I HATE what college "sports "has become. Gave up on professional sports long ago for several reasons, now the mercenary money-grubbiing of what I once loved is no better. Loved the Tennessee volunteers for decades, but it's difficult to even care anymore.
I think the younger generations may adapt but it's difficult for those of us who were raised on the amateur game. We still pay attention for entertainment, but our emotional ties are far less.
Some point out that players always received money even when it was forbidden by ncaa rules. I know times change and I find myself out of sync with the times. The best analogy I can make is how I felt about MLB in the 1950s/1960s growing up in Memphis. Every summer morning during summer vacation from school, I read the box scores from all 16 teams. I loved it all, Diz and Peewee on the Game of the Week, Harry Carey doing the Cardinal games each day, and the game itself (playing and watching). It was the grand old pastime. Then, expansion came and the players began arbitration, eventually strikes, and escalating salaries with no cap, and then PEDs. The players are stronger and more powerful, pitchers throwing in the high 90s and above, hitters looking like Samson at the plate. Is the level of play superior? Heck yeah! But would I prefer the MLB of the past? Heck yeah! I felt less and less interested in the game that I once loved. I watch no games, barely keep up with the standings. I did watch 3 or 4 World Series games last year for the first time in a while.
When I became an adult, my new more exciting interest became college football. I lived for fall practice, the upcoming season, and following the Vols and attending games every chance I had. It gave me a passions aside from work and family. Like baseball, money found a way to spoil it all for me. Rule changes, NIL, and the dadgum portal have combined to make me feel less interested in whatever comes next. I'm not being stubbornly resistant to all change. But I just lost the enthusiasm and I'm not sure I can ever get it back. Like baseball from my childhood, it's a gradual loss of interest, but it's likely permanent.