Kreweallons.com

[leeman]

https://kreweallons.com/ Ok, How do you feel about this? I've been a yearly donor to RCAF since day 1. Now they want us,......... "the few of us", to give to individual players? That's a tough sell. I don't envy the employees hired to promote this. They have a tough job ahead of them. UTAH is giving a $60,000 truck to every football player on scholarship. I know it's a nationwide thing that is probably here to stay, but man does it sting. I personally hate the Idea of players getting paid and I know some will disagree. In the end, I'll probably have to split my RCAF donation and give to each. I'm just trying to do my part but man it sucks. I will always be a supporter and I hope others will also give what they can even though it hurts. It should NOT hurt to give. That's what makes me feel sick about this. Ciao

[jaxmc1023]

John's doing great work and his enthusiasm for the project is undeniable, but I agree he's got a steep hill to climb.

It was pretty much assumed that job one for the collective was retaining Zeon, and we were able to put together the best offer we've ever come up with... and it still wasn't enough.

Worse yet - you can assume that we will have to outbid other teams, because the opportunity to play better competition in front of 30-40k is hard to pass up

[Cajuns1]

The difference is with John, he will take a $10 donation. And he’ll be doing some pretty cool stuff that will make for some nice experiences for the money you give.

[CajunJack55]

https://kreweallons.com/ Ok, How do you feel about this? I've been a yearly donor to RCAF since day 1. Now they want us,......... "the few of us", to give to individual players? That's a tough sell. I don't envy the employees hired to promote this. They have a tough job ahead of them. UTAH is giving a $60,000 truck to every football player on scholarship. I know it's a nationwide thing that is probably here to stay, but man does it sting. I personally hate the Idea of players getting paid and I know some will disagree. In the end, I'll probably have to split my RCAF donation and give to each. I'm just trying to do my part but man it sucks. I will always be a supporter and I hope others will also give what they can even though it hurts. It should NOT hurt to give. That's what makes me feel sick about this. Ciao

I recommend you listen to John on the last Ragin Review pod.

[Cajunrunner]

Sorry, I'm just at the point right now where I'm disgusted with the whole damn thing. Especially when the no-sit portal is part of the equation.

Honestly debating whether to be part of the RCAF any more, or just split my pennies into giving directly to baseball, softball and track & field.

[zeppelincajun]

I’ll reiterate what Jack said that folks should go listen to John on the RR pod. Particularly the episode after Chriss left. I get people are extremely upset we weren’t able to keep Zeon, but as John says in the episode, UL is about 18 months behind in the NIL game. This is no fault to John, as he didn’t get here until this year. At more proactive places, these collectives were being started back in 2021.

I think the largely negative view of NIL as it relates to UL athletics will be one of the biggest challenges John and his team have to overcome, along with playing catch up. Think about this: the first NIL offseason for football happened in the same year for all schools (after the 2021 season). It didn’t hit each program in the same stage of its growth though. At UL we had just experienced our highest of highs. First conference title in forever, 3 straight 10 win seasons, NFL talent left and right, first coach ever to prove UL isn’t a graveyard for football coaches, etc. etc. Then…boom…we’re quickly plunged to a low point where our entire staff down to the videographer was gutted and a mass exodus of our best players occurred. The whole debacle after Napier’s departure is UL fans’ first real impression of the NIL. Even the parts of the situation that NIL didn’t affect, like hiring a coach many were unenthused with, are linked in memory to our first impressions of NIL.

Contrast this to a place like McNeese. John mentioned their NIL collective was started with seed money of $500K. Football wise McNeese is in maybe its darkest days ever. Certainly since I’ve been alive. I’m sure they’ve lost a couple guys to NIL, but I’d bet it’s nothing compared to here, as frankly how many guys off of 1-3 win teams are in high demand. Even if they do lose a few, how disheartening can it be when you have really no further to fall anyway? For people in Lake Charles, their first big public impression of the NIL is Will Wade coming to town and McNeese being able to buy him the most talented roster that’s worn Cowboys jerseys in 20 years. It’s easy to see why attitudes would be more positive in a place like that.

I get why people here are negative about the whole situation. I don’t envy John. I’m not a salesman, but I would have to imagine there’s an added layer of difficulty when you are selling something that people are already view negatively as opposed to neutrally. I hope he’s up to the challenge, and from every interaction I’ve seen, I think he is. I hope our fans will at least take the position like Leeman. Even if it doesn’t sound great now, give it a chance. At least reach out to John. The guy wants to hear from people. He gave out his cell phone number on the pod. We’ve begged for people like that to be associated with Ragin Cajuns athletics for a long time. The least we could do when we’ve finally got one is give him a shot.

[Cajunrunner]

I’ll reiterate what Jack said that folks should go listen to John on the RR pod. Particularly the episode after Chriss left. I get people are extremely upset we weren’t able to keep Zeon, but as John says in the episode, UL is about 18 months behind in the NIL game. This is no fault to John, as he didn’t get here until this year. At more proactive places, these collectives were being started back in 2021.

I think the largely negative view of NIL as it relates to UL athletics will be one of the biggest challenges John and his team have to overcome, along with playing catch up. Think about this: the first NIL offseason for football happened in the same year for all schools (after the 2021 season). It didn’t hit each program in the same stage of its growth though. At UL we had just experienced our highest of highs. First conference title in forever, 3 straight 10 win seasons, NFL talent left and right, first coach ever to prove UL isn’t a graveyard for football coaches, etc. etc. Then…boom…we’re quickly plunged to a low point where our entire staff down to the videographer was gutted and a mass exodus of our best players occurred. The whole debacle after Napier’s departure is UL fans’ first real impression of the NIL. Even the parts of the situation that NIL didn’t affect, like hiring a coach many were unenthused with, are linked in memory to our first impressions of NIL.

Contrast this to a place like McNeese. John mentioned their NIL collective was started with seed money of $500K. Football wise McNeese is in maybe its darkest days ever. Certainly since I’ve been alive. I’m sure they’ve lost a couple guys to NIL, but I’d bet it’s nothing compared to here, as frankly how many guys off of 1-3 win teams are in high demand. Even if they do lose a few, how disheartening can it be when you have really no further to fall anyway? For people in Lake Charles, their first big public impression of the NIL is Will Wade coming to town and McNeese being able to buy him the most talented roster that’s worn Cowboys jerseys in 20 years. It’s easy to see why attitudes would be more positive in a place like that.

I get why people here are negative about the whole situation. I don’t envy John. I’m not a salesman, but I would have to imagine there’s an added layer of difficulty when you are selling something that people are already view negatively as opposed to neutrally. I hope he’s up to the challenge, and from every interaction I’ve seen, I think he is. I hope our fans will at least take the position like Leeman. Even if it doesn’t sound great now, give it a chance. At least reach out to John. The guy wants to hear from people. He gave out his cell phone number on the pod. We’ve begged for people like that to be associated with Ragin Cajuns athletics for a long time. The least we could do when we’ve finally got one is give him a shot.

You are right about John. Folks like he and Jaci Russo have pushed to try to help Cajuns athletics remain competitive in recruiting and retaining athletes in this new NIL era.

I don't have a negative view of what John is going. I just personally, as a fan, dislike the whole entire thing that college football has evolved into.

That said, I like what John is trying to do, and if I were ever in town during one of the Dragos event things, I'd likely swing by and purchase a couple drinks for it, knowing the proceeds help the effort.

[CajunEXPRESS]

https://kreweallons.com/ Ok, How do you feel about this? I've been a yearly donor to RCAF since day 1. Now they want us,......... "the few of us", to give to individual players? That's a tough sell. I don't envy the employees hired to promote this. They have a tough job ahead of them. UTAH is giving a $60,000 truck to every football player on scholarship. I know it's a nationwide thing that is probably here to stay, but man does it sting. I personally hate the Idea of players getting paid and I know some will disagree. In the end, I'll probably have to split my RCAF donation and give to each. I'm just trying to do my part but man it sucks. I will always be a supporter and I hope others will also give what they can even though it hurts. It should NOT hurt to give. That's what makes me feel sick about this. Ciao

Nobody should donate to anything that they don’t want to. I’d suggest you donate to the RCAF, and more specifically to exactly what you want to support.

[CajunEXPRESS]

NIL and Transfer Portal are the new realities of college sports. Many people are done with college sports.

[bbhstiger5]

https://kreweallons.com/ Ok, How do you feel about this? I've been a yearly donor to RCAF since day 1. Now they want us,......... "the few of us", to give to individual players? That's a tough sell. I don't envy the employees hired to promote this. They have a tough job ahead of them. UTAH is giving a $60,000 truck to every football player on scholarship. I know it's a nationwide thing that is probably here to stay, but man does it sting. I personally hate the Idea of players getting paid and I know some will disagree. In the end, I'll probably have to split my RCAF donation and give to each. I'm just trying to do my part but man it sucks. I will always be a supporter and I hope others will also give what they can even though it hurts. It should NOT hurt to give. That's what makes me feel sick about this. Ciao

Athletes are not grateful for anything anymore. It’s not enough they get a free education, free resources, live rent free, free nutrition centers, etc. We are just breeding more entitlement - one of the many reasons I don’t care for NFL - it’s no longer about the game or about sportsmanship. But money rules the world and enslaves everyone, rich or poor.

[Clutch0364]

I personally will never donate to a collective. I agree with NIL and players being able to use their name, image and likeness but not what it has become. These kids should be able to get sponsorships, do ads for companies and use their name for a clothing line or YouTube page/podcast, etc but not basically handed money through contracts.

My days of investing in college athletics are close to being completely over. Unless major changes happen, it’s just not worth it for me. I’ll watch the Cajuns but I’m past the time of caring like I have in the past.

[leeman]

I recommend you listen to John on the last Ragin Review pod.

This is exactly why i posted. I listened to Ragin
Review interview with John Aiken and I was informed about the NIL which I had a limited idea about. Now I am an informed patron and will give money to the cause. Thanks John for what you do. Hopefully many others will decide to donate to the collective. https://kreweallons.com/

[ManAboutTown]

All I know is, “we all we got.” No one is coming to save our program. The admin is not here to protect it. Athletic admin is here to advance themselves, not our community. We’ll have to do it ourselves.

Aiken is more closely aligned to everyday fan. NIL, like it or not, will determine our product on the field.

The RCAF is a disaster and I stopped giving to the general fund (from my personal accounts) a couple years ago. I now only give to specific initiatives. I will be allocating money that used to go to GF now to NIL. I would rather pay a few grand to guys like Aiken that have the hustle and understand their purpose than a bunch of stubborn know-it-alls hell bent on wasting my money paying mediocre professionals like Marlin to drive our programs into irrelevance.

[leeman]

I personally will never donate to a collective. I agree with NIL and players being able to use their name, image and likeness but not what it has become. These kids should be able to get sponsorships, do ads for companies and use their name for a clothing line or YouTube page/podcast, etc but not basically handed money through contracts.

My days of investing in college athletics are close to being completely over. Unless major changes happen, it’s just not worth it for me. I’ll watch the Cajuns but I’m past the time of caring like I have in the past.

Ok, I respect your decision but, If everyone thought like you we would not have an athletic program period. The NCAA needs to get their sh$t together and figure out a plan that satisfies everyone, not just the big money universities.

[cajun4life]

https://kreweallons.com/ Ok, How do you feel about this? I've been a yearly donor to RCAF since day 1. Now they want us,......... "the few of us", to give to individual players? That's a tough sell. I don't envy the employees hired to promote this. They have a tough job ahead of them. UTAH is giving a $60,000 truck to every football player on scholarship. I know it's a nationwide thing that is probably here to stay, but man does it sting. I personally hate the Idea of players getting paid and I know some will disagree. In the end, I'll probably have to split my RCAF donation and give to each. I'm just trying to do my part but man it sucks. I will always be a supporter and I hope others will also give what they can even though it hurts. It should NOT hurt to give. That's what makes me feel sick about this. Ciao

Every athlete at Utah, not just football player.