JDNorway

February 27th, 2012 at 9:08 AM ^

This smells like a defection to somewhere else (Grantland?) for me. He would obviously not be able to write about it in his farewell post, but it seems unlikely that such a popular voice would be asked to leave. Good luck to him wherever he ends up.

MGoAero

February 27th, 2012 at 9:13 AM ^

He said in his post that it'll be easy to find him in his new position in the near future.  I bet we'll know within days.  Not sure where he goes from here that's 'bigger' other than espn, but we'll see...

Noahdb

February 27th, 2012 at 9:14 AM ^

In an age in which failing to exploit every possible revenue stream is regarded as a kind of moral failing, the future of big-time college football will be defined by the ongoing tug-of-war between the perception of the sport as an awakening economic giant and an unbending, existential fidelity to its original sin, "amateurism."The entire structure has evolved, sans any semblance of a central brain, around a contradiction: Big-time college sports remains the only arena of American life that systematically denies adult citizens the opportunity to exploit their full market value, and yet has succeeded in large part on the notion that it's not a business. It's a ritual, observed by pilgrims drawn to the same creaky, Depression-era shrines, decade after decade, to eat and drink and sing and agonize as part of a communal mass just deranged enough to invest its emotional energy into a bunch of kids pummeling one another into oblivion. Their devotion is to a sense of community, continuity and tradition, and a sense of student-athletes who regenerate that tradition every fall the way a body regenerates its cells.

Indeed. He called that 100 percent right. Conference expansion and the obsession over money (above all other things) are going to be the things that kill college sports. 

Section 1

February 27th, 2012 at 10:47 AM ^

I almost always enjoyed Matt Hinton as Dr. Saturday, and this seems like bad news.  But if he is going to be just another sports writer campaigning for NCAA football players to get paid for their "work," I hope he goes into advertising instead.  I'm not so sure that he is saying that here; apart from "See you later," I'm not exactly sure what he is saying.

Wallaby Court

February 27th, 2012 at 12:16 PM ^

I don't think the Doc was trying to make any point in particular, and I certainly do not think that he was shilling for players to get paid. In signing off, his goal seemed to be to highlight the 'state of the sport.' And in doing so, he had to highlight the inherent tension between the incessant monetization of college football and its historic ideal of amatuerism.

MaizeAndBlueWahoo

February 27th, 2012 at 12:13 PM ^

Big-time college sports remains the only arena of American life that systematically denies adult citizens the opportunity to exploit their full market value, and yet has succeeded in large part on the notion that it's not a business.

And small-time college sports, of which there are exponentially more participants, is the only arena of American life where people are paid infinitely more than their economic value (which is zero.)  Thus making college sports in general the only arena of American life where people simultaneously demand "economic fairness" for a tiny minority and free handouts for the huge majority.

In short: Shut up, Hinton.

Syyk

February 27th, 2012 at 2:50 PM ^

It's one thing to say that there is little economic gain to be made from most college sports and quite another to say that they are getting "free handouts".  These athletes are spending thousands of hours a year working on their respective sports to earn those scholarships.

Athletics are inherently tied to colleges and the universities and students derive some benefit from that.  It increases the prestige of the school, makes more students want to attend, etc.  In that, is it really that much different than giving out academic scholarships?

I normally agree with what you say around here and don't mean to be jumping down your throat which may have been a throwaway line, but it rubbed me the wrong way.

Ron Swanson

February 27th, 2012 at 9:17 AM ^

He's a 5-star writer who continually produces.  He must be feeling the pressure of the class filling up.  Hoke will reel him in before it's all said and done.  

Seriously though, he's great and he'll have a ton of readers wherever he goes.  Best of luck to him if he doesn't come to Mgoblog.

beenplumb

February 27th, 2012 at 9:45 AM ^

This is definitely a bummer. Dr. Saturday is my second most frequently visited blog (after here, of course).

He's always done a great job. I'm gonna miss reading his stuff.

CRex

February 27th, 2012 at 9:48 AM ^

Hinton writes a balanced piece that is well thought out and constructed.  He posts it and the comments section ends up making MLive commentators look like a collection of MENSA members.  I wouldn't blame him for defection to Grantland in the least.

Atlanta_Blue

February 27th, 2012 at 10:13 AM ^

I enjoyed Hinton's writing even if he was a closet Domer.  I'll be thrilled if he displaces Weinreb as Grantland's resident CFB writer.   Weinreb, who hails from State College, has been unreadable since PSU imploded in scandal.

Seth

February 27th, 2012 at 11:58 AM ^

I've read Hinton regularly since he was SMQ on blogspot: http://sundaymorningqb.blogspot.com/

I don't know where he's off to next but if it's about college football I'll certainly follow. I'm not a fan of Graham, who's more like the Duk of college football: she'll post anything that seems "interesting" but I can't remember a time when she did some original research or had a non-conforming thought. I only read her because that's what was between Hinton pieces. Yahoo's college football coverage, for now, is dead to me.

Tha Stunna

February 27th, 2012 at 1:36 PM ^

I assume that she had a niche as the second writer for fluffier pieces; as the sole operator of the blog, I'd expect some harder research added in.  She has had some missteps, although the only one that comes to the top of my mind is when she wrote a piece about Sarah Palin's take on Sandusky... politics on sports blogs = ugh.  I will give her a fair chance and I would not write her off too soon.