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This will be the week the opt outs start.

Las Panteras

All Conference
May 11, 2014
5,707
5,667
113
In earnest.

SMU had some guys bail earlier, but teams going nowhere will start losing guys

If Pitt drops one at UNC, have we seen the last of Izzy?

Could you blame him?
 
I don't see college football through the same lens I did even a few years ago. If we're eliminated from ACC Championship contention, the season is meaningless to me. Go ahead and opt out at that point, because I'd rather plan for the future and I'll be more entertained watching the future guys compete than I would be watching some dude who will be in the NFL in a few months. If the Steelers were 2-5 with Ben in his waning years, I wouldn't even turn the tv on. But I still watch to see guys like Pickett, Pickens, and the like.
 
In earnest.

SMU had some guys bail earlier, but teams going nowhere will start losing guys

If Pitt drops one at UNC, have we seen the last of Izzy?

Could you blame him?
In reality, isn’t any team that doesn’t have a legitimate shot at the CFP this season “going nowhere”? And that applies to all but a handful of schools every year at this point of the season.

This is what the playoff mentality has created. It’s a TV money maker. But it has relegated much of the CFB regular season and traditional bowl games to a far lesser status.

Personally not a fan of this structure. But it won’t change because the allure of the $$$$$ has become intoxicating and addictive.

Pitt? What about ND? Miami? TX A&M? Oklahoma? LSU? And on and on and on . . . . . . . All but about 8 or 10 programs are in the same boat. And that number will shrink with each passing week now.
 
In reality, isn’t any team that doesn’t have a legitimate shot at the CFP this season “going nowhere”? And that applies to all but a handful of schools every year at this point of the season.

This is what the playoff mentality has created. It’s a TV money maker. But it has relegated much of the CFB regular season and traditional bowl games to a far lesser status.

Personally not a fan of this structure. But it won’t change because the allure of the $$$$$ has become intoxicating and addictive.

Pitt? What about ND? Miami? TX A&M? Oklahoma? LSU? And on and on and on . . . . . . . All but about 8 or 10 programs are in the same boat. And that number will shrink with each passing week now.

Once it goes to 12 (and eventually 16), there will still be a lot of teams in it at this point. Hell, we'd still be in it on the basis of the five highest conference winners being automatic qualifiers.

And if you suck so badly that you're already eliminated from conference contention 8 games into the season (and I realize a number of teams do suck that badly), you probably don't have very many opt-out-worthy players on your roster anyway.
 
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I always blame quitters for quitting..sure.
In earnest.

SMU had some guys bail earlier, but teams going nowhere will start losing guys

If Pitt drops one at UNC, have we seen the last of Izzy?

Could you blame him?
 
I don't see college football through the same lens I did even a few years ago. If we're eliminated from ACC Championship contention, the season is meaningless to me. Go ahead and opt out at that point, because I'd rather plan for the future and I'll be more entertained watching the future guys compete than I would be watching some dude who will be in the NFL in a few months. If the Steelers were 2-5 with Ben in his waning years, I wouldn't even turn the tv on. But I still watch to see guys like Pickett, Pickens, and the like.
As a fan I feel the same, in first instinct. Not knowing any of the players and coaches (which I don’t), that emotion is perhaps more understandable; these are abstract figures. But I played organized football up thru high school, and it is easy to forget these are humans playing on a team and most have 12 or 13 games … to maintain their scholarships for sure, but most are not in position to transfer or declare for the draft on a whim. They are mostly student athletes who work hard and usually not get much payoff besides the scholarship and camaraderie. They have to play to the bitter end and I try to remember that when saying “the season is pointless” (though I certainly have here), and cheering ideas that significant numbers of the team should opt out. I understand why someone like Izzy would, but I am not going to root it.
 
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As a fan I feel the same, in first instinct. Not knowing any of the players and coaches (which I don’t), that emotion is perhaps more understandable; these are abstract figures. But I played organized football up thru high school, and it is easy to forget these are humans playing on a team and most have 12 or 13 games … to maintain their scholarships for sure, but most are not in position to transfer or declare for the draft on a whim. They are mostly student athletes who work hard and usually not get much payoff besides the scholarship and camaraderie. They have to play to the bitter end and I try to remember that when saying “the season is pointless” (though I certainly have here), and cheering ideas that significant numbers of the team should opt out. I understand why someone like Izzy would, but I am not going to root it.

Anymore, I think most of the players support each other when one is chasing money and glam. Whereas years ago, they might have felt like someone was quitting on the team, now everyone seems to understand that the allegiances lie on to the bright lights and the Benjamins.
 
I thought the “opt outs” should be elite players. So far, other than Izzy’s record game, most of our players are pedestrian at best.
 
I thought the “opt outs” should be elite players. So far, other than Izzy’s record game, most of our players are pedestrian at best.
Yes. Many of ours will realize how lucky they have it. Is there much more embarrassing right now in college sports to put yourself in the portal and have nobody of consequence want you? Didn’t Shocky have to slink away to some D2 garbage team?
 
Yes. Many of ours will realize how lucky they have it. Is there much more embarrassing right now in college sports to put yourself in the portal and have nobody of consequence want you? Didn’t Shocky have to slink away to some D2 garbage team?
Akron. Think he’s doing pretty good
 
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