I dont remember that Ray Lewis.
I did grow up rooting for a SHU program that was decimated by a gambling scandal.
This stuff isn't scandalous. It is legal. Which makes it worse.
I have said it here many times. Sports at the level of NCAA hoops and fb has no place in the academic world. And shame on me, but college hoops is my favorite sport anyway.
Like you, I enjoy college hoops and not naive to think that the illegal stuff has been going on before I ever became interested in the sport.
And while many got away with doing illegal stuff, there was accountability and penalties (like Tark, Bill Miller and the Cal State administration paid). Heck, how many college players missed time because of grades and academic ineligibility. There may have not been 100% accountability but coaches, players, etc. did pay a price. Now we have guys that will play for four different schools in four years…would love to see that transcript. How many kids do you see now losing eligibility for a semester for poor grades or not showing up? Very few….are they all great students now? Call me skeptical.
I used to pay for my tickets, go to games, keep track of the recruiting stuff and enjoy the games hoping for the 89 type fantasy runs. Maybe they all weren’t student athletes in pure terms, but we have seen a good number of players move on to have successful careers (Jackie Kaba, Mike Nzei, Adrian Griffen, Artie K, etc.). These kids may cash in on the “NIL” wave short term, but since the vast majority will never play professionally, this short term windfall (complete with handlers and other leaches) will end up creating more Raymond Lewis’ than adults prepared to transition to the next stage of their lives.
And as a fan, do I want to be lining the pockets of increased number of handlers and leaches who have descended on this Wild West? The model makes no sense and I don’t see anyone or group taking the lead to change or fix it, so I’m not optimistic about things “settling down”.
