I continue to be very impressed by coach Plough. His thoughts on the future of football at all levels are really informative and show the depth of his knowledge of the game. Hard to believe that any player speaking to him would not be very impressed. His statement on the Conners has me very hopeful that a successful settlement of this unfortunate situation is possible.

17 you are right on the money. With these agents swooping down on these 19-20 year old kids and their PARENTS, how can the kid ever resist these big money offers? Think of the incredible pressure from moms who want to move to a better home and dads who don’t know if their jobs will last. How can a kid even think about a “quality education” at that point over the needs of his family? But also think of the coaches like Plough. Why recruit a young player and then coach him to a higher level only to see the kid opt for the portal? Yeah, I can see a young Plough now thinking that he’s doing the good thing by helping a kid like CP economically, but I think that eventually that will wear thin and the former good thing becomes a drag emotionally and psychologically. “Why the hell am I doing this”? He is getting nothing from his efforts nor is his team. Surely this has become a no win situation for a majority of FCS schools.
I think that the NCAA must be slowly becoming aware of this situation. And they could have some positive effect by giving FCS schools some breaks on eligibility and scholarship issues. And on other issues that I am not aware of. Otherwise FBS and low budget FBS teams are going to have a very hard time surviving in this environment. Sorry for the rant. This is very sad.

52 please explain “between the lines” or are we missing the obvious? Really don’t understand your point.

I would be very surprised if Rocko did not release the full content of the NCAA decision on the Conner matter. He has always seemed to me to be a straight shooter and the last thing he wants to see is a full blown Freedom of Information Act request on his desk and the same goes for the NCAA. UC Davis is a public institution and it would have to respond to a FOIA demand if one was served. Ditto for the NCAA. I also expect it will take some time for a response due to the holiday/winter break.

I did write a letter to the AD asking for him to make public the NCAA decision letter in the Conners case. No response as of yet.

“We do not have to live like this”. Is this a question or a statement? I assume it refers to the issue of gun violence etc. Anyway, The answer is a resounding no. But bare in mind that even giving account for these atrocities in Australia and Canada Europe, and elsewhere, we, America, the MAGA capital of the world, still have the highest rate of gun violence in the world by a significant margin and we are doing nothing about it. Except for a very few states, including California, New York Massachusetts, etc included. And yet these states are being derided and ridiculed by the Republican Party, and right wing media as too woke and “liberal” purely for political reasons by MAGA gun rights proponents. Yet they do nothing about this: question/statement: “we do not have to live like this”.
Lastly, although I welcome any criticism of this post, I think we should delete this thread because it has strayed too far from the original comment regarding an Aggie going to Europe on vacation. Which I think he survived! I posted this simply for balance on the topic.
Happy holidays to all.

Dr Mike, I totally agree with you. In a sense this case should be far easier for the court than the Robinson cases because it could only affect the Conners situation rather than challenging an entire NCAA policy, I.e. the so-called “5 year rule” which I assume would be the Mercer position. But yes, it would be better if Mercer got involved here. I will add that the K. Robinson v. NCAA case was abruptly dismissed in august. This usually means that a confidential settlement was reached. But again, how does the NCAA plausibly argue that their decision that the Mercer game was a “non-game” yet for the Conners it was a “real game” which just had to be deleted for other reasons. That decision deprived the Conners of their one last season of eligibility just like the one year of lost eligibility in both the Robinson cases. Seems like an arbitrary and capricious decision. To me, of course!

I agree with River the obtuse NCAA eligibility rules will not be in the Conners favor. But bear in mind that all of the rules of the game have been affected/changed by the House settlement. Now, the House court has unequivocally stated that the ability of a player to achieve NIL money is a fundamental right of the student athlete. And this is precedent. In Robinson v. NCAA the court ruled that if an eligibility decision by the NCAA negatively impacted a player’s ability to achieve NIL income it could be determined that it was an unfair antitrust decision. A restraint on the player’s ability to earn money. A violation of Federal Antitrust laws. Let’s ride the wave and see how this all plays out. I hope that the lawsuit is filed in the northern district of the federal district court in Oakland and comes before the district judge Claudia Wilken. She is the judge who decided the House case. She is a great judge.

Finals!

Has the Porter twins eligibility been decided yet. Sorry for the. Missed post

Is the Porter twins are been decided by the NCAA yet.

My understanding is that most coaching hiring contracts include a clause that eliminates the obligation to pay off a departing coach for their remaining years if they are hired by another team for their same salary. So,my bet would be that sac has little or nothing to lose with Marion’s departure. But I would be surprised if TT decided to take the job because of the serious baggage the administration has created for any new coach to try and untangle. Plainly said, the sac administration has no credibility at all at this point. And remember, TT probably got a huge severance package from Stanford when he was fired that he, too, would lose if he took a sac offer. Sac administration has put the entire football program in dire straits by its gross mismanagement if not incompetence. TT kwoss

If the NCAA has determined that the Mercer game was “no game” as it has already stated then it should be a “no game” for the purpose of eligibility as well. To decide otherwise would an egregious error and very possibly grounds for a legal challenge. I doubt that the NCAA has any appetite for any more litigation given it’s very poor record in court to date. My bet is for the twins to be determined eligible for 2026.

Yes I get the worries about Plough but I have more questions about Pinnick. Great QBs are the most important part of an American football team and they are scarce. He is exceptional and will be relentlessly contacted at the end of the season if he enters the portal. But even if he doesn’t are we all so naive to believe that some SEC or ACC team will try and contact him behind the scenes, that is if he hasn’t been already? College football has become brutal in terms of recruiting these days and Caden with 3 years of college football eligibility left will be very attractive. My only hope is that if Plough is staying at UCD he will as well. Just Hope Pinnick and his family are Okay financially otherwise the NIL money will be too good to pass up.

So I have a friend in sac (cal grad) who asked me “why have the Aggies canceled all their future causeway games”. Can someone explain this for me that I can send him?

Those were the days

I remember when ham got so frustrated with the way the game was going he told them to “coach yourselves” and went into the stands (with his towel) what a guy! Loved him.

I believe that there is a rule in administrative law that states that the ruling can not be arbitrary and capricious meaning that if the ruling was made without a fair consideration of the law and the evidence and was contrary to previous rulings, it is invalid. So if the Mercer game was a non game as determined by the NCCA then it is a non game for the eligibility issue with the conners brothers. Pretty much end of story. But I know, who knows what the NCAA will do. Backstory, why the hell punish a very respectable non big time FCS program with a very hairsplitting decision when the big time programs are getting everything they want? Better minds are invited in!

A bit off thread, but does anyone know what the basis is for the appeal filed over Rex Conners eligibility ruling?

Sorry to hear that Tracy at Oregon is not doing well there. Wish her well as we all go forward