Timeless.
Looks like the chairs used to plug into the Matrix.
Do not want. Cup holders are ridiculously placed.
Right?!!? You have to reach back to use them! And they're very close to the arm rest - especially for your basic-sized football player, let alone linemen!
....and probably to small for a Big Gulp!
It’s all an arms race. Who can outdo each other in a never-ending pissing contest?
Next thing you know, Clemson will upgrade its locker room to where each player gets his own butler who does everything from fetching jockstraps to wiping the player’s own ass for them?
Next thing, school’s “bagmen” live in a little cubbie within the student-athletes locker. Their own ATM, right at their fingertips. Like Venmo, but with real people.
Might as well offer it through the athletic department instead of getting in trouble for giving them the money to pay for it under the table.
not to mention the "Fellatio for Florida!!!" program they have going on in Gainesville.....
Fetching jockstraps and ass wiping aside you know college athletics can not afford to pay the players even a small stipend. Sheeeeiiitttttttt...
It's nice of the school to give them a posh, personalized experience before they all get drafted by the Lions.
Apparently the team that lounges in isolation...wins together?!?
I don't know how these Alabama players suffer through the facility downgrades they experience when they go to the NFL. Life is just hard sometimes.
Purple lights for strippers.
Definitely has a very Vegas feel to it.
Honestly I kind of assumed that was the intentional design effect
This is exactly what this reminded me of! Anyone that’s been to the Red Light District near Dam Square in Amsterdam at night knows what I mean. Barely clothed “working girls” standing in small, dark closets with glass doors back-lit with faint red or purple lights, luring creepers from all over the world with their boobies...
Coincidentally also an effect recruiting tactic for college football players...
Fucking love that place
Yeah, when I went there, I went to that Club Vandersexxx. I got a free tee shirt, but I couldn’t pronounce the safety world correctly, so it led to a wacky experience. Would not recommend.
Those are not hash brownies! Now put your shirt back on, white boy!
Meanwhile, teachers and staff at many (most?) public universities are facing various cost cutting measures (higher course loads, reduced funding, pay/benefit cuts, furloughs, layoffs, etc.)
This project was planned and funded probably 2-3 years ago. CMU is building a brand new locker room as we speak and is scheduled to be ready by kickoff.
That is part of the problem. The recent history of (mis)prioritization at these universities has left then on the hook for so much that has nothing to do with their academic purpose. Then, when an actual economic crisis hits, they are left in the lurch.
Then stop fucking watching the fucking game dude. FFS. Get off the fucking FOOTBALL MESSAGE BOARD .
Have a snickers and chill.
I enjoy college football, specifically Michigan football, which is why I'm here. I also appreciate the importance and priority of university academics. The two are not mutually exclusive, nor are they of equal importance. Some people may have lost sight of this.
I agree with you, but keep in mind that most, if not all these projects at the big schools are funded by donors who give to the athletic department for this purpose.
It was not like they coin-flipped between lounge chairs for the football team vs. giving to the History department - these are conscious decisions.
I understand, but most of these donors do so because they personally want to see "their" teams do well. Prudent university admins should stipulate that a *non-trivial* portion of that goes to help the actual academic mission of the school (beyond just the student athletes). Granted, some places do this but not nearly enough.
Obviously the raw cost-benefit analysis to the universities' bottom lines encourage the revenue sport arms race, but how long do we honestly expect that to continue? Not to mention that it just pushes them farther away from their founding purpose.
jesus.
it's entirely possible to both be a huge college football fan AND think that alabama's football facilities (and yes, michigan's) are over the top.
money has irrevocably changed college football, sometimes for the better, but usually for the worse.
some of the smaller schools have pretty neat dressing rooms, but not over the top and able to see your teammates. here's one that was a recent visit and offer:
Wife went to IWU - I was only down there once, but it looked like a very nice campus.
Seriously the Public education resources in Alabama In the k-12 is atrocious
On top of this people think we should still pay these players probably more then teachers make. These guys get plenty for playing a sport in college
Yeah, except it's not like the money that would go to the players is coming out of the teachers' pockets. This is a silly, silly take.
You do realize that college sports revenue is meant to support the college, which still has a larger mission than getting players to play one sport? The whole point of making loads of cash through a big sport is to support the college, otherwise having college sports wouldn’t exist. It is t a dumb take when Alabama probably pays less than 30k to someone charged with teaching 400 students a year in something they are experts at and needed a PhD to teach.
You probably think it’s silly that the adjunct with no health benefits wants to teach online so as to not get infected by the footballer who has a free scholarship, and stipends for food and housing—and free food at the facilities. And you will probably say that it okay that the adjunct gets used by the university because he or she knew what they were getting into, but you’ll turn around and say we have to pay players even though they know the system they agreed to, as well, when they were offered a chance at their education just for playing a sport.
I disagree with this statement
You do realize that college sports revenue is meant to support the college, which still has a larger mission than getting players to play one sport? The whole point of making loads of cash through a big sport is to support the college, otherwise having college sports wouldn’t exist
If that's the case, why do college sports exists anywhere from NAIA to DII? College sports are entertainment for students and alumni and an opportunity for student-athletes to compete for their schools.
No, I don't think that adjuncts wanting to teach online is silly at all and I think it's a tragedy that adjuncts are treated like dogshit.
But I think saying that paying players would pull money from the academic budget is just not consistent with reality: instead, AD's will cut their administrative, real estate, coaching, etc spending. It's different buckets of money.
I see both groups, actually, as very similar -- exploited by those with more power and underpaid relative to their contributions to universities. I think that the way adjuncts AND players are treated is fundamentally unjust. In both cases, tremendously profitable institutions get away with absurdly low compensation relative to the value created by those groups. Adjuncts are the lifeblood of the undergraduate teaching experience, and football players are the lifeblood of the athletic programs -- yet both capture a minute portion of the revenue from those things, which are instead diverted to others who do not contribute nearly as much!
E: I also read your comment as "why don't we pay elementary teachers this much," not "adjuncts are treated terribly." I agree with both sentiments, but don't think they relate to paying players.
That’s one thing people don’t get. These guys get a lot more then a free education for playing a sport. The education and books alone are worth more then 200K to start with. They get academic support buildings only athletes can use along with free tutors. They get training room meals most people would never get to enjoy. These guys never have to buy a stitch a clothing while in college because they are given tons of T-shirts, polo shits, sweat pants, hoodies, jackets, hats, shoes, gloves, shorts, sweat suits, back packs, socks. They get locker rooms and workout facilities other students can never see in person. These guys can take classes in the summer time and in five years they literally can have a masters for no cost If they don’t live on campus they are given a monthly stipen. But yea let’s pay these amateurs for playing a sport on top of this
Let's pay the AD's instead? There's money, it's gotta go somewhere, I don't get why it shouldn't go to the people who generate that value.
Funding for teachers and staff at the U of Alabama comes from a total different bucket than what funds football palaces at the same university. It's not like the money to build this came out of the pockets of university staff. All this says is private citizens love college football and voters / governments don't value funding universities as much as they probably should
Paid for with Saban’s pay cut.
That would be awfully sweet of Lou Saban to take a pay cut during the pandemic
The things we spend money on.
Pay the players.
Counter proposal: make the NFL pay the players. Forget having the schools give them full rides & other benefits (which is a ridiculous shell game that is unfair to other student athletes and other non-athlete students). Let the league pay their tuition/room/board/etc. with the stipulation that they enter into NFL contract after leaving school (similar to doing ROTC or other forms of public service). A lot of conditions/caveats/considerations to take into account, but in the end why should the public universities be responsible for becoming the NFL's farm system?
This is a unique football issue. All other major professional sports have minor league systems and/or non-NCAA pathways to reach the league. Football doesn't. Why hasn't the NCAA pushed back on this issue? Is the money from TV contracts sufficient for the NCAA to avoid pissing off the NFL by demanding some marginal kickback for serving as their de facto minor league system?
why hasn't the ncaa pushed back?
pretty sure we know the answer to that question.
Why would the NFL pay for the 3rd string OC languishing on CMU's bench because he's not quite good enough to crack the two-deep, but is a good insurance policy for depth? This player will never sniff an NFL camp - and therefore will never sniff an NFL payment.
I do agree that the NFL can afford to throw some wild money at colleges to help with some of these issues. But it isn't going to be feasible to expect them to pay for everything.
Personally, I'd just be happy if the NFL started throwing good money at protecting players from head injuries - starting with Pop Warner leagues. This can be easily done using technology (ie: helmets) and training (ie: proper way to tackle/block/hit; changes in player and coaching attitudes that lead toward 'targeting' type penalties). TL/DR - I wish the NFL decided to lead, rather than fight everything...
At this point, an NFL locker room is going to be a serious downgrade for these guys.
"Where's the waterfall?"
The whole thing has gotten out of control. I can't be the only one who thinks this is nutty.