Wednesday, September 25, 2024

Wolverine Wednesday: This is Pro Ball

There is no pretending any longer that college football is an ameutur sport. Many programs are investing $20M into the portal and god knows how much into recruiting 4 and 5 stars.  Don't hold your breath when it comes to Michigan recruiting 5 star talent, Michigan will not be paying those fees anytime soon.  


I was even surprised yesterday when I looked up when Maction starts on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.  Answer is: not until November.   I was surprised, as I thought the MAC could be getting more viewers starting it now.  Probably has something to do with the Baseball Playoffs.  Side note, I told my son after N. Illinois beat ND, that they would lose their next game.  They did to Buffalo this past weekend.

The latest example of college football being a pro sport happened this morning when UNLV 3-0 starting QB Matt Sluka has decided to redshirt for the rest of the year after he says, " it became clear these commitments would not be fulfilled UNLV is surrounded by PAC 12 talk and is a solid candidate for making the college football playoffs.  UNLV quickly leaks he was getting NIL deals from other schools to leave.  I can not confirm or deny those calls were made by me.   ðŸ˜€

It's a new world in college football. 

  • Michigan USC averaged 6.3M viewers, topped out at over 10M
  • Sherrone won Dodd Trophy Coach of the Week 
  • Josaiah Stewart won the Chuck Bednarik Player of the Week 
  • Michigan was named the #3 Public University by US News and World Report
  • This weekend is Military Appreciation Game vs. Minnesota

13 comments:

Brady2017 said...

I wonder how many schools cancel or delay the payment of NIL money until they see how a player plays? If he sucks, do they still pay him, or force him into a transfer by stiffing him on the NIL? Whatever UNLV is doing isn't working. I've never heard of a starting winning QB ask to be redshirted. Smh Contracts are coming.

ScottyDoggs said...

Best commentary ever, College is a pro-sport arena ..... how did it come to this? On one side college football at major colleges is a cash cow, and TV rights have become gold mines ... AKA: dissolving of Pac-12 into BIG TEN because of TV money. Only i in 10,000 high school footballers make it to Pro's .... only 1.5% of college football players make it to Pro's. Even then Pro career's average only 4 years a piece. Did NCAA cause this problem, by bottling up money forever. Should players have received 10,000 a month stipend for playing (wealth sharing?). I love Michigan to death, first game watched was Woody/Bo 1969 and was hooked! The national championship was great. But I have become a fair/weather fan. If Michigan was 0-12, I would just move on and forget about it. Are the days of pride like 70's/80's gone forever? I have not watched a game in years, simply because I am so busy, I am not going to pay for TV 100/month just to sit there or feel obligated to watch. The story about the quarterback that refuses to play, makes me want to barf. Please hand me a feather to help me relief my inner tensions. Watching Ohio State smash us knowing they bought a team, is not the same as the "ten-year war" If I was a college coach, and a 5 star player wanted 5000/10,000 dollars just to talk to me, I would agree .... as long as I can jam it up his ass and make it hurt bad!!

Brady2017 said...

Word has it MSU starting QB Aiden Chiles accepted a boatload NIL payment to come to the Landfill. Bet his teammates are loving that human turnover machine. Lol

ScottyDoggs said...

"Landfill" {{{LOL}}}

Brady2017 said...

I agree, college football is a sad scene right now. Look for more structure in the next year or two that will put guidelines into place. There are lawsuits filed every week by former players who want money for lost income. At this point, I'd welcome contracts to eliminate the shady doings going on.

Brady2017 said...

https://www.hudl.com/video/3/11894853/66f078b7e24b565754c84cac

Brady Hart is crushing it. His past game highlights are crazy.

szanreno said...

Outstanding comment scotty. I almost packed it in this year myself but I decided to give it another go. I think once the players form a union, and that will happen, I'm out. Kind of sad nowadays. I've been a fan since the Stanford game in 1973 and I long for the good old days..

Chowman said...

So according to Sluka's dad, he was told he would get $100K to come play at UNLV. So far he's only gotten about $3k, but the school was going to get him game checks. Those haven't materialized. This is just more reason that someone, somebody needs to put some framework into the NIL stuff. It's why I think there has to be contracts. No he said, he said. No gray areas, we pay you $X and you'll play for us for x years!

As far as Michigan, I understand the hesitation, but its the price of doing business right now. If you're rivals are going to be handing out 7 figure deals and you're not, you're falling behind, and if that's the case, I'll find better things to do with my time. Haven't watched the Pistons in over 4 years. I'll have to see how the Wings start off, but based on the offseason, I'm not very excited. Started watching the Lions last season again after checking out since 2014.

Chowman said...

And to follow up: if Michigan doesn't play the NIL game like the other elite teams, and falls behind, when we do find a diamond in the rough as 4 or even 3 star, do we lose them when a GA or a Bama or an Oregon when they come calling with a blank NIL check?

Chowman said...

Probably not many. You get a rep of doing and you won't get many transfers answering your calls. UNLV is going to take a hit, no matter if its true or not. Transfer recruits are going to be leery of them going back on deals with them.

ScottyDoggs said...

Chowman .... you're dead-on target.....how bad is it going to get? Like a girl or girlfriend that you want or need badly, then you give up because of too much drama. If it gets that bad, I will already be gone and find future interest like hunting for fossils or precious gems. Or star/galaxy watching with a major telescope.

Aimtubbs said...

Not sure I'd call Lansing a landfill, more like a nuclear dump. If Chicago and Lansing had a baby....it'd be Columbus OH!

Chowman said...

Scotty I've already soured on sports. Its always been about the money, but TV and cable networks have ruined it. I refuse to go past the $200/mth mark for cable/internet. I need high speed internet as I work from home. So because I won't pay for Xfinity's premium package, so I no longer get Bally's. So F the Tigers, F the Wings and F the Piston. Like the Pistons should pay viewers to waste time watching them. I won't pay for streaming services to watch football either. Come January I'm out on cable. I'm just going to do HS internet. I stream the free stuff. Roku TV and Tubi. Is it older stuff, sure, but you know what that's more entertaining than the stuff they create today.