Try being a STUDENT athlete and crisscrossing the nation to compete all the while studying (first and foremost) getting enough sleep and being part of student life.
The experience of being a student athlete is life changing and not easy. Finding balance is key to successful completion of both endeavors. Navigating those experiences makes for a person who can draw upon failures, accomplishments, dedication, sacrifices, euphoria, friendships and knowledge that make for better decisions and outcomes in personal and business life and societal greater good.
I fear balance has been lost. Perhaps it was lost long ago with football then basketball professional monitization.
College sport is being monetized at an alarming rate and the casualties of many other sports is sadly inevitable. With that, each potential bright light of a student athlete ( in the true sense of those two words) is being snuffed out by organizational greed over football and basketball TV rights and profits.
Oh Pu-LEASE! Tiny little violins are being bowed right now for entitled student athletes everywhere...not.
I've known and worked with a number of former D1 athletes and to a person they were odd, not particularly well prepared for the industry they worked in, and weirdly focused on their college glory days, many years later.
There are PLENTY of college Al Bundy types out there. The entire American college sports world can fall off a cliff and we'd all be better off.
Hmmm. Perhaps a little hyperbolic don’t you think?
But the crowd size and TV ratings for volleyball at Nebraska or Wisconsin or wrestling at Iowa or Penn State are nothing compared to what they are for football or even basketball at any of these schools.
Really? Average home attendance in 2022-23.
Nebraska. Men's basketball - 13,221. (88% of capacity.) Women's volleyball - 8,190 (104% of capacity)
Wisconsin. Men's basketball - 14,151. (82% of capacity.) Women's volleyball - 7,761. (103% of capacity.)
Those numbers would be much closer if women's volleyball were played in the bigger arena. One of Wisconsin's home matches was played in the basketball arena with 16,833 spectators. That's 2682 more than the average attendance for men's basketball. This year, Nebraska will play one of their home matches in the football stadium. Let's see if that will still be "nothing compared to basketball."
You're comparing a single volleyball game, probably a pretty high profile one, against an average basketball crowd. The latter will include numbers from non conference games against games against MAC teams, Patriot League teams, Green Bay, i.e. games that will draw small crowds. How does volleyball's average attendance at Wisconsin compare to basketball's?
Anyway, it's football that drives all of this conference realignment and the TV revenue it brings. Nebraska can sell out it's football stadium for a volleyball game and when the Big Ten negotiates its next TV deals that sellout won't matter at all in terms of the next deal just as all the success Stanford's non revenue sports have won't matter if they're trying to get a Big Ten invite or negotiate their own TV deal if they're independent. The only sport that really matters now is football.
They could well be one of the odd men out. But really, I couldn't believe the Big Ten wanted Rutgers whose revenue sports record is even worse than Cal's. Almost everything in college sports these days is about TV revenue. If the Big Ten wants to be in the Bay Area market Cal or Stanford or maybe even both might get an invite. I think Oregon State and Washington State are in even worse positions than Cal.
Keep in mind that when the Big Ten added Rutgers and Maryland eyeballs were measured in TV audiences because rampant sports streaming wasn't a thing. These days they don't really have an incentive to go into a market just for local eyeballs. They need to focus on teams that give them matchups that attract eyeballs in as many places as possible.
The Big Ten presidents wanted to add Stanford and Cal for academics and all sports. Their "media partners" only wanted Oregon and Washington because they wear football-googles where academics and other sports mean nothing to them.
Big Ten presidents are more interested in adding all four of Oregon, Washington, Cal and Stanford, while conference media partners are more interested in a two-member addition of UO and UW.
... it's football that drives all of this conference realignment and the TV revenue it brings.
The casualty is that media companies own college sports. Expect a mass of college sports to die off, with a devastating impact to the U.S. team at the Olympics. The media companies pay big to stream the Olympics, but the question for them is, "where are the athletes coming from?" Oops ... they forgot that the football that is an Olympic sport does not involve tackling and involves a round ball.
College sports are what they are today because of football and basketball money. CBS doesn't say " I want less fencing" they say "We will give you 30 billion for the NCAA tourny" and the college then follow USA laws like TITLE 9 and give that money to women sports. Shut your mouth when you're talking to me.
College sports are what they are today because of football and basketball money. CBS doesn't say " I want less fencing" they say "We will give you 30 billion for the NCAA tourny" and the college then follow USA laws like TITLE 9 and give that money to women sports. Shut your mouth when you're talking to me.
The PAC12 went super woke and now many of those teams and super broke. Always a trail of destruction with the left. They all misplayed the fake Covid nonsense.
BYU was not invited to the PAC12/PAC10/PAC8 exclusively because uber liberal Cal and Stanford wouldn't allow it. So much for tolerance. Karma's a b**ch.
Turning this topic to the potential impact on NCAA Track and Field, there are several concerns to consider . If everything stabilizes soon, the Big Ten will have 18 schools while the Big Twelve will have 16 schools for their 2025 Track and Field Championships. Hosting such an event will be impossible for certain schools due to inadequate housing and facilities. I would not be surprised if some of those schools cut track and field. Secondly, It is more than likely, that we will rarely see a football athlete running track as pressure mounts on college coaches to survive in these mega conferences. Quite a few strength coaches in these programs view track and field as a waste of time and prefer their athletes in the weight room. Lastly, running NCAA track and field will be less and less attractive/lucrative for high school track stars. Once the anomaly, I now envision more and more track and field athletes going pro out of high school. But, relax it is not all doom and gloom we can still b*tch and moan about what NBC has planned for the Paris Olympics on the next message board.
Turning this topic to the potential impact on NCAA Track and Field, there are several concerns to consider . If everything stabilizes soon, the Big Ten will have 18 schools while the Big Twelve will have 16 schools for their 2025 Track and Field Championships. Hosting such an event will be impossible for certain schools due to inadequate housing and facilities. I would not be surprised if some of those schools cut track and field. Secondly, It is more than likely, that we will rarely see a football athlete running track as pressure mounts on college coaches to survive in these mega conferences. Quite a few strength coaches in these programs view track and field as a waste of time and prefer their athletes in the weight room. Lastly, running NCAA track and field will be less and less attractive/lucrative for high school track stars. Once the anomaly, I now envision more and more track and field athletes going pro out of high school. But, relax it is not all doom and gloom we can still b*tch and moan about what NBC has planned for the Paris Olympics on the next message board.
There's nothing wrong with the kids that can go pro, going pro. In the USA you should be paid based on the market value for your talents.
Nobody cares when a 19 year old musician makes millions selling records, but let a 19 year want to get paid for being a really good running back, and grown men start to cry.
I don't get your point here. Beaver Stadium gets over 100,000 fans to a Penn State football game and students are heavily represented in those crowds. And there probably are a million or so more watching on TV. Wrestling draws very well there, more so than at most schools. But it doesn't attract anywhere near the crowds football does and if matches are televised it's only on the Big Ten Network. No sport at PSU gets anything close to the attention football gets and none brings in anywhere near the money football does. That was true in the 20th Century at almost any university that sponsors football and it's true now. So what things do you see changing quite significantly beneath the surface?
Your reading comprehension is lacking. I didn't write another college sport was as popular as football. I commented on your outdated observation that only people with "personal connection" care about "other sports." If you have BTN, check the next volleyball match either at Nebraska or Wisconsin. Those two schools do not have more friends and family members of players than other schools. They have figured out how to market volleyball to wider audiences. If Penn State cannot find any sport other than wrestling (another declining sport) to market, that's their problem.
Football participation rate has been down at high school level, and the decline at the youth level is even steeper. You won't see the immediate impact at the college level, but it will eventually catch up. Of course, most people on this board will probably be gone for good before that happens.
You are an absolute fool if you think at any point during these negotiations anyone said, "hey and what about that volleyball team! Man they really pack 'em in!"
... we can still b*tch and moan about what NBC has planned for the Paris Olympics on the next message board.
The U.S. medal count will be down. No one cares more about that than NBC. They'll need to draw attention away from that by having more human interest stories and commercials.
The fallout is going to be a wild journey. Has Cal cut any sports yet? Any announcement on the Wazzu merger with OSU to the MW for peanuts? Has Stanford gone Independent yet? Last week was like a Netflix Season 1 cliffhanger and I need season 2 to get here fast
Turning this topic to the potential impact on NCAA Track and Field, there are several concerns to consider . If everything stabilizes soon, the Big Ten will have 18 schools while the Big Twelve will have 16 schools for their 2025 Track and Field Championships. Hosting such an event will be impossible for certain schools due to inadequate housing and facilities. I would not be surprised if some of those schools cut track and field. Secondly, It is more than likely, that we will rarely see a football athlete running track as pressure mounts on college coaches to survive in these mega conferences. Quite a few strength coaches in these programs view track and field as a waste of time and prefer their athletes in the weight room. Lastly, running NCAA track and field will be less and less attractive/lucrative for high school track stars. Once the anomaly, I now envision more and more track and field athletes going pro out of high school. But, relax it is not all doom and gloom we can still b*tch and moan about what NBC has planned for the Paris Olympics on the next message board.
I don’t think it’s clear the effect this is going to have on non-revenue sports. In some cases more money to the athletic department can be good for track and field, look at all the money schools like Georgia and LSU spend on track. But for some of the schools with struggling football programs trying to keep up with a few power houses, it’s likely they will cut their non-revenue men’s sports to the bone, and only fund women’s sports to the level dictated by title IX.
Turning this topic to the potential impact on NCAA Track and Field, there are several concerns to consider . If everything stabilizes soon, the Big Ten will have 18 schools while the Big Twelve will have 16 schools for their 2025 Track and Field Championships. Hosting such an event will be impossible for certain schools due to inadequate housing and facilities. I would not be surprised if some of those schools cut track and field. Secondly, It is more than likely, that we will rarely see a football athlete running track as pressure mounts on college coaches to survive in these mega conferences. Quite a few strength coaches in these programs view track and field as a waste of time and prefer their athletes in the weight room. Lastly, running NCAA track and field will be less and less attractive/lucrative for high school track stars. Once the anomaly, I now envision more and more track and field athletes going pro out of high school. But, relax it is not all doom and gloom we can still b*tch and moan about what NBC has planned for the Paris Olympics on the next message board.
There's nothing wrong with the kids that can go pro, going pro. In the USA you should be paid based on the market value for your talents.
Nobody cares when a 19 year old musician makes millions selling records, but let a 19 year want to get paid for being a really good running back, and grown men start to cry.
The problem is the 19-year old running is likely 3rd string and not contributing anything performance wise to the team, while still getting a lot of money. It's just pay for play. Or it's pay for "not play". If players were paid AfTER they had earned their worth and produced results, that would be different.
The PAC12 went super woke and now many of those teams and super broke. Always a trail of destruction with the left. They all misplayed the fake Covid nonsense.
BYU was not invited to the PAC12/PAC10/PAC8 exclusively because uber liberal Cal and Stanford wouldn't allow it. So much for tolerance. Karma's a b**ch.
Not what happened. BYU declined due to Sunday scheduling in the Pac 12.
Your reading comprehension is lacking. I didn't write another college sport was as popular as football. I commented on your outdated observation that only people with "personal connection" care about "other sports." If you have BTN, check the next volleyball match either at Nebraska or Wisconsin. Those two schools do not have more friends and family members of players than other schools. They have figured out how to market volleyball to wider audiences. If Penn State cannot find any sport other than wrestling (another declining sport) to market, that's their problem.
Football participation rate has been down at high school level, and the decline at the youth level is even steeper. You won't see the immediate impact at the college level, but it will eventually catch up. Of course, most people on this board will probably be gone for good before that happens.
You are an absolute fool if you think at any point during these negotiations anyone said, "hey and what about that volleyball team! Man they really pack 'em in!"
I didn't write anything about "negotiators." But according to the article below, Big Ten presidents care about sports other than football.
Big Ten presidents are more interested in adding all four of Oregon, Washington, Cal and Stanford, while conference media partners are more interested in a two-member addition of UO and UW.
I posed this question to a Mid-Major coach last year in regards to NIL and transfer portal and their ramifications. He felt strongly that Olympic sports will still be a large part of the university system because they are enrollment drivers, especially at smaller schools. Nobody is getting a full ride from track, so even after the discount from their scholarship each athlete is still paying money to the school that they otherwise probably wouldn't be attending at all if it weren't for athletics. As long as programs keep their operating costs under control or pull in their own outside funding, the team is still a net gain for the school
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I posed this question to a Mid-Major coach last year in regards to NIL and transfer portal and their ramifications. He felt strongly that Olympic sports will still be a large part of the university system because they are enrollment drivers, especially at smaller schools. Nobody is getting a full ride from track, so even after the discount from their scholarship each athlete is still paying money to the school that they otherwise probably wouldn't be attending at all if it weren't for athletics. As long as programs keep their operating costs under control or pull in their own outside funding, the team is still a net gain for the school
There could easily be a future in which Division I universities just offer the minimum number of team sports to meet NCAA requirements. (Unless they have the objective of winning the NACDA Director's Cup or racking up NCAA titles in Olympic sports, but many universities show no evidence that they have those goals).
Then the Division II and III universities could be the real "home" of Olympic sports because, as you note, they are enrollment drivers.
Penn State does not need a handful of swimmers (relative to the total population, and coming at a net cost), whereas a liberal arts college does, because they are a greater percent of the student body and they pay much-needed tuition.
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