- 2 days ago
Gopowercat.com's Tim Fitzgerald rolls in to talk everything from The "College Act" circus to the TBT.
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00:00Digging deeper with the teams you follow, it's another Sports Daily Insider interview on KFH.
00:07And we welcome you back in, and we welcome in Tim Fitzgerald, our K-State Insider, publisher, gopowercat.com, at
00:14lifeoffits on social.
00:17Fitz, how are you this morning?
00:18I'm good. You know what?
00:20In this show, I never know who's going to be hosting when I make my weekly appearance, but it's like
00:27a roulette of people that I like.
00:30Well, that's better than people that you don't like.
00:32We're moving to three hours, Fitz, starting in August.
00:36Sorry, we're moving from 8 to 11, I should say.
00:40So we'll talk off the air about maybe getting you a few extra bonus minutes of sleep.
00:46But we've got Brady in here. We were just talking about this.
00:49I don't know how much you're following the legislative process, Fitz, on this college sports bill.
00:56I assume some.
00:57Tommy Tuberville basically tore it down to the studs and made his own, which is focused on only three things
01:06and not everything else.
01:07The five-in-five part, the one-time exception, the one-time transfer for free part, and giving the NCAA
01:17back some enforcement teeth and saying everything else we don't need to be involved with.
01:23I've seen a lot of people who I only can imagine probably don't align with Tommy Tuberville a whole lot
01:29that say this is the right way to go about this.
01:32Have you seen it? What do you think about it?
01:34I have not seen it.
01:37To be honest, I've been a little distracted by some other stuff, but that sounds pretty good.
01:42I mean, I think there's some larger problems that have to be addressed.
01:47But I agree with this.
01:50I don't think it's the government's place to address it.
01:52Let's figure this out as the NCAA.
01:56I mean, it's like they refuse to accept the fact that student-athletes deserve their own voice, their own input
02:06on stuff.
02:08That's been the problem.
02:10That's been what these court cases are about.
02:14And because they refuse to recognize that, it's just spun out of control.
02:19And as soon as they want to come to the table and say, okay, we need some kind of organization
02:24to represent the student-athletes in these negotiations,
02:27and let's figure this out because this is, in the end, it's not good for the student-athletes
02:32because it might be great for the ones that are right now, but if the system breaks, it's a disaster.
02:38So, yeah, I kind of like the very bare-bones approach here.
02:44Instead of making it too complicated, make it simple and try to fix some of it, not all of it.
02:51I'm not sure as far as looking at the bare-bones part of it.
02:55You know, Senator Tuberville is kind of saying, like, you know, we're just trying to get to this part, strip
03:00it down, bare-bones.
03:01But him being an SEC guy and knowing how much to protect College Sports Act looks into the revenue sharing
03:08when it comes to the SEC and Big Ten with the other power conferences,
03:13or the other two power conferences, to me it just seems like, ah, I feel like that's maybe more the
03:19reason to get away from that part
03:20because I'm sure he has a lot of folks in his ear telling him, like, hey, we don't want to,
03:24a lot of SEC folks, Big Ten folks telling him, like,
03:26well, we don't want to, let's get that sharing part, the revenue out of that.
03:30Let's just strip it down to the transfer thing and go with that.
03:34I feel like that's more the motivation on it as far as stripping it down and going with something simple,
03:39even though I do agree with maybe going with that simple approach.
03:43But to me, just knowing the language when it comes to revenue sharing with the SEC and Big Ten, I
03:49wonder if that's part of it as well.
03:51Oh, I agree.
03:52I'm sure he's looking out for the SEC's interest.
03:54But here's where I'm going to depart from maybe the norm in this area and maybe what people might think.
04:01I've got no problem with uneven revenue.
04:04I don't.
04:05It's part of the marketplace.
04:08What I have opposition to is then trying to bend the rules to make it even more so, to put
04:17them at even a huger advantage.
04:19Or is it more huge advantage?
04:21I don't know.
04:23That, you know, they already have.
04:25Look, the SEC is the most valuable football conference in the country.
04:30I'm never going to argue against that because of the depth.
04:34I think the Big Ten is better at the top, but they don't have the depth.
04:37They don't have the support that you see at some of the institutions that aren't successful in the SEC and
04:43yet still have great support and pull pretty decent ratings.
04:46So I have no problem with uneven revenue distribution as long as it's based on the market and not just
04:55kind of skewed more and more to build the SEC into its own entity.
05:01I want the good health of all of college football, not of one conference.
05:05And we're in a mode where we're really looking out for each individual conference.
05:08Yeah, I'm with you.
05:09We share a brain on that, Fitz.
05:11I don't care that the SEC makes more money.
05:14It doesn't bother me at all.
05:15They're more valuable.
05:16I don't think we need to make it.
05:17And if we do need to make it more equitable, it won't be because the government says we do.
05:23It'll be because the industry says that's what needs to be done to make it healthier.
05:30I do think that the one pushback I've seen from people against Tuberville's version and most of the people, you
05:37know, whether it be national writers or coaches or whatever, have said, yeah, that's probably the right path.
05:43The people that don't agree, though, say that bill wouldn't do enough to protect the other sports like that'd be
05:49a great bill if we were just talking about, you know, football and basketball.
05:53But it doesn't help the others enough, but that I have a hard time with that because I want those
05:59other sports to survive and thrive and do all the things, too.
06:02But I guess that to your last point comes down to the question of is it the marketplace's job or
06:08the government's job to protect Olympic sports on college campuses and their viability?
06:15Well, I think it's definitely not the marketplace's job as cold hearted as that is.
06:23Because the marketplace doesn't support it, never has.
06:26No, no, it hasn't.
06:27It hasn't.
06:28And I think the government needs to protect opportunities of, you know, that's what Title IX does.
06:37It protects opportunity, does not protect outcome.
06:42It makes sure that, you know, both sexes have equal opportunities of college athletics.
06:48I'm all for that.
06:50But that doesn't mean there's equal results either.
06:56So I'm not certainly not saying abolish the sports, but if the marketplace can't support what it has to right
07:04now, then I think the universities have to make adjustments to that.
07:08And if they decide to go all in on football and screw tennis and swimming and anything else, that's their
07:14decision, I guess.
07:16But there should also be hopefully a price to be paid from the marketplace for that.
07:21We'll see.
07:22We'll just see how it works out.
07:24Yeah, it's a good point as far as those sports are concerned because that's another part of it.
07:29I mean, gosh, Spitz, I mean, the more we talk about this sort of stuff, the more I start to
07:34just lean towards, like, can we just make college football and basketball like its own thing and have its own
07:40rules?
07:40I agree.
07:41Because it's just to the point where we're trying to say, like, well, we need to have all things equal,
07:46but it's not when it comes to college football, especially in college basketball, compared to, like, golf, the Olympic sports,
07:53et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
07:54It just feels like the more we go into the weeds on this, the more I feel like we need
07:59to separate them because there's no one size fits all for all college sports.
08:04I totally agree.
08:06I think one of the saving graces of college athletics will be the recognition that what we call the power
08:12four should apply to those sports that are generating the revenue, which in this case, for the most part, is
08:19football, men's basketball.
08:21You know, I think about women's basketball and softball and all that.
08:24But I think we need to arrive at the point where the other sports are playing in separate conferences.
08:31They're playing in regional conferences.
08:33There's no reason to be shipping your tennis team across the country for a meet when you have good tennis
08:40programs around you that just because their football program isn't in the power four doesn't mean their tennis program isn't
08:47in the power level of that sport.
08:49So start playing regional conferences in most of these sports.
08:53It's silly.
08:54It's absolutely absurd that they're spending this kind of money on travel.
08:59We can have one realm with two realms tucked inside of it.
09:03And I think that's where college athletics need to be.
09:06Tim Fitzgerald, go powercat.com, publisher with us.
09:09Can you believe that Purple Rain blew that lead last night, Fitz?
09:12It was a very K-State basketball move.
09:16I kind of thought, you know, even when it's magic make-believe basketball, K-State can still choke off a
09:24big lead in the final seconds.
09:25And that made me feel like the TBT is even more real than it is because I'm not a big
09:32fan of this whole event.
09:34Oh, I love it.
09:35You got to get in.
09:37You got to get in on it, Fitz.
09:38You didn't love watching Michael Beasley kiss a guy on the cheek?
09:42I did love that.
09:43I love watching Mike play.
09:48But it's just not my thing, guys.
09:51It's not my thing.
09:53If you're having to pay athletes to play on a TBT team, let's get your priorities right and go get
09:59an athlete.
09:59They're not having to pay them.
10:00They're playing for $2 million purse.
10:02It's like a true gamble.
10:04Like, you come in, you do it, win or take all.
10:07I don't think they're getting paid.
10:08I think they're only paid if they win, is the way I understand it.
10:13So it's not my thing.
10:16But I'm glad people enjoyed it.
10:17I loved watching Mike play.
10:20He just remains to be a fascinating guy.
10:24Totally.
10:24He's just got his own drummer out there and his own beat, and he's living by it.
10:29God bless him.
10:30He's a good soul.
10:31Fitz, one more for you here on the way out.
10:33Sorry, Brady.
10:33Casey Alexander talked as a part of the TBT.
10:36What did we learn?
10:37Anything?
10:39No.
10:40No.
10:41I mean, look, everyone's playing along, get along, but Casey Alexander's trying to build
10:47a program, and maybe having these guys around helps, but he's got a lot of work on his plate,
10:52and I think he's really focused on that.
10:56I'm looking forward to it.
10:58I'm looking forward to it.
10:59Oh, you know, going back to the TBT, I mean, the biggest thing I like about the TBT, I mean,
11:03it is fun, especially when you have a team just down the road with the aftershocks that
11:09win it all one year.
11:10But the greatest thing about the TBT is that it signals that, oh, NFL training camps right
11:16after.
11:17Ooh, preseason.
11:18Ooh, college football.
11:19We're almost there, Vince.
11:20They do park it at a perfect time.
11:22They really have done a marvelous job of picking the open in the schedule, something I don't
11:28think enough entities worry about, and they have filled that, and they get some air because
11:33of it, some oxygen.
11:34And it's an enjoyable little buildup.
11:38You're right, Brady.
11:39It's like a, it's the appetizer of the greatest things to come.
11:43What sorts of appetizers do you guys have at GoPowerCat.com?
11:48I assume some on what Casey Alexander and the players had to say earlier this week.
11:53As I go through medical treatments, Brian Gilbert has grabbed the helm of the daily delivery
11:58this week, talking about all things K-State basketball.
12:01We will turn to football a little bit as I power through another six plus weeks of these
12:09treatments.
12:09So the boys are kicking some butt, really filling in for me, but I can't miss my morning radio
12:16in Wichita.
12:17No, you can't.
12:17And if you're looking, and Fitz, of course, and I tell you this, and I know you don't need
12:21to hear it on the air, but we are pulling for you and thinking about you always.
12:25Brady does, he's been begging me to open packs of sports cards on the air.
12:31So if you, you know, if while you're in treatment, if you need a painkiller, I can have Brady
12:37video call you and you can watch him open packs of sports cards.
12:42Here's what makes these treatments especially miserable.
12:46They're wonderful.
12:47I'm doing hyperbaric chamber treatments.
12:49You can have no devices in there.
12:51I can't have a pen in our pencil and paper.
12:54I can't wear my socks deodorant in there because it turns out a hundred percent oxygen
13:00environments will just, you know, explode.
13:03So we don't want that.
13:04That's bad.
13:05So, yeah, it's pretty boring.
13:07I get to watch a TV mounted outside of my chamber, usually on HGTV.
13:13So I'll be able to hear home improvements.
13:16That's a good point.
13:17That's a good point.
13:19We can put it on that screen.
13:20Fitz alone with his thoughts is a scary thought.
13:24GoPowerCat.com.
13:25The boys are picking it up for Fitz.
13:27Fitz, hang in there.
13:29Six weeks is, it'll be the end of it before we know it.
13:31And you'll be right there for football season.
13:33Sounds good to me, boys.
13:35Good to talk to you.
13:36There goes Tim Fitzgerald, publisher.
13:37GoPowerCat.com.
13:40Always powering through.
13:41We appreciate that with Fitz.
13:43It's hopefully this brief appearance once a week helps him pass the time.
13:49All right.
13:51By the way, nice segue earlier on the whole appetizer thing.
13:55Speaking of appetizers.
13:56Well done, Jacob.
13:57Hey, no problem.
13:58That's what we're here for.
13:59That was pro.
14:00I learned that from our meteorologist every day when we're coming out of the
14:04most absurd story of the day into a weather crosstalk and watching that.
14:09Merrill Teller was the king of this.
14:11And so now, like, it's like, oh, hey, look at that squirrel was on jet skis.
14:16And speaking of jet skis, it'll be good wake lake weather out there today.
14:22There you go.
14:23That's how it's done.
14:24It's one of my favorite parts of the day every day on the air, on TV.
14:27All right.
14:28We'll come back.
14:28We got more Sports Daily.
14:29Don't go away.
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