minutia ...

[stlcatfan]

I actually like the 2 minute warning. It serves as an extra timeout for both teams. And if your team is behind with the ball driving down the field, the 2 min warning provides extra benefits to the offense, in case they want to run a special play.

That's what the 2 minute offense is for!! "Special" plays are practiced and communication for these situations are rehearsed in practice. Nah, this nothing but a $ grab, and I'd wager to say the coaches agree. The fans keep getting hosed. I can't believe it keeps getting worse, but it does. Many of us have known we were heading here, though. The NCAA is THE worst ran organization in America, but the money is so easily made, that it doesn't matter. A monkey could run it and still profit. When will fans matter?

This! ^^^

Granted, college football and basketball have never been without their flaws, but what we are witnessing is something on a whole other level in terms of destroying college sports and it's the fans who are getting screwed over the most. Between the NCAA and the Courts (both of who have created this mess with unregulated NIL, tampering, and unlimited transfers), the networks (especially ESPN and Fox), and greedy conference commissioners from the SEC and Big Ten (who are trying to hoard most of the money and power), we truly are witnessing the killing of the goose who laid the golden eggs.

I stopped watching professional sports years ago because I was getting tired of the greed caused by free agency and players constantly switching teams for more money. What we are seeing now in college sports are those things on steroids (at least the pros have salary caps and contracts) and we are only in the early stages. Imagine what it will be like in just a few years, unless the powers that be say changes need to be made before it ruins college sports totally beyond repair. If their answer is to make players unionized employees of the universities' athletic departments, that will likely turn off even more traditional college sports fans.

A lot of college sports fans like us used to watch whoever was playing on TV because they liked watching college football and basketball, but more and more fans are losing interest and are at best now only following their school and maybe the conference they are in. It's sad to see greed ruining everything. Maybe things will change if enough fans speak up, but I'm not holding my breath. As long as the big wigs are making their money, they couldn't care less about the average fan.

[wild@nite]

That's what the 2 minute offense is for!! "Special" plays are practiced and communication for these situations are rehearsed in practice. Nah, this nothing but a $ grab, and I'd wager to say the coaches agree. The fans keep getting hosed. I can't believe it keeps getting worse, but it does. Many of us have known we were heading here, though. The NCAA is THE worst ran organization in America, but the money is so easily made, that it doesn't matter. A monkey could run it and still profit. When will fans matter?

This! ^^^

Granted, college football and basketball have never been without their flaws, but what we are witnessing is something on a whole other level in terms of destroying college sports and it's the fans who are getting screwed over the most. Between the NCAA and the Courts (both of who have created this mess with unregulated NIL, tampering, and unlimited transfers), the networks (especially ESPN and Fox), and greedy conference commissioners from the SEC and Big Ten (who are trying to hoard most of the money and power), we truly are witnessing the killing of the goose who laid the golden eggs.

I stopped watching professional sports years ago because I was getting tired of the greed caused by free agency and players constantly switching teams for more money. What we are seeing now in college sports are those things on steroids (at least the pros have salary caps and contracts) and we are only in the early stages. Imagine what it will be like in just a few years, unless the powers that be say changes need to be made before it ruins college sports totally beyond repair. If their answer is to make players unionized employees of the universities' athletic departments, that will likely turn off even more traditional college sports fans.

A lot of college sports fans like us used to watch whoever was playing on TV because they liked watching college football and basketball, but more and more fans are losing interest and are at best now only following their school and maybe the conference they are in. It's sad to see greed ruining everything. Maybe things will change if enough fans speak up, but I'm not holding my breath. As long as the big wigs are making their money, they couldn't care less about the average fan.

"Speaking up" must consist of non sold out games and low TV ratings. That's the only way. As I've said before, I'm doing my part. No more season tickets and no more watching college sports all day on Saturdays. I will watch the Cats if they're on, but that's it, until something changes to reel this crap in.

[tmcats]

i believe the wbb finals outdrawing the men's by a lot was significant. but i'm not sure exactly what it said. time will tell.

as everyone knows, i gave up my mbb tickets this year and didn't miss going to those games. we supplemented that attending a number of wbb games.

[stlcatfan]

i believe the wbb finals outdrawing the men's by a lot was significant. but i'm not sure exactly what it said. time will tell.

as everyone knows, i gave up my mbb tickets this year and didn't miss going to those games. we supplemented that attending a number of wbb games.

Sadly, women's basketball is heading down the same path. There just isn't as much money in wbb so they are less tainted -- at least for now.

[stlcatfan]

This! ^^^

Granted, college football and basketball have never been without their flaws, but what we are witnessing is something on a whole other level in terms of destroying college sports and it's the fans who are getting screwed over the most. Between the NCAA and the Courts (both of who have created this mess with unregulated NIL, tampering, and unlimited transfers), the networks (especially ESPN and Fox), and greedy conference commissioners from the SEC and Big Ten (who are trying to hoard most of the money and power), we truly are witnessing the killing of the goose who laid the golden eggs.

I stopped watching professional sports years ago because I was getting tired of the greed caused by free agency and players constantly switching teams for more money. What we are seeing now in college sports are those things on steroids (at least the pros have salary caps and contracts) and we are only in the early stages. Imagine what it will be like in just a few years, unless the powers that be say changes need to be made before it ruins college sports totally beyond repair. If their answer is to make players unionized employees of the universities' athletic departments, that will likely turn off even more traditional college sports fans.

A lot of college sports fans like us used to watch whoever was playing on TV because they liked watching college football and basketball, but more and more fans are losing interest and are at best now only following their school and maybe the conference they are in. It's sad to see greed ruining everything. Maybe things will change if enough fans speak up, but I'm not holding my breath. As long as the big wigs are making their money, they couldn't care less about the average fan.

"Speaking up" must consist of non sold out games and low TV ratings. That's the only way. As I've said before, I'm doing my part. No more season tickets and no more watching college sports all day on Saturdays. I will watch the Cats if they're on, but that's it, until something changes to reel this crap in.

I know I've said this before, but I wish there was a system in place where every school could decide if they want to go the semi-pro route with unionized paid players or stay on the amateur student-athlete level, where a student can earn a full-ride scholarship with regulated NIL (as it was truly intended) and a limit on transfers. Let the XFL Lite schools go their own way and form their own league. Let the rest of us (the other 90-100 schools) get back to college sports. True, we may make less money and not have the same level of talent as the semi-pros, but in this new setup, which is being rigged by the blueblood schools (along with ESPN and Fox), will it make any difference if we are not allowed to compete on a level playing field in the first place?

[tmcats]

this is what i believe is the case. but i've asked the state for clarification. my sense is that these are separate grants, one for $50 million and one for $35 million. but as is always the case with government, one never knows without asking very specific questions, which i have done. i'll post the answer once received.

I will eagerly await the results of the investigation by tmcats. Thanks to kstueve for the suggestion that helps to clarify things too. I have reread all of the sources previously cited, including the KUSports article cited by tmcats. There are indeed two separate grants going to KU, both of which require a 3:1 match: $50 M from the University Challenge Grant program and $35 M in Federal ARPA funds, which is commonly called COVID funding. The State Legislature directly appropriated the $35 M grant to KU for economic development in 2022 via SB 267. In addition, SB 267 also allocated $75 M to the Kansas Board of Regents using Federal ARPA funds to set up the University Challenge Grant Program. It appears that the Board of Regents then allocated KU the $50 M grant that will be administered by the Department of Commerce. It is not clear to me where the other $25 M went, but perhaps the investigation by tmcats will clear this up. Details of SB 267 are available here:

https://www.kslegislature.org/li_2022/b ... 4_0000.pdf

He may not agree, but I think tmcats and I can claim partial wins in this discussion. He is more correct about the $50 M University Challenge Grant, and I am more correct about the $35 M grant that was directly appropriated to KU. Again, Federal ARPA funds were used for both grants. I think we can both agree that it is not the best use of taxpayer funds to rebuild the athletic facilities at KU. In addition, I conclude that fault for making poor decisions in this process should be given to the State Legislature and to Gov. Kelly.

finally putting a bow on this, here's a reply from the state legislature about how ku got $50 million from the state of kansas for the memorial stadium project/renovation. we had debated whether the money was specifically authorize by vote of the legislature to the project or if it was gov. kelly's decision. the latter is indeed the case.

The University Challenge Grant program was authorized by the Legislature, but the competition and selection was done by the Dept of Commerce.

[tmcats]

this settlement is over a class action lawsuit (house v. ncaa) we've alluded to before that would break the ncaa unless dealt with out of court. the idea is to move to a pay-for-play model doing away with nil. athletes would be compensated directly by schools. the amount would be capped at somewhere near $20 million per year/school going forward - $30,000/athlete for schools like k-state. former players would be paid some sort of settlement that's not clear at this point in time.


Pete Thamel
@PeteThamel
NEWS: The leaders of college sports are involved in “deep discussions” to reach a legal settlement that would likely lay out the framework for sharing revenue with athletes in a future NCAA business model, sources told me and
@DanMurphyESPN

[tmcats]

400 athletes x $30,000 each is $12 million/year. that number is achievable for most p4 athletic departments. but it will mean downsizing program numbers at schools like arizona and colorado who are struggling financially under the present system.

congress will quickly get involved if schools treat women differently.

[tmcats]

i watched k-state's '91 win over missouri last night on youtube. the linebackers:

brent venables - ou head coach
kirby hocutt - txt a.d.
laird veatch - missouri a.d.

that was quite the lineup. veatch hit missouri's qb in the backfield on a 3rd and one play which play-by-play announcer mitch holtus described as the play of the year. quite a broadcast with stan doing the color. missouri was horrible. finished 1-6 in b8 play. k-state finished 4-3/7-4 but was not invited to a bowl.

my, how times have changed on so many levels. veatch will do a great job in como. sadly, we'll likely never see him here again. it was only a matter of time before he landed a p4 job.

[tmcats]

surefire 50s' rafter and ring of honor.