Bobref

OK, Mr. Buzzkill, no mere mortal could have made that 4th & 8 play.

Not exactly. More accurate to say they started late on getting accepted offers in the portal … if you get my meaning. 😉

Did anyone else see Caleb Williams grab that game by the throat and shake it like a terrier with a rat?

All that counts is the Bears are preparing for the Rams, and the Packers are lining up golf tee times.

Bears fans, rejoice! Sorry, @Irishman.

I know the Colts fans love Tyler Warren, and there were a lot of Bears fans who thought the Bears should have taken him instead of Colston Loveland. How does that draft pick look now? 8 catches for 137 yds. and a crucial 2 pt. try in his first playoff game. No rookie has ever done that before. Bears have the TE position locked down for the next several seasons.

This was definitely the case in the past. But I’m not so sure it is any longer … or at least, to a lesser extent. Practically speaking, ND is not joining either the Big 12 or the ACC. It’s going to be one of the 2 big money conferences if it happens. i do agree, however, that the college football landscape is changing, and will continue to change over the next several years. Maybe they’re smart to wait and see how it all shakes out.

Or, possibly, the other way around?

You think Notre Dame is at a crossroads now?

Michiana Sports is reporting that Jeff Kaiser has stepped down at LaVille.

File this under “The Law of Unintended Consequences Strikes Again.” How long do you think it will be before the stupid money NIL is paying some of these college kids (and believe me, it is going to get even stupider), has an effect on the NFL’s rookie contract pay scale? The NFL is now effectively in a bidding war for elite college talent. Only they are bidding against people who have no real limit on what they can offer.

100%

@Irishman has predicted that, on the horizon, private equity firms will move in, and teams will have only loose affiliation with a University. In other words, the end of education based athletics at the FBS level.

The only reason hockey is in the B1G is that ACC schools do not compete in hockey. I purposefully left the “other sports” issue out of my analysis. There are other issues as well, as this would be a really complex decision for the University. There’s no hope of covering them all here. Way too many moving parts that we know next to nothing about. So, I stuck with football.

People have been predicting that for years. I wonder why it hasn’t happened yet.

The college football world is finding out what the pros discovered long ago. If you’re going to pay players, you need a salary structure, or at least an overall cap, or the thing just descends into chaos. I remember back before the NCAA limited teams to 85 scholarships, teams like Alabama would just stockpile players to keep them off competitors’ rosters. The limit on scholarships was intended to promote parity. They will have to do the same with NIL.

The IFCA meeting in the Spring would be the place to start.

The funny thing is, most of the people with the power to change that feel the same way. The IHSAA is a member institution. If the IFCA feels that strongly about it, go to the IHSAA’s Executive Committee and have them lean on the Commissioner. He works for them, after all. That no one has done that tells me it’s not really a big concern for most coaches.

This is an important point. But I believe ND overestimates the leverage it has. I also believe they will have less leverage, not more, going forward.

Thanks for that valuable contribution to the dialogue.

Here’s one that hits close to home: There have only been 2 athletes in history who have played in both a World Series and the Final Four: Tim Stoddard and Kenny Lofton. Both are from East Chicago Washington High School. And here’s another. To my knowledge, there is only one person who both played against Tim Stoddard and umpired a game Kenny Lofton played in: Me!

There are studies which suggest properly fitted mouthguards reduce the incidence and/or severity of concussions, in addition to protecting teeth and jaws. Facemask sand visors have gotten pretty good at that.

What’s that in skunk years?

I see former Bears coach Matt Eberflus is out after one season as Cowboys’ DC. Worst defense in the League this season.

Hang on. Fighting Irish Lacrosse season starts in about 5 weeks.