I was thinking about when “my give a damn got busted” with the NFL earlier this week. As a kid in the 1960’s and 1970’s, I loved pro football. I was a huge Oakland Raiders fan. I could tell you almost every player at every position. Why? Because, for the most part (with the exception of college players coming in from the draft) the rosters didn’t change that much. Yeah, the occasional trade also happen, but year to year you could depend on the players that you loved to “be there”. It wasn’t unusual for a player to spend their entire career with a single team.
As free agency developed in the 1980’s, and players became more transient, my interest began to wane. Today, I rarely watch. And if I do, it is only in passing. It isn’t “must see viewing” for me.
On the other hand, Alabama football has always been that “must watch”. I always scheduled my Saturday around it. But now, I get the sense my engagement may be moving to one similar to the NFL. My biggest enjoyment as a fan was a kid coming in and, over the course of three of four years, watch him blossom. It is now kind of hard to do if they are gone after a year or two.