Seriously, WTF is with ESPN’s sudden fixation with player opt-outs? First we had Herbie’s cranky “I just think this era of player doesn’t love football” observation. In response to that, Desmond Howard offered this ($$):
“Their whole mentality is all about the championship or the Playoff. Because of that, they don’t value the bowl game. When we were coming up, Herbstreit and myself, going to a bowl game was a huge reward for a fantastic season. That’s what it meant. Your team played this well so you’re going to be rewarded with a bowl game, you’re going to get a ring, you’re going to get swag. Now, kids don’t really care about that. They have a sense of entitlement. It’s like, ‘If we’re not going to the one that matters, it just doesn’t have as much value’ — like it did for us coming up.”
Thanks, Gramps.
But the topper came during last night’s Sugar Bowl, when Joe Tessitore felt compelled to share his thoughts on the matter after Matt Corral was knocked out of the game with a leg injury.
He’s doing it the right way, unlike those selfish kids who are depriving Joe Tessitore and his employer of their entertainment services during bowl season. Never mind that it’s Mickey who’s been feeding these players, along with the general public, a steady stream of bullshit about how it’s only the CFP that matters now.
It shouldn’t have to be said, but as long as a player is making a free career choice, there is no wrong way. And if ESPN isn’t commercially satisfied with that situation, it’s certainly free to make an offer to influence that choice. In the meantime, its talking heads can shove their moral judgments straight up their collective asses.
Get The Picture 
Hypocrisy is one of the beautiful things about a free press. They get to preach about doing it the right way while charging Anheuser Busch and Pfizer $500,000 per half minute.
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Didn’t you know, Corporations are people too..?
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Just because they’re wrong, it doesn’t mean they also aren’t right.
I do think like you they need to take it up with ESPN’s marketing department though, as the way the continue to market for the Playoff has definitely played a part in all this.
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Now did this conversation take place with #47 sitting on the stage and wasn’t offered his view, it must have been contrary to mickey$ talking narrative…not saying I’ve got a brain cell or two left, this is just hunting in a baited field of the mindless…
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Yes, it does. They cannot be both right and wrong. ESPN is basically taking the place of the NCAA in sanctimonious, holier-than-thou way that they exploit this game for profit.
Also, look at rigger92’s comment below. I will say that I hope Corral does get drafted; he is fun to watch.
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They’re right about the motivations, but they’re wrong about it being wrong.
I think, given the differences in generations and the rise in narcissism in the youngest two generations, the proliferation of opt-outs makes sense, and it’s not a bad thing if they’re a little more selfish.
Now, don’t make the mistake of thinking I’m making value judgments here when I use words like narcissism or selfish. As with anything in life, how much or how little you have of those qualities is where the value judgment lies. I’m not talking about anti-social behavior; the malignant versions of those qualities. Though, we’ve seen from some of our own former Dawgs how the anti-social aspects of their generational narcissism can rear its head when there’s too much me and not enough team (talking about Deandre Baker and Isaiah Wilson here).
We live in a society that praises the right amount of selfishness, where it is a good quality. However, we are also quick to want to shut down the wrong amount, on a societal level. So what we’re seeing is the older generations having a problem with the younger generations’s elevated levels.
There’s also some grey area here that says when you join a team, no matter what kind of team it is, whether its sports or a company or a school or say, the military, where your individuality no longer means more than the whole. It’s an interesting American dichotomy that’s mostly worked for 240+ years. In the military, it’s even codified into law, where you voluntarily give up your God-given rights to instead be judged by a different, team-based standard called the UCMJ as opposed to the US and state’s Constitutions.
Anyway, long story short: These younger generations possess more me-type thinking even as part of a team, and that violates previous social norms. People are going to have issues with that. In some cases, they’re right, like when idiot Millennials and Gen-Z (or as I like to call them, the “selfie generations”) players preen for the camera after a good play and get hit with unsportsmanlike penalties that hurt their team. In some cases, they’re wrong, when it comes to opt-outs, though honestly, we should stop calling them opt-outs to make them feel better about their decisions. They are in fact, quitting.
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“Anyway, long story short:”
I don’t think that means what you think that means. 😉
Just kidding.
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Nicely done. I was going to take that line and do the “too late” like in Clue. 😁
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ESPN has crossed the continental divide of improving life for sports lovers to doing more harm than good.
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Remember when ESPN first came through that box thing on the tv with buttons on it? There were all kinds of fun things to watch and sports center was funny as hell for about 20 years. Now? It’s like they started a fried chicken chain and then they started a heart clinic chain.
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I remember that R92. Living in Tallassee Club Villas ’80-81 with some of the UGA Tennis team as neighbors. They were much more excited about ESPN than I. Me? I was digging Showtime’s Harry Anderson magic show with his topless assistant.
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Yep. If ESPN wants to try to pretend all the bowls are equal they should have as many commercials for the GoDaddy.com Bowl as they do for the CFP.
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I don’t fault guys for sitting out games and trying to do what’s best for themselves and their families, but why do we call this “opting out” instead of “leaving the team”? What’s the difference in leaving the team to prepare for the draft like Bosa did a few years ago mid season and doing the same thing before the last game? Just call it what it is instead of creating a more palatable way of referring to it.
I don’t fault them for the decision to do what they think is best for themselves and their families. That’s what they should do and in some cases the best thing for them individually is to leave and other times it is to stay. But there’s no such thing as “opting out” of games. I don’t believe we should say that they are “quitting” because it’s such a pejorative term, but it’s also not right to create a new term for what is going on when it’s unncecessary.
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And i agree 1000% on the absurdity of ESPN complaining that players and fans only focus on the national championship as the end-all-be-all of college football. They’ve done more to devalue the regular season and bowls than any other group in the world and are reaping what they’ve sewn as far as that goes.
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It’s all about the playoff because the loudest voices on social media and the Mouse have made it about the playoff. We shouldn’t be surprised that players who are making business decisions not to play in these entertainment exhibitions are doing this. Many of these guys didn’t grow wanting to be a Dawg, a Red Elephant, a Tiger, a Buckeye, or a Sooner (yes, I understand that 2 of those teams are in the playoff). They are playing college football to get ready for what they hope is a career whose financial windfall will change their lives and the lives of many of their families. If Matt Corral’s future NFL prospects end up damaged as a result of last night, we are going to see massive opt outs going forward.
That’s the reason we’re going to see playoff expansion.
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As Hinton and Godfrey noted last night, the bowl games were compelling TV. The only distraction: injuries and the nonstop whining about opt outs.
Example: Pitt Michigan State was a good game, Pitt almost pulled it off with their 3rd string QB. But the only takeaway from the game for most fans was the gratuitous camera fetish with Pickett.
Maybe the geniuses at ESPN will figure out that nonstop complaining to the effect of, “These players don’t give a shit, so why should you watch?” is (a) incredibly inaccurate and insulting and (b) bad for their own business.
Would be like Chikfila putting up a sign saying, “Eat moar beef; our chickens just aren’t invested enough.”
Freaking morons
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Pocket in the booth was a joke.
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Who cares? Seriously?
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If ESPN is invested in playoff expansion, I would think that they would be calling for it to keep the players at the top engaged especially if they get the quarterfinals in their bowl game properties.
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This idea that more people watch if Olave et al play seems dubious to me. Committed CFB fans gonna watch anyway, and the casual fan doesn’t even know who these guys are. Those CFs tune in for “Rose Bowl” and “Ohio State.”
And got a great game. Marred by a serious injury.
Doubt we see ESPN talk about the weekend body count. Because they don’t give a crap.
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I guess my point is if playoff expansion is a hammer everything hurting the sport right now is a nail.
Blowout semifinals —> expansion
Opt outs in NY6 bowl games —> expansion
Pac 12 can’t get in —> expansion
Need more casual fans engaged —> expansion
Can’t sell out bowl games —> expansion
Ratings for non-playoff games go down (I don’t know if they have) —> expansion
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I totally agree with you. I was just pointing out the absurdity of ESPN’s position. And they know it. They know these viewer calculations by heart.
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Herbie’s cranky…1-cause he was never, ever was in the position to go to the next level with the $$$$ being thrown around by gm’s 2- his distain for UGA football goes back to those days of yesteryear, 1993 fla citrus bowl, UGA football runs/passes that buckeye ass into defeat…”We wanted to force them to throw. But they were able to do it, and we weren’t.” 3- Agent Herbstreit thinks he’s better/smarter than anyone with a microphone in his face, obviously, Mickey does too…to bad, to sad!
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The players should do just like ESPN which is to be self serving first.
If their heart says I want to finish with my guys lucky us. If it’s like Mickey a business decision good for the players getting paid and screw Disney.
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Scoob, I agree…people are motivated by their own self interest.
I think either consciously or unconsciously ESPN is greasing the skids for bowls to financially “incentivize” players to participate, by maybe receiving 10K or whatever the going rate each bowl comes up with. That is until expansion of the CFP is finalized. Once the players are cemented to participate in the bowls, all the altruism bs can be ratcheted back up again…until then, the hypocrisy of multimillionaire commentators criticizing kids on the cusp of their big paydays rings a little hollow.
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You know WTF is up with it.
More discussion = more attention
More attention = more clicks
More clicks = even MORE discussion
All of which ends up in more advertising dollars and most likely more games, which results in more money.
WTF = $$$
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Nice avatar; certainly better than what you had before. 😉
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In my opinion, the only people who have a right to complain about anyone opting out of a bowl are that player’s teammates. If they are fine with it, no one else matters, and that is also why it is called opting out of a meaningless game and not leaving the team. The team understands; ESPN can kiss my ass.
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My question is this. At what point of the season is opting out to get ready for the draft the right thing to do? This is not snark. This is a serious question. If you can get hurt in game 7 of the regular season, you are just as injured as in a bowl game. Do you opt out as soon as you’re eliminated from NC contention? All games after that are as meaningless as the bowl game. You have a great Freshman and Sophomore year. Do you sit out your Junior year to train because you play for Mississippi State and have no chance for the NC? Why not spend that time in the relative safety of a training academy working on strength, speed, agility, and mechanics. You have plenty of film for the pros. I just want to know at what point is sitting the right thing to do? I know the Senator will come back with some witty reply about hypocrisy, coaches do it, EPSN, and the NCAA, but this is a serious question. If you are a parent, when do you advise the kid to hang up the college career? There is no more financial gain in staying so why do it? The game has pretty much become all about the money so let’s dispense with the pretense.
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You know how to avoid all that?
Treat the players like employees and sign ’em to contracts.
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That is EXACTLY where we’re headed. Like it or not, that ship is speeding full steam ahead.
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Do you not understand that if players become employees and sign contracts, college football as we know it now will cease to exist?
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ESPN has already taken care of that. The question now is what the new reality of college football is going to look like. When it became an ATM for the schools with ESPN continuously reloading it, the old days ended. Super conferences, expanded playoff (soon to come), transfer portal, NIL, etc, etc. have already changed the landscape. The only question is what will it be when it has finally reached the end of it’s evolution. It may still be great, it may be better or it may suck so bad that we no longer give a shit. The one thing that’s for sure, is that it won’t be what we grew up on. Tradition has already been sacrificed for the almighty dollar. UT-TAMU gone. OK-Nebraska, gone. Pitt-WV, gone. Michigan-ND, gone. With the new conference realignment, I’m sure other traditional rivalry games will go by the wayside for TV $$. Looks like Bedlam (OU-OSU) may be sacrificed.
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Chop, do you not understand that you can’t have it both ways anymore? College athletes aren’t quasi-indentured servants whose function in life is to entertain you. Either they have control over their lives or you have them give up that control by playing under a contract.
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They’ve always had control over their lives, Senator. And I think–whether you realize this or not–that you’re the one who wants to “have it both ways.” You want college athletes to be able to enjoy the full benefits of professional employment, but you still want them to play with the passion for the game they’re feeling now. Sorry, but when the SEC turns into the second NFL, that passion is gone forever.
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They’ve always had control over their lives? Maybe on Earth 2, but on this planet, they’ve had coaches control where they could transfer and the NCAA say they couldn’t earn a cent off their own names without penalty.
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“…get hurt in game 7 of the regular season, you are just as injured as in a bowl game.”
That’s not really the same thing. Maybe you are just as injured at the moment when you are injured but you have 2-3 extra months to heal and rehab before the draft. Not so much with bowl games. Corral is sadly a great example depending upon the actual injury, but seeing him on crutches was concerning. As for taking off your junior year, what’s the difference between that and entering the portal? Jermaine Johnson is great example of someone who did exactly the right thing. He worked hard in Athens and also in Tallahassee, but he got more – much more – PT in Tally. I wish I knew for sure, but I don’t think the team begrudges him the transfer as much you might.
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So game 8, 9, 10,11,12, SECCG, 1st round of playoffs. NC game? Where is the cut off point? As for Jermaine, he played. He didn’t sit out so apples to oranges. It was a business decision just like sitting out, opting out, NIL, portal. The question is where is the line? This is not an individual sport. Do players ask out of special teams because that is increased chance of injury since more time on the field. Does a RB put a limit on the # of carries he will tote it during a game. Corral got injured and that sucks. He could have just as easily gotten injured in the Egg Bowl. Should Davis, Dean, Cook sit out the NC game? It won’t put a single more dollar in their pockets but they could get injured. Just asking, where is the cut off?
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”The question is where is the line?”
It’s where the player chooses for it to be, in much the same way that I can choose to change jobs or retire, or a coach can leave and go where he thinks he’s bettering his situation. Why do you think players should be different?
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We aren’t ever going to see eye to eye on this so let’s just leave it at that.
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Des, thanks for leaving Pollack out of that “Herbtreit & myself” comment with him while he’s sitting right next to you. It’s subconscious- like they are still B10 vs SEC ass chapped. Or maybe they didnt have the opportunity to make the kind of money “these kids of today” have. As mentioned Mickey already drove this bowl tv money train to other tracks, especially by putting Neutral site Kickoff Classics on the front end of the season. No agent wants his player in meaningless bowls that will not enhance their stock.
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FFS. To hell with all the “fans” criticism of players opting out of bowl games. Corral may lose MILLIONS because of his injury affecting his draft status. A young man owes nothing to fat retards sitting on a sofa drinking a beer. FFS coaches are making millions and college players are chattel in this capitalist joke of a game. The players are criticized for looking out for number one. That’s the lesson of capitalism, you bozos. You want self sacrifice go to church and do as Jesus says. FOOTBALL AIN’T A CHURCH RELIGION. The players smart enough to protect their economic future should be celebrated for not being suckers.
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