Time For The Huskers To Go Pro

[Bledred]

5 minutes ago, Bledred said:

Memorial Stadium/the ground it sits on and all that jazz is owned by the University of Nebraska.  Not sure how you 'go pro' with a college athletics team and facilities.  We could start our own conference with the HQ in Kansas City.  That I could get behind. Lets say this BS continues on to next year and they cancel 2021 as well.  And in the mean time we start playing teams in the local area and start to build relationships with them.  I could fantasize about us bolting from the B1G (and eternally losing to OSU) and putting together a NEW Great Plains Conference (HQ in Kansas City) which would have the following members:

 

Iowa

Iowa State

Kansas

Kansas State

Oklahoma

Oklahoma State

Tulsa

Wyoming

Colorado

Colorado State

Air Force

 

This is a dream conference for Nebraska fans.  Travel is super easy.  Traditions easy to establish with long histories already in play.  Would eventually get our own Great Plains network going.  No more East Coast bias.  Would be the dream.  

 

 

What the Geographical Footprint of the Great Plains Conference would look like (can add Dakota teams once their schools get a little bigger):

[DefenderAO]

What win, other than OU, drives any national recognition?  This line-up would be a travesty for recruiting and national prominence.

[Bledred]

16 minutes ago, DefenderAO said:

What win, other than O?U, drives any national recognition?  This line-up would be a travesty for recruiting and national prominence.

Same can be said for the B1G.  OSU is the only team in our current conference who has a yearly shot at a National Title.  A case can be made for Wisconsin, Penn State, and Michigan...but lets be honest here...they are all slightly above mediocre.  Put any of those three teams against the likes of Alabama and Clemson and other heavy weights and they would get slaughtered.  They would fair no better than Oklahoma State, Iowa, and Kansas State. 

[knapplc]

7 hours ago, Bledred said:

Same can be said for the B1G.  OSU is the only team in our current conference who has a yearly shot at a National Title.  A case can be made for Wisconsin, Penn State, and Michigan...but lets be honest here...they are all slightly above mediocre.  Put any of those three teams against the likes of Alabama and Clemson and other heavy weights and they would get slaughtered.  They would fair no better than Oklahoma State, Iowa, and Kansas State. 

 

Wisconsin & Penn State have been top-ten teams the better part of the past decade. 

 

And you want to replace them with... Tulsa? C'mon, man! 

[Stumpy1]

The way things have gone for NU the last few years,  Tulsa would be a toss up game.  

 

 

[bugeater17]

10 hours ago, Bledred said:

Memorial Stadium/the ground it sits on and all that jazz is owned by the University of Nebraska.  Not sure how you 'go pro' with a college athletics team and facilities.  We could start our own conference with the HQ in Kansas City.  That I could get behind. Lets say this BS continues on to next year and they cancel 2021 as well.  And in the mean time we start playing teams in the local area and start to build relationships with them.  I could fantasize about us bolting from the B1G (and eternally losing to OSU) and putting together a NEW Great Plains Conference (HQ in Kansas City) which would have the following members:

 

Iowa

Iowa State

Kansas

Kansas State

Oklahoma

Oklahoma State

Tulsa

Wyoming

Colorado

Colorado State

Air Force

 

This is a dream conference for Nebraska fans.  Travel is super easy.  Traditions easy to establish with long histories already in play.  Would eventually get our own Great Plains network going.  No more East Coast bias.  Would be the dream.  

 

 

 

So basically join the Mountain West with Oklahoma and OK lite?  NO thanks.

[Hilltop]

11 hours ago, DefenderAO said:

What win, other than OU, drives any national recognition?  This line-up would be a travesty for recruiting and national prominence.

Clemson seems to beat a bunch of mediocre teams yearly and still gets it done.  I'm not in favor of that proposed conference but I don't think Nebraska would suffer as long as we were beating everyone we should on a yearly basis.

[TGHusker]

19 hours ago, Ulty said:

Landlord gets banned,

Now what did he do?

[TGHusker]

12 hours ago, Bledred said:

What the Geographical Footprint of the Great Plains Conference would look like (can add Dakota teams once their schools get a little bigger):

You for got Missouri - might as well include them in your Big 8 + a few more crush

 

Big 10 has the presitege and academic reputation that benefits Nebraska.   If we end up wt a super conference, we may end up with many of those same teams you mentioned in our half of the conference.   

 

West Div

NU

Wisc

Iowa

Min

ISU

KU

OU

KSU, Ok State, Missouri 

[The Dude]

I wouldn't do anything drastic but I wish we would just schedule a short, easy season against relatively close schools like Wyoming, Colorado, SDSU, KState, ect.  I would take a 6 game season with no fans.  Then play again in the spring if that's what the Big Ten is doing.

[Roundball Shaman]

The Pathway To Becoming Husker Pros

 

1. Husker Footballers and Roundballers (and any others who wish to join) form a legal Union in some form.

 

2. Big Fourteen delaying or cancelling seasons creates a “breach of contract” between the “student athletes” (aka quasi-professionals) and the Big 10/NCAA.

 

3. In response to Big 10's “breach”, Husker unionized players form a professional association to bargain with the University and the League/NCAA (and other media partners).

 

4. Husker administrators side with the Huskers Players Union and seeks to sever its relationship with Big 10 and all existing media contracts due to “contract breaches”.

 

5. Huskers become college-level professionals and are free to seek new league associations or independent status to create new schedules every season (with any other university programs in any leagues).

 

Note: This does not constitute legal advice or guidance but is put forth in a creative and speculative way to create useful program options. 

[Roundball Shaman]

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/as-college-football-tries-to-play-through-a-pandemic-drastic-changes-await-in-the-sports-future/

 

From CBS Sports:

 

Professionalization of college athletes on the way

 

College football and basketball will almost certainly will be more professionalized in the future. That doesn't mean the game will necessarily be distasteful. Fans will still pack stadiums even when the next Trevor Lawrence is making $1 million from his name, image and likeness -- from his social media accounts alone. 
...
It's clear that players will have a seat at the table making key decisions on their education, welfare and compensation. But coaches and administrators will have to adjust, getting used to sitting across the table from marketing agents.

 

The #WeAreUnited movement had an immediate impact with a threatened boycott. The NCAA already adopted two of their demands, though it seemed to be headed that way beforehand.

 

A players' "bill of rights" being developed in Washington, D.C. would dramatically expand name, image and likeness opportunities. Such a bill would essentially remove all restrictions, allowing athletes to become just like their peers on campus -- able to earn unlimited compensation for their fame and intelligence. Those federal legislators are not-so-quietly aligning themselves against the NCAA.

 

NCAA president Mark Emmert and his organization have asked Congress for antitrust protection to implement NIL. Some of those legislators have blown past that concept. They are questioning the NCAA's ability to put any restrictions on athletes earning power.

 

"It is long past time that the NCAA should have acted on these issues," Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) told ESPN. "I'm looking for legislation to obligate the universities to have rules that protect athletes."
 

[Roundball Shaman]

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/eight-nebraska-football-players-file-lawsuit-against-the-big-ten-seeking-to-reverse-canceled-season/

 

“Eight Nebraska football players have filed a lawsuit against the Big Ten. By doing so, the players hope to force the conference to reverse its previous decision to postpone its football season until 2021.”
...
In all, the suit raises three counts against the conference: 

 

Wrongful interference with business expectations -- that the season represents an opportunity for players to work towards a career in football and develop brands for name/image/likeness use later. 

 

Breach of contract by not holding an actual vote within its Council of Presidents and Chancellors.

 

Declaratory judgment by either not actually voting on the decision or being unable to produce evidence of a vote.”

 

My Comments/Questions:

 

Where is the contract between the players and the University or the Conference that establishes exactly what their relationship is? Why aren't the players to be considered employees? Independent contractors? “Student athletes”?! “Athletes who attend classes?” Al this fuzziness that has gone on for decades about this is slowly coming to an end.

 

Is anyone denying the players the right to pursue an education? Is the University a place of higher learning or is the football program and others like it not a farm team for the National Football League?

 

Bottom line... become professionals. There’s no shame in that. You trade a skill for direct compensation. Billions of people do this every day. End the masquerade and the pretending and the slight of hand and put an end to this fuzzy relationship tilted in favor of those who make billions of dollars off the "unpaid" efforts of young men. Stadiums are filled around the country on a normal Saturday not to see Conference officials or University representatives. They buy tickets and pay good money to see... the PLAYERS. They have thr skill and the talent. What they lack is the legal protections they need.

 

Treat the players like the professionals that they already are in all but name recognition. Let the players form a Union and become professionals and let’s move on with an honest foundation and stop the pretending.

 

Honestly, how many people in the State of Nebraska would stop being Husker fans if the players were considered professionals? A few might, but true Husker fans root for the State and legacy of the University and all the great Husker memories and those yet to come and just because the legal status of the players would change should not affect any of that.
 

[runningblind]

I started reading the last 3 posts...... then I made it all the way through.

[Xmas32]

I have to say, I'm not very impressed by Huskerboard's new AI poster bot roll out.  Needs a lot of fine tuning.