The Texas Senate passed passed a bill Thursday that would allow college athletes in the state to be paid for NIL use. Some of its members swallowed hard about it, though.
Some other lawmakers begrudgingly supported the bill, claiming the change would negatively impact college athletics which should be played “for the love of the game” rather than compensation which some feared would have negative consequences on collegiate athletics.
Recruiting is amateurism’s Kryptonite. Except in the great state of North Carolina, apparently, where, the athletic directors at Duke and North Carolina have pushed for restraint and caution on the NIL front and the legislature has followed their lead. (I bet Mack Brown is thrilled by that.)
Get The Picture 
I’m sure Coach K and Hubert Davis are thrilled with their athletic directors.
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Bless their hearts!
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It’s going to change things for sure..how much is the true question.
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I agree. It is going to be fascinating to watch how all of this unfolds. For the historically top 25-30 teams, it is effectively the NBA G-League or the MLB minor league system, with the exception that the money sources are different.
I just hope that it does not change so much that I lose interest in following my Dawgs. Not holding out that hope however….
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Why do you think NIL will force you to lose interest? College sports have been the minor leagues in all 3 major professional sports for a long time (yes, even in baseball, college baseball has served as a low A league). The only difference in the NIL world is the athletes can earn money off their social media, do appearances, endorse a product, etc. At this time, nothing has changed in the relationship between the university and the student-athlete.
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The huge difference between college ball and pro ball (in all three major sports) is the passion and energy with which college athletes play. For some reason, it seems that they lose their interest in the actual game once they make millions. I’m not faulting anyone for making the money that’s there to be made, but for a fan and consumer of sports, pro leagues are far less interesting (at least to me, but no one really cares about a single fan).
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For some reason, I doubt they’ll be making millions.
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Sure seems like Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, Wayne Gretzky, LeBron James, Peyton Manning, Albert Pujols, Chipper Jones, Dirk Nowitzki, Ray Lewis, Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, Matt Stafford, Hines Ward, Clayton Kershaw, etc play or played with lots of passion and lots of energy.
This is such a bad take …
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The bad take is isolating a handful of people who play with passion equal to those in college. A lot of these guys you mentioned had generational talent that could carry them; some played with passion, but not all.
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BS — you really think that every other non-generational talent professional athlete plays with less passion than a college kid? Only some of them played with passion?
Then you are completely ignorant about how hard they work and commit to be the top 1% of the profession in the world.
You want to romanticize collegiate sports because it fits a narrative … there are many if not more college athletes who are checked out than there are in the pros. You know why? Because there are more of them.
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…..and because most of those “more” will never be paid. Hell, Demetris Robertson has been checked out for 3 years. Here’s hoping he can recover that “passion” in his last go-round.
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I’d be lying if I said I didn’t share many of your sentiments, but let me propose that most of that is the nostalgia, not the players between the lines…….the band, the cheerleaders, Uga, downtown athens, the tailgates. Pro sports was born corporate, except for maybe the Packers. But there’s a reason the Packers setup and atmosphere compares to the college game, and it’s got nothing to do with the players between the white lines.
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The law of unintended consequences can be a bitch.
No one knows with any certainty where this particular nonsense will go and the proponents of this change are the least open to considering/discussing the possibility that just maybe it will all be a complete catastrophuck.
The consequence that concerns me is turning children into commodities to be traded when what they ought be thinking about isn’t making money at 18 but money at 35, 45 and 55. The vast majority of these guys, even among 5 stars, aren’t making a life time of money in the nfl. They’re going to have to make it some other way. We ought consider that as we rearrange the priorities of 16 and 17 year old recruits.
Telling recruits that college isn’t a place to get educated, but instead its primarily a place to make bank upon enrollment, seems to me to be a really fucking bad idea.
For the kids who will be signing life changing nfl contracts shortly it won’t be an issue. For the kids who don’t they’re going to have made short term choices for the wrong reasons while the rest of us move on with our continued collective indifference to the fact that we’re using kids for our entertainment and not spending nearly enough time considering the consequences our policy prescriptions entail for them.
When the money comes the indifference will just grow (after all they’re pros right?) and the kids will be more exploited and more expendable than they are now. And now ain’t any great shakes on that front.
As bad as things are now there is at least some substantial consideration to choosing a college based upon the academic side. You have two basic considerations now:
Who will get me ready for life?
Who will get me ready for the nfl?
NIL risks replacing both with “where will I make the most $ today?”
Once it becomes about money NOW and its all legal and in the open, human nature being what it is, there is little reason to expect this experiment will go well.
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I simply can’t wrap my head around dictating to someone what’s best for them. None of my business.
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You mean like teaching kids math?
What if they don’t like reading?
What business is it of ours?
A compulsory education system is like the devil or something.
Why did JT need Courson to tell him when he could play or not play? What about his freedom and stuff?
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Shiiiiit. I can make ignorant analogies too, Derek. Math and reading? Public school is akin to gooberment jobs. Just daycare for the working poor and a jobs program for the terminally unemployable. That makes as much sense as your post.
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Society makes decisions based on what is or isn’t in the best interest of kids every gotdamn day.
Colleges and college coaches do as well.
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This may be the most profoundly stupid thing you’ve ever posted here. Are you saying that no teenager should be allowed to make money? How would you make that happen?
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First, thats a pretty far reaching statement. I’m pretty sure I’ve done worse.
Second, thats quite the leap. No one said anything about teenagers being forced to be unemployed. I earned the $3.35 as a teenager.
I do think its bad thing for coaches to be telling kids and their parents that they should pick his school because his players make more money in college them at the other program’s under consideration.
Third, the conclusion you leapt to may be the most fucktarded thing I’ve ever read here on this blog by anyone and that includes boner’s posts!
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I, uh . . . . Nah, forget it.
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If a student-athlete were pre-med and building and selling computers out of his/her dorm room, would you have a problem with that?
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No.
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Then tell me the difference between a student-athlete who decides to become Michael Dell and one who earns money by signing autographs at a local memorabilia store. Both of these individuals have violated NCAA rules. Maybe I coordinate 10,000 alumni to buy a computer from him and kick in an extra $100 on each order to send this guy’s way because he’s the starting QB on the football team (he’s trading on his name).
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One chooses or chooses NOT to be a student athlete.
There are stock trades I can make as a private citizen that are illegal as fuck for a congressman. You choose your station you follow the rules. A ceo can buy me a yacht. Can’t buy a governor one, legally anyway.
The host can’t fuck his clients in exchange for a fee because he CHOSE to practice law.
A used car dealer can give discounts on a case to case basis as he sees fit.
Different choices, different rules.
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Because the NCAA makes the rules, it’s ok. Got it. Just admit you would like college athletics to be Division 3, the service academies, or the Ivy League.
I’m sure you would be totally cool with all of the oil companies getting together to make a rule to fix prices on gasoline … that’s exactly what the NCAA does for its members to student-athletes.
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So I won’t like college football later?
We’ll see.
Why have you enjoyed decades of what you say is institutional slavery?
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Other than the fact I’ve said multiple times that the comparison of college sports to slavery (including on this thread) is ridiculous, it’s exactly the same.
I get the feeling that you resent the college athlete for the potential he or she may earn money to have things or do things in college you couldn’t do.
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Your feeling is very misplaced. I just don’t think you can make the argument that the only thing wrong with the Southwest Conference in the 1980’s was that they were rules breakers. Normalizing and legitimizing that competition between oil tycoons seems willfully blind and stupid. No offense.
If you can go into histrionics about how terrible the current construct is but still watch it because it ain’t really that bad that should have lost interest then why isn’t your argument that I should turn away post-NIL not complete and total bullshit?
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How many national championships did the Southwest Conference win in the 1980s? None. They must have been really bad at cheating (or they were so bad at it that they got caught).
I’m not a fan for pay-for-play. I’ve gone on record for that. What I don’t agree with (and I think should change) is that a student-athlete should have the same rights outside of their student-athlete responsibility to earn money that any other student has on campus. It doesn’t change my enjoyment of the game. It may be good … it may not be. We’ll have to see.
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As you know Ive repeatedly inquired in how to do this the “good way” without the “bad way” showing up. So far I haven’t seen any takers.
(But for Lastinger they’d have had 1. 10-9 baby!!!)
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However, the problem with not having rules about these things is that a student athlete could sell broken computers at inflated prices to boosters, fans and alums and that becomes difficult to police so you have rules that are too broad to justify in every circumstance but may be necessary anyway because some people tend to be cheating little bastards.
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The problem is the rules haven’t stopped the cheating. By the way, every state law has specifically said NLI money cannot be earned in exchange for signing a letter of intent.
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The rules haven’t stopped murder, theft or rape but I’m still for them.
Th provision you mention doesn’t prevent any coach from demonstrating what other similar players are making at their school.
It may not be a direct exchange but the implications are clear:
Come here, make more $.
And not later after you’re educated and/or trained, but now.
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Murder, theft or rape affects the rights of another human being to the life and property. Terrible analogy … just like those who claim college sports is a modern day plantation.
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You said “rules don’t work” as if it were meaningful.
Happy to hear you concede that was bullshit.
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If your Grandma had balls, she’da been your Grandpa!
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What does that have to do with anything?
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“If a student-athlete were pre-med and building and selling computers out of his/her dorm room, would you have a problem with that?”
I just followed you into the World of Ifs!!!!!!!!!
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They are already a commodity …. they just haven’t been earning any cash that they can spend as they choose off of it.
If you are worried about exploiting young people in sports go a few rungs down the ladder and worry about ESPN showing LLWS regional tournaments in prime time. Worry about ESPN or other sports networks airing high school sports on a regular basis. The majority of those kids are not going to even play at the collegiate level but let’s by all means air the games in prime time, sell big $ sponsorships that may not even provide a 10% of the revenue to the local teams, AND then on the broadcast analyze the play of the participants as if they are 10 year paid professionals.
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I just can’t wait for the first 8th grader to get into a bidding war between Rush Propst wannabe 1 and Rush Probst wannabe 2.
What could be more awesome and life affirming than that?
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I am thankful we have a coach that uses a UGA education as a recruiting tool, I also think it is great that the athletes can make some money. Covering all sports , the super star softball player that is a hero in her home town getting billboards.
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Design a rule that only covers that which we can all agree and abide by and I’ll sign on. It isn’t that you can’t think of a billion scenarios under NIL that are admittedly harmless. The problem is that there are a billion bad ones that get to play too.
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That’s already happening – example Valdosta going on a 1 year postseason ban and series of ESPN.com articles.
Remember Danny Almonte?
Spare us all the sanctimony of the “pure love the sport” when all of the other adult actors are motivated by money.
The foundation of amateurism is built on the shaky grounds of race, class and misogyny. Every single “improvement” the NCAA has made to its system has done little to stem the corruption in the sport but has moved the actors closer and closer to “professionalism” with very improvement of the renumeration.
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little improvement of their renumeration.
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My response to the argument of “its already happening” is why change the gotdamn rules then?
The history of olympic sport amateurism is totally separate matter.
If France could have bought Carl Lewis then you’d have an argument.
No one recruits olympians. They’re kinda stuck where they find themselves you know?
Matthew Boling could make a shit ton anytime he wants. He choose, so far, to be a student at georgia.
If you’re suggesting that he should be able to sign with Nike and still run in NCAA meets rather than in IAAF competitions in Europe then we disagree. Kid had a choice. He’s made it and all is ok in the world.
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Every college in America could get very effective in telling recruits that college is a place to get educated and is not a place to make bank upon enrollment. We might even hope every college student really believes that. When that happens college kids will still like to make neat, interesting TikTok and Instragram videos. Other folks will still like those videos and follow the college kids making them. And in that academically pure environment marketers will notice that hundreds of thousands consumers watch those college students’ videos and may notice what shoes or scrunchies those students wear, or what beverages they drink. In that pure academic environment marketers will continue to want to say to those college kids with hundreds of thousands of followers, “I notice you are wearing brand X in your videos. Would you wear our brand so our brand is associated with someone so popular?” No matter how academically focused the college student is she may say, “No thanks, I like brand X.” The purity of the academic environment won’t stop the marketer from replying, “Well, if we pay you $________ to wear our brand would you do it?”
Your argument is that the student’s dedication to her academic progress would be greater is she says, “No” than it is if she says “Yes.” A rule saying, “You cannot take the money” would not help the student academically achieve.
Sorry, you have not convinced me.
I think you view the NIL debate strictly through the lens of football recruiting with colleges lining up boosters to hand out money to prospects.
That is kind of what has been going on under the table for a long time, legally until 1948, then illegally since.
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Some of them this is their only chance to make best. Stetson Bennett would have made more last year than he will in the NFL. Colleges should be teaching student athletes about money management now. I am sure Kirby is on that. A lot of these kids do not come from where waiting for later to profit from your talent is an option. No other student is prohibited from making money in school.
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The question is whether that prohibition is reasonable and whether it can be relaxed without negative consequences that would outweigh any positives.
Stetson is a lot more famous than he would have been had he stayed in Mississippi or gone to any other school willing to put him on scholly. To a great extent the university, after over more than a century of investment, created that opportunity at fame. For which there will be a residual for the rest of his life.
Asking him to wait to cash in until after his eligibility expired is not to much to ask.
If he thought it was too much to ask he could have quit when JT took his job.
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Look at all the athletes who do not make the nfl and where they end up in life and I bet you will see that most do not get to monetize their work. If it was not an issue there not would not be a Paul Oliver Foundation. Why should athletes not be rewarded for their work while they work?
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I question whether it should be labeled as “work.”
Did I “work” in youth football? Did I “work” in high school sports? Did I “work” in a intercollegiate non-revenue sport? I put in work. Wasn’t expecting a check at the end of the day. I did it anyway, for other reasons that were important and personal to me.
That athletic departments are awash with cash doesn’t change any of that for me.
I do think an across the board revenue sharing plan makes sense.
Think about this commercial:
“Hi, I’m John Jones Junior VP of marketing for Ford Motor Company and when I drive my Ford I use havoline.”
Would Ford Motor Co. have grounds to say wtf?
I think they might.
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‘the possibility that just maybe it will all be a complete catastrophuck.’
It will 100% be a catastrophuck. No other possible outcome. Pandora’s box.
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Damnit… I hate when I have to agree with Derek! 🌝
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…and sometimes you gotta have a Big Mac!
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It’s all about recruiting. Starts and ends with that. Y’all are getting bamboozled into thinking it’s about these players selling there autograph for beer money. Sheesh.
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Exactly. Much better to promote profit sharing with student athletes than to promote NIL.
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Once again Derek, you are wrong.
The Olympic amateur model was the basis for the collegiate amateur model. Most of the adaptations to the rule have been to address corruption or other problems with the system.
Also, the national federations recruit athletes all the time. In the US, USSoccer is always on the lookout notably David Regis, Jermaine Jones, Julian Green and current national teamer Sergio Dest are players that US sought out. None of them were born in the US. USA Track pretty much recruited Khalid Khannouchi and Mea Keflezighi, both of them were born in African countries.
As far as changing the rule, I would be fine with the schools paying the athletes directly. It won’t burst any bubbles for me about my enjoyment of collegiate athletics. I fully believe that their commitment to the sport and the additional expectations placed on them as a representative of the university warrant renumeration beyond the scholarship money that they may receive. If they do receive money then they should be able to spend that money however they see fit just like anyone else who works for a living is allowed to do.
I don’t think it will ever get to that point and but if they can trade on their likeness and earn some $$, I am all for it.
I am probably not going to stop watching if they don’t get paid either.
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Avery Brundage was a racist and a classist.
If todays rules are intended to deprive opportunities to the poor and/or black, well I’d say its pretty damn ineffectual.
Who was our last caucasian starter on d? 2004?
I’m all for seeking immigrants to our great country. If thats whats happening so usa mens soccer doesn’t embarrass us, fine with me.
Committing to be an American is a little different than committing to a school to play football tho.
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Jake Ganus would like a word.
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I remember the fear that the Cost of Attendance stipend was going to be a big deal. But I have not heard one word spoken about that being an issue with anyone’s recruitment. Perhaps this will be the same?
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Well you know they’re smarter up there in NC and their athletic programs are squeaky clean, the envy of us all.
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There are strawman arguments then we have Derek…………….
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And then there are those who are incapable of forming any argument beyond the monosyllabic “u r dum.”
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And those that ramble and present conflicting arguments that lack logic.
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And there it is. Sad.
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Its a joke.
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Just want some clarity and would love to get this on the record. Derek, are you communicating here that calling someone else dumb or stupid in a debate/argument is poor form? Perhaps even self-undermining and a “dumb” strategy for the user?
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Not at all.
Just show your work.
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That’s a fair answer. Gonna hold you to it.
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Please do.
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I can’t wait for some Longhorn players to use NIL to shit all over the Eyes of Texas.
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I wonder how many of those legislators would do their jobs for the “Love of the country” and forego any pay or perks?
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I wonder how many would run for office, press the flesh, get out the vote, win and THEN check to see what the salary is?
Or if they said they knew what job paid, ran anyway, and then voted themselves a raise because “this is bullshit!” would you applaud them?
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“Play for the love of the game”. Let me puke.
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Yeah! Who does that? No one!
Anyway, I did watch this with over 82,000 in Croke Park, Dublin.
None were paid. I thought it was a pretty awesome experience. Everyone else seemed to as well.
I can’t say there was no puking after the match but it wasn’t because of the GAA’s amateurism rules.
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Dang y’all. Pretty active day. FWIW, bitch all you want, it’s in the hands of those not among us. Welcome to the new world that some of y’all wanted. It is what it is.
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Sir, this is an Arby’s
BWAHAHAHA!
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Glad to see you working, Chief…
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Put the fish basket out in the pond behind my house. Got soaking ass wet. HornDawg Hans is bringing Krispy Kreme and the wife is making a gallon of bloody Marys in the morning. I’ll be cleaning catfish and drinking or fishing for bass and drinking by 10. Best to rack out now as drinking and fishing is hard damn work.
Arby’s sucks.
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Damn Ranger, when do you sleep? Sounds like you’re in for a fun Sunday. It’s hard work , but somebody’s gotta do it.
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Yeah it’s a dirty deal, GurkhaDawg. I’m built for the suffering though.
Got my mid-morning buzz on, had a sausage biscuit, gave away most of the couple dozen donuts to new friends with children and caught a few bass. Taught my newest little pal, Hudson, how to pick up a crawfish without getting nipped. The buck bass were hitting crawfish under a float with no weights. It was a fine morning. I always enjoy meeting new, well-mannered fishing buddies. I gave up my bait and remaining donuts, gonna get my shit together and do a bit of suppressed shooting with the Horndog’s new Scorpion.
Got a couple hours sleep after getting drenched yesterday evening. Then slept until the Tylenol wore off about 0700. I tell ya man, the morning is easier with a Bloody Mary or three. Can’t do that often though.
Beautiful day.
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Jeebus, sounds like the first time I had a large mouth hit my buzz bait. Fort Yargo, Winder. Never forget that.
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Let freedom ring!
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This is not going to work-out well for anyone.
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Yeah, we are in for it……the VA is not a good subject. Hope the Blutarsky comes back in a few days……
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Well Rigger, if a man feeds a caged dog a piece of meat and then sticks his bloody hand in the cage and tells the dog not to bite it? He shouldn’t be surprised when the dog bites him anyhow.
There are few issues that someone isn’t passionate about and some folks simply can’t help themselves.
This is the Senator’s blog and he can run it as he pleases. He shouldn’t be surprised when folks ignore his direction to save it for the Playpen. We shouldn’t be surprised at any punitive action he takes to preserve his conceptualization.
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I am sorry but every adult posting on this board is capable of self control.
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Yes, all are capable. A few are simply unwilling.
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I miss a couple of days and things go to shit. What happened? I feel like I am getting a portion of the story here but I don’t know who we are talking about and it is weird for the Senator not to have anything up on a Monday morning. Hope he is well.
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I’m fine, thanks.
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The Senator would like for us to get our collective shit together and not leave it on his blog.
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WOOF!
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Honestly I occasionally post but I mostly lurk and yes I also read the comments. The number of instigators (IMHO) seem relatively small but it only take a couple of matches to get a serious fire started and I don;t see those folks ever changing their ways. Seems like the same cats over and over again for years. I get exhausted reading it. I can imagine how policing the comment section would get monotonous to say the least.
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This is why we can’t have nice things. 😦
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Good job folks.
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Come on man, it’s April; there’s all sorts of pressing football stuff to blog about. What am I supposed to do? Just… work?
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I’d like to suggest a common sense rule: one post per commentator per article. Say your peace and then pass the mic. It’s the incessant, childish, back and forth name-calling between some of y’all that’s turned this place into a drag.
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Is there a way to shunt certain comment threads under a post off to a private chat/thread between those involved, while the rest of the threads remain open and public?
Once the moderator diverts it, it just shows up as private and you’re free to click on it and go watch/participate if you like but none of the rest of us have to deal with it or see it.
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I participate on another word press blog and they have a “Pie filter” where you can select commenters and you won’t see their comments.
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For Senator to be able to do that for all of us without the offenders realizing it would be quite nice.
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I don’t appear to have that option with my version of WP.
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I’m checking on it.
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Did you find it? Try looking where the G-Day game was. Maybe one of those youngsters that don’t know diddly can help you.
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This has been my hope for a while now. Just filter out the childish nonsense.
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I’d just like to take a moment and thank the few commenters who have possibly shut down one of the best blogs on the internet with this present:
https://images.app.goo.gl/VWRbWAiFy72GSC3X6
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What going to happen is Bluto is going to find out how nice it is to not have to post every day and deal with the idiots on here who ruin it for everyone and decide to fold up his tent. If he hasn’t already. #FTMF
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Well something is brewing besides the coffee.
Bluto will be fair. He’s solid enough to know that you don’t punish 99 for what one or two have done.
I personally enjoy the banter. The Senator even engages in the banter.
But when civility takes a hike it gets disgusting.
I think we’re in a long time-out while the official reviews the play.
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Le Bulldog Club de Belgique est très affligé avec ces nouvelles.
wtf?
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I blame that shit-starting Got Cowdog.
Vote to ban!
😉
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Yeah!
Remember when he started that crap between Corch and Derek about “whether or not The Pirate a great coach?”
Got sho’ nuff threw that shoe twenty yards down the field.
(Good on you, Ranger! You know when it’s time for some comic relief!
Of course, Got is really one of the best.)
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Well you may not know it but that man’s a spy
He’s an undercover agent for the FBI
He’s a friend of them long-haired, hippie type, pinko [censored]
I bet you he’s even got a commie flag
Tacked up on the wall inside his houseboat
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We fly the Jolly Roger on the Flush, RR. When our colors are displayed you may assume the ship is wet and tops are optional.
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” All hands exercise restraint when tempted to board erratically sailing vessel alongside!”
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We are always prepared to lay alongside for trade or booty…
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This is a football blog. There are several lawyers here as well, so I get diving into the legal side of issues affecting college sports and I honestly enjoy reading about stuff that I don’t know a lot about. However, I DNGAS where anybody’s political allegiances lie. If I wanted to read the endless banter and personal attacks over how the other side is full of idiots and my side is the only truth, I’d just go on facebook or any other news media outlet. It’s tiresome, yet some folks just can’t help themselves. Just quit wasting your time warning people Senator… you post about politics outside the playpen, you’re done. IMO, I think a lot of your readership would see that as a huge improvement to the experience here.
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That’s a great idea and has little to do with reality. How in the hell is there going to be a post abut someone in football and the VA without people talking about the VA???
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The reality is that some people can’t talk about the VA without trying to link it to which President/party was better.
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The fish aren’t biting today.
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😉
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This is the problem. The post wasn’t about the VA. Remy could be going into the private sector for all I care. The point was that the senior guys at the NCAA appear to be looking at exit strategies.
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Over the years the Senator has stated operating this blog is a labor of love.
Clearly some of the love has worn off. Hopefully our sponsor will realize how much joy this blog brings to so many. In doing so find a way to keep the joy for himself without the added grief to police the site.
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Three days? What the hell is going on? I figure it has to be one of the following:
A. The Senator has been kidnapped by those aliens we saw on the recently released videos and is being “probed” as we speak.
B. The Senator had an intracranial bleed and is lying on the floor in his own urine and feces.
C. The Senator pulled a Hunter Biden and is in a motel room, coked up out of his mind with two prostitutes sitting on him.
D. The Senator is fucking with us and is going to make us grovel before triumphantly returning.
I personally hope it is D, although A and C would make for some pretty cool stories.
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The correct answer is E. None of the above.
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Well, we are in day two of the blog shutdown, so it is time to speculate. I noticed two comments removed by the administrator above. Who removed these? The Senator or WordPress? Does the Senator have us in time out or is the blog in time out?
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I did that.
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Dang, they must have been bad. Can’t remember you using that particular hammer before. Place is getting like StingTalk…;)
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Dude, Dude, Duuuuude!
We’re having a bad week.
Let’s not completely self destruct.
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Definitely missing the Senator’s blog posts. If it came down to it, I’d sign off on shutting down the comments section entirely and just having him post without them if the hijinx in here have sapped his enthusiasm for the site. I don’t know what the removed posts were all about, I wasn’t here that day, but it doesn’t matter. This has been a great site and it’s been essential in getting me through the long, cold offseasons. I love the community in the comments, too, and I’d love to see the small number of posters who have made it unhappy reign it in a little bit and get back to having fun. But, if it comes down to it I say shut it down and just post and have us read the posts and then shout to ourselves (which is about as effective as yelling at strangers through the internet anyway).
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I’d be fine with this. Half the time I post it’s just #FTMF on a gator post. I enjoy reading the columns and links. We can email if we want to submit ideas for posts,
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Good idea. I’d only miss a few posts from some people on here.
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What the F happened? I don’t check the blog for a couple days and chaos ensues.
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I hope and pray that the Senator is OK.. We all miss him.
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Thanks for that. Nothing is wrong. I just felt it was wise to put down the keyboard for a while rather than say something I might regret.
You know, the kind of thing I wish certain other commenters might think about doing sometimes. 😉
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Amen.
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Problem is . . . some folks never regret. . . . are not even aware that something was said that should have caused regret.
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You always let your peeps know if you are taking a little time off. I was starting to worry. Glad it was just a well deserved respite. 🌝
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Did I miss a hullabaloo?
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There is nothing going on in college football and some blogger is having an existential crisis if comments by people he doesn’t know have made him lose his “love” for blogging. Geez this is a bunch of high school drama before there was a pandemic. Maybe it’s time for everybody to put on their big boy pants and realize there are real problems we have to deal with and worrying about what someone says in the comments section of a blog or some blogger who has hurt feelings is way way down the list.
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“Some blogger who has hurt feelings” has been entertaining us, for free, for years. Pull your head out and read the room or GTFO.
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And your point is???? Since it’s free and entertaining you are not allowed to call it for what it is? If you don’t like my comment you can GTFO. All you have to do is ignore my comment, but you much like this blogger have to get butt hurt and respond. Big boy pants my friend.
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This blogger’s butt’s just fine, thanks.
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Ok. Fefes better?
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Nothing’s bugging me, although you seem convinced otherwise.
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I admit I’m just looking at what happened and your past statements and guessing. I don’t know you from Adam’s house cat and have zero reason to disbelieve you when you say nothing is bugging you. For all I know you are preparing for a trial or there is just nothing interesting going on in college football. Whatever the reason I did not mean to make my post about you directly. The point I poorly tried to make was that people should not let some random comment in a blog get them upset and feel the need to respond as opposed to just ignoring it. Obviously as you host the blog that does not apply to you.
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Well, I don’t disagree with you there. Except for the trial preparation thing… 😉
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You mean like “Bounce a quarter off” fine?
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It is called respect and the Senator has been abundantly clear about the expectations for HIS blog. And yet after reading the recent comments that you still felt the need to shit in the punch bowl rather than not commenting yourself is the kind of post/exact reason he had to walk away for a few days.
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Then he has every right to take his toys and go home if he doesn’t like it. Just because I can read something and not lose my mind does not mean everyone else to. You do you man.
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I bought maybe my notifications were messed up. Read your the blog is how I start my day. Come on people learn some civility and let pointless arguments go. Keep insults to yourself and let the rest of us enjoy the blog.
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My daughter is at UGA and is starting to look for books, courses, classes, anything to help her pass her LSATs. Do any of you attorneys have any recommendations I can pass along to her? Thanks in advance.
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It is has been a long time, but I think that any of the national LSAT prep courses like Princeton Review, Kaplan, etc. would be fine.
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As a parent you may not like this but here goes, I “studied” for the LSAT over a 6 pack of tall beers with my best friend while both of us sat down and quizzed each other out of the free preparation book the testing service sent when they confirmed our registration for the exam. My friend finished with an LSAT in the 85th percentile and my LSAT was in the 94th percentile. (That is probably the only way that I made it into UGA law).
The LSAT, at least back in the day, was more of an IQ test/reading comprehension test than a knowledge test. I am not sure that you can really “study” for a test like that. I do think that is a good idea to go through the practice tests in a relaxed manner so that the test format is familiar. Other than that, the strategy that worked for me was going in relaxed and looking at it as a game, kind of like solving word problems with friends, rather than a test.
I do believe that the LSAT has a certain level of usefulness in predicting whether or not someone will ultimately be able to pass the bar exam after law school. My friend and I both passed the bar, in California, the 1st time we took it. Another friend, who did poorly on the LSAT, managed to get himself into a state accredited law school but ended up failing the bar exam multiple times before he finally gave up. I think it is probably better to take the LSAT and, if you do poorly, seriously consider trying something besides law school. It is very difficult to survive 3 years in a top 50 law school and it would be a shame to spend all that effort (and money) and not be able to practice law.
I hope that your daughter has a good experience with the LSAT and, if practicing law is truly her passion and dream, that she is able to go to a great school like UGA law. Best of luck to your daughter and your family.
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Malcolm Gladwell does a really good podcast on utilizing the LSAT as tool for evaluating prospective law school students, clerks, and new hires.
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I can only tell you what worked for me with the caveat that I was not a pipeline student which I believe makes a big difference. I did self study with Princeton and took every practice exam I could lay my hands on.
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I had issues with the “games” section until I figured it out with the help of a prep class and increased my score by 15 points from the sample test I took, which got me into law school since I partied my way through undergrad. Princeton I think? Been a while. Had a very good instructor who was a law student at Emory. Helped me spot which section was the experimental one which was helpful. I actually think that class helped me with multiple choice generally and ended up helping me on the multi state section on the bar.
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This reminds me of that one time I cut out all sugar, salt and fat. Technically, I was still living, but…….😞
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Senator, just my opinion, but I think if you cull a few folks from the herd, the comments section will be better for the herd. As the head rancher, you know who needs to be culled. It is your ranch, after all.
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You’ll approve of tomorrow’s Playpen, then.
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So you’ll be presenting the nominees to vote off the island, instead of allowing us to do so? Probably a good call…
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Neutering is a useful tool for herd management.
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I agree. I’d even be ok with even paying a yearly membership fee to allow posting privileges. That would also help the Senator keep the server lights on. Hell anything that gets rid of the malcontents.
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I haven’t charged anyone for 15 years and don’t plan on starting now. Thanks for the offer, though.
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I understand. I was thinking a token amount (couple bucks) for posting privileges only. Reading the site would still be free. It would remove the run-of-the-mill troll that comes in, stirs shit up, and leaves. But to be honest, I think our problems are internal long time readers…
I’ll await your Playpen tomorrow sir.
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Hell I’d paid you more than the site links I never click on
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I hope I did this correctly. How the vowels recruit a QB, from SEC Shorts! God Bless ’em (SEC Shorts that is)
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Damn, should have scrolled through first.
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Great minds, and all that!
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I definitely hope this isn’t a long term solution to a short term problem.
I enjoy the Senator’s insights, even on the days when I don’t post at all, and given that nothing really sparked with me on the two posts from Saturday I missed the ruckus and am happy that I did. Now I find myself missing one of the best parts of my day, which is waking up to find the email notices of new posts, and reading over them as I go about my morning routine.
I’ve never seen comments deleted here, so I can only imagine the things that were said. Good to see Ranger holding down the fort.
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yea, sure it is
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That’s very kind of you, Corch. Doesn’t appear as if the resident REMF feels the same though. Most POGs don’t grow so bitter with age.
Sad.
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Well, for months I avoided commenting on anything certain people would write here because I promised the Senator I would. No matter what they said, I stayed away. It worked pretty well until they started coming after me, and it’s just not in me to back down when someone comes after me. It may be a personal failing I admit that, especially with how stupid internet shit can get. I’ve since amended my promise to Senator to basically pretend they don’t exist at all after his admonishment a couple of weeks back.
So that’s my advice to you. Don’t just avoid them here, if they step up to you and have something idiotic to say about something you wrote, just look past them like they’re not even there. It’s not easy, but it’s better for all.
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Of course you’re correct, sir. Lions shouldn’t concern themselves with the bleating of sheep and all that.
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Fuck you and your remf bullhit.
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Petulance is so unbecoming.
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Here’s a look at how Tennessee recruits their quarterback.
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Me for the past 3 days…..
//s.imgur.com/min/embed.js
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Lame. Maybe this works.
https://imgur.com/1vhTdem
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Given the direction most of the comments sections head of late, nothing surprising about a “time-out”.
As an aside, did you see where D’wan Mathis was named the starter at Temple? Good for him (IMO).
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I went back and watched the first half of the Arkansas game the other day. Mathis looked good until that hit on the sidelines. I don’t know if he just got scared or what, but man it was ugly after that. I had forgotten how solid he played for the first couple of drives and then it all fell apart like it was held together with Scotch tape.
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Just thinking out loud here. I do not have a sub to the Athletic. I would gladly pay the same price to read the Senator. He wouldn’t even have to allow comments. Or he could charge someone $100 per post. That would shut some of these children up.
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Can someone sum up what happened so I don’t have to read 180 comments?
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It’s in the lyrics…..been going of “for long time now”:
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And probably a little bit of this:
Ain’t no thang, but a chicken wang…..every day stuff.
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And the band played on.
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And you may find yourself living in a shotgun shack
And you may find yourself in another part of the world
And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile
And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife
And you may ask yourself
Well…How did I get here?
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… letting the days go by, let the water hold me down.
Also, one of my favorite bass lines in all of the Rock Era of music.
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“Same as it ever was.”
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It would seem a bit disingenuous to take the position that disagreement, contentious comments and salacious statements are unwanted.
Followers of an online outlet tend to take their cue from the top. This blog routinely delves into politics and contentious topics that the writer knows full well will divide the readers along ideological boundaries.
And it routinely dabbles into character assassination of various individuals including, but not limited to, ADs, Conference Commissioners, NCAA commissioners, coaches, players, entire state populations, fan bases, and particular celebrities, public officials and candidates for higher office.
I don’t personally find this all that breathtaking, and hope our host here doesn’t either. Much of what is said by the blog writer is fair and deserved towards the targets of his criticism. Some isn’t, and where people think it isn’t, they tend to disagree openly.
Perhaps he is merely fishing and it is my sincerest hope that he has caught several large fish, is enjoying a nice beverage or two, and a relaxing time with family.
If it is something personal or family related, it’s my prayer that these situations resolve themselves in a fashion that is in keeping with the divine roadmap the Lord has laid out for His grand design.
So while I do often disagree with the Senator and his positions at times, I think the debate, however heated it may be at times, is a worthy exercise for the minds of the readers.
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I love the give and take of a good debate as much as you. Hell, it’s probably my favorite part of the comments section. What I don’t love is commenters who refuse to follow the house rules, no matter how often I ask.
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Well said, TN Dawg. God bless the Senator, and God bless all those who read and comment on GTP.
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Long time reader of this blog, it’s been part of my morning routine for longer than I can remember. Never posted in the comments here before, signed up just to say this. Senator thank you for all of your work keeping us Dawgs informed throughout the years – honestly is the one place I come for Dawg info. I for one wouldn’t miss the comment section one bit but judging on their actions, some people need to show their ass on a daily basis. Looking forward to seeing your new posts whenever you see fit to getting back at it.
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