Friday, It's So Fetch! Vol. 19

My blogpoll number one team, the Bayou Bengals of Louisiana State University, put on another impressive showing as their defense absolutely snuffed out the Mississippi State rushing attack in a 19-6 victory last night. Great way to start off 1-0 in the ITB Pick'em Pool and a perfect lead into Fetch Friday folks. Now we've got the weekend ahead of us and in addition to the big games of the weekend, including Oklahoma at Florida State which we've got covered so damn well for you, I've got my little brothers 25th birthday and possibly my first live Cam Newton action.

Got some heavy stuff to get into at the end of this post but first we'll cap off the awesome Van Morrison week we've had on the podcast with another classic from Van the man:



Now, on to the fetch!

Are you a father? Do you have a father? Do you know a father? If so check out the writing stylings of good friend Joey Powell over at Tobacco Road Blues as he waxes philosophically on his new fatherhood and how that all fits into this Carolina fandom.Speaking of fandom, UNC fans get your asses to the game this weekend, the showing last week was absolutely pitiful and whether it is disinterest or some sort of "protest" against the administration the fact is the only people you're really hurting are the boys. Believe me, running out of that tunnel and into a half full Kenan sucks, sucks real hard.



Aside from my Highlife and PBR fueled exploits you all know that I like to get fancy. Pink champagne, pressed button ups, flourescent colors and critters shorts type fancy. Well my fancy just got upped as I became the one and only college football blogger to have a dress.


I'm a man of the ladies and now the "Felder" can now be on and around your body whenever you so please thanks to the fine, fine women of Bellas Boutique. Women, buy this. Men, she will look hot in this. It is everyone's style but definitely check out Bellas Boutique for all that they've got and let them know what you think on the twitter.

Now, a little heavy lifting:

The Atlantic released an awesome article by Tyler Branch yesterday that I highly recommend you take in people. This isn't a breeze through piece, it is a lengthy and carefully constructed expose on the greed and hypocrisy that exists within the NCAA's operations. The article discusses everything from Walter Byers' introduction of the term "student athlete" to protect schools and the organization from workers' compensation claims to the palpable fear the NCAA has of the big boy member institutions breaking free and losing the basketball tournament mega bucks that fund their entire operation.

Branch runs through the landmark 1984 NCAA vs Board of Regents of Oklahoma decision that freed conferences and schools to negotiate in their own best interest for television rights, effectively breaking free of the NCAA's monopoly where regular season television deals are concerned. There is so much to the article that is so good, I implore all of you reading this to take the time and sit down and read the piece.

As a guy who was raised by his dad to scoff as the guise of amateurism in big time collegiate athletics it was still eye opening to discover certain details, especially the workers' compensation nugget. Folks on the fence might be swayed when they learn the man who constructed the bulk of the modern NCAA's stance has since called it out for being rife with "a lethal greed" that has been "gnawing at the innards" for some time. For those who are adamantly in defense of the entire amateurism ideal it might make you think a little bit, perhaps "I just don't want to see them get paid" isn't as sturdy an ideal to stand on as it once was given the information.

All in all it is a phenomenal read that does raise the question of "who represents these young men and women?" Take your time on it and see where you stand. We'll get into this more next week both in the podcast and in some writing but for this today and this weekend I leave you with the two quotes that hammered the point home for me:

"The moral logic is hard to fathom: the NCAA bans personal messages on the bodies of the players, and penalizes players for trading their celebrity status for discounted tattoos—but it codifies precisely how and where command insignia for multinational corporations can be displayed on college players, for the financial benefit of colleges."

and 

"But while amateurism—and the free labor it provides—may be necessary to the preservation of the NCAA, and perhaps to the profit margins of various interested corporations and educational institutions, what if it doesn’t benefit the athletes? What if it hurts them?"

Happy Fetch Friday Folks! Enjoy the games and Go Heels! Go America! It is hate week, we need to beat the wheels off of UVA in The South's Oldest Rivalry!