re: Call this a melt and downvote all you want

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I’ll bet the athletes feel it just got better for them.

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sure, but the overall health of the game, in general, is what's paramount.

I may "feel great" if my company gives me and all other workers a 100% raise, but the company will ultimately go under because of it.

What's good for the players in the short term isn't always what's good for the game in the long term.

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But frick this NIL and transfer portal bullshite. These kids are too young and immature to handle it. Hell I’m 46, and I’d be tempted too. It’s ruining college football.

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This strictly depends on how you see college football. If you want it the old way where kids are in a program and cannot leave while opportunities pass them by, or if you prefer a system where millions on millions of dollars change hands in an industry played by kids who cannot participate in the money being generated on the backs of their efforts without accepting compensation illegally and putting their future in jeopardy, then yes it's ruining college football.

But if you believe that freedom belongs to all people in this country then this new era is improving college football. Now these kids have the opportunity to participate or capitalize on the money being created by their hard work. Now a kid can move to another program if he sees an opportunity to get more playing time or improve his opportunity for an NFL career.

I believe that what is happening is just simple change. Any smart organization will recognize the change, understand it and then leverage that change to improve their program. The portal has provided programs the opportunity to bring in experienced players who have a shorter ramp up to the field. Seems like the portal worked pretty damn well for LSU when Burrow came to town. If our organization is being led by the right people they will use these opportunities to attract top talent. At the end of the day, all of our transfers moved because another program or coach became more attractive to them. LSU can do the same thing and I believe they will in time.

The way you win in this world is to build the type of program and put the kind of people in place who will attract top talent. People are attracted by opportunity, energy and environment. This just puts more pressure on LSU to be the very best program in the country attracting the very best players and coaches in the country. In that regard I would submit that these changes are good. Just like Saban being at Alabama forces all the programs in the SEC to compete at a higher level, these changes force us to be better recruiters.

In time I think all of this causes a broader talent distribution. Each team can still put only so many players on the field and keep so many on the sideline. In the long run I believe it will bring better competition and little more parity across college football. Yes there will be winners and losers. That has never changed. Bama is not the only program sending players to the NFL. And don't forget that although we have been hit hard by transfers recently, we are not the only program that is going through this.

You can adapt and overcome or you can sit stubbornly wishing things were different. But the change comes nevertheless. Adapt and overcome.

We’re fans of an enormous enterprise and big business. The players are on to this - try taking it away

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Right now it’s more free agent in NFL football

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But worse. At least in the NFL you have the players under contract.