It’s the columns you don’t see coming, you know? This one, on the strangely varying reactions to the unseemly money grabs of Nico Iamaleava and Bryson DeChambeau, came out of nowhere. Seriously, I’m minding my own business before the final round of The Masters, listening to the dehumidifiers and dryers in my basement — don’t ask — when I start checking messages from my text group here with IndyStar.
Readers are asking me about Nico Iamaleava, the Tennessee quarterback who was paid $2 million last year but decided this year, on the final day of spring practice, to hold out for more. Tennessee told him to kick rocks. Readers asked about it. This happened:
From: Me to the group, 1:54 p.m.
Hey guys. Lots of notes like these.
Alex N. texts: “Heard about the Tennessee QB. College athletes should get paid, but when you’re earning $2M in NIL, be grateful.”
And Steve S. texts: “Thoughts on the TN QB holding out/leaving? I’m mad, but where do I direct my anger? At the kid maximizing his earnings? The NCAA for allowing the leagues/courts to determine the path?”
My note to the group continued:
Yes. To both of you. To all of it.
Tennessee’s attorney general fought last year for QB Nico Iamaleava to maximize his earnings — for the Vols —but now $2M isn’t enough for Iamaleava. Everyone’s mad at everyone, and everyone’s correct. College sports is lost … and about to find itself on the abyss.
And thus began this week’s Mailbagg™.
Last Mailbagg: Flood waters in Indiana rise as Kelvin Sampson’s redemption bubbles to surface
Join us! Sign up here for IndyStar’s subscriber text group with Gregg Doyel
But Bryson DeChambeau vs Rory McIlroy at Masters!
A half-hour hour later I’m getting ready to watch The Masters, and the final pairing of Bryson DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy, and something dawns on me: The LIV Tour, backed by the same Saudi Arabian investment firm our own government believes funded the 9/11 attacks on America, threw money at both guys. McIlroy, a truly good man, said no.
DeChambeau took the money.
So why does CBS’ Jim Nantz keep calling DeChambeau one of the most popular — perhaps the most popular — golfer in the world? Including right here in America? Is that true??
Then this happened:
From: Me to the group, 2:22 pm.
Great stuff on the Tennessee QB.
On Masters Sunday, can someone explain this to me: Why is it OK for Bryson DeChambeau (or anyone) to take THAT money from Saudi Arabia? He was rich on the PGA Tour. Getting richer, that way, is OK?
And we’re mad at the Tennessee QB???
Now I’m waiting for the final pairing, but I’m looking at my final sentence … and I can’t stop looking at it. McIlroy and DeChambeau are teeing off, and I’m off that day after a long week of writing and basement stress. Don’t ask! Though I might write some more about it someday…
Anyway, I can’t get that final sentence out of my head. So this happens:
From: Me to the group, 4:47 pm.
Promise, I had no idea I’d be writing today. But those last two texts — and your responses — got me thinking. I’m sitting here watching The Masters, but the story started writing itself in my head. Had to let it out.
Just posted it. Here’s the link…
Doyel: Nico Iamaleava’s greed: bad. Agreed! But why is Bryson DeChambeau’s greed good?
And here it goes.
Readers on Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava
From: John E.
High school is next. (Prep) athletes will soon be on the path to NIL. Winner will be the highest bidder.
I was dejected before. Now I’m despondent. You’re probably not wrong.
From: Larry M
How do colleges get these “students” to attend class? Or is actual schooling still involved?
GREAT question. A kid has to stay eligible to get paid, so … more motivation than ever to attend class, I guess. Also: More money than ever to pay a tutor to do the work instead.
Come on. You know it happens.
From: Matt D.
Abyss indeed.
But perhaps: Amateurism is dead. Rec leagues are dead. Playing a pick-up game in the backyard is dead. All very sad. If you haven’t been playing your sport year-round since you’re 4, and made the travel team since you were 6, you have no chance even at JV in middle school. Can’t feel down on the kid at Tennessee. It’s the adults. It’s always us adults.
Love all of this, Matt, especially your last two sentences.
Readers on LIV golfer Bryson DeChambeau
From: Larry C.
It isn’t OK. It should never be OK. We have evolved into a society where it’s all about getting mine.
What’s so weird is how society cheers on people like DeChambeau, and even a few others I’m not supposed to name — Elon Musk — for sticking it to regular folks. Musk, richest man in the world, has masterminded the layoffs of tens of thousands of U.S. federal workers. And the people who support him either (A) think it’s great or (B) don’t have the courage to decide they were wrong about Musk and whoever hired him.
Heartbreaking.
From: Mike N.
No problem with Bryson. He had the opportunity, and correct me if I’m wrong, but the Saudi government did not cause 9/11.
How do you KNOW the Saudi government didn’t cause 9/11? Because they said so? Tell the U.S. government’s 9/11 Commission, which pins the attack on al-Qaeda and believes, by the way, that Saudi Arabia offered material support to al-Qaeda. Tell the 9/11 families suing the Saudi government.
Consider yourself corrected, Mike.
From: Tom S.
I don’t like LIV and its sportswashing of a criminal regime, but in the big picture in the Middle East, bin Laden was probably the lesser of many evils. U.S. business and government does a lot of business with the Saudis. Why expect more of an individual golfer than we do of our CEOs? And our President for that matter?
As I wrote: Principles are easy until you have to HAVE them. Throwing up our hands in helpless acceptance is no answer.
Doyel: Middle East regimes creeping into U.S. pro sports. What could possibly go wrong?
From: Nick N.
Free enterprise and capitalism at work. Love it or hate it.
Excuse me while I vomit.
Readers on Nico Iamaleava vs. Bryson DeChambeau
From: Shannon H.
I think both decisions these guys made were selfish and showed poor character. Bad for different reasons so I don’t know which is “worse,” but both bad. Both are pretty young and have time to make amends, so I’ll remain optimistic
Agree on your first sentence. Love your last one.
From: David D.
Gregg your leftwing politics clouds your mind. Disappointing. Can you just stay out of politics, please.
Had no idea supporting 9/11 families was a political act. Then again, had no idea supporting Vladimir Putin would become a political act in America, either.
Not printing these
From: Joseph W.
We as a collective society are stupid. We are selective at who we “rage” at. We seem to need a “bad guy” at all times. And it’s easier to be mad at a kid than a grown man, who doesn’t (care) what we think.
Love this, as someone who has been on all sides of the equation. I’ve been society’s selective rage. And I’ve been its selected target, its bad guy. Hard times, Joseph. I’m doing my best to be a force for good, even if — at times — that means explaining where I think we’re going wrong.
From: Scott C.
Is it just me or is Jim Carrey actually Rick Carlisle with hair? I’ve never seen them both in the same place at the same time.
Huh. I’ve always thought Rick Carlisle looks more like Bull from the original “Night Court.”
Doyel: Pacers will start 2025 NBA playoffs at home. Everything else is a detail.
From: Jeff G.
This column was skillfully balanced and fairly presented. The people you’ll actually make think aren’t the ones you’ll hear from the loudest. In other words, steady as she goes, Cap’n. Carry on.
Love this. Thank you Jeff.
Find IndyStar columnist Gregg Doyel on Threads, or on BlueSky and Twitter at @GreggDoyelStar, or at www.facebook.com/greggdoyelstar. Subscribe to the free weekly Doyel on Demand newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Greed is good? IndyStar readers on Nico Iamaleava vs Bryson DeChambeau
It’s the columns you don’t see coming, you know? This one, on the strangely varying reactions to the unseemly money grabs of Nico Iamaleava and Bryson DeChambeau, came out of nowhere. Seriously, I’m minding my own business before the final round of The Masters, listening to the dehumidifiers and dryers in my basement — don’t ask — when I start checking messages from my text group here with IndyStar.
Readers are asking me about Nico Iamaleava, the Tennessee quarterback who was paid $2 million last year but decided this year, on the final day of spring practice, to hold out for more. Tennessee told him to kick rocks. Readers asked about it. This happened:
From: Me to the group, 1:54 p.m.
Hey guys. Lots of notes like these.
Alex N. texts: “Heard about the Tennessee QB. College athletes should get paid, but when you’re earning $2M in NIL, be grateful.”
And Steve S. texts: “Thoughts on the TN QB holding out/leaving? I’m mad, but where do I direct my anger? At the kid maximizing his earnings? The NCAA for allowing the leagues/courts to determine the path?”
My note to the group continued:
Yes. To both of you. To all of it.
Tennessee’s attorney general fought last year for QB Nico Iamaleava to maximize his earnings — for the Vols —but now $2M isn’t enough for Iamaleava. Everyone’s mad at everyone, and everyone’s correct. College sports is lost … and about to find itself on the abyss.
And thus began this week’s Mailbagg™.
Last Mailbagg: Flood waters in Indiana rise as Kelvin Sampson’s redemption bubbles to surface
Join us! Sign up here for IndyStar’s subscriber text group with Gregg Doyel
But Bryson DeChambeau vs Rory McIlroy at Masters!
A half-hour hour later I’m getting ready to watch The Masters, and the final pairing of Bryson DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy, and something dawns on me: The LIV Tour, backed by the same Saudi Arabian investment firm our own government believes funded the 9/11 attacks on America, threw money at both guys. McIlroy, a truly good man, said no.
DeChambeau took the money.
So why does CBS’ Jim Nantz keep calling DeChambeau one of the most popular — perhaps the most popular — golfer in the world? Including right here in America? Is that true??
Then this happened:
From: Me to the group, 2:22 pm.
Great stuff on the Tennessee QB.
On Masters Sunday, can someone explain this to me: Why is it OK for Bryson DeChambeau (or anyone) to take THAT money from Saudi Arabia? He was rich on the PGA Tour. Getting richer, that way, is OK?
And we’re mad at the Tennessee QB???
Now I’m waiting for the final pairing, but I’m looking at my final sentence … and I can’t stop looking at it. McIlroy and DeChambeau are teeing off, and I’m off that day after a long week of writing and basement stress. Don’t ask! Though I might write some more about it someday…
Anyway, I can’t get that final sentence out of my head. So this happens:
From: Me to the group, 4:47 pm.
Promise, I had no idea I’d be writing today. But those last two texts — and your responses — got me thinking. I’m sitting here watching The Masters, but the story started writing itself in my head. Had to let it out.
Just posted it. Here’s the link…
Doyel: Nico Iamaleava’s greed: bad. Agreed! But why is Bryson DeChambeau’s greed good?
And here it goes.
Readers on Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava
From: John E.
High school is next. (Prep) athletes will soon be on the path to NIL. Winner will be the highest bidder.
I was dejected before. Now I’m despondent. You’re probably not wrong.
From: Larry M
How do colleges get these “students” to attend class? Or is actual schooling still involved?
GREAT question. A kid has to stay eligible to get paid, so … more motivation than ever to attend class, I guess. Also: More money than ever to pay a tutor to do the work instead.
Come on. You know it happens.
From: Matt D.
Abyss indeed.
But perhaps: Amateurism is dead. Rec leagues are dead. Playing a pick-up game in the backyard is dead. All very sad. If you haven’t been playing your sport year-round since you’re 4, and made the travel team since you were 6, you have no chance even at JV in middle school. Can’t feel down on the kid at Tennessee. It’s the adults. It’s always us adults.
Love all of this, Matt, especially your last two sentences.
Readers on LIV golfer Bryson DeChambeau
From: Larry C.
It isn’t OK. It should never be OK. We have evolved into a society where it’s all about getting mine.
What’s so weird is how society cheers on people like DeChambeau, and even a few others I’m not supposed to name — Elon Musk — for sticking it to regular folks. Musk, richest man in the world, has masterminded the layoffs of tens of thousands of U.S. federal workers. And the people who support him either (A) think it’s great or (B) don’t have the courage to decide they were wrong about Musk and whoever hired him.
Heartbreaking.
From: Mike N.
No problem with Bryson. He had the opportunity, and correct me if I’m wrong, but the Saudi government did not cause 9/11.
How do you KNOW the Saudi government didn’t cause 9/11? Because they said so? Tell the U.S. government’s 9/11 Commission, which pins the attack on al-Qaeda and believes, by the way, that Saudi Arabia offered material support to al-Qaeda. Tell the 9/11 families suing the Saudi government.
Consider yourself corrected, Mike.
From: Tom S.
I don’t like LIV and its sportswashing of a criminal regime, but in the big picture in the Middle East, bin Laden was probably the lesser of many evils. U.S. business and government does a lot of business with the Saudis. Why expect more of an individual golfer than we do of our CEOs? And our President for that matter?
As I wrote: Principles are easy until you have to HAVE them. Throwing up our hands in helpless acceptance is no answer.
Doyel: Middle East regimes creeping into U.S. pro sports. What could possibly go wrong?
From: Nick N.
Free enterprise and capitalism at work. Love it or hate it.
Excuse me while I vomit.
Readers on Nico Iamaleava vs. Bryson DeChambeau
From: Shannon H.
I think both decisions these guys made were selfish and showed poor character. Bad for different reasons so I don’t know which is “worse,” but both bad. Both are pretty young and have time to make amends, so I’ll remain optimistic
Agree on your first sentence. Love your last one.
From: David D.
Gregg your leftwing politics clouds your mind. Disappointing. Can you just stay out of politics, please.
Had no idea supporting 9/11 families was a political act. Then again, had no idea supporting Vladimir Putin would become a political act in America, either.
Not printing these
From: Joseph W.
We as a collective society are stupid. We are selective at who we “rage” at. We seem to need a “bad guy” at all times. And it’s easier to be mad at a kid than a grown man, who doesn’t (care) what we think.
Love this, as someone who has been on all sides of the equation. I’ve been society’s selective rage. And I’ve been its selected target, its bad guy. Hard times, Joseph. I’m doing my best to be a force for good, even if — at times — that means explaining where I think we’re going wrong.
From: Scott C.
Is it just me or is Jim Carrey actually Rick Carlisle with hair? I’ve never seen them both in the same place at the same time.
Huh. I’ve always thought Rick Carlisle looks more like Bull from the original “Night Court.”
Doyel: Pacers will start 2025 NBA playoffs at home. Everything else is a detail.
From: Jeff G.
This column was skillfully balanced and fairly presented. The people you’ll actually make think aren’t the ones you’ll hear from the loudest. In other words, steady as she goes, Cap’n. Carry on.
Love this. Thank you Jeff.
Find IndyStar columnist Gregg Doyel on Threads, or on BlueSky and Twitter at @GreggDoyelStar, or at www.facebook.com/greggdoyelstar. Subscribe to the free weekly Doyel on Demand newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Greed is good? IndyStar readers on Nico Iamaleava vs Bryson DeChambeau
