This Week’s Obsession: Sitting Out the Bowl
[Bryon Houlgrave/The Register]
The question (posed by Brian):
Leonard Fournette sitting out the bowl game was one thing, since he might be injured. A hale and hearty Christian McCaffrey getting out of Dodge before the Sun Bowl seems like another. How do we feel about this?
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Seth: First let's take as a given that "hale and hearty" for a football player is relative.
Brian: I mean sure. I just kind of... I don't want to be Old Man Newspaper here but I find myself bothered by this despite being pretty woke about player compensation issues.
Ace: I’m totally fine with it. While McCaffrey may not be hurt, he’s carried a hell of a workload. 290 offensive touches this year, 385 last year, plus returns, and his teammates—at least publicly—are in full support.
This isn’t even the Rose Bowl like last year. It’s the Sun Bowl. If his teammates are cool with him missing a glorified exhibition to get ready to actually get paid for his work, I’m not one to argue.
Brian: Is there a line above which you would be bothered? Where is that line?
Ace: If there are stakes.
Brian: Okay, so Sun Bowl can GTFO. Citrus?
Ace: Honestly, I can understand a player of McCaffrey’s caliber skipping any non-playoff appearance.
Brian: Dude! So Stanford's in the Rose again and you're totally fine with him dropping his pants on An American Institution?
Ace: I don’t blame the kid for that. I blame him not getting paid. The incentives are all kinds of messed up. That’s not McCaffrey’s fault. Plus, the Rose Bowl will still have the parade and the bands at halftime and that gorgeous stadium. It’ll be fine.
Seth: There's also a place where you can be disappointed at the guy without treating him like he is violating the Constitution. One of the first things I noticed was the level of vitriol and who it was coming from. When you find yourself on the same side as the guy talking about the "me first" generation you wonder if you're on the right side.
Ace: I’ll admit part of my stance is predicted on always being on the other side of the people screaming “DAMN MILLENNIALS."
Brian: I do kind of like that it puts the NCAA's total lack of leverage on display.
But... I mean... if Peppers peaced out before the Orange Bowl you wouldn't be disappointed?
Ace: I’d be disappointed, sure, but I still wouldn’t get upset at Peppers about it.
Seth: Things like Wilton Speight and Devin Gardner playing against Ohio State, or Robot Chad Henne vs MSU, are extraordinary because that is a stupid decision they're making on our behalf. If that is the norm then why appreciate it? Gardner sitting out the Copper Bowl was a no-brainer, because it’s the Copper Bowl. Playing in The Game meant something, even at the end of a breakdown season, because it’s The Game.
Brian: I still like to think that there's a romantic THE TEAM THE TEAM THE TEAM heart to this. Ed Reed!
I think it would be shitty to your teammates.
[Hit THE JUMP for shattered dreams of kinds]
Ace: Joaquin said dominate. I love that stuff. But I think it’s important here that these guys have earned their teammates’ support. Like this.
Linwood finishes as the all-time leading rusher in school history with 4,213 yards but is ending his college career a game early after an up-and-down season in which he broke school records but was also suspended for "attitude issues" and lost his starting job.
Brian: That dude is making a suspension look good and probably shouldn't be a part of this conversation.
Ace: That’s being a shitty teammate. McCaffrey has toted the rock 600-some times over the last two years. His teammates understand.
Brian: Some do. I bet there's a number who are pretty irritated but not saying anything. Gotta be some Jim Harbaugh types on every football team.
Ace: While that may be the case, that doesn’t make them the reasonable ones. We’re talking about Jim Harbaugh types here.
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| To Dad from Kelly is on Amazon. |
Seth: So if you want to make a list of guys who are all about The Team that list would have to include Rob Lytle. Here I am holding a book that his son wrote which is basically a letter to say "What the fuck, Dad?"
We need to be cognizant of our biases. I don’t need anything from Christian McCaffrey but some entertainment if I turn on the Sun Bowl this year, but he’s got a lot of people to consider, some unborn, to whom a knee injury right now could substantially alter their lives.
Ace: I just go back to what McCaffrey’s accomplished versus what he could possibly accomplish in this game. Then add in the needless risk of exposing yourself to injury 20-30 times in a glorified exhibition right before you’re set to earn millions.
I think a big reason for the blowback is people don’t want to confront how dangerous football is, because that’s the only way this is a reasonable decision.
But it’s no coincidence these guys are all running backs.
Seth: And how All-or-Nothing your first NFL contract is at that position. One of the insights from Kelly in the above is that players call it the “Not for Long.”
Brian: I like the Jim Harbaugh types, though. I want putting on a winged helmet to mean something, and I like the fact that it's really difficult to imagine anyone on a Harbaugh team doing the same thing. Yes it's dangerous and unfair and McCaffrey is smart to be doing what he's doing. At some level I accept all that because Michigan is a thing to believe in, and I would think less of someone who chooses not to believe in it.
Life Is A Business is a shitty way to live.
cc: previous athletic director
Ace: It’s easier to say that when you're not the one taking 30 hits a game, though. McCaffrey played Life As A Football Player for three years. One business decision seems quite reasonable. Dude’s done damn near everything for that team. Dave Brandon had one mode and one mode only.
Adam: I think that it's possible to believe in the institution you represent and everything that comes with it and also make a business decision. I'd have a problem with guys shutting it down with three games to go in the regular season or something along those lines, but he's looking at what amounts to an exhibition and deciding that the risks outweigh the benefits. As the guy whose job is to take the piece of leather and run with it into the teeth of frighteningly large humans whose sole purpose is to stop him at all costs, I don't mind him sitting this one out.
Ace: I don’t think that diminishes what he’s done for Stanford, either, or what that represents. It diminishes the bowl games, and since those games are maybe the best example of how ludicrous the NCAA system is, I have very little issue with that.
Those guys in horrid pastel blazers can deal.
Seth: And Michigan is special. We are dismayed that we are going to the Orange Bowl right now. My rooting interest here until they change how the players are compensated is why would you want to go to Stanford when you can go somewhere where you wouldn't think about skipping your last game.
Plus McCaffrey personally eviscerated Iowa last year and could have gone to the NFL right then. This exhibition was on borrowed time.
BiSB: One other thing to consider: whether he sits or not, McCaffrey is obviously at a place where he is thinking about the draft way more than the Sun Bowl, and it's hard to blame him. With the amount of touches he's already gotten and his style, there's a really good chance his NFL dream doesn't survive a Jaylon Smith situation. And, like... Sun Bowl. So is it really that much worse for a guy to acknowledge that fact and sit out than it is to have him go out there and play to not get hurt? Does a 2016 Malik McDowell performance really honor his team and his teammates any better? If he isn't in a mental place to give 100%, I'd argue he shouldn't.
Ace: Good point. It’s hard to avoid that mindset when you’re in the process of vetting NFL agents, too.
Brian: In re: how to blow it up. This is my dream: both teams decide to start the game 15 minutes late. This would be easiest in basketball because there are so many fewer players and you can just walk over to the announce team and sit down and explain what and why you're doing it. Someone please do that.
Ace: That would be great. In the interim, I’m enjoying that players are realizing they hold more power than they’ve utilized in the past.
Brian: I'm not totally against McCaffrey's decision. I'm about 35% for, 65% against. Old Man Newspaper has spoken.
Ace: Your fedora is in the mail.
Brian: dammit
December 21st, 2016 at 3:05 PM ^
It's a lot easier to ask a guy to play one last time for old alma mater when old alma mater isn't squeezing every last dime out of its alumni and paying customers, isn't on TV every Saturday, hasn't been moved into a conference incongruent with its traditions and geography, and isn't coached by a guy making $8 million a year who'd leave old alma mater in five seconds if some other school offered to pay him $8.5 million per year.
There are certain norms that were in place that nobody really enforced, that made the whole amateur thing tenable (*) and those things are just no longer in place. They weren't "efficient" and therefore were probably always destined to end ... but end they have. They might have stayed if the business schoolish maxims of efficiency and value maximization hadn't permeated every last nook of society, but that's what happened and here we are.
(*) You can distill them down quite well by remembering Bo's decision not to go to Texas A&M.
December 21st, 2016 at 3:22 PM ^
December 21st, 2016 at 3:33 PM ^
December 21st, 2016 at 4:13 PM ^
Thank you. Curtis Martin admitted on many occasions he never liked football, New York, or the Jets and he ended up in the Hall of Fame. Not every player has a romanticized view of what college football should be. Some view it as a means to an end.
December 21st, 2016 at 10:21 PM ^
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December 21st, 2016 at 3:27 PM ^
I'm concerned about the slippery slope.
Sun Bowl? Who cares, knock yourself out. Why rrisk it. Give the young guys a chance.
Rose Bowl? Now I'm concerned. At a school like Michigan, you played your whole season for a chance at the Rose Bowl. Now it's in danger because "it's just a Bowl game, not the Playofff."
And what of the Playoff itself? It does not "pay" any more than the Rose Bowl does. You are still just playing for pride.
How strong is that pride versus the chance for $$$ Millions? Is there a Playoff firewall, or is that at risk too?
Where do you hit a point in a guy's last year in college where he checks out - literally or figuratively - to focus on the NFL $$$ ?
That line seems to be creeping back more every year.
December 21st, 2016 at 3:30 PM ^
I mean this without snark, but who cares? If a guy doesn't want to play anymore, then let him go. You don't think players "quit" on their team during the season already? You think Malik McDowell was injured all the time this year? We always see guys get "shut down" on losing teams, and some of these times are usually to protect their futures. It's not like fans throw money into a pot to pay for these guys' bills in the event they get hurt playing the sport.
If someone doesn't want to play in a bowl game, that isn't an issue. And if some guy is in the middle of the playoff and says "nope, I'm fine leaving", then he has to deal with the consequences but so be it. Maybe he loses a couple of spots in the draft, and that equates to millions of dollars. That's a "punishment" and maybe that dissuades other players from doing so. But Jaylon Smith played in a meaningless bowl last year and maybe lost $10M+ dollars, money he probably won't ever be able to recover. I know he said if he could do it again he'd play, but it's totally in the rights of a player to make that decision for himself.
December 21st, 2016 at 4:11 PM ^
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December 21st, 2016 at 6:30 PM ^
December 21st, 2016 at 9:21 PM ^
You know I'm one of your followers/fans. Can't go along with your theory about McDowell though. If that kid wasn't for real injured, he's one helluva actor. I think he wanted to go in and play. How would exaggerating injury do him any good anyway?
December 21st, 2016 at 9:33 PM ^
Honestly, I don't know how badly the guy is injured. I'm sure it's serious. But there is a theme in this comment section that guys need to play for the benefit of their team, and we've heard countless times of guys with broken bones and severe sprains coming out and playing for their team. I mean, it sounded like McDowell had a high-ankle sprain that limited his effectiveness. I personally don't think he owed it to anyone to play, and in a lost season him limping along doesn't help anyone. But guys do, and they get shots of painkillers, play limited snaps, whatever each week to help their teams win. But McDowell sat on the sidelines and tried to heal, likely protecting his health so that he could perform at the various combines and interviews with NFL teams.
My point is that there is this ever-moving target of "acceptable" reasons not to play football, and it seems highly subjective and full of feelingsballs by guys who sit at home and watch games on TV.
December 21st, 2016 at 9:55 PM ^
Thanks for explaining that, Bronx, it totally makes sense, and it's something I had not understood before.
December 21st, 2016 at 3:26 PM ^
I don't know why this is an issue. It's an exhibition game designed for guys who make $250k a year to wear suits and talk about branding, with a football game thrown in to fill 4 hours on ESPN. I don't blame a player at all for wanting to skip it, especially if the NCAA is going to prattle on about student-athletes and that being the reason why they can't be paid. Well, guess what; students skip stuff all the time, they leave school for jobs, etc. There are reprecussions, and these guys have to deal with whatever fallout they may have from teammates and coaches. But beyond that, what a bunch of people on the internet think about what they are doing and wrap it up in BS notions of "love of the game" or "honor and teamwork" are irrelevant and, in my opinion, insulting to people who actually have the ability to do so.
December 21st, 2016 at 8:48 PM ^
yes, yes. super agree with this. well said bronx.
particularly the part about the exhibition made by rich guys.
so much sanctimony on the thread...
December 21st, 2016 at 3:26 PM ^
"Seth: And Michigan is special. We are dismayed that we are going to the Orange Bowl right now. My rooting interest here until they change how the players are compensated is why would you want to go to Stanford when you can go somewhere where you wouldn't think about skipping your last game."
Im sorry, are you implying that yung hungry MICHIGAN MEN DURRR would never skip a bowl game because they play at such a fine institution? And that those bottom feeding scum sucking mother fuckers at a fourth tier school like Stanford have no idea what its like to play at a "special" place?
As a Michigan alum and huge fan, I find your take to be completely fucking stupid.
December 23rd, 2016 at 1:27 AM ^
No I mean orange nuggat plebian pesto, or at least that's closer than you got.
The implication is that Michigan (currently, we're all aware of the recent past) is one of a very small number of programs that will only rarely find itself in a bowl game that isn't meaningful.
Until this year Stanford, a school we recruit against often, could also make that claim. Bo used to be able to sell kids on if you come to Michigan you're gonna play in a bowl game. Lloyd used to tell kids you're gonna play on New Year's. Now there's 80+ teams that make it to a bowl, so what's special about it? Well obviously the Sun Bowl isn't the Holiday Bowl, which isn't an NY6 Bowl, which isn't the playoff. So yeah, if I'm recruiting for Michigan right now I'll tell a kid considering Stanford that his last game won't literally not be worth playing. In recruiting, when it's teenagers being asked to choose between barely dissimilar heavens, those little points make you special.
December 21st, 2016 at 3:29 PM ^
The team, the team, the team.
I don't agree with anything that Ace said here.
December 21st, 2016 at 3:35 PM ^
It's unfortunate because things like college and playing in college and "the team, the team, the team" actually do have meaning. It's just that their meaning is intangible and so they're always going to get laughed away when all the norms and nomenclature surrounding the activity are those of the business world.
December 21st, 2016 at 3:39 PM ^
I am of the opinion that, like McCaffrey, Dalvin Cook also has nothing left to prove and should sit out his bowl game to focus on the NFL draft.
December 21st, 2016 at 3:41 PM ^
and I think the injury excuse is way over blown. I have seen plenty of players suffer big time injuries in non-contact drills and even working out. You are part of this team finish your commitment and the season with your teammates.
You say guys on the team are coming out in support. I seriously doubt there is much support in that locker room for his decision. Publicly sure they will say that behind closed doors no way. This game means a lot to the other players on the team and the program. They want to win this game, finish the season on a high note and bring more hardware home to put in the trophy case and show to future recruits which is the lifeblood to any program. He should try to help the team win that bowl game and continue the success at that school. I would be willing to bet most of his teammates are not happy about him quitting early and taking his ball and going home so he can make millions while they bust their humps one more time to try and win. Because of that I hate the insignificant bowl talk crap. Every game is big for the team or why even play in the last couple of games in the season, weren't they just as insignificant.
Wonder what Bo would've said before the 79 gator bowl if some Senior had said coach don't care to play in this game, since it's not the Rose Bowl it's insignificant and want to prepare for the NFL draft.......
What is wrong with lower tier bowl games and giving teams a reward for a good season and a chance to finish the season with another win. It seems they have all of a sudden become insignificant because someone with a me attitude has made that choice.
I see a can of worms being opened with this and soon more and more players doing this and eventually not playing some games in November, because their team can't make the playoffs so why risk it???? Finish what you start.
December 21st, 2016 at 3:50 PM ^
December 21st, 2016 at 4:01 PM ^
December 21st, 2016 at 4:19 PM ^
Pretty sure McCaffrey's dad playing in the NFL for years at a high level would be a better leading indicator of the character and likelihood of professional success than whether he played in a bowl game. In fact, some may even look at it as a sign that he is serious about his craft and preparation.
December 21st, 2016 at 5:12 PM ^
December 21st, 2016 at 7:15 PM ^
You said any player worth a damn had to play from his heart for his team. Good line but Curtis Martin did not like football and he did just fine, Hall of Famer in fact.
December 21st, 2016 at 3:53 PM ^
December 21st, 2016 at 4:16 PM ^
The best solution to this: get rid of all bowls aside from the playoff bowls. Then no one will skip!
December 21st, 2016 at 4:32 PM ^
No way I am supporting McCaffrey in this. And it isn't because of what I or any "fans" think. Whether this impacts us is irrelevant. Andit isn't because he shouldn't be allowed to. No doubt he has the right to play or not.
It's about his teammates. I promise you they are pissed. 95% of them won't ever sniff the NFL, and every game matters, especially the last game of the year, and especially to his fellow seniors who came in with him. Even if they are saying publically it is OK, the vast majority of them greatly resent this.
Those guys gave as much blood sweat and tears as McCaffrey did for th past 4 years. This is their "payday" and he is letting them down by greatly decreasing his chance to win this game. Why is this game any different than their last regular season game? He could have got injured then, and his draft status was the same before that game as after. What about Week 7? Should he have skipped that one too?
Ace is way off base here - I realize he is the #1 hand-wringer in defense of the poor downtrodden exploited college football player, but what about all those guys who aren't going to get paid for playing on Sundays? Those guys deserve a chance at a win in their last game, and McCaffrey is selfishly denying them that.
December 21st, 2016 at 10:26 PM ^
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December 22nd, 2016 at 8:05 AM ^
Or what about teammates who have a shot, but if their star players are suddenly not playing. THEIR chances at a pro contract are diminished?. Coaches jobs can be at stake, too. That's the thing about a team sport. This is especially a problem if this phenomena spreads to players shutting it down in a disappointing season, as Adam mentions.
I think the answer may have something to do with the bowls, or the schools, or better yet the NFL paying for some kind of insurance for seniors in case they get hurt in their final games.
December 21st, 2016 at 4:39 PM ^
That's a part of the free scholarship. To play football. If he's so concerned about getting dinged up he should have left the team after junior year. He's wrong.
December 21st, 2016 at 11:48 PM ^
That's a common misconception
December 21st, 2016 at 4:40 PM ^
McCaffrey likes to play football, and would take advantage of every opportunity to play. I'm a fan of Stanford (lived in Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Menlo Park for 5 years) and I'm disappointed he is not playing.
December 21st, 2016 at 4:56 PM ^
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December 21st, 2016 at 5:19 PM ^
If you make a NY6 game, I think you should play. I would think playing in a high profile bowl game would help your stock.
December 22nd, 2016 at 7:54 AM ^
That's the thing- unless you are a top-5 lock, any bowl game gives you a chance to improve your posifion. Bowl games generally match two rested, fairly evenly matched teams, so NFL scouts can get a good look at a player against decent competition.
December 21st, 2016 at 6:32 PM ^
December 21st, 2016 at 6:55 PM ^
Like many I don't love it but understand it 100%.
I wonder what Brian's view of "THE TEAM THE TEAM THE TEAM" would be if Jim Harbaugh was at Stanford and we were in a parallel world post 2010 where Jim decided to leave them between the regular season and the bowl to come coach at Michigan.
Somehow I don't think there would be much complaining. Not an exact parallel but if you are roasting on kids for not doing what is best for the program then you have to roast ANY coach who makes a decision to take another job and leave his team. Where is the Willie Taggart hate?
December 21st, 2016 at 8:50 PM ^
and i've concluded that i only agree with some of you, and others i disagree with quite a bit.
December 21st, 2016 at 10:44 PM ^
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December 21st, 2016 at 11:07 PM ^
December 22nd, 2016 at 3:04 AM ^
The only reason for him to play is out of a sense of duty or loyalty.
The risk of injury may be small, but the consequences are catastrophic. If he gets hurt and loses a tiny fraction of his speed or wiggle, that's it for his NFL career. The thing he's worked for his whole life gets ended before it really gets started at all. It's all very well to say he's from a wealthy family and would have a Stanford degree, but his actions make it clear exactly what his priorities among those things are.
The fact is, most of the people who played for Bo were looking at a very different risk reward ratio. A Michigan degree could lead them to a life not too different from most of those who were NFL-bound. But now, the value of that first NFL contract, particularly for a first round draft pick, could be more money than those guys will ever see in twenty years, if not their whole lives.
The rules have changed. The players who do the bulk of the work take on all the risk, and have the least expected value. There's no way to put the genie back in the bottle; no one is going to give up the bottomless trough of money to be made, and as long as everyone else treats it like a business, it is hypocritical to say the players are the only ones who can't.
So get used to players treating it like business. We need to work on aligning the incentives so that their business decisions are the ones that are good for their teams and the sport.
December 22nd, 2016 at 7:43 AM ^
I realize the whole MGoBlog staff has its mind made up about 'Players must be paid', and will accept no arguments otherwise or just ridicule them.
But I was just reading this, "According to the NCAA's Report on Finances, the median cost of a student-athlete is $110,000 in the FBS but under $40,000 in the FCS." Not sure if that includes tuition.
That is the median. For some then it could be considerably more. From the university that's a four year commitment to a player who might be a star, but just as likely may not end up playing more than a few plays in his entire career.
December 22nd, 2016 at 9:38 AM ^
...that these athletes are given a world class education in exchange for something 99.9% of HS athletes would give a digit in their non-throwing hand - a chance to play a game in front of 110,000 people cheering throngs? Or that they always have the option to pay for their own school at one of 2000 colleges in the US?
Or that, like any other worker/employer relationship, they can always quit after one year or two years or two weeks and join the rest of the regular college kids and pay their own way while incurring $200,000 in student loan debt? These poor downtrodden kids - they need someone to stand up for them. That's what we are here for!
December 23rd, 2016 at 1:45 AM ^
Never assume our minds are "made up." A good argument sways--it's how we got here in the first place. Also, just from intra-group conversations I'm pretty sure the model all of us favor currently isn't "pay the players" so much as "remove the restrictions on them getting paid." I don't see what's wrong with Devin Gardner getting a free beer wherever he goes on campus. I don't see what's wrong--other that lying to the NCAA about it and the fact that nobody else can do it--with Ohio State's local dealership giving the players free cars. If I'm an Indiana State fan I can tell you the problem with that is there's no Indiana State fans to give cars or beers to Indiana State football players. As Michigan fans we should be all for letting people give free shit to players because we're at a perpetual disadvantage for being one of the few who doesn't do it anyway.
The trouble with the NCAA's report is it's including inflated costs. The cost of a student athlete includes what it costs to coach him, his share of loan repayments on facilities, travel, yada yada. When I got into this a few years ago while doing research for Bacon I learned Michigan pays maximum out-of-state tuition for all of its players regardless of what program they're in or what state they're from. Why? Because the athletic department has gobs of money and thinks spending it on the university is good thing and this is one way to do it in the books.
Also FBS/FCS isn't as different as the Power 5/mid-major divide. Michigan and Eastern Michigan are not in the same game.
December 22nd, 2016 at 7:47 AM ^
Has it occurred to anyone else that this is a McCaffrey we are talking about?
Can you imagine Michigan is all set to play the 2021 or '22 Rose Bowl against USC, and starting QB Dylan McCaffrey decides he's going to sit the game out to get ready for the draft?
December 23rd, 2016 at 1:58 AM ^
We're all presuming that if Michigan's in the Rose Bowl that nobody's going to sit out voluntarily. Brian put it to us at the beginning: where's the line? I think the less important the bowl, and the more injured/at-risk the player, the more understandable it is.
Also this is about setting demands not disappointment. If ANY Michigan player missed ANY Michigan game I'd be disappointed. If it's starting QB McCaffrey in the Rose Bowl, yeah I'm LIVID because a Rose Bowl is hella special and how can he abandon his team for something that means so much to them and us? If Peppers refused to play in the Orange Bowl I'd be really upset at him. But Gardner got his surgery after the Ohio State game, opting out of the Copper Bowl in the process, and we all understood, even if that meant Shane Morris starting against Kansas State. I feel like I could tell you fairly easily where I'd stand with any given example, but there's a wide range, if that makes sense.
December 22nd, 2016 at 11:19 AM ^
THe only reason I find this acceptable is to expose the NCAA for having WAYYYYY too many bowl games. In this instance, I would watch Stanford in the Sun Bowl. But the other meaningless ~15 bowls with 6-6 or even 5-7 teams should be wiped out.
WIth the addition of the CFP, the lesser bowls are even more meaningless. I'm sure the small number of alumni from teams like Wyoming or New Mexico will watch their team play, but the stadiums are barely 1/3 full, and ratings cannot be good enough to justify.
It's pretty clear the NCAA doesn't care for the well being of the student-athlete, much like the NFL doesn't care for player safety. Hopefully this can be a catalyst to show the hypocrisy of the NCAA's system.
December 22nd, 2016 at 11:47 AM ^
I think I'm gonna defer to the decision the player makes. If they think sitting out a bowl game won't do anything for their draft stock, then so be it. I would think sitting out regular season games would adversely affect their perception in the NFL. This could backfire and the guys sitting out might drop in the draft, and then this trend will probably slow down or stop.
But for now, I don't blame them. Yeah, it sucks as a fan and teammate, but it's their life to live.
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