Okay party people, it's time to get serious about the biggest, most earth-shattering, cataclysmic change on the CFB scene, of course I mean the so-called NIL business, the acronym referring to name, image, likeness, which we all know means that players, when the new legislation is finalized, are now free to get paid, and cannot be blacklisted and expelled by the evil NCAA the way they have been up until now. This new regime of course does not mean that ND or any school has to share their winnings with the players like in the NFL or any other professional league, but merely that they can no longer enforce some brutish involuntary amateurism on the players under pain of permanent ineligibility.
This is a touchy subject, because it brings out a real ugly side in a lot of sports fans, and quite frankly it's that ugliness that has allowed the NCAA to get away with being such a vicious outfit like they are for as long as they have. And naturally, the NCAA wants no part of this new state of affairs, and is doing everything they can to prevent it, and forestall and drag their feet. And so state governments, and possibly the feds have to step in and make shit happen where the NCAA is far too corrupt and depraved to ever willingly to do it themselves.
And so with that little intro out of the way, let's talk about this shit! And so the way it breaks down pretty much as a practical matter is that it legalizes boosters paying players, which you could imagine in the form of signing autographs at a local car dealership or some cheesy scenario like that. And that is my understanding. Nothing too sophisticated, but nevertheless a huge change. I don't know if they will attempt to put a cap on what players can earn, or if you're only allowed to collect some market rate for a signed photo, or what some or all of the key details will look like. But that's the basic upshot it. It legalizes heretofore under the table payments. We don't even need to talk about 'gaming the system' or something like that, because presumably that is the whole point, and the direct intent and obvious consequence of the legislation on its face.
So I'm going to get out of the way, but one final thought, and it should be the elephant in the room on this subject for ND fans. ND is known as squeaky clean, and we don't pay our players and we definitely do not condone any sort of 'boosters' paying our players. We are legitimately clean, and that is certainly our 'brand' and presumably our reality. I don't know how completely true that actually is, but I've always felt it to be more or less correct, and incidents like with Kim Dunbar are wild exceptions to the otherwise dependable rule. And that's about to change forever. Now we won't be cheating, naturally, on account of these watershed new rules changes. But we better get used to the idea, institutionally, and get our balls in gear, because if we don't, and the old cultural default of defining ourselves by our status as one of the good guys, and the city on the hill that doesn't sully itself with such activities, could sink our recruiting and the program itself conceivably overnight. Or at least it's fair to say that things will happen quickly once the new rules are in place. But this can be a massive boon for ND as well. This can level the playing field for us. It could sink our recruiting if we're not ready, but if we are ready our recruiting might very well soar.
So please everyone share their thoughts. Obviously coronavirus has dominated sports and sports coverage, and this huge looming change in the sport of CFB has been underreported. But it's here, and it's time to get ourselves up to speed on it in a big way. And it's a good thing to chew the cud over in the offseason.
This is a touchy subject, because it brings out a real ugly side in a lot of sports fans, and quite frankly it's that ugliness that has allowed the NCAA to get away with being such a vicious outfit like they are for as long as they have. And naturally, the NCAA wants no part of this new state of affairs, and is doing everything they can to prevent it, and forestall and drag their feet. And so state governments, and possibly the feds have to step in and make shit happen where the NCAA is far too corrupt and depraved to ever willingly to do it themselves.
And so with that little intro out of the way, let's talk about this shit! And so the way it breaks down pretty much as a practical matter is that it legalizes boosters paying players, which you could imagine in the form of signing autographs at a local car dealership or some cheesy scenario like that. And that is my understanding. Nothing too sophisticated, but nevertheless a huge change. I don't know if they will attempt to put a cap on what players can earn, or if you're only allowed to collect some market rate for a signed photo, or what some or all of the key details will look like. But that's the basic upshot it. It legalizes heretofore under the table payments. We don't even need to talk about 'gaming the system' or something like that, because presumably that is the whole point, and the direct intent and obvious consequence of the legislation on its face.
So I'm going to get out of the way, but one final thought, and it should be the elephant in the room on this subject for ND fans. ND is known as squeaky clean, and we don't pay our players and we definitely do not condone any sort of 'boosters' paying our players. We are legitimately clean, and that is certainly our 'brand' and presumably our reality. I don't know how completely true that actually is, but I've always felt it to be more or less correct, and incidents like with Kim Dunbar are wild exceptions to the otherwise dependable rule. And that's about to change forever. Now we won't be cheating, naturally, on account of these watershed new rules changes. But we better get used to the idea, institutionally, and get our balls in gear, because if we don't, and the old cultural default of defining ourselves by our status as one of the good guys, and the city on the hill that doesn't sully itself with such activities, could sink our recruiting and the program itself conceivably overnight. Or at least it's fair to say that things will happen quickly once the new rules are in place. But this can be a massive boon for ND as well. This can level the playing field for us. It could sink our recruiting if we're not ready, but if we are ready our recruiting might very well soar.
So please everyone share their thoughts. Obviously coronavirus has dominated sports and sports coverage, and this huge looming change in the sport of CFB has been underreported. But it's here, and it's time to get ourselves up to speed on it in a big way. And it's a good thing to chew the cud over in the offseason.