place.

 

I can live with the portal; it's the NIL I despise. I never saw the sense in trying to bar players from transferring when they didn't want to be Gators anymore.

I still cheer for the Gators (as I have since I was a 7-year-old cheering on Spurrier back in the 60's), but the passion has suffered some due to the professionalism of college sports.

I also used to follow recruiting avidly back when I got a sense of pride from seeing prospects pick UF. The transactional nature of recruiting has pretty much taken the sense of pride out of it for me.

 

Yeah, as I have posted before, the nonsense will stop when the folks punching below the waist get punched below the waist a couple of times. It will just take time to get there. All we have right now is a bunch of drunken sailors running the show.

 

Sure. NIL is good for the players. Portal is good for the players. And both can be good for a program and for the game. You are exactly right: no NIL, no Clayton this year.

To my mind, it’s the combination of unlimited transfers with NIL as the inducement to leave. I don’t blame the players. But it legitimately kills program continuity, player development, and ultimately team play on the court.

I keep wondering why KenPom ratings were so inflated this year. Maybe it’s not that tier 1 (Duke through Bama) was so much better, but that subsequent tiers are relatively worse, and the higher tiers are so much more readily able to dominate them. I mean, the volume of blowouts we had against usually competitive programs was insane (Wake, Wichita, Arizona State, UVA, FSU on their floor).