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Posted

Many years ago, I wrote a ten part series for Barking Carnival about the history of cheating in recruiting. The premise was that recruits differentiate among offers based on perceived value. In a world where there are no illegal inducements, a scholarship to the University of Texas, to play football, has greater value than the same from any of our regional (and most of our national) peers. Bags are needed to overcome that, and it’s no coincidence that so many of our rivals were dirty as hell. Around 1982, Texas had to decide if it was going to compete in recruiting (requiring bags) and the Tower decided, “No, we aren’t doing that”, and we had those miserable years result. I think the subsequent period of NCAA prnalizationnof OU and the SWC, along with realignment, controlled the bag game for a while and Texas ascended again. 
 
In 2020, with NIL and the portal, Texas had to make a decision again- compete or basically relegate ourselves. This time, the Tower decided to compete, and that is the world we live in. 
 
I enjoy the recruiting success. I don’t enjoy calling for our most successful boosters to fund recruiting out of their personal largesse- that makes me feel small as a fan. I absolutely am thankful for their contributions and wish they could have more recognition for it. 
 
Immamac has alluded to a future where about $15M (from “the House Settlement”) would be allocated to football (the same as other P4 schools), and that would be the baseline pay. Stars would get more pay from corporate (“real”) NIL, and the idea is that the Austin economy is vibrant enough that Texas will still be super-competitive in pay for play. I hope that works well. 

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Posted
6 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

Just so we’re clear, if nowhere else, on this board, at least.

Texas wasn’t ready for shit in 2020. They weren’t ready on July 1, 2021, either. They didn’t support what NIL has become. They were fucking scared of it. What they weren’t scared of, they were oblivious to or dismissive of in all forms. 

So was the rest of the CFB landscape outside of Oregon and, well, a small group of us here and Bobby Burton. 

Small details may not seem important to you and this may seem like a quibble, but to me it is not. We put sweat into creating IP, aligning various skill sets and personalities, and then helping give it all away for the notion of a greater good for Texas and no longer seeing the UT AD be the disconnected, pious, pompous and trodden-upon snob it had become. We didn’t just create IP that was adopted ultimately across all of CFB, we took risk in bringing it to the forefront and then forcing the powers that be at Texas to see it and embrace it. 

And as to the notion that we’ll ever go back to just letting Bama and others make a mockery of the rules and get over on our fanbase? Not happening. Texas is not only now self-aware, it is assertive. Should that ever falter, we’ll call the banners again and find a way to go to war. 

christian bale GIF

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Posted
53 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

Just so we’re clear, if nowhere else, on this board, at least.

Texas wasn’t ready for shit in 2020. They weren’t ready on July 1, 2021, either. They didn’t support what NIL has become. They were fucking scared of it. What they weren’t scared of, they were oblivious to or dismissive of in all forms. 

So was the rest of the CFB landscape outside of Oregon and, well, a small group of us here and Bobby Burton. 

Small details may not seem important to you and this may seem like a quibble, but to me it is not. We put sweat into creating IP, aligning various skill sets and personalities, and then helping give it all away for the notion of a greater good for Texas and no longer seeing the UT AD be the disconnected, pious, pompous and trodden-upon snob it had become. We didn’t just create IP that was adopted ultimately across all of CFB, we took risk in bringing it to the forefront and then forcing the powers that be at Texas to see it and embrace it. 

And as to the notion that we’ll ever go back to just letting Bama and others make a mockery of the rules and get over on our fanbase? Not happening. Texas is not only now self-aware, it is assertive. Should that ever falter, we’ll call the banners again and find a way to go to war. 

Until the Pancake Factory everyone thought NIL meant kids would just sell Tshirts with their face on them and sign autographs for Ebay

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Posted
1 hour ago, closetojumping said:

Just so we’re clear, if nowhere else, on this board, at least.

Texas wasn’t ready for shit in 2020. They weren’t ready on July 1, 2021, either. They didn’t support what NIL has become. They were fucking scared of it. What they weren’t scared of, they were oblivious to or dismissive of in all forms. 

So was the rest of the CFB landscape outside of Oregon and, well, a small group of us here and Bobby Burton. 

Small details may not seem important to you and this may seem like a quibble, but to me it is not. We put sweat into creating IP, aligning various skill sets and personalities, and then helping give it all away for the notion of a greater good for Texas and no longer seeing the UT AD be the disconnected, pious, pompous and trodden-upon snob it had become. We didn’t just create IP that was adopted ultimately across all of CFB, we took risk in bringing it to the forefront and then forcing the powers that be at Texas to see it and embrace it. 

And as to the notion that we’ll ever go back to just letting Bama and others make a mockery of the rules and get over on our fanbase? Not happening. Texas is not only now self-aware, it is assertive. Should that ever falter, we’ll call the banners again and find a way to go to war. 

One of my all time favorite quotes from history is from Churchill. A bunch are actually but my favorite is something to the affect that “America can always be trusted to do the right thing, after she has explored all other options”. That reminds me of Belmont in a lot of ways with how they have handled and approached NIL, thankfully finally landing in the correct and advantageous place. 
I think this might be the most optimistic I’ve e er seen you about anything with that last paragraph. Music to my ears. 

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