Sorry if I’m alone here, but I must admit much of my enthusiasm & joy has been stripped away by the rapid changes in CFB. I used to read 11W daily, checked in obsessively on other Buckeye sites, & listened to all the podcasts (BM5, etc.), but these days I can barely bring myself to click on any of them. It all feels so cheapened and contrived… Hopefully I’ll still cheer as passionately as I used to when the actual season starts, but who knows
I always took such pride (perhaps too much pride) in our student athletes being the class of the Big10 & a consistent national contender, all while staying above board on a relatively even playing field.
But soon games on BTN will feel a little bit like watching the New England Patriots vs Gahanna Lincoln.
Teams we’ve always outclassed will concede by saying: “Oh well, they pay their players.” & it won’t be sour grapes anymore. They’ll discount their losses to us, & sadly I’ll probably discount our victories.
We’ll have the best team money can buy in an amateur sport without a salary cap.