Do academics mean anything anymore at college

SOWEGA Jacket

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Looks like academics matter to CBK.
Great. Now win games because no one comes to campus to watch a player take tests. You guys who still believe in terms like “student-athletes” should rejoice. For the other 99.9% of fans, we could care less what a player does with his life other than 12-15 game days each year. That may sound cold, but loyalty between players/schools/fans is gone in today’s game. I have no problem with it. I don’t care where any of them came from or where they end up. I just care about what they do on the field of play - because I know they don’t care about me or any fan. It’s all just business which makes it all easier.
 

Northeast Stinger

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Great. Now win games because no one comes to campus to watch a player take tests. You guys who still believe in terms like “student-athletes” should rejoice. For the other 99.9% of fans, we could care less what a player does with his life other than 12-15 game days each year. That may sound cold, but loyalty between players/schools/fans is gone in today’s game. I have no problem with it. I don’t care where any of them came from or where they end up. I just care about what they do on the field of play - because I know they don’t care about me or any fan. It’s all just business which makes it all easier.
That’s logical I suppose but it would be cleaner and easier to just follow pro ball then. Some of us still think the college experience is worth preserving even if it’s been stretched to the breaking point. But, sure, if that has gotten too messy for some fan I think switching to pro sports eliminates the last messy impediments.
 

GoldZ

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Great. Now win games because no one comes to campus to watch a player take tests. You guys who still believe in terms like “student-athletes” should rejoice. For the other 99.9% of fans, we could care less what a player does with his life other than 12-15 game days each year. That may sound cold, but loyalty between players/schools/fans is gone in today’s game. I have no problem with it. I don’t care where any of them came from or where they end up. I just care about what they do on the field of play - because I know they don’t care about me or any fan. It’s all just business which makes it all easier.
It'snotbusinessfor98%ofplayers.
 

SOWEGA Jacket

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That’s logical I suppose but it would be cleaner and easier to just follow pro ball then. Some of us still think the college experience is worth preserving even if it’s been stretched to the breaking point. But, sure, if that has gotten too messy for some fan I think switching to pro sports eliminates the last messy impediments.
I am watching pro ball. Do regular students have a special admit procedure? Or cafeteria? Or individual tutors? Or free gear? Or NIL money?

Listen, I wish it was the 1950’s again and we could all leave our screen doors unlocked and every player fought for love of school. But, after I’ve watched college football devolve into illiterates and hustlers over the past 50 years, I’ve simply accepted where we are. The player is looking out for himself and so am I. And this has nothing to do with the “college experience”. Any student whether athlete or not determines their own college experience. A lot of regular students don’t have your view of the “college experience” because they are working 12 hour days while going to school because they aren’t getting free housing, free food, and being coddled because they can’t throw or catch a ball. It’s all a joke to make money. I love the sport and I’ll always root for the GT jersey because I’m human and group identification is part of my life, but I’m long past caring about players outside of what they do on the field because I know if offered the right deal they’d all wear another jersey without a second thought. And I wouldnt blame them. It’s all just business.
 

gte447f

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I am watching pro ball. Do regular students have a special admit procedure? Or cafeteria? Or individual tutors? Or free gear? Or NIL money?

Listen, I wish it was the 1950’s again and we could all leave our screen doors unlocked and every player fought for love of school. But, after I’ve watched college football devolve into illiterates and hustlers over the past 50 years, I’ve simply accepted where we are. The player is looking out for himself and so am I. And this has nothing to do with the “college experience”. Any student whether athlete or not determines their own college experience. A lot of regular students don’t have your view of the “college experience” because they are working 12 hour days while going to school because they aren’t getting free housing, free food, and being coddled because they can’t throw or catch a ball. It’s all a joke to make money. I love the sport and I’ll always root for the GT jersey because I’m human and group identification is part of my life, but I’m long past caring about players outside of what they do on the field because I know if offered the right deal they’d all wear another jersey without a second thought. And I wouldnt blame them. It’s all just business.
But why do you root for GT, or any school for that matter, if you don’t care about the college experience? If you just care about what happens on the field, why not just be a front runner and cheer for whatever team is the best (hint, it’s those mouth breathers over on that pig farm cesspool somewhere to the east of North Ave.).

When people root for a team, any team, it is because they are connected to that team in some way because that team represents something important to them. Rooting for mercenaries that don’t mean anything to a person doesn’t make sense to me, logically.
 

GoldZ

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I am watching pro ball. Do regular students have a special admit procedure? Or cafeteria? Or individual tutors? Or free gear? Or NIL money?

Listen, I wish it was the 1950’s again and we could all leave our screen doors unlocked and every player fought for loproballliteyouis:ve of school. But, after I’ve watched college football devolve into illiterates and hustlers over the past 50 years, I’ve simply accepted where we are. The player is looking out for himself and so am I. And this has nothing to do with the “college experience”. Any student whether athlete or not determines their own college experience. A lot of regular students don’t have your view of the “college experience” because they are working 12 hour days while going to school because they aren’t getting free housing, free food, and being coddled because they can’t throw or catch a ball. It’s all a joke to make money. I love the sport and I’ll always root for the GT jersey because I’m human and group identification is part of my life, but I’m long past caring about players outside of what they do on the field because I know if offered the right deal they’d all wear another jersey without a second thought. And I wouldnt blame them. It’s all just business.
Bottomline=proballandproballlite.Youhaveafullviewingschedule.
 

FlatsLander

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But why do you root for GT, or any school for that matter, if you don’t care about the college experience? If you just care about what happens on the field, why not just be a front runner and cheer for whatever team is the best (hint, it’s those mouth breathers over on that pig farm cesspool somewhere to the east of North Ave.).

When people root for a team, any team, it is because they are connected to that team in some way because that team represents something important to them. Rooting for mercenaries that don’t mean anything to a person doesn’t make sense to me, logically.
Right, why watch cfb at all at that point? The name on the jersey has to mean something to the fans as well as the players. At least we know our FB players will have a good chance at a successful life after football. Can the same be said of the factories? I always wonder what happens to the FB players from other programs that weren't the superstars and don't have a useful education in their back pocket.

Also, some might not know that Jaylon King graduated with a Civil Engineering degree, not to mention Freer playing during his PhD. Most of the Tech FB players are taking real majors, so it's definitely impressive that they are having success in the classroom.
 

forensicbuzz

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Right, why watch cfb at all at that point? The name on the jersey has to mean something to the fans as well as the players. At least we know our FB players will have a good chance at a successful life after football. Can the same be said of the factories? I always wonder what happens to the FB players from other programs that weren't the superstars and don't have a useful education in their back pocket.

Also, some might not know that Jaylon King graduated with a Civil Engineering degree, not to mention Freer playing during his PhD. Most of the Tech FB players are taking real majors, so it's definitely impressive that they are having success in the classroom.
All of the Tech FB players are taking real majors and are in classes with kids that were 1450/33 on the SAT/ACT, with tons of AP courses. The athletes get all the help they need, but they're still sitting shoulder to shoulder with the best and brightest brought in from around the World.
 

Northeast Stinger

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All of the Tech FB players are taking real majors and are in classes with kids that were 1450/33 on the SAT/ACT, with tons of AP courses. The athletes get all the help they need, but they're still sitting shoulder to shoulder with the best and brightest brought in from around the World.
And that really is an elite atmosphere, before the word elite became a dirty word.
 

SOWEGA Jacket

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But why do you root for GT, or any school for that matter, if you don’t care about the college experience? If you just care about what happens on the field, why not just be a front runner and cheer for whatever team is the best (hint, it’s those mouth breathers over on that pig farm cesspool somewhere to the east of North Ave.).

When people root for a team, any team, it is because they are connected to that team in some way because that team represents something important to them. Rooting for mercenaries that don’t mean anything to a person doesn’t make sense to me, logically.
What are you talking about? I went to GT and my kids go to GT. That’s why I root for GT. I don’t root for players, I root for the jersey and the team. At the end of the game the scoreboard doesn’t say - Haynes King 27 Duke 10. It says GT. I don’t care if GT’s QB transferred in from Texas A&M or signed with GT out of high school. And I sure don’t care if a player leaves to play elsewhere. I love the portal and believe it has helped Key turn us around. Most of you are the ones whining about the portal and turning the players into mercenaries. I don’t consider any player a mercenary. They are simply making a business decision on where to get playing time. Haynes King didn’t come to GT out of love for GT. He came to GT for playing time because he knew he wasn’t making the NFL from the bench in College Station.

And what does the college experience you keep bringing up have to do with any of this? GT football lasts about 3 hours for 12-15 times a year. Those games have nothing to do with a college experience. I have no clue nor do I care what a player does, where he lives, or what he studies outside of those 3 hours. That’s him living his life. I know he doesn’t care about us either except on game days.
 

Northeast Stinger

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What are you talking about? I went to GT and my kids go to GT. That’s why I root for GT. I don’t root for players, I root for the jersey and the team. At the end of the game the scoreboard doesn’t say - Haynes King 27 Duke 10. It says GT. I don’t care if GT’s QB transferred in from Texas A&M or signed with GT out of high school. And I sure don’t care if a player leaves to play elsewhere. I love the portal and believe it has helped Key turn us around. Most of you are the ones whining about the portal and turning the players into mercenaries. I don’t consider any player a mercenary. They are simply making a business decision on where to get playing time. Haynes King didn’t come to GT out of love for GT. He came to GT for playing time because he knew he wasn’t making the NFL from the bench in College Station.

And what does the college experience you keep bringing up have to do with any of this? GT football lasts about 3 hours for 12-15 times a year. Those games have nothing to do with a college experience. I have no clue nor do I care what a player does, where he lives, or what he studies outside of those 3 hours. That’s him living his life. I know he doesn’t care about us either except on game days.
Your comments are clarifying and I don’t entirely disagree.

Slight quibble, might be semantics, King certainly made a “business decision” to come to Tech, and there’s no shame in that, but I bet there is something about the Tech culture that also helped sell him. That is what some of us mean by “the college experience.”
 

yeti92

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Your comments are clarifying and I don’t entirely disagree.

Slight quibble, might be semantics, King certainly made a “business decision” to come to Tech, and there’s no shame in that, but I bet there is something about the Tech culture that also helped sell him. That is what some of us mean by “the college experience.”
I've mentioned it before, but I have a coworker who is good friends with his dad and from what I've been told, the environment at A&M was extremely toxic and the fanbase was nuts with their expectations. HK had his degree and was looking to get away from that while still being able to play real football.
 

SOWEGA Jacket

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Your comments are clarifying and I don’t entirely disagree.

Slight quibble, might be semantics, King certainly made a “business decision” to come to Tech, and there’s no shame in that, but I bet there is something about the Tech culture that also helped sell him. That is what some of us mean by “the college experience.”

And that’s great. I’m just tired of reading from our fans that they are going to give up the sport they’ve loved for decades because they have some “days of old” perception in their minds that don’t line up with today’s game. To me, college football in its ”intent” has been dead for at least 60 years. In my personal mind that sucks and I long for those old days. But, I realize I still love the sport and will root for GT uniforms even if the player wearing them played in red and black last year or any other color. And I love King as a player, but if Bama offered him 4 million, I’d shove him myself into the portal because it’s all just business. I’m sure Pyron wouldn’t mind.
 

Root4GT

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Your comments are clarifying and I don’t entirely disagree.

Slight quibble, might be semantics, King certainly made a “business decision” to come to Tech, and there’s no shame in that, but I bet there is something about the Tech culture that also helped sell him. That is what some of us mean by “the college experience.”
Yea Coach Wenkie. They had a prior relationship when Wenkie was at Tenn and recruited King.
 

gte447f

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What are you talking about? I went to GT and my kids go to GT. That’s why I root for GT. I don’t root for players, I root for the jersey and the team. At the end of the game the scoreboard doesn’t say - Haynes King 27 Duke 10. It says GT. I don’t care if GT’s QB transferred in from Texas A&M or signed with GT out of high school. And I sure don’t care if a player leaves to play elsewhere. I love the portal and believe it has helped Key turn us around. Most of you are the ones whining about the portal and turning the players into mercenaries. I don’t consider any player a mercenary. They are simply making a business decision on where to get playing time. Haynes King didn’t come to GT out of love for GT. He came to GT for playing time because he knew he wasn’t making the NFL from the bench in College Station.

And what does the college experience you keep bringing up have to do with any of this? GT football lasts about 3 hours for 12-15 times a year. Those games have nothing to do with a college experience. I have no clue nor do I care what a player does, where he lives, or what he studies outside of those 3 hours. That’s him living his life. I know he doesn’t care about us either except on game days.
Ok, so as an alumnus, you clearly have a connection to GT that is important to you, as do I, but for me, the more the players become disconnected from GT, the more I become disinterested in the players and the game they are playing.

What if college football teams became professional teams with players that were paid to play and were not students at all? What if colleges signed sponsorship deals with these professional teams and in return the teams would wear jerseys and helmets with school logo on them to advertise for the school? Other than that, there would be no other relationship between the schools and the teams at any level. Each season, schools might switch up which professional team they signed a sponsorship deal with. Would that be interesting to you? It wouldn’t be interesting to me. You might blow it off as a stupid made up scenario, but it seems to me kind of like what college sports are becoming.
 

Northeast Stinger

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Ok, so as an alumnus, you clearly have a connection to GT that is important to you, as do I, but for me, the more the players become disconnected from GT, the more I become disinterested in the players and the game they are playing.

What if college football teams became professional teams with players that were paid to play and were not students at all? What if colleges signed sponsorship deals with these professional teams and in return the teams would wear jerseys and helmets with school logo on them to advertise for the school? Other than that, there would be no other relationship between the schools and the teams at any level. Each season, schools might switch up which professional team they signed a sponsorship deal with. Would that be interesting to you? It wouldn’t be interesting to me. You might blow it off as a stupid made up scenario, but it seems to me kind of like what college sports are becoming.
I think you have nailed the slippery slope.

Some of us are finding our interest in college football is inversely related to the degree it becomes professionalized.

My understanding is that colleges bringing in “ringers” to bolster their teams was a thing early in the game. Rules were established and the advent of pro ball provided an outlet for the impulse to simply focus on the best athletes.

I like your scenario because it resonates with similar thoughts I have had. If Tech hires a group of professionals to perform any function or form of entertainment I don’t see myself liking it just because it was Tech that paid for it.
 

stinger78

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I've mentioned it before, but I have a coworker who is good friends with his dad and from what I've been told, the environment at A&M was extremely toxic and the fanbase was nuts with their expectations. HK had his degree and was looking to get away from that while still being able to play real football.
Wait… the ACC is real football? I thought only the SECheat and B1G played real football?
 
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