2y ago

Iowa coach Ferentz says the integrity of the game cannot be compromised as betting probe unfolds

I'm completely sure it was only athletes in Iowa who were gambling. So sure in fact, that I don't think any other state needs to investigate at all, nosireebob.

5 comments

Why isn’t every other college team being investigated? This is obviously a widespread problem that isn’t isolated to the corn fields of Iowa.
- I think the investigation is being driven by their state Department of Public Safety (i.e. state police). I'm 100% armchair theorizing here, but Iowa could hit a small sweet spot where there's enough "moral-panic" Boomer energy to investigate, but not quite enough worship of the football teams to nip it in the bud.
  
  I'm curious to see if such a investigation could be possible in place like Texas or Alabama driven from state police.
I mean I get it that he is wondering why Iowa is the only one singled out, but his statement regarding the "integrity of the game" just irks me. That integrity left when TV contracts became more important than anything for these schools and conferences. And those TV contracts are now being paid for by gambling ads. The students who don't see a dime from the $60 million a year TV deal Iowa pulls in also see the ads and get sucked into gambling. But the highest paid employee in the state of Iowa at $5 million a year doesn't want to compromise the integrity of the the game. Ok.
- Yup. There are a lot of concerns here, but the millionaire coaches and high-status administrators clutching their pearls undercuts the message.
  Tangentially, that is why I think that as long as the "brand" of college football is managed carefully and pays the right amount of lip service to the traditions of the sport (e.g. making sure players have access to the university, playing on campus, not signing players with previous pro experience) , further movement in the direction of professionalization is not going to kill CFB as a spectator sport. There is already no sport that's more hypocritical in its entire structure.