Comments on: Editorial piece

By: Northside

Northside — Wed, 28 May 2008 17:49:47 +0000

I think Borenstain went to school with me at Berkeley High in the early 1970′s. He wore an army field jacket, long hair and wire rimmed glasses and had a girlfriend with a dog named (I’m not kidding) “Come A-runnin’”. In other words, just your typical Berkeley nonconformist.

Up against the wall pig, etc. etc. Yawn.

He was a nice enough kid, not into sports, as I recall.
Nice to see he’s make the big time in the ‘burbs.

By: MoreNCsarecoming

MoreNCsarecoming — Tue, 20 May 2008 19:50:10 +0000

Matt (San Fran): Ivan, will the Michigan State-Cal opener tell us which one of these rising programs if for real? I think either could be a sleeper in 08.

Ivan Maisel: (2:53 PM ET ) I’m kind of done with Cal as a sleeper after last year. Michigan State to me is an interesting team. Somebody is going to break out of the middle of the pack in the Big Ten. I’m not smart enough to know who it is yet.

Does anyone know what this guy is talking about? It is very confusing what he means by “sleeper”. Does he mean that some sleepers never wake up?

By: dball

dball — Fri, 16 May 2008 17:15:28 +0000

I don’t think we have to worry about many people agreeing with greg, his comments are just too far out there. And I wonder what he’s even doing on a colleges sports blog in the first place unless he’s that unhappy that his rhetoric can’t find an audience anywhere else. Can we get back to sports now?

By: Jan K Oski

Jan K Oski — Fri, 16 May 2008 05:22:04 +0000

Greg, you are so naive. Did you even bother to consider the fact that the players are paid through free rides which escapes the requirement of strong academic performance or massive paybacks after graduation?

Here’s something else to chew on. Players are feed like Kings and Queens even during the offseason, while the rest of us ate or eat crap in the dinning commons. How’s that for additional payment?

Allow me to tear apart your argument even more. Who will earn money in your scenario? Do you only pay football and basketball players, since they are in the sports that bring in the money. What happens to the other sports? They’d have to be cut like ASU just cut Wrestling, Men’s Tennis and Golf. That ain’t right, young man. I know they teach a lot of utopian ideas in college, but it is time to wake up to the reality that college sports are all right, and no human institution is perfect.

Oh yeah, and whatever happened to personal responsibility when it comes to breaking rules and laws? It still exist. If you don’t believe me, break a law, and you’ll feel the full force of justice. Bush, Mayo and Bozeman are guilty, not the system, even if they were ignorant. That goes for the rest of us, too.

Finally, how do colleges gain by allowing the NBA to take players after one year? OYE VE!

By: Greg

Greg — Thu, 15 May 2008 21:32:42 +0000

College sports fans need to recognize that the NCAA has basically become a minor league and talent proving ground for the NFL and the NBA. If you have the proper qualifications and talent, at age 18 you can fly an airplane, you can perform surgery, you can aruge a case in a courtroom — but you cannot be a player in the NFL or NBA! The NCAA is a willing partner with the professional leagues because it makes their product that much more attractive. Any industry that could mange to avoid paying a huge part of their workforce would find it very lucrative.

By: Greg

Greg — Thu, 15 May 2008 21:14:44 +0000

Why should it be unethical and illegal to pay players? They literally risk their lives everytime they step on the field in a way that the coach doesn’t. Many posters talk about how Tedford deserves his salary because the stadium is full (nearly full? how many times has memorial actually sold out) and a succesful football team attracts more donations. So in reality it is all about the money. He deserves a king’s ransom because he generates revenue. This totally ignores the contribution of the players, whom we pay to see perform. And the only ones not getting paid are the players. They are being exploited. It’s not leftist to say that it’s wrong to force people to work for free — especially when there are hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars sloshing around in the NCAA system. For example, if I am not wrong CBS paid the NCAA $6 billion for the right to show March Madness. CBS cashes in by running endless commercials of beer and SUVs. All of the scandals — the OJ Mayos, Reggie Bushes and Todd Bozemans — occur precisely because the players have no money! Many are from impoverished backgrounds and they are thrown into an environment where most of their college student peers are in fact from priviliged backgrounds. It is no surprise that corruption such as OJ Mayo comes out of a corrupt sytem. Give the players a cut of the proceeds — a living wage — and the bribes will not look as attractive any more. I love college sports — it is a great form of entertainment. But I also recognize that the current system is horribly abusive towards the players. Meanwhile you have coaches such as Nick Saban, Bobby Petrino, Dennis Erickson, Dennis Franchione, etc. etc. being rewarded for horrible behavior and showing the players that, yes, it really is all about the money.

By: Sinbad

Sinbad — Wed, 14 May 2008 20:28:03 +0000

All the talk about athletic department economics is interesting and significant but misses a crucial element. A major goal of every university is to increase its perceived value so as to garner “better” students, better press and more money in a self-perpetuating cycle. The various methodologies may be flawed across the board, but college rankings are crucial to a college’s success. And two key elements of such rankings are money (driven by alumni giving) and the quality of the applicant pool. In each case, those elements are dramatically benefitted by a successful high-profile sports program (typically football and/or basketball). Duke has been a fine university for much of its history, but it’s no coincidence that its striking push up the rankings correlates to the national success of its hoops team (beginning in the mid-80s). Great teams mean that alumni write more and bigger checks and that more and better students apply, so paying top dollar to try to achieve and maintain athletic success makes perfect sense. Simple.

By: iamalcindor

iamalcindor — Tue, 13 May 2008 21:48:26 +0000

Jan K Oski Says:
May 13th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
Don’t Feed The Trolls! A response is all they need to make their pathetic existance meaningful.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

One other thing janko. The best way to silence a critic especially one from another team and program is to win. Especially important is that you should occasionally beat your rival and not lose to them in football, twice in men’s basketball and three times in woman’s basektball. It’s hard to defend a loser.

By: iamalcindor

iamalcindor — Tue, 13 May 2008 21:40:02 +0000

Jan K Oski Says:
May 13th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
good points, fedupoffedup, but Don’t Feed The Trolls! A response is all they need to make their pathetic existance meaningful.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I assume you are referring to post #25? What exactly was said in that post that would lead you call the poster a troll. If you and your bunch desire to enter into the world of bigtime college football then you better get used to high expectations by fans. It is laughable to me that any disagreement around here is met with accusations of being a troll, a communist or a liberal.

By: Jan K Oski

Jan K Oski — Tue, 13 May 2008 19:41:09 +0000

good points, fedupoffedup, but Don’t Feed The Trolls! A response is all they need to make their pathetic existance meaningful.