How important is the "college" part of college football to you?

Medium important.

Our laundry vs their laundry

The answer probably depends if you're a student/graduate or just a fan because of where you're from, your parents, etc. I'd think for most of the former, the "college" part is a really big deal, and probably the opposite for the latter.

I didn't attend LSU but the vast majority of my family who went to college did, so even though I'm a sidewalk fan, the college part of it still matters a great deal. My kids will likely go to LSU and I would have if my family didn't move to Nashville when I was a kid.

quote:

---

I realize the athletes aren't going to be noble prize winners.

---

I wonder if there have ever been any? I think maybe a couple of supreme court justices were college athletes and I'm pretty sure Gerald Ford was (though I don't guess anyone ever accused him of being a Nobel prize winner, still made it to prez.)

I went to LSU, and I root for LSU. So I guess the answer to your question would have to be nothing short of 100%.

College athletics in general seem to be trending away from the academic side of it more and more every year. I think eventually something is going to give and you will see some type of minor league system as you mentioned where the teams are dissociated with the schools to an extent.

I think the stipend/pay the players conversation is what will ultimately do it. I'm sorry but if we are going to pay college athletes I am not sure I want them associated with the college anymore. Call it whatever you want but at that point, 90% of the players become professional athletes vs students. YOu really think a college football player making $50-100k gives a shite about going to english lit class? All hell is going to break loose at that point.

The fact is that right now, college football puts little to no emphasis on anything dealing with academics (the entire reason colleges exist) and moves further and further away from caring each season.

quote:

---

Would you cheer just as passionately if it was the exact same team but was more of a "club" structure, maybe owned by one of the NFL franchises as part of a minor league similar to baseball minors or similar to the European soccer "junior" teams.

---

frick no, that's the reason college sports are far superior to the pros. Pro sports are a business, they simply exist as a way to make money. The reason many people are so passionate about CFB is because there is an actual, real connection with the team. It takes you back to visiting the campus as a child. Remembering living in that dorm, hungover breakfasts at the dining hall, walking through campus to get to class, ditching class to grab a beer with your buddies, that dingy apartment right across the street from campus you lived in for years, meeting that special someone on campus, etc.

You are forever tied to that institution and that school, and by extension that team. You can't graduate from the university of dallas cowboys. You don't have a degree from ManU up on the wall that helped you land a job. The reason college sports are infinitely better than others is BECAUSE of the "college" part of it. So no, I would likely not be as big of a fan if I had grown up in a world where the school didn't exist and I just picked a random sports team that I had no real allegiance to.

quote:

---

frick no, that's the reason college sports are far superior to the pros. Pro sports are a business, they simply exist as a way to make money. The reason many people are so passionate about CFB is because there is an actual, real connection with the team. It takes you back to visiting the campus as a child. Remembering living in that dorm, hungover breakfasts at the dining hall, walking through campus to get to class, ditching class to grab a beer with your buddies, that dingy apartment right across the street from campus you lived in for years, meeting that special someone on campus, etc.

---

Well said!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

quote:

---

I assume you are against paying college athletes, right? You can't say pro sports are a business and college isn't and then argue for paying college athletes.

---

I know you were asking peej but yes I am firmly and 100% against paying college players.