College Football Is Getting Toxic

[Alfred91]

This is a powerful tweet, and true, too. There is very little celebration of anything anymore, just everyone trying to tear everyone else down. See the response to what CU is doing under Prime. What did Norvell do? What did Lanning do?

What did the fanbases do in response? Obviously most of this is due to social media, and also the toxic "hot take" sports shows, but I wonder if people are just making college football a lot more "high stakes" than it used to be. There seem to be fewer and fewer people to remind others that at the end of the day, it's a game played by 18-22 year olds (mostly).

 

[leftybuff]

Somebody needs an orange slice.

 

[hokiehead]

1. I'm not sure I agree with the premise that college football has become more toxic in recent yeas. fans have been trash talking other teams as long as I can remember. hot take shows have been around a long time before podcasts (I used to listen to Jim Rome in the 1990's on terrestrial radio). I don't perceive it's gotten worse recently.

2. of the negativity I see on social media, yes, I think trolls from the other team and fans hurt by their own teams are probably the most vocal (noting above, I don't think that's new), but gamblers are a close 3rd ("my team won, but they didn't cover!"). Jeff is silent on that topic

 

[ZandiBuff]

Welcome to America

 

[The Alabaster Yak]

Fans celebrating other teams' wins is definitely not how CFB has ever worked. Same with the NFL, NBA, MLB or NHL. Sports has always been "tribalism" at its finest, and that's what makes it fun.

 

[jsmilkst]

Fans celebrating other teams' wins is definitely not how CFB has ever worked. Same with the NFL, NBA, MLB or NHL. Sports has always been "tribalism" at its finest, and that's what makes it fun.

True, but social media definitely makes it more toxic (as it does with literally everything).

 

[Buffnik]

I think the 2 big influencers are social media culture and gambling. On the first, the most outrageous stuff gets the most views. So even mainstream media needs to up its "hot takes" to cut through the noise and get attention. On the latter, it makes it so a whole lotta people are pissed off when a team wins but doesn't cover a point spread.

 

[Creebuzz]

I’ve heard about 100+ page hate threads on various message boards. What kind of sick fan base would do that?

 

[Bison]

Negative headlines sold newspapers for years and negative social media posts attract eyeballs. Either people don't know how to quit or they simply don't want to quit.

 

[gone native]

Social media ramps up exposure to toxic comments because those tend to generate lots of repost and reactions. It’s partly a problem of human nature.

I think companies will find ways to improve online experiences with better algorithms and better new tech including VR/AR. At least I hope so.

 

[Uncle Ken]

This is a powerful tweet, and true, too. There is very little celebration of anything anymore, just everyone trying to tear everyone else down. See the response to what CU is doing under Prime. What did Norvell do? What did Lanning do?

What did the fanbases do in response? Obviously most of this is due to social media, and also the toxic "hot take" sports shows, but I wonder if people are just making college football a lot more "high stakes" than it used to be. There seem to be fewer and fewer people to remind others that at the end of the day, it's a game played by 18-22 year olds (mostly).

@96 Buff

 

[Tatanka™]

Nebraska fans never would have said what they said about Sal without social media!

 

[manhattanbuff]

College Football is greater today than it has ever been. There’s more parity, more exposure, and more content. These are the glory days.

 

[14er]

This is a powerful tweet, and true, too. There is very little celebration of anything anymore, just everyone trying to tear everyone else down. See the response to what CU is doing under Prime. What did Norvell do? What did Lanning do?

What did the fanbases do in response? Obviously most of this is due to social media, and also the toxic "hot take" sports shows, but I wonder if people are just making college football a lot more "high stakes" than it used to be. There seem to be fewer and fewer people to remind others that at the end of the day, it's a game played by 18-22 year olds (mostly).

Turn off social media.

 

[Buffnik]

College Football is greater today than it has ever been. There’s more parity, more exposure, and more content. These are the glory days.

It's bigger and growing into something even more.

I'm not sure whether I like it more or not. Some things I do, some I don't. Probably the thing that's most frustrating to me is that it's felt like things have been in transition for 30 years with realignment and postseason. Please just fvcking figure it out before I'm a geriatric.

 

[96 Buff]

 

[Fight CU]

before I'm a geriatric.

wait, ur not?

 

[Medford M.]

College Football is greater today than it has ever been. There’s more parity, more exposure, and more content. These are the glory days.

College football sucks compared to what it was, even 20 years ago. Frankly, I hope it dies before it "grows" more.

 

[Heywood]

**** Baylor!


Am a doing it right?

 

[manhattanbuff]

It's bigger and growing into something even more.

I'm not sure whether I like it more or not. Some things I do, some I don't. Probably the thing that's most frustrating to me is that it's felt like things have been in transition for 30 years with realignment and postseason. Please just fvcking figure it out before I'm a geriatric.

Nostalgia is a dangerous drug.

The sport is being played at an all-time level, including a competitiveness far exceeding any previous era.

Fans are even more engaged because it’s so good.

 

[Buffnik]

Nostalgia is a dangerous drug.

The sport is being played at an all-time level, including a competitiveness far exceeding any previous era.

Fans are even more engaged because it’s so good.

More popular doesn't mean I'm going to like something more. Just like I'm not going to like Boulder more if it becomes a city of 250k people. I'd like some of what is offered with the resources which would come with that, but there would be other changes I wouldn't like. That's what I'm talking about with CFB.

I'll admit there's some nostalgia for what something was when I fell in love with it. I'm happy for many of the evolutions, but that doesn't mean that it's better on balance (or worse) for someone who was already a huge fan.

 

[Jens1893]

True, but social media definitely makes it more toxic (as it does with literally everything).

Does it make things more toxic or does it bring the toxicity that's always been there out into the open?

 

[Jens1893]

What I think needs to be considered here is that the sport has seen several drastic changes that affected the very core of how the games works in the last ~10 years. I think that up until the 2010 alignment round the biggest change the sport saw was the introduction of the BCS championship game so that there could be a consensus national champion. Since then we have seen the following

- Unprecedented realignment
- the introduction of a four team playoff
- the transfer portal
- NIL

I think all these factors have led to higher stakes and the stakes are higher because the schools wanted them to be.

 

[Medford M.]

Nostalgia is a dangerous drug.

The sport is being played at an all-time level, including a competitiveness far exceeding any previous era.

Fans are even more engaged because it’s so good.

What about the sport is better?

Parity? Overall? Sure...At the top, less parity than ever.

 

[Go Buffs]

Comments on Twitter, Reddit, etc are a ****show. Reminds me of how ****ed up is the general population (another great example is a jury pool….). So yeah, college football is toxic, but so is everything else when it comes to the general public. Carry on bitches.

 

[Liver]

it will be interesting to watch it all play out...

we live in era where we can all instantly bet on, talk about, real time analyze, donate to, and invest in college teams and athletes.

the quality of the elite programs is at a very high level. entry to the elite level is harder than it has ever been as everyone who is not elite is a farm team for the elite.

i am not sure where all this is going, but with Coach Prime at least I feel like we aren't currently left on the outside with zero chance to ever win it all again.

 

[Jens1893]

Nostalgia is a dangerous drug.

The sport is being played at an all-time level, including a competitiveness far exceeding any previous era.

Fans are even more engaged because it’s so good.

If your point is that the elite tier is better than it’s ever been and that the games between them are at an all-time level I’d agree but I think their dominance comes at a cost.

 

[manhattanbuff]

If your point is that the elite tier is better than it’s ever been and that the games between them are at an all-time level I’d agree but I think their dominance comes at a cost.

I don’t mean any of that. The sport has more parity than ever. The number of teams who can win it all is the biggest its ever been. The number of bad teams is the lowest its ever been.

 

[Buffnik]

I don’t mean any of that. The sport has more parity than ever. The number of teams who can win it all is the biggest it's ever been. The number of bad teams is the lowest it's ever been.

One of the biggest improvements has been resources that fund every P5 program to a level where we are unlikely to ever again see programs like pre-Snyder KSU.

 

[HotRack]

One of the biggest improvements has been resources that fund every P5 program to a level where we are unlikely to ever again see prog rams like pre-Snyder KSU.

Tbf, that was CU the last 15 years (sans 2016) before Prime.