Poll: Where are you as a fan for current college sports?

[Slowpoke Catracho]

Where are you as a fan for current college sports?

 

[LSUgrad2BamaDad]

I’ll watch the games, but I am not following recruiting, transfer portal, or much of anything. Im off Tigerdroppings because I’m convinced we can’t have that many stupid fans, there have to be saboteurs on there right? I’m sure many of yall will disagree, haha.

seriously, I wish we had a forum filled with more respect and positive energy. Kudos to your admins for setting the rules and enforcing them.

Anyway, the college sports all around needs major reform. Athletes are merely commodities and people like Garret Nussmeier who will be a 5th year senior, who waited his turn thru the ups and downs, all with one team, are a dying breed.

 

[dvldog]

E. All of the above.

 

[BamaMoon]

I figure this question is deeply tied to the NIL/transfer saga. But for me, any less interest has little to do with that. But I do have other things that do:

I'll *always* be tuned in to Bama football (and to a slightly less extent, basketball).

Basketball is just harder for me to watch/follow with the state of officiating and how they can control the flow of the game. I'm not less passionate about Bama's teams, but watching basketball has become more like watching baseball to me. I NEVER watch baseball anymore. It's just too slow. And I can hardly watch basketball unless I'm behind enough to fast-foward thru commercials, TO's, free throws and out of bounds plays.

For football, I don't like how it's gotten so expensive to attend a game. This started way before NIL stuff too.

And to be clear, the NIL/portal issues are not the fault of the players or coaches. They are just playing/coaching at a time when these things have been allowed to occur.

It's not their fault. I'm pretty sure 100% of us would probably be doing the same thing. If I was a player today, I'd try to leverage my NIL to my advantage. As the old saying goes, "It is what it is."

If you want to hate anybody for this, look no further than the NCAA. And hating the NCAA isn't anything new for Bama fans going all the way back to "staring down the barrel of a gun" and "textbook-gate."

 

[BamaDMD]

College Football is being quickly ruined. We all know the reasons why, but can anybody fix it or is it hopelessly lost....

 

[BamaMoon]

College Football is being quickly ruined. We all know the reasons why, but can anybody fix it or is it hopelessly lost....

The bluebloods of the sport need to rally and form a new oversight organization ASAP.

The NCAA has to die as fast as possible. These schools who are the heart of college football must agree to new rules that level that playing field OR else!

 

[selmaborntidefan]

How To Chase A College Sports Fan Out Of College Sports:
1) expand your basketball tournament from 32 (about right) to 64 (tolerably good) to 68 (jeez) and remove ANY incentive to keep up with a middling team; if they make the tournament, you'll watch it then. This obviously doesn't apply to hardcore fans, but the rest of us couldn't care less.
2) expand your college football playoff from two (yay...but) to four (perfect) to 16 (who cares?), removing ANY incentive for me to watch regular season games except for "my" team. (I'd be VERY interested in knowing the number of Alabama and other fans who watched 2011 Boise St-TCU and Okie State-Iowa State and if the ratings popped higher than expected; I'll bet they did).
3) change the redshirt rule from one preposterous extreme (guy takes the field, it counts as a season even if he's only there due to injuries) to another (four entire games? great!)
4) have instant replay (good) and STILL miss calls (bad) that almost always seem to depend upon helping the conference as a whole land teams in the tournaments
5) allow players to transfer pretty much anywhere at pretty much any time; maybe the "sit out a year" was extreme but these players on four teams in four years or more? Get lost.
6) "pay players" NOT based upon completion of a set criterion (e.g. win the national title) but before they even arrive on campus.
7) Insult everyone who tells you this is a disaster in the making with snotty and condescending cracks like "you're just mad because the coaches are no longer able to job hop but players can't, something something slavery."

Well, it can all go on without me. And yes, I know there are some bozos of other programs who will say, "You were a sunshine Alabama fan when they won" blah blah blah. I was admitted to the school (but could not afford to attend) all the way back in the Bill Curry years. I attended my first three Alabama games ON THE ROAD because getting home game tickets was damn near impossible (and the third btw was in the DuBose Reign of Error). When we were lousy and I was working Saturdays in the lab with no television, THIS BOARD kept me up with what was happening on the field with game threads.

But when my team loses a national championship because of the less than mediocre effort of some clowns who were only playing because the better players ahead of them got injured - and then they fail to produce and THEN go to another team - well, society won't work if the homeless guy is President, and it won't work with 11 players all acting like their own coaches, either.

I could add more, but I'm done. Literally. Done.

 

[Crimson1967]

I voted for Option 3 but probably more in the 2.5 range. Not really quickly losing interest but more of a slow but steady trickle.

I don’t know if reform is even possible. The pro leagues have a structure and salary caps and union agreements. But the Big Four leagues have a totally different setup. They have 30 or 32 members and are basically a closed shop. Expansion is relatively rare and are organized to encourage parity via a player draft and salary caps. Everyone is more or less equal. The NFC West can’t wield the same power as the SEC. The pro leagues are also only focused on one sport. The Jets and the Knicks don’t have any connection like college sports programs. They also don’t have to prop up a bunch of sports to lose money like tennis or track. (There is the WNBA but that’s another story).

College sports are so massive and widespread it’s impossible to have a one size fits all rule. You have around 360 or so in Division I. But only about 260 or so sponsor football. Then half of them are in a higher group than the other half and each group has their own tiers of power within the group.

You also have the D2 and D3 levels which are under the same umbrella plus the NAIA. They are a completely separate organization but anything the NCAA does will have a ripple effect on them.

Then the hundred or so without football have a dozen or so that put a lot into basketball. (Mostly Big East and Gonzaga). Some are just there to get the NCAAT distributions and stay D1 just for bragging rights/ego. Everyone spends as much or as little as they want on their teams. They can also sign whoever is willing from high schools. There is no draft where a team that went 0-12 can automatically get the best high school player.

There are no contracts and someone can leave after just one year. If a MAC school finds someone nobody else wants and develops him into an All-American, he thanks them by heading to the portal.

The pro leagues have unions. I don’t see that happening in college because of the fact they are students and not actual employees

TLDR: College sports is just too massive to organize like the pros. Every school might be created equal but some are more equal than others.

Going forward, I don’t know what I will do. I’m not as big a sports fan as I once was in general. My college interest has shifted more towards Jax State in recent years. My late wife went there and we moved here a few years ago and have season tickets. I didn’t even watch one second of the Iron Bowl last year and just followed the score on line. Maybe I just like the smaller atmosphere better.

 

[Slowpoke Catracho]

I figure this question is deeply tied to the NIL/transfer saga. But for me, any less interest has little to do with that. But I do have other things that do:

I'll *always* be tuned in to Bama football (and to a slightly less extent, basketball).

Basketball is just harder for me to watch/follow with the state of officiating and how they can control the flow of the game. I'm not less passionate about Bama's teams, but watching basketball has become more like watching baseball to me. I NEVER watch baseball anymore. It's just too slow. And I can hardly watch basketball unless I'm behind enough to fast-foward thru commercials, TO's, free throws and out of bounds plays.

For football, I don't like how it's gotten so expensive to attend a game. This started way before NIL stuff too.

And to be clear, the NIL/portal issues are not the fault of the players or coaches. They are just playing/coaching at a time when these things have been allowed to occur.

It's not their fault. I'm pretty sure 100% of us would probably be doing the same thing. If I was a player today, I'd try to leverage my NIL to my advantage. As the old saying goes, "It is what it is."

If you want to hate anybody for this, look no further than the NCAA. And hating the NCAA isn't anything new for Bama fans going all the way back to "staring down the barrel of a gun" and "textbook-gate."

I think it's a good pre-season temperature check. I'm in the wait and see club right now, but could move down on the poll if things get worse.

 

[Cruloc]

My deal as a fan has been renegotiated without me having a say.

I could hold out for more money, but I have no eligibility left.

This crap at Tennessee with Nico Ihavealefta isn't the only instance that's going on. This crap is going on all over big time college football.

The old spring games are gone....for better or worse, I don't care, the fact they are gone because of all the different reasons that pushed coaches to basically cancel them.....It just doesn't feel good.

Money did this....greed. Lack of rules and enforcement has the inmates running the asylum. The whole body of college football is screwed up. We thought it was bad....then stuff like Nico Iwantmoremoney happens.

Wait til it happens at Bama.....if it hasn't already.

I've loved watching Bama football all my life. The path the game of college football has been on and continues to steamroll down will make Bama football an afterthought for me.

 

[Bama Czar]

When you combine the transfer portal - NIL with the rule changes that are heavily weighted to benefit offensive play (far too easy to score) the game has become almost unwatchable for me. It's a cheap imitation of what it used to be, and media try to sell it as the same game....it's not.

 

[crimsonaudio]

Somewhere between "quickly losing interest" and "done".

All the things I loved about CFB - all the things that made it different than every other major sport - are gone now. It's just a bunch of mediocre professionals playing football for the highest bidder.

 

[Windsortide]

Very disappointed in the state of the game. Don’t like the free agency, and I am afraid we may lose some of the traditions and fan interest.

 

[CrimSonami]

I voted for Option 3 but probably more in the 2.5 range. Not really quickly losing interest but more of a slow but steady trickle.

I don’t know if reform is even possible.

Going forward, I don’t know what I will do.

What '67 said, in general.

I'm still here and involved, for now, but I'm part of the reason for the 2025 "A-Day?" embarrassment. Was planning on the traditional A-Day being an annual 4 generation guys trip but that ain't happening anymore. Between the NIL-PFP debacle, Portal Free Agency and the ever-rising costs of attendance I don't know if I''ll ever attend a game again.

 

[Elefantman]

As long as NCAA, ESPN and NIL are major factors in the game, it's going from dumpster fire to out of control dumpster fire. The broadcast are way too long. And all you see are players who may or may not put in any effort depending on their current business model that day.

 

[Slowpoke Catracho]

I'm Ok wi

How To Chase A College Sports Fan Out Of College Sports:
1) expand your basketball tournament from 32 (about right) to 64 (tolerably good) to 68 (jeez) and remove ANY incentive to keep up with a middling team; if they make the tournament, you'll watch it then. This obviously doesn't apply to hardcore fans, but the rest of us couldn't care less.
2) expand your college football playoff from two (yay...but) to four (perfect) to 16 (who cares?), removing ANY incentive for me to watch regular season games except for "my" team. (I'd be VERY interested in knowing the number of Alabama and other fans who watched 2011 Boise St-TCU and Okie State-Iowa State and if the ratings popped higher than expected; I'll bet they did).
3) change the redshirt rule from one preposterous extreme (guy takes the field, it counts as a season even if he's only there due to injuries) to another (four entire games? great!)
4) have instant replay (good) and STILL miss calls (bad) that almost always seem to depend upon helping the conference as a whole land teams in the tournaments
5) allow players to transfer pretty much anywhere at pretty much any time; maybe the "sit out a year" was extreme but these players on four teams in four years or more? Get lost.
6) "pay players" NOT based upon completion of a set criterion (e.g. win the national title) but before they even arrive on campus.
7) Insult everyone who tells you this is a disaster in the making with snotty and condescending cracks like "you're just mad because the coaches are no longer able to job hop but players can't, something something slavery."

Well, it can all go on without me. And yes, I know there are some bozos of other programs who will say, "You were a sunshine Alabama fan when they won" blah blah blah. I was admitted to the school (but could not afford to attend) all the way back in the Bill Curry years. I attended my first three Alabama games ON THE ROAD because getting home game tickets was damn near impossible (and the third btw was in the DuBose Reign of Error). When we were lousy and I was working Saturdays in the lab with no television, THIS BOARD kept me up with what was happening on the field with game threads.

But when my team loses a national championship because of the less than mediocre effort of some clowns who were only playing because the better players ahead of them got injured - and then they fail to produce and THEN go to another team - well, society won't work if the homeless guy is President, and it won't work with 11 players all acting like their own coaches, either.

I could add more, but I'm done. Literally. Done.

I'm actually OK with 1-4. The rest I agree with.

 

[CoolBreeze]

E. All of the above.

That is me. All in and also done at the same time. I will always love Tide Sports but money has corrupted college football to the point of a bit less passion for it from this observer.

 

[BamaNation]

My view on all this is that I am 100% all-in on Alabama. I want us to win in this current chaotic system but not at all costs. For instance, I refuse to pay into or buy NIL stuff. The players and coaches come and go at will. I will call out all of the nonsense I see related to NIL, transfer portal, etc. AND be much more critical of players - particularly those who have transferred in for NIL paydays and those who are getting big bucks in NIL - and all of our highly paid coaches.

You wanna be a pro? We're gonna treat you like a pro. No longer do you get the benefit of the doubt just because you wear crimson. I'm loyal to my alma mater... not individuals. If a player shows that he's loyal and not just sticking around because we are paying him more than others, he'll earn and get my respect. But if he starts acting a fool, I'm going to call it out.

I will still enjoy seeing us destroy TNersaw and AWburn regardless of who is on the field for us.

I also continue to thoroughly enjoy being here amongst all of you. SO, even if you abandon CFB / Csports, don't abandon your FAM here!

 

[BamaNation]

I still don't understand why the universities in the P4/5 sat around and let the NCAA dictate itself into oblivion. When we got hammered 30 years ago, that should have been the impetus for complete reform. I'm assuming there were 3 main reasons for not doing so: 1) nobody trusted anybody else, 2) NCAA still has March Madness, 3) They thought that common sense wasn't a superpower.

 

[CrimsonTitles]

The changes are definitely annoying, but I'm not sure there is anything they could do to make me lose interest in college football. I'm still holding out hope that the settlement will fix things, if that judge ever approves it. The settlement should make it to where it's no longer pay-for-play, and allow the rules to be enforced without invoking so many lawsuits. Josh Pate was saying there's also a chance that they'll be able to get an antitrust exemption, so we'll see. That would be fantastic, and potentially fix a lot of this.

Either way, I don't see myself losing interest in college football anytime soon. They'd have to start charging out the wazoo to watch the games on TV, in order for that to happen. I live for Saturdays in the fall, and I refuse to let these greedy folks ruin that.