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Geo Baker Tweet

I think it's pretty F-ing sad that this is our first ncaa tourney in 30 yrs and this is all our fanbase is talking out. Really deflates the magic out of it.

I blame Pike. The best I felt about the basketball team last year was right before Pike felt he needed to criticize Schiano for making contract demands. The attitude starts from the top - winning is not the focus. Extraneous bullshit is the focus and Geo has been sulking all season. These kids are worried about everything but winning.
 
That's what winners do.

You're so off base with your excuses it's hysterical. Geo has been watching tape on Clemson and putting in his basketball work no more, or less than any other player in the Tourney with 1 week to prepare in isolation. All other players have tons of downtime as well and are doing all sorts of activities outside of basketball in a hotel room.
 
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So you think between the zoom calls and the organizing and all he has spent only 2 minutes on this. naive.
You make a good point. You think this is the first time he's thought about this? Wouldn't that mean he hasn't been focused on any games all year? Guess this is the reason we aren't undefeated, right? Naive.
 
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That's what winners do.
Can we agree that Michael Jorda nand Tom Brady are the two greatest winners of our generation (and two of the best all time)? Are you saying they thought about their sport at all times? Because I feel like I've seen MJ at a blackjack table or on a golf course. I've seen Tom out with his family and on a boat drinking. Soooooooo, no.
 
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What’s wrong with that?
It’ll create super teams and a two tier system with basically pro college teams and everyone else. It benefits the heck for the college kids so I get why they like it but it’ll make it much less interesting when Duke and the rest just dominate always. I’m for them getting money but put up guard rails is all I’m saying or else Rutgers will never have a chance to ever get into an NCAA again. We’d be in the also ran category.
 
I think it's pretty F-ing sad that this is our first ncaa tourney in 30 yrs and this is all our fanbase is talking out. Really deflates the magic out of it.

I blame Pike. The best I felt about the basketball team last year was right before Pike felt he needed to criticize Schiano for making contract demands. The attitude starts from the top - winning is not the focus. Extraneous bullshit is the focus and Geo has been sulking all season. These kids are worried about everything but winning.

Maybe you guys wouldn’t have your lives so negatively impacted by Geo’s tweets if you weren’t so stupidly focused on them and just watched the games?

You people are insufferable.
 
It’ll create super teams and a two tier system with basically pro college teams and everyone else. It benefits the heck for the college kids so I get why they like it but it’ll make it much less interesting when Duke and the rest just dominate always. I’m for them getting money but put up guard rails is all I’m saying or else Rutgers will never have a chance to ever get into an NCAA again. We’d be in the also ran category.

We have super teams now

Paying players directly is a bit different discussion but if it were to happen they aren’t going to spend more money than they have either. Eventually the value proposition will change. Clemson can’t pay the 85th most important player on the roster more than Baylor can pay their 10th most important player
 
Who cares, you know it's possible for him to feel strongly about this and play his heart out Friday.
This! They likely have a lot of free time. So he is taking some time to tweet something. I do not see how this will affect his or his teams play.

I don't totally agree with his view on this. His ship itself it worth over $120k. Everything else that goes along with it would make it worth closer to $200k. That's not chump change, but some of the rules where kids are not allowed to work at paid jobs in the off season is insane. They should also get more of a stipend for spending money. It is not a problem if the kid has parents that can give him money if he wants to take a girl to the movies or go to a restaurant for diner, but many kids don't have parents that are in a position to do that.

Back in the 70's, RU had a walk-on football player that was offered a football scholarship after his freshman year. He turned it down because he would have to give up his job as a barber. He made enough money to cover his college costs working as Barber and still had plenty of money to do most of whatever else he wanted to do. Most of the players on the team at that time did not have enough money to get themselves a snack in the evening if they were hungry. Players were basically paupers.

The NCAA changed the rules a few years ago where training table and food can be provided past the usual 3 meals a day, but many kids don't have any money for anything else. I don't agree with a salary, but I do think that the NCAA should pride a bigger spending money stipend and allow players to earn money at jobs when it is off season.
 
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At the end of the day the argument comes down to the fact that their are systemic injustices with the current model. Player + University creates tangible value. University can monetize this without restriction and transfer this value to coaches, administrators and others that support the real asset (the players). Player in essence must surrender their identity for that education (which in essence is a violation of Sherman antitrust). Some do not want to acknowledge that and do not want status quo interrupted (shoutout to Mark Emmert), as then the balance of power would shift ever so slightly. Are we just afraid the entire house of cards comes tumbling down? Are their other undertones to this debate? We are ok with Calipari & K cashing checks at every turn & Athletic depts outsourcing agencies to further monetize these 'programs' (hi IMG! - or Michigan State Bball presented by Rocket Mortgage), but lets all get up in arms for allowing a kid to make a couple grand leveraging their identity & skills they have worked their entire life building.

you make good points and I think you are on to something when you say that we are worried the entire house of cards comes tumbling down. Geo is not wrong in his argument, but I think the consequences of the move is what people are worried about including myself. On the other hand, maybe all that will happen is that donor money will be allocated from facilities, coaches and salaries/buyouts to the players. May not be such a bad thing. The arms race is kind of ridiculous.
Geo may be winning me over here...lol
 
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Everyone gets to play in the free market capitalism game except those creating the value. I get it now...

No one is stopping him from going out and making a living in basketball. He just can't do it in college. There are many other avenues.
 
We have super teams now

Paying players directly is a bit different discussion but if it were to happen they aren’t going to spend more money than they have either. Eventually the value proposition will change. Clemson can’t pay the 85th most important player on the roster more than Baylor can pay their 10th most important player
Not the college paying the players directly. But you could easily have a basketball player give a speech or host to camp and a donor pays a half $1 million to host at camp or that speech wink wink. Who has the richest donors that care the most about basketball and football Duke Oklahoma Alabama etc. You create 20 teams that are basically the Yankees of college sports and then everybody else that system sounds like it sucks
 
Why can’t these players go play in the G league and then go to school as an academic to get their degree? Clearly they can get paid but then they would have to pay their own way through college. Wouldn’t that be another solution?

Not all, but many of these players across the board would never get into college if not for sports. At least not the ones they are in.
 
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You mean he doesn’t share your views.
No, Ive actually dm’d with him back and forth. He actually dm’d me first out of the blue without me even talking with him on twitter. He’s not very informed on a lot of the topics he talks about. He claims to be naive about it but thats just a cover up for not wanting to take the medicine of his news sources being trash aka tweets of randoms and celebs
 
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I blame Pike. The best I felt about the basketball team last year was right before Pike felt he needed to criticize Schiano for making contract demands. The attitude starts from the top - winning is not the focus. Extraneous bullshit is the focus and Geo has been sulking all season. These kids are worried about everything but winning.
I don’t have a problem with a lot of what Geo says. I have a problem that a couple of the players who are doing it are players who sulked and gave half-assed efforts during a chunk of the season. Perhaps they resented their treatment and it affected their play. It will be interesting to see whether we bring energy tomorrow or whether we quit right out of the gate, like we have in half of our games recently.

I do blame Pike for not asking players
to focus entirely on the game instead of all these distractions, but I always thought Pike would rather avoid conflict at all costs and try to be their friend anyway.
 
And yours and others words on Geo Baker aren't personal attacks? Good lord.

Several comments have been made about Geo's family in this thread and others and they are allowed to stand.

It's despicable but totally unsurprising because the comments come from the usual suspect posters whose ability to rant and rave is held as more important than everything.
 
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But coaches, schools, outside agencies all can exploit and monetize it...hmmm

Geo is eligible to be a coach or go work for "an outside agency". No one is forcing him to play college basketball and accept the rules set forth. Go be a professional, which I really hope he does.

Another reason why Rutgers can never have nice things.
 
Wow! Here are those undertones I referenced earlier!

Facts. No undertones, whatever you are trying to insinuate. Athletes across the board have different entry standards than that of regular students. Why? So they can get into a school. These are indisputable facts.
 
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Geo probably is coming back. Particularly if his movement takes off and the NCAA changes their tune by July 2021, as his group is advocating for. If his group achieves success, he will be elected head of the NCAA player's union!!!! GO RU!!!
 
Outside the "shut up and dribble" handful of posters who have exactly the hot takes you'd expect, Geo and the team have the overwhelming support of the RU community. and sports community at large

It's no surprise to see who wants to cancel Geo.

It's no surprise to see who says "whY nO foCus" as they screech on a message board while Geo and the team sit locked in a hotel room they can only leave practice.

Yes, perhaps Geo should have to sit and look at a wall and think about Clemson and not touch his phone because his opinion may trigger people who think his life is a cakewalk.

I want to thank Geo, thank the whole team, for everything they do on and off the court. As a proud alum, they represent us well. Thank you gentlemen.
 
We have a crowd here who loves the student-athlete model, but then when that student-athlete acts like a student and calls out the hypocrisy of the situation and tries to drive reform, then everyone wants them to just go back to being just athletes and shush. This is exactly the behavior I want to see from student athletes! Keep going Geo.
 
It’ll create super teams and a two tier system with basically pro college teams and everyone else. It benefits the heck for the college kids so I get why they like it but it’ll make it much less interesting when Duke and the rest just dominate always. I’m for them getting money but put up guard rails is all I’m saying or else Rutgers will never have a chance to ever get into an NCAA again. We’d be in the also ran category.

exactly, we are ranked pretty low in terms of alumni donations.
 
Come on guys. Enough already. This year brought everything to a head. They didn’t sign up initially for the lock down or for March Madness to be the bubble experience it’s going to be. Seniors like Geo are left with a crummy decision - have this be the final chapter of their college experience (a season without fans and isolated from family) or return next season and lose a year of earning potential for you and your family (staying in school means one less year of earning money playing basketball in aggregate). He’s fighting for another option which would allow him to return to RU and make some money at the same time. Why is everyone so angry?
 
WOW.. this thing blew up fast!

The real issue is FRAUD.

A rich basketball program like UNC, Kentucky, Duke (or just schools with giant athletic revenues like Bama and the SEC elite) .. could just have boosters pay huge $$$ for name and likeness use of their athletes. Other programs could not. Heck, Liberty U could do it.

Within 3 years the whole idea of "competition" would be a tier of programs that pay their athletes and then everyone else.

Even if it were one item they could sell with their name and likeness.. say, a signed photo. The cheating programs would make sure their stars sold a lot of photos. Big boosters would have cases of them in the garage.. or trash.. if they ever received them.

Athletes would go where they could be paid.

And the star athletes would be paid more.

Pretty soon you'd have animosity and avarice within a team. Side deals could be made to make each other stars... pass it to me and I'll pass it to you. Don't give the highly paid star any chance to get paid more.

A school like Gonzaga became a big name because of the long-view path they took. That is.. playing a lot of 5th-year seniors. Now that they are a name, they can attract star athletes who don't need to be 5th-year seniors to compete at the top.

Stories like that are why NCAA basketball is so popular. Any kind of paid-athlete system would have to be uniform across all the teams. Then.. if it is a new kind of professional league... we'd have to have a DRAFT of HS players.

Geo might be upset he cannot profit off his name and likeness.. but the reason NCAA basketball is so popular is because of the fair competition. I know it has flaws.. teams cheating.. boosters paying players.

Geo wants to profit? Then we need a draft.
 
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Yea and who is this moron "college basketball guru" Rothstein to just tell Geo to shut and ball? Rothstein has one of the world's easiest jobs for which he gets paid a king's ransom. Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't he just a no hoops experience lucky clown who collects a fat paycheck to talk about college hoops teams? He's telling Geo to be grateful? Get some perspective Rothstein!!!!! #NotRothsteinProperty #NotNCAAProperty
 
I like Geo. He seems like a good guy. He hasn't gotten into trouble here, and he's had some really nice moments on the basketball court. I don't begrudge these kids using social media to build their brand, discuss social issues, etc. I have 2 teenagers and that's how they live now. It's not personally something I do, and I don't necessarily agree with everything that they (or he) has to say, but that's ok. I don't want everyone to have the some view point that I do.

With that said, IMO, there is little doubt that Geo has been dedicating time and attention this year to things other than basketball. I wish he spent every second living and breathing basketball, but people evolve (and that's never a bad thing). I appreciate the platform he has today may not be there next week. At the same time, there is no doubt that this is more than simply a tweet to him. It is taking his time and attention away from other things, which very likely includes basketball. To say otherwise ignores our own experiences whatever they may be.
 
It’ll create super teams and a two tier system with basically pro college teams and everyone else. It benefits the heck for the college kids so I get why they like it but it’ll make it much less interesting when Duke and the rest just dominate always. I’m for them getting money but put up guard rails is all I’m saying or else Rutgers will never have a chance to ever get into an NCAA again. We’d be in the also ran category.
Why would anyone at that point watch inferior pro players?
 
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