Rise and 'The Fall'

College sports... brace yourself

The ball comes down on the once proud tradition of NCAA college football. Aptly, J May is a considerable correlation. John Mayer, inspired by the blues, has vocalized the symphony that made college football so great, and its catastrophic collapse.

Once an honor in college athletics, the scholarship has been desecrated. To be a scholar-athlete meant you received sustainable funds to continue education while contributing in school sports. As a athlete thrives on the field, the student succeeds in the classroom. The line comes in question, where the level of importance is blurred by boosters and TV media deals. Dominant programs that emphasize their sports expect a dominant performance on the field, not necessarily with a textbook. There are 180,000 scholarship athletes in the NCAA, and like the commercial says, "almost all of them will go pro in something other than sports." So, when a coach walks into a living room, they see value that brings them closer to raising a trophy. Today, that same athlete, sits on the couch, listens about the school, but waits to hear from Gatorade. This company is the staple of every sideline in sports, but it is now the sponsor that supports the athlete more than 'valuable' electrolytes. I am waiting to hear about the athlete that says "Coach, I would love to give you the Gatorade bath after our championship win, but my contract with Powerade stipulates that I am obligated to refrain from such celebrations." What was the backbone of being a college athlete, has become a broken system. How is a backup punter, expected to feel sufficiently compensated, when the star quarterback brings a check back to their dorm room. The disparity is palpable, and puts everyone who wears a jersey with a target on their back, and a brand, not a team, to represent.

There needs to be a passport for college athletes, where they get a stamp from every team they visit. They could have different colors, logos, places to put the score, and serve as an authorization of their legitimacy as a college athlete. But if you have multiple passports, the TSA reports fraud, and you get the cuffs. Athletes have been handcuffed by their schools to remain in the program for their collegiate careers, but now there is the ominous 'transfer portal' where athletes are free agents, waiting for the highest bidder. Justification comes from school prominence, playing time, and potential success, but loses something many find admirable: loyalty. When coaches reevaluate their roster from one year to the next, they cannot assume they have the same players who committed to them freshman year. This adds a completely new dynamic to recruiting, where you not only must visit high schools, but required to poach players from other schools. Can you imagine the turmoil of a program who loses its star to a different hundred yard pasture?

This year writes a landmark change in history, the dissolved existence of the PAC-12 conference. Once touted 'The Conference of Champions' has utterly disappeared, with school realignment to presumptive competitive leagues. USC and UCLA made the first move, followed by Oregon and Washington. Personally connected to the UW athletic director, following the Husky transition I texted:

"I owe you a drink" hoping to saturate any anxiety over the move.

The BIG-10 now represents a whopping 18 teams. The silver lining is drenched in gold. Media deals hold the weight for athletic departments and while football remains the only profitable income, other sports carry a burden. Now, the DAWGS must travel to the NJ Rutgers Scarlet Knights for "competition"??? How can student athletes sustain the academic standards, when they fly across the country to regularly play a game? How can families support their player all season without frequent flyer miles? How do fans reestablish rivalries with their neighbors when their team is no longer in their backyard?

Questions debilitate everyone, and it is the landscape of college football. However, now that we're here, it is time to look for solutions. A super-conference has been a similar rhetoric among enthusiasts, but once again that leaves out some of the programs that laid the foundation that we call the NCAA (I am so sorry Beavers... and I still hope everybody beats WAZZU). One element that I think everyone is forgetting, is that football dominates college sports. I mean, there's a month of 'March Madness', and the passion for the diamond inspires me every summer, but past that... what is the draw? The biggest pull is football TV deals, so why not bring together the best college football games, and reestablish the conference dynamic for the rest of the league that made a competitive balance?

I continually follow Oregon sports talk radio, where they have to muster substance and analysis over the current ludicrous notions of continuity, and support their ideals of realistic discussion. But damage is done. The world of sports will continue, but never be the same. College sports has started war against itself, and countless fans will forever reiterate the semblance of what once was.

So I return to the sweet song by John 'The Mayor' Mayer, who I attribute to my breakup with the University of Oregon cheerleader... seriously... THANK YOU! "Keep me where the light is"... but idk if there is a Gatorade flavor for dark.