IlliniHusker Posted November 22, 2007 Share Posted November 22, 2007 A business? I remember as a child listening to NU football on the radio (when we couldn't win 5 games a year). I remember going to the stadium as a cub scout and sitting in the end zone for 50 cents to see NU upset OU in 1959. I remember sitting in the Orange Bowl and losing to Alabama with the National Title on the line (and not being able to afford paying for the parking afterwards). I remember the joy of the first National Championship under Devaney in 1971.... and the national talk of a dynasty after the 2nd title. I remember crying after the 1984 team lost to Miami in the National Title Game. I remember Osborne's first, second and third National Titles and the press finally recognizing him as a "winner". Way too much emotion for a "business". Quote Link to comment
pctopeka Posted November 22, 2007 Share Posted November 22, 2007 A business? I remember as a child listening to NU football on the radio (when we couldn't win 5 games a year). I remember going to the stadium as a cub scout and sitting in the end zone for 50 cents to see NU upset OU in 1959. I remember sitting in the Orange Bowl and losing to Alabama with the National Title on the line (and not being able to afford paying for the parking afterwards). I remember the joy of the first National Championship under Devaney in 1971.... and the national talk of a dynasty after the 2nd title. I remember crying after the 1984 team lost to Miami in the National Title Game. I remember Osborne's first, second and third National Titles and the press finally recognizing him as a "winner". Way too much emotion for a "business". The athletic department and its director can afford to treat football as a business, and SHOULD. The football coach and players, however, have to treat it as a game that they love to play, not as employment. There is a place for coaches and players that want to think of football as a business: the NFL. Quote Link to comment
Glendower Posted November 23, 2007 Share Posted November 23, 2007 A business? I remember as a child listening to NU football on the radio (when we couldn't win 5 games a year). I remember going to the stadium as a cub scout and sitting in the end zone for 50 cents to see NU upset OU in 1959. I remember sitting in the Orange Bowl and losing to Alabama with the National Title on the line (and not being able to afford paying for the parking afterwards). I remember the joy of the first National Championship under Devaney in 1971.... and the national talk of a dynasty after the 2nd title. I remember crying after the 1984 team lost to Miami in the National Title Game. I remember Osborne's first, second and third National Titles and the press finally recognizing him as a "winner". Way too much emotion for a "business". Have you ever cried/been happy at the end of a movie? Were you ever excited about going to Disneyland/world as a kid? I think that it's fairly cynical when athletic programs openly refer to the game, team, and everything surrounding the program as a "product," but it's a reality that is there. Would you rather have them pretend that it's not a business so you can maintain your innocence or be honest about their motives? Of course it clashes when they talk about returning to the tradition because that is going to subsume Husker Tradition™ into the horrible, marketed product. Things can evoke emotions and still be a product (Movies, theme parks, music, almost everything you experience in a day is part of someone's "product," sadly) and it's probably more of an insult when people try to make us believe that what we're seeing is still an organic, emergent event, not something contrived to tug on our emotions and apatites to get some of our money. Sure, there was a time when football was just a bunch of guys from a university playing a game against other similarly organized students (look back at the 1890s when Nebraska played high schools or played 2 games in a year), but that's not what it is anymore and can't be again Quote Link to comment
T_O_Bull Posted November 23, 2007 Author Share Posted November 23, 2007 A business? I remember as a child listening to NU football on the radio (when we couldn't win 5 games a year). I remember going to the stadium as a cub scout and sitting in the end zone for 50 cents to see NU upset OU in 1959. I remember sitting in the Orange Bowl and losing to Alabama with the National Title on the line (and not being able to afford paying for the parking afterwards). I remember the joy of the first National Championship under Devaney in 1971.... and the national talk of a dynasty after the 2nd title. I remember crying after the 1984 team lost to Miami in the National Title Game. I remember Osborne's first, second and third National Titles and the press finally recognizing him as a "winner". Way too much emotion for a "business". You get it. Quote Link to comment
T_O_Bull Posted November 23, 2007 Author Share Posted November 23, 2007 At its roots, it is a sport, a game, not a business. As it is played on the field, it is a game, and not a business. ... But, it is football, the greatest of all sports. It is a game, THE game in my opinion. To those of you who don't understand that, well, I feel sorry for you. well, be sure to tell the University, this is not a business. tell them bowl proceeds and payouts do not help pay salaries and support other sports at the University, as a business. the last time i checked the University WAS NOT a charitable organization. we as fans are passionate about our team, but football and revenue is part of the "business" of paying bills and funding the University, which like it or not, is run and managed as a BUSINESS. You are one of the those I feel sorry for. you don't get it suze. The one who doesn't get it is the one who doesn't have a clue as to why we have played so many uninspired gamse this year. Sorry Hunter, Its not Suze. ...T_O_B Quote Link to comment
T_O_Bull Posted November 23, 2007 Author Share Posted November 23, 2007 With all respect, I think I've put it in the proper perspective: http://www.jim-rose.com/2007/11/callahans-...eam-speaks.html So DEAD ON RIGHT its scarry. Quote Link to comment
T_O_Bull Posted November 23, 2007 Author Share Posted November 23, 2007 With all respect, I think I've put it in the proper perspective: http://www.jim-rose.com/2007/11/callahans-...eam-speaks.html Rose is right. again, to us fans it is much more about tradition, the walk on program, home town kids and kids that bleed to play for this program....i agree, i understand it and love it. at the same time, like it or not the college sport of football has become hugely competitive, from recruiting to huge salaries paid to ex NFL coaches, thus this has become a big business, like it or not, that is exactly what it has become. to think otherwise is to live in a fantasy world. to stay competitive and move the program forward it has to stay profitable (generate revenue from TV coverage, bowl appearances, etc.) as does every business. the boosters alone cannot keep this business afloat, it is NOT a charitable organization. to compete with the ND and USC of the college football world we better damn sure treat the sport of college football as a business and support it as such. And just when over the course of the last 40 years have the people of Nebraska and Husker Nation as a whole not supported this program? Want proof? When was the last time you walked up to a window and purchased a ticket for a regular season football game in Memorial Stadium. Tunnel vision, take off the blinders Hunter. ...T_O_B Quote Link to comment
T_O_Bull Posted November 23, 2007 Author Share Posted November 23, 2007 Hunter, I feel like I jumped on you a little too hard. Nothing personal man. ...T_O_B Quote Link to comment
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