Washington Waddler

I still fail to see where anyone - including President Trump - can find a solid argument that would convince congress that there is ongoing antitrust collusion among P5 camps when they are in competition with each other for the same thing. If the threat of losing the full impact of booster support requires these universities or athletic departments to offer some form of legitimate business status to an affiliation of their boosters, I’m too legally ignorant to know if anything could stop them.

She continues to look like the right fit. Congrats.

Riley’s lack of CEO-type leadership gifts and skills didn’t surface in Norman where he was shored-up by a focus and faith in Sooner football that never seems to waiver. In LA, those shortcomings are all too apparent.

His Euro numbers indicate he’s got a lot of practice work to do in rebounding, blocks and from the free throw line if he’s going to become a serious contributor.

I remember him as someone whose learning curve didn’t match up well with the expectation curve of AD staff and fans alike.

I find this continuing humiliation of land-grant institutions like Beavis to be very unstatesmanlike; nothing but an overstatement about bank statements that is devastating to their self-esteem. They deserve an interstate relationship as much as any other, allowing them to gestate into a reinstated conference. This whole conversation gives me nothing but a pain in the prostate!

Good to have the forum back. When all is (mostly) quiet on the Duck front, you keep the conversation going. Thanks!

I find it doubtful that Lanning & staff have not fine-tuned some sort of formula based on position that accounts for - among others - graduation rate, percentage of those who will red shirt, transfer into and off the roster and medical-out of the program, to not have a pretty clear idea of team recruiting needs, and what it will cost to compete for those players in any given year.

What happens with in conferences after the fact (the commitment of recruits and transfers) seems as if it should remain beyond the reach of law suits. I guess my question has more to do with before that when competing for the ‘raw material’ of a shared market place. In that sense, it doesn’t seem as much a matter of one forced to subsidize another as it is trying to create a competitive, level playing field. In the end, I guess it would all depend upon which of the two views gains the most traction in the eyes of a judge.

Question: if this sea-change were to happen from student-athlete amateurs to paid athletic professionals, mandating - of necessity - contract-based bargaining between unionized athletes and universities, could that create the conditions under which an antitrust law suit might be enacted by less wealthy universities banding together to challenge the monopoly of wealthy universities who control the market place for high school athletes and transfers?

It would seem that Lombardi and her program have not only benefitted from the national impression of Oregon leading as a transfer friendly atmosphere, long established by the football program, but embraced it. We are becoming among the best places to be for top athletes to take the next step in their development. That said, the question still remains as to how to transfer that same energy and impression to high school recruits, irregardless of the eventual fate of NIL.

Great article David. A less visible reaction to the difference between the Oregon way and that of TAMU or USC is that by bringing in proven players who are being paid for their recognized worth, Oregon creates less chance of position room friction than the potentially hidden resentment veterans may feel towards newly minted high school millionaires. That may have played a part in Pregnon’s decision to transfer. Recognized worth is valued by veterans.

Once upon a time (in a universe far, far away?), there was a game called football played almost exclusively at colleges and universities by those affluent and privileged enough to attend, and enjoyed by fans of the same ilk in stadiums reported upon by newspapers, and occasionally by a new fangled thing called radio that would let the great unwashed in on what they were missing. It was a violent pastime of the upper class who felt no need to regulate what they controlled and tacitly agreed upon was a four year amateur sport mostly left behind by participants once they entered the real world. No fortunes were waiting to be amassed, either as a player or celebrity; and anyway, they already owned all the fortunes. What possible role could be played by antitrust sentiments in a sporting event where hardly anyone involved wasn’t in some way part of, or privy to this exclusive galaxy operated by and for themselves? How things have changed: enter the great unwashed wanting to be part of the fun; professional football; obscene university contracts with broadcast tv/mass media; and now at last, new fortunes just waiting to be made. Poor, poor upper class. No one seemed to understand anymore that this game belonged to them. Even their clubhouse rules (NCAA) were no longer enforceable in the face of the cultural juggernaut their little game had become. So, the moral to this tale is, once football’s white collar became blue, it became probably best to just let this horse have its head to eventually either run off a cliff, or return to the barn. Your guess is as good as mine.

Only way the NFL would agree to allow their players to participate? Ultimate Frisbee would be more interesting than this.

If you’re a fan or not of ‘Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted’, the chef’s season 2, episode 2 offering titled ‘The Wilds of South Africa’ will give you an up close and personal view of the difference between rhinos and hippos. Both funny and tense. On the question at hand, I’ve occasionally wondered how fast Ducks fly when invading the dreams of Beavis fans.