In the 1998 rom-com classic “You’ve Got Mail” – Mrs. O insisted that I describe her favorite chick flick as a classic. Do you discuss? – Joe Fox complains to Kathleen Kelly that forcing his small family bookstore to close is strictly business.
“It’s not personal,” he assures.
Kelly is not buying. She pushes back against the superstore owner’s famous “Godfather” reference with a disgusted shake of the head.
“I’m so sick of it,” she says. “All that means is that it wasn’t personal to you. But it was personal to me. It’s personal to a lot of people.”
Of course it is. But is anyone talking about it?
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This funny but enlightening Tom Hanks-Meg Ryan scene came to mind last week at Big Ten football media days in Indianapolis, as commissioner Kevin Warren, conference coaches and Big Ten Network talking heads addressed the changes happening in college athletics.
Frustration over issues related to conference realignment, name, image and likeness and transfer portal were visible – Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz’s speech was especially impressive and Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh lamented the loss of regional conferences – but the feeling of the majority was that the “new” College football is business, not personal.
College football is business, not personal
In the current vernacular, “It is what it is. To see also : Let’s talk about business: Parkview wins awards for quality success.”
That’s how Maryland coach Mike Locksley described his team having to travel 2,500 miles and three time zones to play UCLA and Southern California when the two West Coast teams begin will play in the Big Ten in 2024.
Accepting change for the most part is healthy. Don’t sweat what you can’t control. But if you’re not at least a little annoyed by the increasing professionalism of college sports, I wonder what you want out of amateur athletics in the first place (besides lower ticket prices, cheaper parking and games more competitive non-conference)?
Do you care about regional rivalries? Would it irritate you if athletes could transfer as much as they want? (The NCAA announced last week that it is close to eliminating the restriction against players transferring multiple times.) Do you worry that locker room chemistry will fizzle when the starting quarterback makes $2 million in NIL money and the second team tight end makes $10,000?
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Yes, it’s personal. And this is coming from someone strongly in favor of NIL and selfishly excited about the Bruins and Trojans coming on board, as well as the formation of a possible 16-team playoff (my altruistic side feels for the athletes who will be forced to break down the country). and football players forced to extra games to earn more money for institutions that insist it’s not just about money; hey, it’s complicated)
Maybe it’s naive to expect college football to piss off the water. I don’t support going back to the era of pre-player empowerment. But take another shot at becoming the NFL 2.0? Some argue that we are already there, but we are not. Players are seeking unionization — see Penn State — but legally they’re not university employees yet. And be careful what you wish for on this topic, athletes, because employees can be fired if you miss three passes in a game or constantly trip over the balance beam.
What fans want
What do the fans want? Maybe it’s enough to watch your team on TV, without worrying about the internal bureaucratic functioning of the sport, completely happy sipping a brew that doesn’t need to work a second job to afford it.
Such may be the case. A Twitter poll conducted last week suggests that 71% of fans will continue to watch as much college football as possible, regardless of whether conferences become more divided into the haves and the have-nots. Read also : Netflix’s vision for the future of streaming: More expensive or less convenient. (ie the Big Ten and the Southeastern Conference forming separate super leagues of 24 teams that meet in a national championship game). Twitter’s audience is younger, so the numbers probably leave out a decent chunk of older traditionalists, but those dinosaurs, ahem, aren’t the future.
On the other hand, the warning signs cannot be ignored. The same survey showed that 26% will only watch top-tier college football, not a watered-down Pac-12, for example, which doesn’t bode well for conferences hoping to avoid becoming B leagues.
Fortunately, the product on the field (including the band!) remains fundamentally the same as always. This semi-rant is more about the clothes that recognize, and offer some sympathy outside their own windowless worlds, that the business of college football impacts the staff.
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CEO coaches keeping staff at bay is somewhat understandable, if not also a little disappointing. They’re driven to remove the distraction, yes, but it wouldn’t kill them to say “I feel for the fans on this issue” just once.
“I don’t know if I’m a fan (of the changes). I just know we have to adapt,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said. “That’s what you have to focus on.”
It is the business side that speaks. But just under the veneer of Day, dare I say that a small part of the staff broke through.
“There are nights you don’t sleep well because you don’t know what’s coming,” he said.
Join the club, coach. It is personal for many people.
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