Tag Archives: Curt Cignetti

Posted in Sports

Lack of Gridiron in the Diet

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by Bob Sparrow

I’m trying to make the transition . . . wait, NO I’m not ‘transitioning’, I’m simply trying to transition from watching football 4-5 days a week to watching football zero days a week FOR THE NEXT SEVEN MONTHS!!!. This is not going to be easy! I thought the college football season ended in Cinderella-like fashion with the Curt Cignetti-led Indiana Hoosiers winning their first ever National Championship behind Heisman Trophy winning quarterback, Fernando Mendosa. Great stuff!!

I’m writing this before the Super Bowl, so I’ll have no highlights of the game (hopefully there will be highlights), the commercials (they could be more entertaining than the game) or the half-time performance (which has already caused some controversy). I will write the end of the blog after the game – I’m sure I’ll have a pithy comment or two.

Jordon Hundson and Bill Belichick

For me the Super Bowl is less Cinderella and more Ursula, the half-woman, half-octopus, from The Little Mermaid. I know, I’m bummed because the 49ers didn’t make it, nor did any of the other California teams, the Ram or the Chargers. I realize there was a West Coast team in the Super Bowl, and there was a West Coast player in quarterback, Sam Darnold, who is a San Clemente, Orange County guy; but my Pete Carroll hangover, and the fact that the Seahawks kicked the 49ers out of the playoffs this year, made it hard for me to root for them. But I’m not particularly a New England fan either. Haven’t we all been exposed to enough Patriot history this past year with 74-year-old, ex-coach, Bill Belichick canoodling with his 24-year-old girlfriend, plus having to listen to Tom Brady’s pedantic color-commentating? I digress. I do like Patriot quarterback Drake Maye and if the Patriots won, Mike Vrabel is the only person to win the Super Bowl as a player, an assistant coach and a head coach – but you probably heard all that if you watched the game.

The Super Bowl doesn’t just mark the end of football season, Super Bowl parties officially mark the end of my New Year’s Resolutions – way too much eating, drinking and weight gaining! As they say in sports . . . ‘Wait ’til next year’!

My usual remedy for ‘Lackofgridiron’ in my diet or Couch Potato Syndrome, is trying to pretend that PGA golf is just as exciting . . . it isn’t! But this year we have a one-step program to help bridge the gap between football and . . . next year’s football – the Winter Olympics.  This year’s Olympics are coming to us from Milan and picturesque Cortina d’Ampezzo, which is often called the ‘Queen of the Dolomites’ – part of the northern Italian Alps. Beautiful! So, forget about ‘Off Sides’, ‘Safety Blitz’ and ‘Roughing the Passer’ and start thinking of Double Axles, Moguls and “Gosh it looks cold over there.”

Much as we try to get away from politics, and one would think that the Olympics should be a good place to do that, this year we find that Russia is banned from competing due to their invasion of Ukraine. However, Russian athletes, who voice to the Olympic Committee that they do not support the war, can compete as ‘Individual Neutral Athletes’ – no Russian flag ceremony if they win, but back home they will face Russian roulette if they lose.

Post Super Bowl notes:

The Game: I can’t really comment on the game, it was so boring in the first half I fell asleep. The Commercials: For a cost of between $8 – $10 million dollars for 30 seconds, I was expecting more – pretty blah. The Prop bets: I had a tip that the Gatorade was going to be purple, so I bet it big . . . it was green. The Half Time Show: My Spanish is a little weak, so I’m still trying to translate Bad Bunny’s song. Nah, I was still sleeping.

Posted in opinion • Sports

What Happened to College Football?

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by Bob Sparrow

2025 College Football Playoff Bracket

I can appreciate the fact that college-age kids must like what’s currently going on in college football. Recent changes have provided them with more choices as to where to play and, best of all, financial reward for playing. Let’s look at what’s happened over just the last few years . . .

The Portal – In 2018, the portal debuted as a compliance tool to manage college athletes’ transfers more transparently. The portal allowed student-athletes to change schools after playing at one school, but the athlete would have to sit out for a year before becoming eligible to play. In 2021 that rule changed allowing transfers to play immediately, which opened the flood gates. There are a number of examples of players playing for a different team each year of their college career: Eyabi Okie-Anoma played at five different four-year schools – Alabama, Houston, UT Martin, Michigan and Charlotte. Chandler Morris played at four schools – Oklahoma, TCU, North Texas and Virginia, and Robby Ashford played for Oregon, Auburn, South Carolina and Wake Forest.

Curt Cignetti

I’m concerned that the next step might be to give the player more freedom (and money) and allow them to transfer during the season?

How has the portal affected this year’s college teams? Indiana University, this year’s #1 team, had a 3-9 record in 2023, and then hired Curt Cignetti. In his first year, 2024, they went 11-2 and this year they went 13-0. Don’t get me wrong, Cignetti is a great coach, but he knew he needed better players, so last year alone, Indiana added between 20-23 players to their roster through the portal. One of those players was quarterback and this years’ Heisman Trophy winner, Fernando Mendoza, who played two years at Cal, then was given $2.6 million (more on NIL in a moment) to play for Indiana this year. He still has one year of eligibility left, but he’ll be in the pros next year.

How the portal works today has dramatically changed college football . . . it may be better for a few select individuals, but, in my opinion, not for the game – the rich will get richer.

NIL – In 2019 California passed the first state law allowing athletes to get paid by the colleges for the use of their Name, Image and Likeness, now referred to as NIL. A year later, the state of Florida passed a similar bill. In 2021, in a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court affirmed that the NCAA violated antitrust laws by restricting student-athletes’ compensation for education-related benefits. So, paying a player for his/her NIL became legal, and is now being practiced in every state. Some payments are made all up front, others can be annual installments and still other can be for appearances or wearing certain athletic gear.  

18-Year Old Millionaire, Cooper Flagg

Some of today’s top NIL deals:

  • Cooper Flagg – Duke basketball player, $28 million. He’s 18 years old
  • Arch Manning, Texas quarterback – paid $5.3 million
  • AJ Dybantsa, BYU basketball player – $4-$5 million. He’s 18 years old
  • Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State, wide receiver – $4.2 million
  • Livvy Dunne, LSU, gymnast, $4 million
  • Carson Beck, Miami quarterback – $3.1 million

There are plenty of other young ‘Million Dollar Athletes’ and there are many who are getting a mere $4-$500,000 to play.

Where does all this money come from you ask? It can come from several sources, such as third-party endorsements from apparel companies, social media promotions, appearances, autographs, boosters and businesses – I’m thinking mostly from school boosters/wealthy alumni and local businesses!

Will the ‘Empty Bowl’ turn into the ‘Toilet Bowl’?

The other thing that is happening to college football is the lack of emphasis on bowl games, except for the national championship tournament. The national champion used to be determined by a vote by sports writers and football coaches, so every game was looked at, especially the bowl games where top teams were usually playing against other top teams. This year the national champion will be determined by a 12-team playoff. So a number of teams, who are not in the tournament, have decided not to play in a bowl games. Here’s a few: Notre Dame, Iowa State, Kansas State, Baylor, Auburn, Florida State, UCF, Rutgers, and Temple. Why? Some because it’s not for the national championship, some because their coach has already left for another job, and some because too many players are opting out of the game and/or are looking to go to another school next year.

Even for the teams that are participating in a bowl, many of their 18 – 20-year-olds, who are making millions as a collegiate athlete, are deciding not to participate in a post-season bowl game, unless it’s for a chance to win the national championship. Why? Because the millions they are making as college athletes doesn’t compare to the millions they could make over their lifetime as a professional athlete, so they don’t want to risk an injury in a meaningless bowl game that could jeopardize a lucrative pro career.

The answer to the headline question: It turned pro.