Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for December 08, 2024

The NCAA has gotten so weird.

Does BD part his hair on both sides?? No wonder he wore that stupid helmet for so many years, LOL!

Maybe time to call it what it is—the P-league. P for pre.

It wasn’t like Walden actually had all that many “students” to begin with.

The biggest elephant in the largest parlor.

Mike has retired, but it appears that BD is still pulling in a paycheck.

Speading the disease. Queensryche.

N ow I t’s L egal

Any more uncomfortable questions and Billy enters the transfer portal.

Back in the 80s my dad used to say, “Just call them the minor league players they are and drop the ‘student’ facade.”

Rumor around here has it a university paid another $500K to have a half-back transfer to their school.

$1 million in NIL $ is not uncommon. The top earner is Shedeur Sanders of Colorado-$6 million.

State college says it has to drop courses due to lack of money. At the same time re-signed coach for $35 MILLION contract. The whole thing is a joke. Go to a trade school and learn something to make money at instead of paying off a loan for the rest of your life.

The sports tail has actually been wagging the university dog for decades, with conference jumping long before NIL. In most states the highest paid “public servant” is the state university football coach.

meh, move it along sonny. i’m just here for the funnies :p

Big news ! “Money makes the world go round…”

(suggestion for making any future cartoon similar to this one: remember thy audience (including any living being who would never use vulgar (or profane) language))

Actually, this kid would be well advised to save his money. He may have a career-ending injury at any time.

Here in RI, the highest paid state employee is the URI basketball coach. Your tax dollars at work.

The characters and scenario of this strip nearly fails as parody because it’s a hair’s breadth away from the truth.

It’s good that we’re finally no longer pretending that sports is about anything except money and tribalism. Now if we’d only dispense with rules against doping and let the team with the best steroids win.

This tracks…

That’s right. especially when you can now bet money on “Student” sports. @@

NIL money sure has changed the landscape of college sports. I guess namely basketball and football. But, can you blame the player? The coaches and universities were making a mint while the athlete just got paid full ride scholarships (or partial in many cases). Granted a degree was supposed to be the end result, but with pressure to perform on the field many athlete had minimal time for sufficient studying and many athletes didn’t want to get a degree.

millions in “gifts” to athletic programs, while professors are permitted to require you use their textbooks costing thousands of dollars each semester. and half (or more) of adults are functionally illiterate and can’t do basic math.

the age of the anti-science/anti-intellectual returns. if we can get through the next 4 years, at least we’ll never have to worry about him being president again.

NIL is out of control

Colleges have no reason to be involved in this business.

College sport is why students have to mortgage their future to pay for their education.

The athletic tail is wagging the academic dog.

The pandering to student athletes extends even to military academies. There are some brilliant student-athletes but it’s tough on the rest of us watching them coast through on basically P.E.

A college football player leaves school with no degree, but he does own a mansion, a hundred-thousand-dollar watch and a Ferreri. Oh! can’t forget the 2 baby mommas. The entire NCAA system stinks.

Could be an improvement. I used to help teach “Rocks for Jocks”. Some of the students were fine, including some of the actual Jocks, but there were some who were a waste of everyone elses time.

Same as it ever was.

Enough minutes of what?

You can lose your money, and eventually, everyone loses their bodies, but brains never wear out unless you let them. Knowledge is the best investment.

The student charade has gone on long enough. When the Marx Brothers and the Three Stooges (Howard Brothers and Fine) made movies about college football it was a long standing joke.

Can’t be a student if your grade average is D minus and you’re only there to bulk up the football team.

A more honest assessment of modern collegiate athletics. They no longer need to pay under the table for top talent.

Call a spade a spade.

Lawrence Phillips and Art Schlicter

Sports on TV was a lot more fun when every commercial break and lull in play wasn’t a shill for online betting sites.

Next….a gig at FOX Sports.