Quote from: Next1_04 on Today at 10:30:09 amThey are in absolute meltdown mode over there right now

What can we do to help?

Quote from: jlhogfan on Today at 10:27:20 amThats all great and very well said, but the "emotional investment" was for the Hogs, at least in my experience and most of my fellow fans that I know.  Whether a young man was there 2-3-4-5 years it made no difference.  My support for the Hogs never changed. 

That's my point in this particular conversation. I am a Hog fan. If a player is wearing the uniform for 1 season or 6, I'm still a Hog fan.

I love watching college football. When I sit down to watch a game not involving the Hogs, I'm just looking for entertainment. I don't care where the players played last year or will be next year. I want to be entertained for 3-4 hrs.

I loved Muss, especially at first.  Facts are he had two really good years (finishing #10 and #17 in the polls), and 2 really bad years (these past 2 seasons).  The Anthony Black team super disappointed, and this year was just a train wreck.  Seemed like time to move on unless he really wanted to be here, which he didn't.  Was hoping he'd call Fayetteville home and run a top 20 program year after year, but that's not what he wanted.  The SEC is damn tough right now, and he got exposed these past 2 years. 

Quote from: ucahogfan on Today at 09:05:03 amHe has an OPS of 0.961 in SEC play which leads the regulars as he has gotten more comfortable at the plate.  Holt's OPS is higher, but in a limited sample.  And I think he only has a single error since Arlington which was very iffy scoring as it was a slow roller that didn't hit the dirt and McLaughlin didn't catch it.  But sure, his bat sucks.

Baseball is about avgs/numerics. Chasing a hot bat is difficult & disruptive. With that said, it might be time to find a home for holt, but not at the expense of S-L.

The final solution:

Stop requiring athletes to go to school, make college football and basketball minor league feeder systems, the athletes that DO want an education to go to school for free (which would be a large majority), require non collage attendees to sign a binding contract.




OR







Nuke it from space. That's the only way.

Quote from: hogsanity on Yesterday at 09:55:11 pmthe same was said of the forward pass, unlimited substitutions, and integration. Yet, the sport is still doing just fine.

There is a massive difference between rules about play on the field and rules that effect how you build your team.

I am super pro NIL. But it's weird to pretend that we aren't in the midst of a seed change. What will come out of this is yet unknown but it will be massively different than what came before.

Quote from: #1 STUNNA on Today at 10:03:11 amlol... now they are mad that Cal is going after players that Kentucky have interest in.... A soft bunch for a blue blood.. lol

They are in absolute meltdown mode over there right now

I saw the one comment where a poster was dogging Kevin Knox, saying he wasn't that good. He was SEC Freshman of the Year and All-SEC First Team. That team won the SEC tournament and made it to the Sweet 16. I'll glady take Karter duplicating what his brother did.

Quote from: Johnnie5 on Yesterday at 11:25:04 pmWhy isn't johnell davis in the OP somewhere. Sounds like we are in on him. Number 1 player in portal

Finally added his name to the OP, I'm moving on from "rumored" to "confirmed" mutual interest ...

8. Johnell Davis (6-4 guard, Florida Atlantic) ... 18.2 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 2.9 apg, 1.4 spg, 48.3% FGs, 41.4% 3FGs, 85.7% FTs ... one season of remaining playing eligibility ... Davis is reportedly down to Arkansas and Kentucky in an NIL bidding war that may include Houston on some level

Quote from: bphi11ips on Today at 10:19:12 amI don't think that was 3k's point at all. hogsanity's long held and often expressed opinion is that many fans' sense of self worth is tied to the success or failure of their favorite team.  He disdains those sort of fans, but in fact, many studies have shown that living vicariously through sports can be healthy.

Rather than trying to analyze myself why fans are more "emotionally invested" in players they have time to know, I looked for articles on the subject and particularly articles written before unrestricted transfers took over college football after Alston.  This one is my favorite:

https://medium.com/dose/the-psychology-of-the-crazy-college-sports-fan-8521c2192f3f

Part of the reason I liked this one is that it's written by a female superfan.  Hannah Poindexter and hoglady might have a lot in common.  In this excerpt, Hannah quotes a male fellow Michigan fan:

"'As long as I can remember, I've gone to the games and have known everything about the team," he told me. "When I was little I would read the programs to memorize the number, height, weight, position and graduation year of every player.'"

She continues:

"Humans have an innate desire to belong to a group. Historically, this was a survival tactic, but today, even though there's no evolutionary need for it, we long for a sense of community more than ever. So it makes sense that Alex hasn't missed a kickoff in 26 years: His identity depends on it."

I was like Alex as a kid.  It was clear to me that both sides of my family placed a high value on the Arkansas Razorbacks.  So did my friends and their families.  Some of my earliest memories of large celebrations are those following big football wins, like the victory over Nebraska in the 1965 Cotton Bowl. 

As discussed in the article, humans are wired to be part of groups.  Maybe what 3k is really saying is that he wants the Razorbacks players he pulls for to be emotionally invested in the group he himself has invested emotionally in his entire life. 

Maybe the real difference between college sports and professional sports until now has been that college fans feel more emotionally invested in college players because they are all part of the same tribe, whereas professional athletes have come and gone based on the draft and then as free agents going to the highest bidder.

Things are more like they are now than they have ever been.  College football will survive, but the emotional investment by fans might be different.  Anyone who has watched an NFL home crowd leave the stadium after a loss knows the emotional investment of the group isn't the same as it is after a college loss.  Maybe it's the vicarious experience of college fans that has this far separated college sports from professional sports.

College fans will learn to watch as players come and go with little regard other than to money and to hopefully playing at the next level.  But the emotional investment in college sports is going to suffer.   

Thats all great and very well said, but the "emotional investment" was for the Hogs, at least in my experience and most of my fellow fans that I know.  Whether a young man was there 2-3-4-5 years it made no difference.  My support for the Hogs never changed.