College Football Amateurism and Heartbreak – A Saturday Blitz Podcast

In the new Saturday Blitz Podcast, John Mitchell and Zach Bigalke discuss threats to college football amateurism, scheduling, and reveal their most painful losses as fans.

What could it mean for college football in the coming decades if dissident pro football leagues like the XFL take root and lower the age restrictions on going pro after high school? How could the recent court ruling in the grant-in-aid class action lawsuit impact player compensation as conferences decide for themselves what constitutes education-related expenses? And what does this all mean for the lasting legacy of amateurism?

That is the first subject we tackle with the launch of the new Saturday Blitz Podcast. For the first time in six years, Saturday Blitz is adding to its library of audible content for fans of the sport.

Each week, John and I plan to dive in and discuss some of the big news that came up in the football world since the last time we talked. Through this look at the stories of the week we will also get the chance to go deeper into some of these broader subjects like amateurism that resonate both with current events and historically.

Along with the deeper look at amateurism this week, we discuss the move of the Miami-Florida game up in the schedule, both in terms of the relevance of the game itself and how it could set a precedent across the FBS level. As teams seek out greater scheduling flexibility and the possibility of two bye weeks for their players during the regular season, more could look to push their schedules further up the August calendar..

Part of each podcast is also going to be dedicated to discussing something that resonates personally with us as fans. This week, we force ourselves to relive some of the most painful losses we have endured over the course of our lives as college football fans. Baring our souls, we discuss the pain of our favorite teams coming up short on big stages.

We would also love this to be an opportunity to engage back each week. So take it from us, it can be cathartic to really remember how it felt to experience the most excruciating defeats we have experienced as fans. It would be great to hear some of your stories once you have heard the defeats that still have John and I shedding a tear decades later.

The Saturday Blitz Podcast is part of the FanSided Radio Network at Spreaker. The show goes live every Wednesday morning. You can reach John Mitchell at @jlmitchell93 and Zach Bigalke at @zbigalke on Twitter.