Posted on 10/18/2013 5:01:26 PM PDT by Libloather
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Grambling canceled its football game against Jackson State after Grambling's disgruntled players refused to travel to Jackson for the game Saturday.
**SNIP**
Friday's apparent player boycott was the latest in three days of upheaval for Grambling's proud program -- which rose to prominence under coach Eddie Robinson. Several media outlets have reported that players did not attend practice on Wednesday and Thursday because of issues with program and school leadership.
Grambling (0-7) has changed coaches twice in about two months. Doug Williams was fired two games into the season and replaced by George Ragsdale, who was reassigned Thursday and replaced by Dennis "Dirt" Winston.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.foxsports.com ...
Don’t forget Louisiana Tech. They had four players from last year’s team that now play in the NFL.
La Tech...yep.....what would Phil from Duck Dynasty think of me?
If the players lose their scholarships over this, then some of the Grambling administrators should lose their jobs and go to jail over some of the financial misdealing and unaccounted money over the years.
Sounds like this is something that has been brewing for a while. Some of the players are still upset that their head coach Doug Williams was fired early this season without a real explanation by the university’s administration. The weight room issues and lack of proper facilities for the football program are evident given that they had to practice indoors in the gym when it was raining outside.
There are also grumblings about the players having to be bussed to Kansas City and Indianapolis (14 hour trips) while some administrators flew to those sites and not having enough meals during the road trips. The issue is where did all the money from the “classic games” go. Isn’t there enough money from these games to fly the players out to KC and Indy instead of making them ride the buses?
The interim head coach Ragsdale was fired or “reassigned to go in another direction” as the administration put it. The players weren’t too happy with him, but it sounds like the players are really mad at Grambling’s president. There was supposed to be another indoor practice after Ragsdale was fired today and another interim head coach was named, but I think it was cancelled after only ten players showed up.
This is symptomatic of larger problems at Grambling. Their men’s basketball program finished 0-28 last season and may have been the worst single-season team in the history of men’s college basketball. Their administration and financial dealings are a joke. This type of stuff has been going on for years. It’s just now being publicized in the media now.
Currently, they get a free ride.
In the future, they will need compulsory student fees and alumni endowments.
One day soon, someone will figure out how to privately monetize a football league of college age players.
Then, 90% of the elite high school players will choose to become semi-pro’s instead of college students.
If the colleges don't start paying salaries first, someone from the business world is going to do it for them.
Nope, because there’s no way to monetize it privately. Keep in mind....if you take away the “magic revenue bullet” of college sports, it shrivels up to nothing.
What is that magic bullet? The inherent “University of” effect. Univ of Alabama, Florida, Michigan, Texas, Nebraska, etc....etc...etc......
There’s zero market for some kind of semi pro league. No one will care. No one will go. No one will pay. No market.
Yes, you make a very good point.
I’ve actually thought about that in detail in the past.
My solution would be to limit it to like 4 teams of elite players who travel the country, always playing games on the home field of a major university.
Then, maybe a “championship” game between the top two elite teams at the end of the season.
But that would just put a couple hundred elite players on the payroll.
Realistically, I think paying ALL college football players is inevitable, no matter what the NCAA does.
It may be inevitable, but it’s improper, illogical, and the impact will be a pandora’s box of negative reactions that people are NOT thinking about.
These players really do not “generate” the revenue, not in the sense people are saying they do. The revenue is generated by university names, traditions, and all the trappings of big stadia, big bands, big media, etc....that the current crop of 20 year olds has not a damned thing to do with.
You could vaporize the top thousand players, replace them with players 1001-2000 and not lose a friggin nickel of total revenue. If the players really “generated” the revenue, that would not be the case.
I certainly agree that the University trademark or brand is the most valuable asset a college football team has.
I disagree about player skill.
I went to a Division I-AA college that often competed for the national championship.
The quality of play was inferior, the crowds smaller, ticket prices less expensive, TV exposure usually just local, and only 7 NFL players in the last 40 years.
I grew up watching Miami, Florida, and FSU games.
There is simply no comparison in fan excitement.
I think you miss my point. FOR EXAMPLE: There’s 106 thou at Tennessee regardless....and as long as the compettion is relavtive, that’s all that matters.
I do not think 106,000 would turn out for very long if a Tennessee-Florida game was played at the skill level of a Furman University-Western Carolina game.
Not sure how to “prove” my point, but, if I'm wrong, I'm wrong.
Because, probably ten years ago, the athletes were Furman - WC of today, and sure enough, they had 106 thou.
Trust me, these big time programs have been more or less what they’ve been for many decades.....
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