RedlessWardrobe said:

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Maybe I'm saying this because I'm sour grapes, but at some point the whole NIL/transfer portal scenario will become a joke for ALL fans, yes even fans of the top ranked teams. The terms "college sports" and "student athlete" just don't mean anything anymore. As a Cal fan, if it's obvious that this is how its going to be indefinitely, then there's no real reason to care, and more importantly, no real reason to get upset by it. It's just too freakin' bad, that's all.

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CAL4LIFE said:

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bearister said:

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CAL4LIFE said:

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https://c.tenor.com/93S4h2NrRhkAAAAC/the-color-of-money-tom-cruise.gif

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As a former life long A's and Raiders fan, I am ideally suited psychologically to handle this. My primary bolstering asset is a ton of self loathing.
https://gifdb.com/images/thumbnail/fight-club-the-narrator-punching-himself-vhbfgd25fotnahh2.gif

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BearForceOne said:

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RedlessWardrobe said:

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Maybe I'm saying this because I'm sour grapes, but at some point the whole NIL/transfer portal scenario will become a joke for ALL fans, yes even fans of the top ranked teams. The terms "college sports" and "student athlete" just don't mean anything anymore. As a Cal fan, if it's obvious that this is how its going to be indefinitely, then there's no real reason to care, and more importantly, no real reason to get upset by it. It's just too freakin' bad, that's all.

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This is probably a common sentiment among fans of most programs, albeit to varying degrees. My guess is that so many fans will be turned off by this system, that no one will care about or invest (financially, emotionally, or otherwise) in their teams anymore. The media giants will have created a big vacuum of their own doing and realize that this system is not good for anyone and is not sustainable…

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Bobodeluxe said:

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RedlessWardrobe said:

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Maybe I'm saying this because I'm sour grapes, but at some point the whole NIL/transfer portal scenario will become a joke for ALL fans, yes even fans of the top ranked teams. The terms "college sports" and "student athlete" just don't mean anything anymore. As a Cal fan, if it's obvious that this is how its going to be indefinitely, then there's no real reason to care, and more importantly, no real reason to get upset by it. It's just too freakin' bad, that's all.

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"Will become a joke"? Late to the party.

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stu said:

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CAL4LIFE said:

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Bad leadership flows down hill into every facet of an organization. Cal isn't committed to winning at the highest level while other Universities are. It's really that simple.

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Then let's commit to winning at a lower level where money isn't the only attraction.

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bearister said:

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RedlessWardrobe said:

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Bobodeluxe said:

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RedlessWardrobe said:

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Maybe I'm saying this because I'm sour grapes, but at some point the whole NIL/transfer portal scenario will become a joke for ALL fans, yes even fans of the top ranked teams. The terms "college sports" and "student athlete" just don't mean anything anymore. As a Cal fan, if it's obvious that this is how its going to be indefinitely, then there's no real reason to care, and more importantly, no real reason to get upset by it. It's just too freakin' bad, that's all.

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"Will become a joke"? Late to the party.

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I know we're all in a critical mood, but when I said "will become a joke" my emphasis was on WILL become a joke for ALL FANS. My point was that at some point even the Alabama's in football and the Duke's in basketball will end up being tired of it.

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"All 14 players from Baylor's 2024-25 men's basketball roster are now gone. Four graduated, one is turning pro and nine hit the transfer portal. If this can happen to a top-tier program that won a national championship four years ago, it can happen to anyone. The new normal."
YahooSportsAM

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stu said:

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oskidunker said:

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stu said:

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CAL4LIFE said:

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Bad leadership flows down hill into every facet of an organization. Cal isn't committed to winning at the highest level while other Universities are. It's really that simple.

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Then let's commit to winning at a lower level where money isn't the only attraction.

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We wouldn't win at a lower level because we would get worse players.

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If we compete at a lower (dollar) level we'll get worse players but with Cal's non-monetary advantages (academics, location, prestige, etc) we should be able to compete for players with other schools at the same level.

We can't compete at a high dollar level because we don't have high level dollars.

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stu said:

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oskidunker said:

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stu said:

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CAL4LIFE said:

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Bad leadership flows down hill into every facet of an organization. Cal isn't committed to winning at the highest level while other Universities are. It's really that simple.

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Then let's commit to winning at a lower level where money isn't the only attraction.

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We wouldn't win at a lower level because we would get worse players.

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If we compete at a lower (dollar) level we'll get worse players but with Cal's non-monetary advantages (academics, location, prestige, etc) we should be able to compete for players with other schools at the same level.

We can't compete at a high dollar level because we don't have high level dollars.

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BearSD said:

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stu said:

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oskidunker said:

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stu said:

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CAL4LIFE said:

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Bad leadership flows down hill into every facet of an organization. Cal isn't committed to winning at the highest level while other Universities are. It's really that simple.

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Then let's commit to winning at a lower level where money isn't the only attraction.

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We wouldn't win at a lower level because we would get worse players.

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If we compete at a lower (dollar) level we'll get worse players but with Cal's non-monetary advantages (academics, location, prestige, etc) we should be able to compete for players with other schools at the same level.

We can't compete at a high dollar level because we don't have high level dollars.

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Sometimes I think our fans don't realize how many booster dollars it takes to have "high level dollars". As an example, here's an article about superwealthy Duke alums who created a fund solely for paying NIL to Duke men's basketball players.

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bearsandgiants said:

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BearSD said:

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stu said:

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oskidunker said:

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stu said:

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CAL4LIFE said:

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Bad leadership flows down hill into every facet of an organization. Cal isn't committed to winning at the highest level while other Universities are. It's really that simple.

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Then let's commit to winning at a lower level where money isn't the only attraction.

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We wouldn't win at a lower level because we would get worse players.

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If we compete at a lower (dollar) level we'll get worse players but with Cal's non-monetary advantages (academics, location, prestige, etc) we should be able to compete for players with other schools at the same level.

We can't compete at a high dollar level because we don't have high level dollars.

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Sometimes I think our fans don't realize how many booster dollars it takes to have "high level dollars". As an example, here's an article about superwealthy Duke alums who created a fund solely for paying NIL to Duke men's basketball players.

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All of this starts with cultivating a FAN (fanatic) base, which was abandoned in the early 90s at Cal. We are a full generation away from this kind of funding, if, and ONLY if, our chancellor commits to it. So far, he hasn't done much of anything toward it.

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BearSD said:

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Addicted-to-TopDog said:

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I always figured this was going to happen. The man is a mercenary. Look how we got him in the first place. My only surprise is that it took this long. All of that butt-kissing Madsen did all season amounted to nothing.

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There's another truism that has to be heeded given the portal, and I think it applies in basketball even more strongly than in other sports: Good players want to play with other good players.

If you have a player on your team who is good enough to be wanted by other teams, you better fortify your roster with other good players. If he looks around and doesn't see teammates who are on his level, he's probably going to go someplace where he does.

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socaltownie said:

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stu said:

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oskidunker said:

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stu said:

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CAL4LIFE said:

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Bad leadership flows down hill into every facet of an organization. Cal isn't committed to winning at the highest level while other Universities are. It's really that simple.

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Then let's commit to winning at a lower level where money isn't the only attraction.

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We wouldn't win at a lower level because we would get worse players.

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If we compete at a lower (dollar) level we'll get worse players but with Cal's non-monetary advantages (academics, location, prestige, etc) we should be able to compete for players with other schools at the same level.

We can't compete at a high dollar level because we don't have high level dollars.

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This is what i believe. Cal vs. Uc Irvine vs. Ucsd feels like a battlemm where cal starts at an advantage (and i.support the other campuses a bunch)

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