I think I’m done with college football

[Kimber45]

First a mea culpa: I’ve been a crap contributor around here for more than three years (no apologies).

Watching college football regress at light speed over that same period is the reason. This post isn’t about me or my feelings I just want to express the sentiment. Because the game that I used to love has lost me. And I suspect others might feel the same.

College football used to be a fun and engaging hobby. Keeping up on recruiting, watching the Spring Game, knowing the roster, the two deep position battles, and trying to keep up with play calling and schemes on both sides of the ball. Rooting for unheralded recruits like LaMichael James or Marcus Mariota and then seeing them just explode onto the national scene was the best part. Not to mention all of the unheralded players, e.g., a Nick Reed type player, who cement themselves into Oregon lore.

Due to the transfer portal I think there are around 40 new names on Oregon’s roster this year. To quote one of the internet’s best meme videos – “Ain’t nobody got time for that”. Whenever a team needs to upgrade a position they no longer need to recruit a kid and develop him, they just buy one off the transfer portal.

Which brings us to NIL. College football is no longer an amateur sport. College football is a paid semi-professional NFL development league except that most of the players aren’t making more than the room, board and stipend which, IMO, is enough. The powers that be say otherwise.

Then there is the nationalization of college football. It was enough to have the Big 10 and the Pac 8/10/12 play in the Rose Bowl. Everybody loves quality national OOC matchups as well. But that’s not enough now because the people who market college football need more money to fund their coke habits.

All I wanted was to watch the Civil War every year.

College football has lost me.

I’m out.

Ps. Before you say "OK Boomer". I'm Gen X.

[ducks5ever]

Thanks for sharing? This is clearly all about money (everything you mention). Tradition comes second.

In this environment, you either keep up or get lost in irrelevance. I'm just happy the university has committed to its football program and will likely continue to deliver exciting seasons for years/decades to come

[OregonFan4Life]

I don’t disagree with anything you said about college football, BUT I just can’t give up Oregon football.

[UOducksTK1]

I feel like if they change the Transfer Portal where players can't transfer for the first 3 years (without sitting out a year) with the exception of a head coach or their position coach changing, then that would fix 90% of the portal issues.

[73duck]

> Ps. Before you say "OK Boomer". I'm Gen X.

The boomers were duck fans in the late 70s. If we survived that, we'll survive this era for sure.

[StevensTechU]

Makes me think about how European soccer had a similar moment 2(?) years ago, where the biggest brands from across the continent wanted to start a "Super League," but ultimately the idea was nixed. There was such vehement opposition from fans and not as much commercial strength from broadcast partners (different countries have different stations) that they were able to kill it. In the U.S., ESPN and Fox have much more relative strength, and the fans are divided because each consolidation has enough winners to 'offset' the losers. That's different than the European construct that would have favored 20% of fanbases and ruined things for 80% in one fell swoop.

[rockthief]

I will still watch the game. OP made all good observations. I mourn the loss of the sport. Once I could namemost of the players. Now it is the opposite. Fifty years being a Duck fan has been so much fun, but now it has been diminished.

[lmduck]

The old adage applies here- nothing constant but change.

[SuperDuck]

I'll never be done with it. There are some disappointing things happening, that's for sure, but eventually the dust will settle and I'll learn to adapt.

About the only thing that could possibly sour me on it is if Oregon were to end up in the Mountain West. We'd still have a shot at the playoffs, but the quality of players we got would almost certainly decrease. Also, the odds of keeping a quality coaching staff would be slim.

That said, I seriously doubt that would happen, so I'm still all in.

[Phalanx]

I have definitely watched less duck football in recent years, but I think that is mostly because of Mario and his horrible offense. I do miss the pre-season reporting that Rob used to do - that made it really fun to follow the player development. What he does now is like a report from an HR zombie.

Anyway, the games are getting better, and it looks like maybe the competition is about to get better as well. Hopefully Oregon will end up in a position to be able to continue getting great talent and not lose good coaches so often. I think that contract Lanning signed is a serious positive step for the program.

[buckmarkduck]

College football will still be the best sport, doesn’t matter what happens with realignment. And as a duck fan it should only get better now, no PS pac 12 refs in every sport fucking up the outcomes of games. Unless you really believe Franklin should have been flagged or Wright flagged at the end of Stanford. And that’s just 2 of 1000s of bad calls.

[jBeavertonduck]

"All I wanted was to watch the Civil War every year."

Sorry, not to pile on, but "Civil War" isn't allowed any more.

[bellsduck]

I'm with you.
It's a sad era for college sports
I've left baseball, Ive left nba, I've left NFL
The only thing I still enjoyed was college sports and that is dwindling to near zero at this point.

[UOducksTK1]

I'm with you.
It's a sad era for college sports
I've left baseball, Ive left nba, I've left NFL
The only thing I still enjoyed was college sports and that is dwindling to near zero at this point.

I've also left all professional sports, haven't watched a pro game in 3 years now. However, college football will be harder to give up.

[pezsez1]

College football is still my favorite sport simply because every game is so meaningful.

The NBA is a close second. The regular season is pretty boring (although I'll watch the Blazers whenever I can) but the playoffs can get wild. The NBA also has fantastic drama, like the Lebron vs. Brooks drama in last year's playoffs. That is just grade-A reality TV and I'm here for it.

NFL football is a bit behind the NBA. I generally find pro football to be pretty boring, but I'll always love the Seahawks and I'm enjoying being a bandwagon Chargers fan.

I'll watch soccer if nothing else is on but I don't really understand it.

Do not watch baseball, racing, golf, etc.

It is definitely sad what's happening to college football. Radio guys yesterday were talking about how deeply the fan dynamic will change if Oregon jumps to the Big 10. We'll still have UW, but no more Civil War, possibly no more Stanford, no more dealing with the AZ curse, no more playing Cal and remembering that time when Colvin fumbled it out of the endzone, etc. It's those years of history that put wins and losses into context. Imagine "The Pick" without the decades of futility against UW. Duck football will still be a joy to watch, but it might be awhile before wins and losses carry the same kind of meaning.

Oregon is either going to make the jump or be left behind. In regards to this thread, the end result is the same either way.