If we get “Will Grier’d“ in the upcoming years

[Lawrence Wright]

no, i agree, and i get it. i just still have this childhood image of what College football was. and that conflicts with what it really is today.

i have no delusions of grandeur in that regard. i don't have to be happy about it though. lol.

i'll put it this way, in the end, i think it's probably better to have that problem than not. and currentely, we don't have this problem....which is way worse.

Oh those days are gone....I remember going to the old Orange Bowl back in the 80s, and in some years having to wait until the Rose Bowl or Cotton Bowl was over to determine what national title significance the Orange Bowl would have.

It wasn’t determined that UF was playing for a national title in ‘96 until after Ohio State won the Rose Bowl the night before.

That setup wasn’t good enough, fans begged for a playoff, and now we have it. The irony is we could have had the old BCS format the past several years and CFB still would have gotten it right more often than not.

 

[Type Orange+]

If you chose not to draft Will Grier or the Bosa kid from Ohio State because they sat out the season or a meaningless bowl game, you wouldn't be employed as a GM for very long.

The opportunity to earn millions outweighs the opportunity to win another TaxSlayer Bowl against Iowa or Northwestern.

The amount of hardliners here is disturbing to say the least.

Then try another site. This one isn't yours anyway, is it?

 

[Lawrence Wright]

Then try another site. This one isn't yours anyway, is it?

Put me on ignore and keep it moving.

Jake and I are having a civil conversation...as we typically do.

 

[jakez4ut]

Oh those days are gone....I remember going to the old Orange Bowl back in the 80s, and in some years having to wait until the Rose Bowl or Cotton Bowl was over to determine what national title significance the Orange Bowl would have.

It wasn’t determined that UF was playing for a national title in ‘96 until after Ohio State won the Rose Bowl the night before.

That setup wasn’t good enough, fans begged for a playoff, and now we have it. The irony is we could have had the old BCS format the past several years and CFB still would have gotten it right more often than not.

yep. i think the big screw up was changing the way we seleccted the top 4 teams. i don't think anyone had real issues with the BCS formula as much as it was not letting the top 4 play. had they kept the formula, and just played 1-4, and axe the committee, i think most of the issues would resolve themselves.

but as we've already seen, there's a definite chance you can get more than 1 team in from the same conf, and winning your conf, or even being in a conf, really doesn't matter.

and it didn't matter in the BCS either.

 

[AM64]

CFB has a bunch of first world problems, all things considered.

The biggest problem being there are two programs that are light years ahead of the remaining 128 programs.

I can't see a way to do anything about the fact that they tend to stay that way because the best prospects want to play for them, but that is a problem. However, one thing that the NCAA can and should address is staffing. Alabama particularly leverages the actual coaching positions by having a cast of thousands supporting the coaches. It's college football's version of an out of control arms race, and it's leading to more disparity between programs. If you can limit the number of actual coaches; then, you can also limit their support staff. It's pretty bad when Bama can lose a key coordinator or assistant and simply promote the next man up from the "staff".

 

[WoodsmanVol]

You sound like someone who has never played the game.

You got the brain of a four-year-old. I'll bet he was glad to be rid of it.

 

[Advol]

I think there needs to be insurance policies to cover injuries for those projected to be in the nfl draft in these bowl games and the players need to play.

There are. And they are used a lot. And usually paid by the Agent who has "wink wink" not signed the player yet. Done ALL the time.

 

[rusty11]

Unless it’s a playoff game, I can’t blame a kid one bit and their teammates will understand the decision from a business standpoint as well

Oh, it will happen if they expand the playoffs. If there are number one picks in the draft and they are expected to play in another game against top competition, it will happen. Everybody is sick of Bama and Clemson, but what they don't get is the more it's expanded then the more likely they are to get the same results in the end. When one or both slip up during the season and would not have made the 4 team format, they'll still get in the 8 team, and likely end up winning the Natty anyway! But, then there's the question of who opts out because of the extra round and the top team all year can't win because of it.

 

[Type Orange+]

You got the brain of a four-year-old. I'll bet he was glad to be rid of it.

 

[WoodsmanVol]

Super cool to encounter a Vols fan who can take a seemingly disparaging joke and kill it with niceness. And I say a lot of things, half of which don't make sense even to me. Meanwhile, I'll try to track down that 4-year-old so we can return his rightful property.

 

[MSCE09]

I don't have a problem with a player that is graduating or not coming back in the spring leaving the team at that point. They played for the education, sure, but the education side is done and so them playing in the bowl shouldn't necessarily expected of them. Bowls are completely pointless at this point other then getting more practices for the young guys anyway.

 

[papatomany]

will grier is awful. how dare he make a decision that secures the financial future of wife and child.

Again I say, the odds of a career ending injury in a bowl game are miniscule. Even the Jaylon Smith type injuries are exceedingly rare in a bowl game, and by all accounts it dropped him from about 4 million a year to about 1.5 million a year to begin his pro career. If Will Grier can't "secure the financial future of wife and child" on 1.5 million a year, he's in a sad state indeed.

 

[TheDeeble]

Again I say, the odds of a career ending injury in a bowl game are miniscule.

It doesn't matter what the odds are. The bowl game outcome means nothing.

Smith's contract is 3.5 mill over 4 years. That's a pretty significant drop from the 16-20 mill he would have gotten.

 

[papatomany]

I don't think athletes are abused at all. They want to play sports, schools try to find the best, athletes (if offered scholarships) decide which offer to choose. Their time on the field is just like everyone's effort in the classroom ... sweat equity. If they are NFL caliber, they stand to benefit highly from the coaching they receive and the opportunity to show what they can do, and in return they stand to make incomes far above what just about any other student will ever make. So it's sweat equity; you put in more on the front end for a high return on the back end. What athletes receive in the way of preparation (coaching, room and board, facilities, tutoring, transportation to and from games, uniforms, cost of attendance, etc) goes well beyond what the school shells out in return for what an average student pays to attend. For the majority of schools athletics is a losing proposition ... there is no profit to share with athletes. Do you think other students working hard to pick up the skills they need for a profession should subsidize someone who wants to play football - especially someone of NFL and, therefore, much higher earning potential? Sorry, but it's still just a game, and I do happen to enjoy football - particularly UT football.

Very well put. The training and preparation these guys get is of immeasurable value.

 

[VolNExile]

It doesn't matter what the odds are. The bowl game outcome means nothing.

Smith's contract is 3.5 mill over 4 years. That's a pretty significant drop from the 16-20 mill he would have gotten.

And just to add, NFL careers don’t last long. Sure, ex-players *should* be able to move to a new career, but that 3.5 million over 40 years isn’t a huge annual salary, especially with future inflation.

 

[papatomany]

It doesn't matter what the odds are. The bowl game outcome means nothing.

Smith's contract is 3.5 mill over 4 years. That's a pretty significant drop from the 16-20 mill he would have gotten.

I hate to repeat this, but: there is no such thing as a "meaningless" game. Bowl games have lost their luster because of the watering down of bowl season, so that the bowl game is simply the last game on the schedule with an as-yet-to-be-determined opponent, for all but the lousiest teams, who simply have to forgo their final game. If the bowl games are meaningless, presumably because those games can't influence the national championship, then aren't the regular season games for any team already out of the playoff picture just as meaningless. In fact, using the "meaningless bowl game" mentality means that every game played by every team except Alabama and Clemson is retro-actively meaningless. Every other team just wasted an entire year. For a true competitor, every chance to get on the field is meaningful.

 

[MSCE09]

I hate to repeat this, but: there is no such thing as a "meaningless" game. Bowl games have lost their luster because of the watering down of bowl season, so that the bowl game is simply the last game on the schedule with an as-yet-to-be-determined opponent, for all but the lousiest teams, who simply have to forgo their final game. If the bowl games are meaningless, presumably because those games can't influence the national championship, then aren't the regular season games for any team already out of the playoff picture just as meaningless. In fact, using the "meaningless bowl game" mentality means that every game played by every team except Alabama and Clemson is retro-actively meaningless. Every other team just wasted an entire year. For a true competitor, every chance to get on the field is meaningful.

No, because those other games have bearings on divisions and conference championships and rivalry games. As well as part of the contiguous season. Bowls on the other hand are completely artificial; matchups between teams with little to no history, in locations away from either school, and played a month after the season is over. At their best they are an excuse for people in cold areas to go for a long weekend to somewhere warm before they have to be back to work after Christmas.

 

[Samuellbronkowitz]

If it's a meaningless bowl, I could give two s***s less. If a National Championship was on the line, however..........

 

[AM64]

No, because those other games have bearings on divisions and conference championships and rivalry games. As well as part of the contiguous season. Bowls on the other hand are completely artificial; matchups between teams with little to no history, in locations away from either school, and played a month after the season is over. At their best they are an excuse for people in cold areas to go for a long weekend to somewhere warm before they have to be back to work after Christmas.

I think that was exactly the purpose of bowls - to pit a few teams who never or rarely play each other against each other, to play up regional interests, and to promote some end of season celebrations ... at least before it was rudely interrupted by the thought that we had to have a nonsensical contest to decide who's "number 1".

 

[TheDeeble]

I hate to repeat this, but: there is no such thing as a "meaningless" game. Bowl games have lost their luster because of the watering down of bowl season, so that the bowl game is simply the last game on the schedule with an as-yet-to-be-determined opponent, for all but the lousiest teams, who simply have to forgo their final game.

How is the Camping World Bowl any less relevant today that when it was the Champ Sports Bowl in 2008, the Tangerine Bowl in 2001, or the Carquest Bowl in 1997?

When did these bowl games have any importance, relevance, or "luster" that has been lost?

 

[Advol]

It is very similar to playing hoops in the NIT while everyone else is grindin' in March Madness. Coach keeps tellin' ya it means something, but playing in front of a FEW fanz in a huge area on ESPNU37 eats at you on the real difference

 

[stevenrich2003]

I honestly can see both sides of the argument. Either side has a legit argument on why or why not. I personally feel like I would play the game. I could not look at my teammates in the face and expect them to give me any respect if sat out the game. I would also expect them to do the same thing. I would play as hard as I could and demand that they do the same.

 

[praxite33]

I'm okay with it. Honestly I think you have to look at it from both sides.

As a fan - you support this team, every W means something to you, you want to see the team win for their Morale, you want bragging rights...

As a player - you've given everything you have to get to this point. Years and years of dedication and training and you are projected to go quickly in the draft. You are given a free education... Yes of course but let's not forget the fact that you are giving TV ratings, ticket sales, merchandise, and hype towards this school. More than taking care of that overpriced education. Why should you risk everything because career ending can happen instantly taking away every penny you have worked years to earn. Your future, your stability, your life of financial wellness gone because you decided to play in the Tampax bowl?

If it's not playoffs... A fan shouldn't care. A player still will. If it's playoffs? Fans can and should care... A player will care but have to make that sacrifice for themselves and their family.

 

[papatomany]

If you chose not to draft Will Grier or the Bosa kid from Ohio State because they sat out the season or a meaningless bowl game, you wouldn't be employed as a GM for very long.

The opportunity to earn millions outweighs the opportunity to win another TaxSlayer Bowl against Iowa or Northwestern.

The amount of hardliners here is disturbing to say the least.

By your implied definition of "hardliners", I'd say the opposite. The scarcity of hardliners on here is disturbing to say the least.

 

[Lawrence Wright]

By your implied definition of "hardliners", I'd say the opposite. The scarcity of hardliners on here is disturbing to say the least.

There’s a reason for that, based on your definition.

Kids have a right to look out for their future...no different than the coaches they play for, or entitled fans like you who think they’re owed anything. You’re not.

If Will Grier sat out the CFP, that’s a problem.

A meaningless bowl game, when he’s likely one of the first QBs taken in the draft, and he’s got a wife and daughter to think about? I support his decision not to play.