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Thank you for the feedback! Just a response to your note on the Goodwin/Yadier comparison. I think it was less about age and more about moving on in terms of style of play and start to let these younger guys reach for a bigger role on the court and in the locker room. It was about having the decision of whether or not to bring a veteran player back or not, which is a decision that college coaches have never had like this year. But I totally agree with you on the aging part and Goodwin in his prime and like I said, I'd love to have Goodwin back if he's open to playing an undersized 4 role. I really have no interest in watching Goodwin on the ball or at the two taking shots outside of 6 feet from the rim next year and it may be a dumb opinion but it's mine and I'M STICKING TO IT!

The McDermott interview was great, I really enjoyed it (especially as someone who isn't plugged into SLU soccer as often as many of the more die-hard fans). The pod has proven to be a great way for me to keep up with the non-basketball sports. You and Peter are doing a great job; the production quality and your ability to have a natural conversation is impressive for such a relatively new podcast. I have to add though that I disagreed with a lot of the Jordan Goodwin discussion. I think at one point Zac compared him to Yadier Molina or some of the older Blues players which didn't really make sense to me since Jordan Goodwin is not an aging player; he's still getting better and his return would immediately elevate the ceiling of our team. The Cardinals wouldn't have let go of prime, all-star Yadier Molina just because they thought it was time for a fresh catcher behind the plate. And if it's time to move on from Goodwin, I don't really follow why you guys seemed to be keen on Aaron Cook, who would basically present the same issues as Goodwin in terms of taking time away from our other guards. But even though I have a different opinion on those topics it's always good to hear well informed Bills fans talk about the team and I'm grateful for the offseason content.

Thanks so much for the updates!

You’re forgetting about a crucial third reason: 3) the NCAA’s sham amateurism model is quite possibly illegal, which is why they are spending so much time having to defend it in court and in front of congress for the past several years. The NIL rule is an easy way for the NCAA to allow student athletes to get paid and to appease the regulators and lawyers without forcing the schools to actually pay the players out of their own pockets.

This is being done for two reasons: 1. Social Pressure - The idea of college athletes being able to benefit from their likenesses sounds like a reasonable thing before one considers the abuses that will occur 2. Blue Bloods Realizing it Will Benefit Them - The big programs see that this will legitimize what they have been doing under the table for years. They love that it will prevent them from having to hide this activity any more and that being able to promise a kid that "if you come to ********, you will get $50,000 in endorsement deals," making it even more likely that the are able to lock in all of the top talent. I know some want to interpret this argument as if I am some big, bad ogre that doesn't want college athletes to have any money. I promise you that this is not the case. I just don't think that this is happening for the reasons you think. I also believe that it will absolutely benefit the power conferences to the detriment of schools like SLU.

I don't feel like it speeds up the game. Team is up 3 with the ball and 30 seconds left. They inbound and defense immediately tries to steal the ball while hacking. 3 seconds off the clock. Coach declines on the fts. We do another inbounds play and defense tries to steal the ball and hacks. Coach declines. Rinse wash and repeat until 10 such plays have occurred or a steal finally occurs. The only time the clock really runs in end-of-game scenarios is when the trailing team has the ball and is trying to get a shot off. At first glance I hated the idea partly because of the scenario above but also I could see defenses getting crazy aggressive trying to steal the ball because they thought the offense would decline on the fts. And that potential does exist, but at the end of the day its the offense's choice so I think if a good ft shooter is fouled they'll just take the fts and the declining would really only happen when guys like French are fouled. So I think I'm now in favor of it.

Always play this on my drive back from STL to Austin when I turn at the Big Cabin exit and pass the Indian Smoke Shop after I pass that big McDonald's.... followed up by a lil Tyler Childers Feathered Indians.

Turning a black market into a legitimate one is a good thing. Above-board taxable income, earned out in the open.

2 minute game highlights including the game winner for UNC, and, the near equalizer for UW.

I'm like you on the 5 second rule. I think when they lowered the shot clock to 30, they got rid of the 5 second close guarding rule. I noticed a few years ago, at a women's game, that the ref was doing that arm count again. And then I looked for it at the next men's game and sure enough, it was back. I'm almost positive it HAD been eliminated but it came back. (And too damned lazy to try and look it up.) As for the rest of it, I wish they'd leave the damn game alone. I'm about done with MLB and now college hoops is trying to piss me off too.

Here is another thing that it will do. Illinois started allowing gaming machines in bars a handful of years ago. A lot of bars were already paying out on their "for entertainment purposes only" machines for many decades before it was technically legal. The law changed and all of the sudden every bar in Illinois has a handful of machines and rakes in thousands a month because people aren't worried about getting caught. Right now there is a ton of money circulated under the table to recruits and players. This will make a lot of it come out to the light. Guys will get $10,000 for a "commercial" when in reality it was just a pre-arranged deal to go to that school. After the new rules are passed or legislated into existence, there will be a lot more money out there that coaches and/or boosters were too scared to offer in fear of getting caught.

If this is true, then what is the point of not letting them be paid for their own NLIs? Why is the NCAA bothering to regulate such a small upside? Straight payoffs are and still would be illegal. This is simply to give players the freedom to leverage their own popularity - whatever the scale may be - for pay. Just as it is with other college students and everyone else. Look, I don't think the scale here is out of control. I think your point about a lot of local pro athletes is fair, that not all of them are lining up endorsements all over the place. However, that doesn't mean college athletes should be shut out altogether. Plus, people have a different connection to their alma maters. I'd be way more drawn to seeing SLU athletes featured in advertising than a mid-roster Blues or Cardinals player, the same way I'm more interested in their social media. The opportunities would be different. When I was at SLU, one day Brad Soderberg was in the West Pine Gym filming a Lou Fusz commercial. They had an "actor" on camera with him who was about 7 feet tall and he had on a generic, blank blue jersey. He had no lines, but it was a visual joke and Brad had some line about needing a roomy interior or something. I just see no reason why that couldn't have been Ian Vouyoukas or Bryce Husak getting a few hundred bucks for standing in. Another example is how an athlete may have his/her image used in ways they don't want to, without being able to have any control over it or payment from it. Allison Stokke is a prime example and her Wiki covers this; photos of her went viral before she even got to college and she spent those years trying to slow it down to no avail. Had she been able to sign an agent, model/endorse on her own terms, and monetize her social media, she could've made 6 figures a year in college easily, which certainly helps mitigate having to deal with millions of creeps taking her image a direction she never intended it to go.

I see that picture, Linton Brown, and raise you this picture. Olean, NY. January, 2021. Enjoy!

I agree - this is the “slow news day” season on bills.com. We’ve hit critical mass. My song of the day: