SEC media days
So, the TFP tandem of Paschall and Hargis are in SEC media days.
Yes, it’s Paschall in his element.
For me, the chatter is too much, be it the hypocrisy or the disingenuousness, especially after the predetermined talking points of the coaches get blurred by questions and follow-ups.
We asked Monday which SEC coach would you choose to have to take a truth pill and answer at least three questions. The options are limitless.
And the duplicitous nature of the ask-and-deflect nature of these kinds of events is downright comical. How crazy is it? There is an argument to be made that Lane Kiffin is the least trustworthy coach in the league considering his history. There also is an argument to be made that Lane Kiffin is the most honest. Wrap your head around that.
From Hargis’ column on Kiffin, “The keys to NIL and how you do well with that is to have really good boosters. It’s like a payroll in baseball. What teams win over a long period of time? Teams that have high payrolls and can pay players a lot. We’re in a situation not any different than that. I said day one, you legalized cheating, so get ready for the people that have the most money to get players. Now you have it. It is what it is. Coaches should be like general managers and help manage what the players make. That’s what other professional sports do, which is what we are now.”
But it’s what college football has always been – or at least what’s been for the better of the last three-plus decades – it’s just been that in the shadows as we tried to convince ourselves that it was still amateur athletics.
And in truth, college football is not in a situation any different than the one it was in before. When have the power programs with all the money not gotten the picks of the recruiting litter year in and year out?
Plus, if there is a perfect oxymoron for the entire NIL overhaul, “Legalized cheating” has to have replaced “clean recruiting” for the appropriate way to describe college football.
That said, at least Kiffin’s oxymoron was more tolerable than Eli Drinkwitz’ moronic hypocrisy. From Paschall’s story in today’s TFP, the second-year Missouri coach said I do question what are the guiding principles for college football and athletics moving forward. I sure hope it’s not about the almighty dollar. I hope it’s bigger than TV deals being college football’s guiding principles, because every action we take moving forward we lose sight of what we love about this game.”
Uh, coach, you left App State after a 12-1 2019 – playing in one of the most beautiful and football-passionate places around – to go to Columbia, Missouri and a place that truly has zero chance to win big in the SEC.
And why did you go? The almighty dollar – Drinkwitz was making $750K at App and is making $4 million per at Mizzou – probably had a lot to do with it, huh?
LIV brings the next wave
So, we know the names already in the LIV. We know the names – like recently crowned champion golfer of the year Cam Smith and European Ryder Cup captain Henrik Stenson, among others – who have been rumored to be among the next crew the LIV-in’ large backers of this Saudi-based golf league is looking to add. Also, names like Adam Scott and Bubba Watson are starting to be whispered for the first time too.
Now comes a couple of side names and a bit of clarity, at least for me.
First, for the matter of clarity. While the PGA had better realize that until the Saudi prince gets bored and decides to spend his billions on something else, this is a) not going away and b) serious.
And it may be the most serious to the Champions Tour, which is something that I had not considered until now. All of these dudes in their late 30s and 40s – and in Phil’s case and Stenson’s, their 50s – would have been the next round of big names on the Champions Tour.
Not any longer.
As for the side names, they bring a bit of clarity too, at least in terms of the LIV folks realizing that no matter the field and no matter the prize money, they need a TV deal. Plain and simple.
So they went and landed the best on-course analyst in golf, as David Feherty is LIV-bound according to multiple media reports. The other name I saw that will listen to the LIV pitch is none other than Charles Barkley, who told the New York Post he will meet with the LIV folks.
Of course early on in the LIV discussions, Chuck famously said for $200 million he’d kill a relative – and I concur, as long as a) I get to choose the relative and b) I am assured of getting away with it – so I guess the LIV crew knows Chuck’s number, huh?