The genie is out of the bottle

They are fun to watch. And, chances are that none of them are making much, if any, moolah. That might be why their 2-guard, Wesley Cardet, is in the transfer portal. He is a 4-star who is the highest rated player ever signed by Samford. He might be looking for the moolah.

 

I am a Gator Booster and love UF athletics. But while I am really happy Colin Castleton is returning, there is no product or service I would purchase just because he endorses it. Again, good kid and player but his name on a product or service basically means nothing to me.

 

Yeah I don’t follow pro sports, and I am going to have to find another hobby it appears.

 

Makes sense CC getting a nice NIL deal but no one else has really shown anything to deserve that imo. Still hope Reeves comes back but we do have a lot of guys who can play the 2/3 between the 2 new transfers, Lane and incoming freshman Kugel should he pull the trigger as predicted.

 

All bets are off

I feel like we're in the bizarro world. I can't believe this is actually happening, that we're openly giving "deals' to college athletes. Someone needs to put some boundaries in place or this is going to get really bad really fast...but we know the NCAA doesn't have the balls, discipline or vision to do it properly.

 

We are pretty deep now at those positions. I'm of the thinking I've always been, which is if they don't want to be Gators then don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out

 

The problem is this isn’t NIL. NIL implies that the players marketing worth to the company produces a positive ROI for the firm.

These deals are not ROI positive. They aren’t intended to be. It’s straight up buying players.

 

You’re not getting it. The ncaa lost the power to regulate it. The ncaa didn’t set this all up, the ncaa tried to stop it. Feds say the kids can make money off of their name, image, and likeness, and that’s what it is now. Anyone can give them anything they want for any reason they choose. The ncaa isn’t anything but a group of schools. They only have the power they give themselves. They don’t get to bypass state and federal law, and now that we have court rulings and laws on the books, the ncaa’s hands are pretty much tied.

 

I think it’s dumb to boo your own team whether they’re getting paid or not.

 

This should put the last nail in the “amateur” coffin. The schools do have the power to insure that “student” athletes are actually students. That and restrict the years of eligibility. But they no longer have a say over what players get paid.

 

If you don't mind my interjection, what "booing" implies is simply "we aren't geting our monies' worth" and we are voicing that opinion. The better way is to walk out of the event en mass and really threaten to stop writing checks to the product unless there are some real changes. But this takes organization and committment and so it is rarely implemented.

What is being presented, and it is a byproduct of what NIL is wroughting, is once the players/teams are profit motivated and not sports competition motivated then voicing your opinion IS on the table. Booing your high school teams (or the non-revenue teams)? poor form. But once it is mainly about the money then you get the bad with the good.

Personally, what I believe is going to be MUCH more of an impact going forward is once it is all about the RIO then the players, who are still young and mainly developing emotionally, are fireable due to a lack of performance. This is no different in the so-called minor league sports - baseball, soccer, hockey - but the leagues have supports for the younger guys and are mostly in less manic cities. Major college football and basketball is NOT the same. And once you go from a "savior" to a "bum" overnight, plenty of guys are going to be traumatized. Kind of like what happens in the NFL and newly minted QBs. WAY too much pressure for too many of the wunderkinds.

And as we can all understand, it may not be a good thing but it IS real.

 

this hold true for me for 100% of humans.

 

Completely agree. So the next question is, of what benefit is it to the fanscustomers or the schools to keep up the charade of the existing structure of "NIL" deals? If a player can get paid and not produce, that's a disadvantage to the fanscustomers of the teamproduct.

I'll try to keep an open mind with all of this stuff, but I suspect I'll be opening up a lot of free time going forward; certainly won't have any hard feelings towards folks that don't see it the way I see it.

Go GATORS!
,WESGATORS

 

I agree with this, but I won't complain any more when fans do boo their own players.

Go GATORS!
,WESGATORS

 

Yup.i won't begrudge players for making money but I expect I will lose whatever interest I have left once the yearly contract games and "free agency " issues explode even more than what we are seeing right now. At least there is some curiosity to see what shakes out for now but it's looking like an even less regulated MLB as it stands.

 

The free agency comment reminds me of this:



Go GATORS!
,WESGATORS

 

I never really complained about it before, but I still think it’s dumb. If you have the money to move the needle, then go talk to the guy who gets things done, and get it done. If not, support your team, or find another. The home crowd booing their own team is poor form whether they get paid 100 million a year, or whether they’re just hoping kevin’s mom bought the name brand juice boxes again.

 

NIL is ok but the portal sucks.

 

Which is why even though I favor certain pro teams I don't understand the fanatical pro team fan. My favoritism is a remnant from my childhood but I learned a long time ago not to tie my emotions to a bunch of guys who couldn't care less about my fortunes while they bounce from team to team. It's bizarre how many adults get into arguments about their "favorite" pro players. At least with college there was a visceral tie to one's experience with their Fandom.