Just because I feel like jerking people's philosophical chain today:

What if an anonymous benefactor showed up one day? He or she offers to endow all the men's and women's non-revenue sports forever, on one condition:

Cal has to discontinue football, because this anonymous angel believes a sport that subjects college students to great risks to their mental and physical health is inimical to the mission of the university.

Would you do it? Why or why not?

I admit I would strongly consider it, for two reasons:

1. The evidence regarding the link between football success and academic fundraising is mixed, as we have discussed in detail here, and it's probably particularly uncertain at Cal, an R1 university that already has 63 Nobel laureates, and numerous examples of major discoveries, Crispr probably being the most recent.

2. I have some guilt about being a football fan, due to the risks it imposes, particularly CTE. I don't watch the NFL at all, except for the Super Bowl. Watching Cal football to me is like looking a hot woman on stilletos--the objective part of my brain knows it's not healthy, but the other part of my brain, among other organs, still wants to do it.

Discuss among yourselves. Feel free to flame me if you want. Like I said, I know this is jerking people's chains. Maybe I'm bored because there's no practice story yet today.

Yes to stiletto heels on women who choose to wear them, and a resounding No to your hypothetical scenario involving the loss of Cal football while the imaginary whale donor endows all other Cal sports.

I want Cal to excel in every endeavor… yes, football too. And as ridiculous as it is that American higher ed has funded intercollegiate revenue sports within the ivory tower, the rah-rah Cal football fever I developed during the Bruce Snyder Era is the reason why I'm back on campus every fall without fail.

Chains jerked, apparently. And yes Kevin, I will go back and watch the pod cast.

This is stupid.

And note - I am not anti-football (at all). I am fairly "meh" to negative on P4 football as currently practiced and pretty strongly believe that properly structured and supported non P4 football would be sustainable, likely more aligned over time with donor development and more compatible with the true commitment Cal is going to make.

For example (and I am more than willing to take the over on this). Cal may get to do ONE big concert that goes to 1 a.m. in CMS to help pay for sports. THen the PHA will sue the **** out of the campus.

1) School all in - either would counter sue and take their houses or go get the legislature and governor to pass an exemption
2) Cal will drag it out and play nice - in part because of the obvious conclusion that it is has far bigger fish to fry.

BTW - not sure it is sitll the case but at least in the 1980s at least one Cal Nobel Laurette lived on PH ;-)

Nice timing.

NYT reporting:

Study's Alarming Finding: At Least 1 in 4 N.F.L. Players Gets Brain Disease

By John Branch
John Branch has reported on C.T.E. in sports for more than 15 years.
Aug. 25, 2026

The actual prevalence, researchers said, may be much higher.

"Since the degenerative brain disease known as C.T.E. was first scientifically linked to football about 20 years ago, and as hundreds of former professional football players have been diagnosed with the disease after their deaths, a haunting question has lingered:
Just how many N.F.L. players will end up with C.T.E.?
New data provides a sobering indication: At least one in four of all the people who have played in the N.F.L. might expect to end up with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, according to a study of hundreds of cases over a recent six-year period."

"At least two of his former offensive linemates, both guards, were diagnosed with C.T.E.: Tom McHale, who died at 45; and John Bruhin, who died at 57. Another teammate, linebacker Keith McCants, had C.T.E. and died at 53."

Yikes! As I'm now 60 1/2, it's CRAZY to read that last paragraph. It's a tragedy to send these amazing athletic young kids & adults through the gauntlet and then expire at such young ages.

NYT report NOT good to read. Especially from the perspective of educating our best & brightest at the number one public university in the world.

I know I've posted CTE issues before and it probably makes me look like a hater and someone who wants to eliminate college football. That isn't my intent. But given what we know and today's technology, you'd think we'd have gotten ahead of this issue. It appears that we haven't.

Sebastabear said:

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As penance for this, I hereby sentence you to re-watch (or maybe watch for the first time) this part of this podcast on "Why having a championship program is important to Cal and why football matters."



Now I'm now off to go post on Cilantro Insider about how I hate cilantro and it should all be replaced with parsley. I'm sure my message will resonate.

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Sebastabear serves the worst Street Tacos in the northern hemisphere.