'National Champions'

[SWC75]

The Athletic has a review of this new movie about a college football team going on strike before a national championship game.

‘National Champions’ puts the college athlete labor movement — and all its complexities — into practice

The film is at its best in its portrayal of the age-old argument regarding player compensation: It’s never so simple as yes or no.

theathletic.com

the trailer:



I remember when Spiro Agnew was Vice President, he was asked what he thought of a demonstration and said “Yes they have a right to demonstrate under the Constitution but they should do it in a way that doesn’t bother anybody.”

 

[billorange44]

Like it or not, college football as we knew it is over. The Ivy League and Army, Navy, and Air Force is the only real college football left.

 

[SWC75]

Like it or not, college football as we knew it is over. The Ivy League and Army, Navy, and Air Force is the only real college football left.

It might return if the top echelon, (which we aren't really a part of, despite being in the ACC), breaks off and forms its own Mini-NFL. Part of me is actually hoping that happens so schools like Syracuse can compete against their own kind, hopefully in new conferences that make more geographical sense.

 

[billorange44]

Does a college football coach really need to make 5 million a year? Has the college game been changed by commercialism? I think all this BS starts at the pro level and filters down. Can't college football get back to players getting a free education? Where did it all go wrong. I think even spectators are to blame.I know one thing, I long for the day of outdoor football. The smell of the grass on a damp field on real grass. Getting a hotdog and a soda, because beer wasn't aloud, but ushers looked the other way, when a flask poured a little whiskey into a Pepsi. Like I said, when did it all change!

 

[SWC75]

Does a college football coach really need to make 5 million a year? Has the college game been changed by commercialism? I think all this BS starts at the pro level and filters down. Can't college football get back to players getting a free education? Where did it all go wrong. I think even spectators are to blame.I know one thing, I long for the day of outdoor football. The smell of the grass on a damp field on real grass. Getting a hotdog and a soda, because beer wasn't aloud, but ushers looked the other way, when a flask poured a little whiskey into a Pepsi. Like I said, when did it all change!

I don't long for the days of rain, sleet and snow. My Dad and I became a human snow bank in the first game I ever attended at Archbold and if someday the Dome was done and I was in another human snowbank watching and SU game, I'd be in a very dark place.

 

[kcsu]

Agreed Arch was a very cold and damp venue.

 

[dollarbill44]

Like it or not, college football as we knew it is over. The Ivy League and Army, Navy, and Air Force is the only real college football left.

I disagree, only in that I think you should add FCS to your list. If you haven't watched any of their playoff games, you are missing out.

 

[billorange44]

Agreed Arch was a very cold and damp venue.

But that was real football. Today, P.T. Barnum would be proud of the three ring circus that is college football. It's all money now. Like I said, college football that we knew is gone.

 

[billorange44]

I don't long for the days of rain, sleet and snow. My Dad and I became a human snow bank in the first game I ever attended at Archbold and if someday the Dome was done and I was in another human snowbank watching and SU game, I'd be in a very dark place.

Yes, I remember those days. SU and Boston College in 77 I believe. It was snowing so hard you couldn't see the players on the field. It was a great game and SU won too. Bad weather always makes a loss that much worse.

 

[baggerbob]

I don't long for the days of rain, sleet and snow. My Dad and I became a human snow bank in the first game I ever attended at Archbold and if someday the Dome was done and I was in another human snowbank watching and SU game, I'd be in a very dark place.

As a Teen, went to a game in November where it was Sunny about 45 degrees. First we had a drizzle, then it rained, then we had snow, had to clear a place in the snow to kick a field goal.
Ended up frozen, and very cold.

 

[SWC75]

I saw the movie this thread is actually about today. Here is my review:

This is a really well-acted drama that lays out the issues with big-time college sports as strongly as they have even been laid out in a dramatic presentation. The characters are extremely vivid, led by Stephan James, (who played Jesse Owens in 'Race'), as a Heisman Trophy winning quarterback who organizes a boycott of the national championship game to get players declared employees rather than 'student-athletes' so they can all share in the money being generated by their sport and its championships, (NIL is dismissed as something only a star like James' quarterback can get). Then there's the always excellent J.K. Simmons as the coach, who started in Division III and is finally getting a chance at 'glory', a word he uses a lot. And Uzo Aduba as a ruthless NCAA attorney who has a backstory of her own, which comes out in an extended monologue near the end.

There's also various slick NCAA types who smile and know what side of the bread their butter is spread on and Alexander Ludwig as Jaems' roommate, who has no hope for a pro career due to an injury and comes from a poor family, one of James' motivations for his actions. The one contrived part of the plot centers around Kristen Chenoweth, cast against type as the coach's promiscuous, who is sleeping with, among others, the labor law professor who inspired James to make his stand.

The issues are well explored: the billions the NCAA and its schools make from the sports, the benefits players get in terms of scholarship and accommodations, the risks of playing sports, especially football, how are the schools going to be able to field the non-revenue sports and pay the players, now NIL isn't the answer to everything, the economic status of the player's families, etc.

The movie could easily have been a play. Virtually all the scenes take place in the rooms of a high-rise hotel in the two days before the big game, (the result of which we never learn because that's not the point). there are long, emotional, soul-bearing scenes featuring some outstanding actors. Don't boycott this one!