Corn Flakes: Mizzou Protests - How Will They Affect Other Campuses?

I don't know if you've been paying attention to what's been happening at the University of Missouri this week. I found what's been going on pretty fascinating at least from the "What will happen to Mizzou" perspective.

You probably know the university president and chancellor of both resigned over the protests. There's been a lot of controversy over the subject about whether or not the racial incidents that prompted the protests really happened. That and the fact that the student who started a hunger strike is not from a deprived family but in fact from a pretty wealthy family, although that sounds like we're saying that someone from wealth has no right to protest about anything.

I realize this is a sensitive subject. I also realize I have no right to speak about the racial incidents because I'm not black and I'm not from Missouri nor did I attend the University of Missouri. I cannot speak as to whether racism is prominent on the campus or not. Since it is a sensitive subject I'll ask you to be careful in the comment section and not become too political and be respectful of other people's views.

In a broader sense, there is a disturbing trend in today's world in that it takes so little to outrage us; for us to be offended. Social media has made it so that any whack job to make any stupid statement no matter how outrageous or idiotic it may be and it's taken at some sign that this is a reflection of humanity as a whole.

It seems as if we're willing to allow madmen to control our lives. We continually find incidents where someone is threatening someone's else's life on twitter and we are continually outraged by them despite the fact that we know that they're going to continue because there truly are some people who just want to see the world burn. We know this yet we're outraged and I believe it's because we want to be outraged. We enjoy it, probably a little too much.

These last two paragraphs aren't about the University of Missouri incidents but about our current society in general and they are the reason why my recent attitude toward social media is that it's a shithole that's best to be avoided.

Two specific areas about what's happening at Mizzou interest me.

As I stated before, one of those is "What will happen to Mizzou". It will be very interesting to see what effect this has on the University of Missouri in the future. Will this make students more willing to attend the University or less? Will make it easier for Missouri to attract good professors or less? If you are a Mizzou alum or about to become a graduate, do you think your diploma will be worth more or less (and you probably have all that student loan debt to pay)?

Also of interest is what happened with the football team. A student at Missouri started a hunger strike but it appears in the protest was not taken seriously until the football team threatened to not play its game this weekend against BYU. Whether or not Missouri plays BYU is inconsequential. Mizzou is going to get killed either way because they're a crappy football team. Whether or not it would cost them $1 million to get out of the game; who cares, it's not our money.

What I wonder about is how much this newfound power of student athletes will spread to other campuses. I think it's a stretch to imagine that any high-performing team will perform any sort of protest like this because they don't want to cost themselves a shot at a championship or bowl game because we like to have nice things. That doesn't mean that your good team won't find itself in a bind because another crappy team suddenly decides they aren't going to play that weekend.

Whether these protests have any substance doesn't matter, in a way, it's what people do with their newfound power that will be interesting to watch going forward. College football is making more money than ever while at the same time student athletes have more power than ever. NCAA is under attack from multitudes of lawsuits while the next round of TV contracts hangs in the balance.

We are potentially on the verge of exploding college football and having to rebuild it all from the ground up. We certainly live in interesting times.

Stuff

The 11th Day of the 11th Month - Off Tackle Empire

I have talked to old men who were on battlefields during that minute. They have told me in one way or another that the sudden silence was the Voice of God. So we still have among us some men who...

Nice piece on Veteran's Day.

Maryland football relies on bonding, competition in final stretch of miserable season - Testudo Times
The Terrapins are 2-7, out of postseason play and on a six-game losing streak. But they're staying upbeat, they say, through close bonds and a love for competition.

Want to see a Maryland basketball game this year? It'll cost you. - Testudo Times
Maryland basketball tickets are going for an average of $71 on secondary markets, up from $49 at this time last season, according to a new market analysis.

Why college football is the greatest sport on the planet - On the Banks
Yesterday, our very own Dave White wrote about college hoops being better than college football. It struck a nerve and I felt the need to write my own opinion.

Twitter Reacts to the Hiring of Tracy Claeys as Head Coach - The Daily Gopher
Several past, present and future Gophers voiced their support for the new head coach via Twitter.

Film Session: How to Beat the Ohio State Buckeyes - The Champaign Room
So you're saying there's a chance... an

Vic Law injury: What losing Law means for Northwestern - Inside NU
The Wildcats will miss his versatility on both ends of the floor.

This Week In Schadenfreude, in which Michigan State needs to leave for the ACC - SBNation.com

refs suck i will watch no more college football until they execute these refs.

This would really make the noon Big Ten game more exciting, I'll admit.

I'm never not laughing at these things despite us being the butt of them a couple times this season.

Nebraska

Time to Join Growing Husker Fanbase - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site
I walked into Jeff Griesch's office with an easy question: How tough can it be to sell Nebraska women's basketball season tickets when a once-in-a-generation athlete chooses to play in her home state?

Huskers Sign Third Straight Top 15 Class - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site
A solid group of five 2016 high school seniors including a pair of top 100 national recruits gave the Nebraska women's basketball team its third consecutive top-15 recruiting class, Coach Connie Yori announced on Wednesday.

Huskers Sign Seven Standout Student-Athletes - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site
Seven talented student-athletes have signed National Letters of Intent to join the Nebraska softball team next fall, Head Coach Rhonda Revelle announced on Wednesday, Nov. 11.

Nebraska Cornhuskers: Three Point-Shooting Key To The Huskers' Success - BT Powerhouse
They were not a very good three-point shooting team last year, they shot 28.4 percent from deep, which was last in the Big Ten.

Michigan State, Nebraska trade accusations about dirty play | FOX Sports
There are no holding calls anymore.

Spartans' Shilique Calhoun: 'Dirty play' threw me off at Nebraska
And Nebraska's defensive coordinator says the Michigan State offensive line was 'filthy' with all of its holding.

Nebraska 39, Michigan State 38: The football universe makes a course correction - Football Study Hall
After all that's happened this year -- NU suffering tons of gut-wrenching finishes, State beating Michigan the way it did -- perhaps this game was just the universe making an Apollo 13-esque course correction.

Numbers to Know: Nebraska-Rutgers
Numbers rarely tell the whole story but they are frequently interesting. Here are a few to consider ahead of Saturday’s Nebraska-Rutgers game.

The Secrets Behind Nebraska Football Technology
The Husker Football department, staff, and players have a rich history of utilizing different tools to help that succeed on the field.