CJ Johnson does not recommit

[gravedigger]

But a coach does.

And even really good coaches that can recruit well cannot overcome some of the more personal reasons a kidchooses where he goes.

Programs and talent are built over time. So it would follow that the odds that any ONE recruing class wont make or break a program either.

</p>

 

[Lonesome Polecat]

.....it's a matter of economics.

 

[Goat Holder II]

I really admired about Croom. I don't know what's really going on behind the scenes. I hear what people tell me, but who really knows what is happening. Maybe I'm naive, but I really don't think anyone can afford to pay these recruits the numbers that I hear they are getting sometimes. I guess sometimes winning football games isn't really that damn important if you have to shell out 50 Gs to some dipshit to come play football. That's ego more than anything.

I don't support paying players. I'm not talking about $100 handshakes and dumb stuff like that. I don't think that our coaches (Croom or Mullen) supported this. Most likely boosters are doing things behind the coaches backs, likely thru a dirty coach somewhere in the system. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to look on most coaching staffs and figure out who that SOB is.

I will never admit that "everybody is doing it, so it's OK". That's stupid. I really hope MSU is not cheating. And there's really nobody on this board that can prove we are or aren't. Likewise with Ole Miss, Auburn, etc. It's NOT okay to play college football players. They are amateurs, they don't deserve to be paid.

 

[RebelBruiser]

That's another soapbox altogether though.

In a perfect world, I would wish that we didn't have boosters doing any funny business. I don't know first hand of any that do, but just because I can't see it doesn't mean it isn't there.

That said, I'm pretty sure almost every SEC school is playing the game to some extent, and since that is the case, I hope that we have people doing what we have to do to keep the playing field level. Likewise, I hope that whatever is done is done in ways that don't trace back to the coaching staff, to help keep the program from getting in too much trouble.

The programs that get in trouble are the ones that go over the top with it. I want to pretend it doesn't go on and just enjoy the games, but I know that it does, and I hope we're at least playing the game at the same level as everyone else.

I'm sure if we knew the whole truth, it would be absurd to us how much some people are willing to give to players in certain circumstances.

Basically, as long as the athletes come in large numbers from families that don't have a whole lot, and as long as many of the fans of schools have more money than they can spend, that gap is going to create too much of an opportunity. Someone is going to take advantage of it, and that's going to be the case unless players start getting paid salaries by the NCAA. I don't know how you could work it out, but I don't think you're ever going to correct the problem.

 

[dawgstudent]

boosters will stay offer more than the NCAA sanctioned payment. It won't stop it. Probably make it even worse.

I'm not saying they shouldn't get paid - it just wouldn't stop boosters from providing more $$$.

 

[captaindawg]

for full scholarship athletes, they get a free ride and even if they don't go pro they leave school with no debt and often better connections for jobs that many other students. I was very fortunate that my family had money but I had several friends that worked their way through school just to eat and had a mountain of student loans to pay back when they were done.

 

[Goat Holder II]

in all sports. It's silly not to. The only college sport of the Big 3 that has ANY real credibility and 'pureness' left is baseball. Football and basketball are a joke, it's not even competition any more. The NFL doesn't want this, then they have to have a farm system or train players - they'd rather let the colleges do that.

I've seen the arguments for a 'football' major in college. That's one of the most retarded things I've ever heard, there's only so many spots open in the NFL/CFL/USFL/etc., and thousands of college players vying for them. Not realistic. They are getting school, lodging, books and food paid for by playing sports. That's part of the deal. They should use those leagues as farm leagues.

College athletics should not be a necessity to play professionally. We make it that way because of the money involved.

 

[RebelBruiser]

I'm just saying I think they deserve to get paid for what they bring to the schools at the highest level.

The only way you could stop booster activity would be if a draft was held in some fashion, but that's not really possible in any way shape or form.

As long as the athletes have a choice in where they go, there are always going to be wealthy men willing to "help" them make the right choice, and that especially goes for the athletes that don't come from a lot of money.

Eli and Peyton, for instance, couldn't have been bought. A guy growing up in a poor Delta town with parents on welfare is almost always going to listen if someone is willing to "help".

 

[RebelBruiser]

That said, I agree with you, though I think football needs a semi-pro type league only for 18-22 year olds.

I think it's absurd that we pretend an athlete should have to graduate high school and pass college courses to some extent just to have a shot to use his athletic talents to make money for himself and his family.

Football players can't go from high school to the NFL because they need more physical development. There may be a handful of athletes in the history of football that could've survived the NFL at 19 years old.

Basically, it's a problem that's never going to be fixed. In a perfect world, the NFL would start the 18-22 year old development league for athletes that had no interest in college. They won't do that though because colleges are developing their talent for them, and the league isn't suffering because certain players fall through the cracks due to NCAA regulations keeping them from having a chance to use their abilities. So you have college athletics with wealthy boosters, lots of money being thrown into programs, 100,000 fans at games, and athletes, in many cases, coming from backgrounds where they don't have much.

It is what it is, so like I said originally, I hope we're doing enough to keep us on a level playing field, but I hope we're not doing too much to where we're one of those programs that's going to stick out and get pounded for it.

 

[Goat Holder II]

therein lies the problem. And they have since forever.

But in other news, we finally agree on something in theory. It's funny to me because all these elitists are making all this money off football players, while some of the best players fall through the cracks as you said and end up selling drugs because they can't get into school. It's a crooked system from the ground up, but yeah, it is what it is. I could choose not to participate. But I love football Saturdays too much. Have to enjoy the atmosphere nowadays instead of the wins and losses.

 

[patdog]

Even in the south it's pretty cold for the first 6 weeks of the season, then school's out for the last couple of weeks plus the postseason.

 

[spaceghost.sixpack]

No, it was taken at some pub in North Carolina.