The System

[IrishLion]

I saw Nelson Agoholor getting ferried around by a hostess while he was on his OV at ND. She was not unattractive haha.

 

[ryno 24]

Yay smick chicks

 

[T Town Tommy]

I saw Nelson Agoholor getting ferried around by a hostess while he was on his OV at ND. She was not unattractive haha.

Smells like St. Mary's to me.

 

[IrishLax]

The more and more I read stuff like this... the more and more I think we need to go to paying players in some way. The Olympic model seems like it would work and be simple.

The bottom line is that most schools currently pay for players... some like Clemson and UNC have been more obvious than others... so trying to "do things right" puts you in a precarious situation. You either have to choose not to recruit those types or be willing to get burned if they decide to take the bag full of $$. Wetzel or someone said a couple years ago that whenever you see a kid quickly change his mind for no apparent reason or witness a late cycle defect, it usually has to do with $$ and that more players are on the take than most comprehend.

The real question is... if you opened up the floodgates, who would dominate? Wealthy super-boosters like Pickens and Knight or schools with huge fanatical bases like PSU, Ohio State, and Alabama? I wonder if Notre Dame has about 1/20 the enrollment of a large state school... and I really wonder if we have the donor base to truly fund a team for bidding wars that would ensue. Maybe we could get the Vatican to kick in some $$.

 

[NDWorld247]

The more and more I read stuff like this... the more and more I think we need to go to paying players in some way. The Olympic model seems like it would work and be simple.

The bottom line is that most schools currently pay for players... some like Clemson and UNC have been more obvious than others... so trying to "do things right" puts you in a precarious situation. You either have to choose not to recruit those types or be willing to get burned if they decide to take the bag full of $$. Wetzel or someone said a couple years ago that whenever you see a kid quickly change his mind for no apparent reason or witness a late cycle defect, it usually has to do with $$ and that more players are on the take than most comprehend.

The real question is... if you opened up the floodgates, who would dominate? Wealthy super-boosters like Pickens and Knight or schools with huge fanatical bases like PSU, Ohio State, and Alabama? I wonder if Notre Dame has about 1/20 the enrollment of a large state school... and I really wonder if we have the donor base to truly fund a team for bidding wars that would ensue. Maybe we could get the Vatican to kick in some $$.

The Olympic model won't work for college football. It would only further corrupt the sport.

I would rather continue to "do things right" and recruit kids who don't need illegal benefits to influence their decision. I'd say we're doing a good job competing in that environment right now. Why change the approach?

 

[Rhode Irish]

If everyone was paying players, eventually they wouldn't be making much. The return just wouldn't be there for the "boosters." For a school like ND to be "priced out," college players would have to be making pro salaries. The market would never allow that to happen.

 

[BobD]

If they pay the players, what do we need the schools for? We could just call it the NFL minor league.

 

[IrishLax]

If everyone was paying players, eventually they wouldn't be making much. The return just wouldn't be there for the "boosters." For a school like ND to be "priced out," college players would have to be making pro salaries. The market would never allow that to happen.

Alright well let's actually flesh this out for a second. For starters, here is your collective "booster" pool for each team: http://thequad.blogs.nytimes.com/20...-college-football-fans-and-realignment-chaos/

Basically, if you opened it up to the Olympic model what would happen is booster clubs would organize such that a "point man" would collect donations and dole out the money to recruits. If every fan donated $10 to a slush fund run by a booster for paying recruits, Ohio State would have roughly $30mil/year to spend on a class of 25 players... meaning they would be able to bid north of $1 million per player. If every fan donated a dollar, they'd be able to give $100k+ per player.

This wouldn't function like a typical "market" because you would have a wide swath of goods and consumers. You'd have a couple guys coordinating with coaches to bid for players and they would have an inelastic amount of money to spend governed by how much was subjectively donated to the pool. Thus, the guys at the top of the board are going to get whatever the coaches deem their relative value to be to other prospects... much like a fantasy football auction draft.

At the end of the day... much like how Notre Dame fans eagerly donate $100 a year to just be enrolled in a lottery for tickets... fans are going to give whatever they can under the assumption that it will help them land the players that will help them win and implicitly enhance their fan experience.

 

[NDWorld247]

At the end of the day... much like how Notre Dame fans eagerly donate $100 a year to just be enrolled in a lottery for tickets... fans are going to give whatever they can under the assumption that it will help them land the players that will help them win and implicitly enhance their fan experience.

ND has one of the largest endowments in the country, the only "football" schools ahead of ND are Stanford (by a lot) and Michigan (barely), and arguably the largest fan base in college football. ND would be able to compete in this system. They'd lose a fan in NDWorld247 as I'd stop watching college football, but they'd compete nonetheless.

 

[Kak7304]

ND has one of the largest endowments in the country, the only "football" schools ahead of ND are Stanford (by a lot) and Michigan (barely), and arguably the largest fan base in college football. ND would be able to compete in this system. They'd lose a fan in NDWorld247 as I'd stop watching college football, but they'd compete nonetheless.

I believe Texas also has an endowment larger than Stanford.

 

[Rhode Irish]

Alright well let's actually flesh this out for a second. For starters, here is your collective "booster" pool for each team: http://thequad.blogs.nytimes.com/20...-college-football-fans-and-realignment-chaos/

Basically, if you opened it up to the Olympic model what would happen is booster clubs would organize such that a "point man" would collect donations and dole out the money to recruits. If every fan donated $10 to a slush fund run by a booster for paying recruits, Ohio State would have roughly $30mil/year to spend on a class of 25 players... meaning they would be able to bid north of $1 million per player. If every fan donated a dollar, they'd be able to give $100k+ per player.

This wouldn't function like a typical "market" because you would have a wide swath of goods and consumers. You'd have a couple guys coordinating with coaches to bid for players and they would have an inelastic amount of money to spend governed by how much was subjectively donated to the pool. Thus, the guys at the top of the board are going to get whatever the coaches deem their relative value to be to other prospects... much like a fantasy football auction draft.

At the end of the day... much like how Notre Dame fans eagerly donate $100 a year to just be enrolled in a lottery for tickets... fans are going to give whatever they can under the assumption that it will help them land the players that will help them win and implicitly enhance their fan experience.

It probably would go a lot like that, but it wouldn't take long for it to become a scandal that a fourth string wide receiver at a public university was making more than the President of the school. It would just be pro football, only with less talented players. That system would collapse in on itself very quickly. Also, if it were easy to get fans to just give you $30M/yr, all of these teams would be playing in palaces and the coaches would all be making eight figure salaries.

For the record, I'm in favor of maintaining the amateur system, but modified to include a stipend. I would think the stipend would be in the range of 5K per player. You're still talking about close to half a mil a year, and a good amount of teams would only be able to provide it to their superstar players, not 1-85.

 

[NDWorld247]

I believe Texas also has an endowment larger than Stanford.

The list I was looking at had the Univ of Texas System slightly ahead of Stanford, but that included nine separate universities (e.g. Austin, El Paso, San Antonio, etc). The Univ of Texas-Austin's endowment is about 1/3 of ND's.

I looked at an updated list and Northwestern and Texas A&M appear slightly ahead of ND. I don't really know how accurate these rankings are, but my point that ND is among the top "football" universities in the country and could raise the money needed to compete in a system where schools bid against each other remains the same.

 

[PLACforever]

I could see it now...

BK: "welcome to Notre Dame recruit X, I would like to introduce you to your beautiful hostess Marge".

Recruit X: "what the ___"

Marge: "Hey sexy"

BK: "Don't worry Recruit X, what she lacks in suitable looks, she makes up for it with manly legs and a strong chin".

Recruit X: [/blank stare]

flashed on an image of Big Lou in a wig.

Also, google image "Lacey Pearl Earps" - the second pic says it all.

 

[philipm31]

flashed on an image of Big Lou in a wig.

Also, google image "Lacey Pearl Earps" - the second pic says it all.

She is quite cute but nothing special in regards to the SEC, specifically on that campus. There are plenty of FANTASTIC looking women in Knoxville.

 

[PLACforever]

She is quite cute but nothing special in regards to the SEC, specifically on that campus. There are plenty of FANTASTIC looking women in Knoxville.

Maybe the 2nd pic was different from mine, it was her with two recruits holding a photoshoped (hopefully) sign.
*she's ok, the closer I look, the more I say "meh". Definitely no smoke show.

 

[phork]

 

[Voltaire]

I've seen that picture around as well. I'm curious, though, is that actually a picture of a recruit from a visit or is that just some random pic with a dude and two girls?

 

[phork]

I've seen that picture around as well. I'm curious, though, is that actually a picture of a recruit from a visit or is that just some random pic with a dude and two girls?

Looks legit to me so that should be good enough for you.

 

[Eddie.Smith Irish]

I've seen that picture around as well. I'm curious, though, is that actually a picture of a recruit from a visit or is that just some random pic with a dude and two girls?

Well, they do appear to be naked....giving the young man a proper SEC Tongue Bath.... Nothing to see here. SEC business as usual.

 

[Jebediah Springfield]

His head looks weird. I'm going to go with it's a fake

 

[Eddie.Smith Irish]

His head looks weird. I'm going to go with it's a fake

he does have a weird dome, but I'll just chalk it up to genetics and not the overly aggressive hookers he's engaging.

 

[Jebediah Springfield]

I've seen that picture around as well. I'm curious, though, is that actually a picture of a recruit from a visit or is that just some random pic with a dude and two girls?

Former 5 star safety Eric Berry. Played at Tenn but is now in the NFL.

 

[philipm31]

His head looks weird. I'm going to go with it's a fake

Yeah, that is obviously not anything but a Photoshopped pic with Berry's head on a random man's neck.

 

[NDGOLDEN]

Has anyone started to read this I don't get mine till Monday. Was just wondering if anyone has read some of it and see how it is so far.

 

[Emcee77]

Does ND use recruiting hostesses? I'm pretty sure we don't but I was just wondering if someone had some more insight. I've seen it at other schools and always thought it was incredibly shady.

Well, when I was at ND, there was a girl known as the "head doctor". You can guess what her job was. But it was all arranged by the players; as far as I know the coaches were totally uninvolved.

 

[IrishinTN]

Well, when I was at ND, there was a girl known as the "head doctor". You can guess what her job was. But it was all arranged by the players; as far as I know the coaches were totally uninvolved.

psychological evaluations? Must have been a psych major.