Pendulum

Like most of us, I witness societies swinging from right to left, then back to right again; from rich to poor, war to peace, good to evil, black to white, liberal to conservative, citizen to migrant, just to unjust, etc.

We tend to swing together. Whether by choice or obligation, we are compelled to swing in the direction momentum takes us. And each one of us, to some level or measured degree, travels along a slightly different trajectory.

Every day, we make decisions that contribute to our own personal histories, and these kinds of decisions also contribute to the momentum of our collective pendulum experience.

Sports, and the sports athlete, are not at all spared from the swings of the pendulum.

We swing from one end of participating for the sheer love and enjoyment of the sport, to the other end, participating to achieve measurable performance results - also known as, "Achieving the gold!"

Of course, there are measured degrees that the momentum and trajectory influences each individual from one end of the spectrum to the other.

For example, one may be capable of playing sports for the love of the game, while also seeking to set achievable goals when competing… but which one is more important to the athlete?

Why?

Does this ever change?

And how much weight is given to one value over the other?

I don't believe that the balance that one athlete may have for these values are ever identical with another athlete's values.

Our beliefs, values, personal drive, fears, and motivations are unique, as are the socio-economic circumstances we each experience over time. So there are factors that influence that ride on the pendulum with significantly more weight than other factors.

Presently, when we look at the Name, Likeness, and Image Mandate, and the Transfer Portal within collegiate athletics, both factors combined build upon the momentum of several generations of athletes, who until now, have been disconnected from the financial earnings universities and colleges receive that are a direct result of their presence and participation in athletics.

The NIL and the TP have the potential to yield financial benefits for many young athletes today. And if we can set aside precisely how this is done presently, the concept itself is fantastic—and long overdue.

Athletes who are participating at the highest levels of high school and collegiate sports can now do so with the potential to earn significant amounts of money while playing the sport. If they seek to further exploit their role as an athlete, the option to transfer from one college to another can also become a strategy for increased monetary earnings by relocating from one university to another if the skill of the athlete supports that strategy, or if they believe that their own worth and value as an athlete can be better realized if they change schools.

And so the pendulum now swings in one direction—from athletic participation for the sheer love and enjoyment of the sport, towards "Achieving the gold," or increasing monetary earnings directly for athletes through their participation in a sport.

What comes next (I believe) is the arrival at a position of equilibrium, meaning a force which delivers our pendulum back by way of some restoring force, or a mid-point position between, "For the love of the game" and, "Achieving the gold," is the actual method of precisely how to balance these two factors for all participants.

The Answer? I think contracts and escrow accounts that provide for a percentage of forecasted earnings in the immediate future, and a larger percentage of earnings, based upon the actual financial figures earned over time, upon completion of the contract between the athlete and the school.

This can become the "restoring force" that brings inevitable equilibrium to our pendulum.