A New Year..a Time to Reflect...Musings from an Old Guy

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billybud
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A New Year..a Time to Reflect...Musings from an Old Guy

Postby billybud » Sat Dec 25, 2021 11:54 am

From my vantage point of age...I look back upon the glory days...my own and those that I consider the glory days of football...a full on binge of nostalgia this Christmas morning.

Because not every game was on television, and because the home viewing experience was so lackluster, in the past you longed for the opportunity to be inside those stadiums on game days. You didn't feel obligated to be there to support your team; there was nowhere you would rather be. I had 44 years of being a season ticket holder until succombing to the convenience of the big screen and a bathroom only steps away. I changed.

And you didn't care if the seats were metal bleachers. Or if they were way too cramped, with no leg room and a space barely wide enough for someone half your size. You weren't planning to sit much anyway. You heard the roar of the crowd when seemingly everyone in the stadium -- at the exact same moment -- recognized that the quarterback saw his receiver breaking free. And you jumped up and down with complete strangers when the ball landed perfectly in the wideout's hands as he raced into the end zone.

There were no one-year rentals out of the transfer portal; you knew you were going to see these guys develop over the course of four or five years. You'd watch them get picked on as freshmen or sophomores, learn from their mistakes and then become consistent performers as juniors and seniors. Before conferences were in a constant state of flux, with university administrators chasing dollars from this league to that one, and when rosters were filled with players we cheered all the way from their recruitment through their senior years.

We have absolutely no way to know where things will go next with players getting paid for their NIL. The sport not only has a playoff now, but that playoff soon could be expanding to eight or 12 teams. Conference realignment hasn't stopped yet, and it might not ever until we blow everything up and organize it into a pro-style league with two or three super-conferences.

And this new era of player free agency, which has been brought about by the transfer portal and the one-time transfer exception, may only be beginning to pick up steam. For the most part, the only players transferring right now are those who want a starting job or want to play for a more high-profile program. What happens when a bunch of elite players decide to leave their respective schools and join forces to create a new "super team," like in the NBA? That can't be too far down the road, can it?

While all of that change makes me uncomfortable, and sometimes makes me wonder if this is even still the same sport that I love, I think it's important to remember that we fans have changed as well. And in many ways, we have been responsible for some of the directions of change.

It is not the same, it is imperfect...but football is worth my time and passion. It wasn't perfect back in the "glory days" either.

Have a blast watching the bowls, Ole Billy will...

Merry Christmas and a very happy New Year to y'all.
“If short hair and good manners won football games, Army and Navy would play for the national championship every year.”

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Spence
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Re: A New Year..a Time to Reflect...Musings from an Old Guy

Postby Spence » Sun Dec 26, 2021 9:15 pm

No the game has never been perfect. It is mostly out in the open now. I believe they will eventually figure it out and also remain fair to the kids.
"History doesn't always repeat itself but it often rhymes." - Mark Twain

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Derek
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Re: A New Year..a Time to Reflect...Musings from an Old Guy

Postby Derek » Mon Dec 27, 2021 1:39 am

Good points, I remember feeling like you do. I'm 50 and act like I'm 65 some times.

Merry Christmas to all of you!!!!
They’re either going to run the ball here or their going to pass it.

The fewer rules a coach has, the fewer rules there are for players to break.

See, well ya see, the thing is, he should have caught that ball. But the ball is bigger than his hands.

- John Madden


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