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[QUOTE="0.2 YNdeeR, post: 4647896, member: 8125"]
We share a similar sense of skepticism about the NCAA. Maybe Baker can bring the parties together and return the organization to some sanity and integrity.

But I reject your argument that I'm naive because I think cheating never went on. Of course it did. I'm well aware. At least before, we punished it instead of making it easy by developing a fake cover story (NIL). That's where (IMO) the real naivete' is: pretending that NIL is actually about kids' photos and signatures. Ridiculous. The value of "NIL" is in the teams - because of century-old team brands and rivalries. The "value" of an individual player - separated from his team name and his athletic performance - is in 99% of the cases zero.

The truth is that boosters are using NIL to justify paying for recruitment and performance, which is exactly why the average SEC fat-cat ponies up money ... to buy players. That's impermissible under NCAA rules. It's antithetical to the concept of a student-athlete, and as Alston states (about compensation-based free-agency in intercollegiate sports) it's unpopular.

So who's naive? Someone who recognizes that corruption existed but advocates for better enforcement and retention of the amateur model? Or someone who pretends that all NIL is about a kid signing autographs at the mall?
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