His name is Scotty Fox, he’s a true freshman and a three-star quarterback on WVU’s football team, and he scored a 59-yard touchdown against Robert Morris late in the Mountaineers’ 45-3 win this past Saturday afternoon.
It was a spectacular run, and he showed why there’s been some hype, but why in the world should I care? If his success continues, he’ll just leave West Virginia, right? That’s how it works these days, right?
Great players in college football jump schools because they are always looking for the better deal, right? I mean, WVU alone had 51 players depart and 54 players that transferred into Rich Rodriguez’s program on the university’s Morgantown campus.
So, why should I invest any energy and spend any time on good ole Scotty Fox? Or on the big college game at all?
Well, the best explanation I’ve heard was offered to me by a fan professing his loyalty: “I now root for the name on the front of the jersey and NOT for the name on the back of the jersey.”
Hmm.
So, that means our favorite “programs” have become our favorite “teams” thanks to the NIL, the transfer portal, and the incredible amounts of money the D-I college game now generates. The players deserve their share for sure, but for decades, I also enjoyed following a player’s maturation year by year at WVU. Like Major Harris and Noel Devine and Zach Abraham and Geno Smith and Colton McKivitz and Mike Logan and Tavon Austin and Owen Schmitt, and many more.
But that’s all over now? For the most part, anyway? And now, for most of the 224 D-I football programs out there, the primary goal is six wins to achieve bowl eligibility and the cash that goes with it, right? Unless, of course, teams like the Mountaineers can somehow – every once in a while – attract some blue-chip talent with blue-light special pay days, right?
OK, so that means it’s simply time to accept that, in many ways, college sports mimic the NFL and MLB with the free agency the portal permits the player and the market size separations similar to the disparity that haunts big-league baseball.
Hmm.
So, with all the aspects thought through from a blue-and-gold perspective, living as a lifelong WVU fan won’t change much at all – if at all – right?
Right.
So … LET’S GO!! …
