The Stanwestern Wolvercats and the Commodification of Wrestlers

[ionel]

1 minute ago, MPhillips said:

They really miss Mane'.

You'll Never Walk Alone. Well, you may...

Have you watched The English Game series, think it was on Netflix? 

[MPhillips]

@ionel, I've meant to, but haven't found the time yet. I'm hip to it though. What did you think of it?

[ionel]

5 minutes ago, MPhillips said:

@ionel, I've meant to, but haven't found the time yet. I'm hip to it though. What did you think of it?

Its a decent series, interesting because of the historical aspect of the beginning of FA. 

[RYou]

15 hours ago, Tigerfan said:

Every teaching certification program that I know of requires an unpaid internship of one semester before completion. This steep barrier to entry is partially responsible for the massive teacher shortage in the US. Yet it persists. Being a broke college student used to be a similar “internship” for prospective pro athletes. Millions of potentially great teachers and athletes dropped out or didn’t participate at all and pursued other avenues to make money. If the end goal is the best possible pool of teacher candidates or athletes, unpaid internships need to go away. 

Thank the teachers union for that, not the host schools.

[1032004]

22 hours ago, ILLINIWrestlingBlog said:

That is possible. We don't have much data, that's for sure.

The fact that they all ended up on the same team in the same conference kind of freaks me out.

Well yeah it seems like Michigan could be a big player in the transfer market for the foreseeable future.  But the Covid year seems to have added guys to the portal in the first place that may not have been in there otherwise.

[D3 for LU]

On 5/7/2023 at 7:20 AM, Wrestleknownothing said:

Why do people have such nostalgia for when athletes were chattel?

I kind of like how you used the word, chattel.

(Don't hear it much, now-a-days.)

D3

[nhs67]

1 hour ago, 1032004 said:

Well yeah it seems like Michigan could be a big player in the transfer market for the foreseeable future.  But the Covid year seems to have added guys to the portal in the first place that may not have been in there otherwise.

Michigan has Cliff Keen to back them.  They are going to be a factor unless the rules change.

[D3 for LU]

3 minutes ago, nhs67 said:

Michigan has Cliff Keen to back them.  They are going to be a factor unless the rules change.

Cliff Keen?!?

He has left his mortal coil since 1991!

D3

[Wrestleknownothing]

I want to thank the University of Minnesota for making it clear why NIL, and free transfers are so needed.

[TwoPointsTakeDown84]

On 5/7/2023 at 7:38 AM, ILLINIWrestlingBlog said:

Wrestler X wears the jersey for Team Y at the home dual on Friday, then jumps in his car to wrestle for Team W on Sunday. He is paid in bitcoin and pizza. Is that the future you want, Wkn? 

Where do you want to draw the line? 

Now everybody's breaking up somebody else's home. Before somebody else starts breaking up their own, let's set some ground rules. 
 

That's just the way these things happen. A whole world of possibilities that were cut off from previous generations are now available. It'll may be chaotic for a bit trying to figure out the best ways to proceed. I imagine somethings will turn out to be harmful and we should address those. But lets not clutch our pearls at a 'family' being broken up. 

Maintaining a place that kids want to spend these important years has always been the goal of a staff. This just adds a new wrinkle. If they can't adapt and earn their pay they will be replaced with someone who can. Prior to this era there were few things an athlete could do to leave a less-than-ideal situation. Some will work to game the system, but that's not new.  

I feel privileged to be here watching this play out. Its exciting. Athletes have a little more control of their situation and can cash in a bit too.  Let's steer into the skid and see where this wild ride takes us. 

 

[AgaveMaria]

"My theory is that he jumped ship because of my nickname for him, "The Gopher Choker."

Dumber than dirt. Especially considering that Minnesota has the Thirteen Lined Ground Squirrel as the mascot, not a Gopher. That they are too stupid to know this doesn't matter - after all, they are in Minnesota. Home of the movie FARGO, produced by Minnesota guys to poke fun at their home State & the 'youpper' accents. Went so far as to name the movie FARGO - fooling the Minnesota folks completely. Just like with Gophers.

[ILLINIWrestlingBlog]

 

OPTION II

Every D1 wrestler will be listed on a Wrestler Stock Exchange and given a three- or four-letter abbreviation. For example, Lucas Byrd might be LBY, Patrick McKee could be PMCK, while Carter Starocci would be DIC. A wrestler's stock price would be performance-based because capitalists, like you, would purchase shares in those stocks. 

Would you buy an under-performing stock? 

The University of Iowa and other institutions could also purchase shares in these stocks. In that way, a person, institution or an amalgamation of interests from say, Gardner-Webb, could purchase a controlling interest in DIC and he would then become a Bulldog and have to move to Boiling Springs, North Carolina. This framework would be exciting for fans who could make a killing by short-selling a stock or holding a stock like Nagao (GCHO), which goes through the roof. Of course, there could be a rug pull like at the NCAA tournament with SPL. Buyer beware. 

This would be more transparent than the current NIL situation, and it could be monitored by the SEC. It would provide the best approximation of an athlete's worth because that worth had been judged by infallible market forces. 

I submit that this system would be fair and equitable and not a dangerous ponzi scheme like crypto. 

Seriously, though, there always must be a line. The universal question is this: Where to draw the line, and why isn't "The Gopher Choker" the perfect nickname? In the before times, the rules were so restrictive, it was basically indentured servitude, almost slavery. On the other end of the spectrum is a world without rules, and that leads to chaos and anarchy. 

Should students be indentured to universities, or should they have the right to leave for any reason at any time even if that reason is just to avoid a killer nickname? 

Where do you place the line? 

Unfortunately, my read on the situation is that the NCAA is in the worst possible position to enforce any restriction on athlete movement, even NLI's. They are weak. An actual court case involving an NLI or a transfer would send shock waves through NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis. Perhaps, though, in the future, athletes will seek out stable environments because they (or their parents) consciously or subconsciously want that. Places like ILLINOIS. We shall see

[Wrestleknownothing]

1. Where does the money go? Presumably there is an initial offering and the athlete gets the proceeds. But what about future transactions? That is swapped between investors? And then the athlete has to go where they say? Surely you are not talking about buying and selling human beings.

2. Ignoring the legal implications of the above, why would I buy in the initial offering if I was not sure a majority of buyers were also voting to send the athlete to the same school as me?

3. What happens to my stock in 4/5 years? It will always trend to zero as eligibility winds down. When does that begin? After three years? Two?

4. Why would a stock be performance based? Combining boosterism with "fractional stock investing" insures it won't. If an athlete performs well it will be virtually impossible to get a majority to sell. Without a majority sale there would be no buyers, especially as the affects of the prior question kick in.

5. Other stuff I haven't thought of this early.

Edited May 9, 2023 by Wrestleknownothing