Brownlow's Twitter Mailbag: NIL fairness, ACC expansion based on mascots and more
Every week during the off-season, Lauren Brownlow takes readers' Twitter questions for her off-season Mailbag. This week, she gets into reasonable expectations for Virginia football, ACC expansion with mascots, NIL fairness and more.
Posted — UpdatedJuly really flew by, huh? And what that means for all of us is that the college football season is rapidly approaching, which also means that this off-season Mailbag will come to an end soon.
In the meantime, though, you all continue to provide me with both funny and thought-provoking questions, sometimes even both in the same question!
This week, we'll get into Virginia football expectations, ACC expansion via mascots, NIL fairness (or lack of it) and my go-to vacation destinations.
Let's get to it!
I mean, the bar is pretty low for Tony Elliott, fortunately (?) for him. The offense was bad last year and doesn't really return much, which ... I mean there's nowhere to go but up, I guess? But I've said that before about plenty of teams and found out that no, there is still room to go down that I just didn't know was there.
But do you remember how I've talked about the way a team can get genuinely better and still have a worse record if the schedule is tougher? Well, I don't see what some experts might refer to as "wins" on Virginia's schedule. At least ... not multiple.
The only sure bet is William and Mary, and it's not like that couldn't easily go awry. But Virginia OPENS this season with Tennessee (WELP) and then hosts a very good James Madison team before hosting a Maryland team that is better than they are. Virginia's schedule more often than not makes me want to pull out my hair. WHY?
Virginia won three games last year. At Boston College? Georgia Tech at home? Virginia Tech to end the season? Duke at home if things go awry for the Blue Devils late in the season? Those are the only games I see a lot of potential for Virginia to win.
They're going to need to their defense to keep them in games, and while it improved last year, it's a big ask without offensive support. If they managed to win 4-5 games I think I'd feel like they improved.
Now this is the kind of expansion talk I can get behind! And it really opens things up beyond just the so-called Power 5 schools. But if I were looking to add a Power 5 team based upon the mascot, it would have to be Oregon and Puddles the duck. It's a simple mascot but it just WORKS so well, and Puddles is always on his or her game.
But there are two schools I'd target pretty aggressively based on their mascots alone: the UC-Irvine Anteaters and the St. Peter's Peacocks. I have UC-Irvine gear of my own just because of how much I love that adorable little anteater, and the peacock is just a gorgeous, strutting, proud mascot that no one else has.
So I'm going hard at those two. But since it's the ACC, with the league's luck, the SEC will have already locked those two up in mascot-related expansion years ago.
Well, I think part of your question sort of gets it the inherent issue, right? Money is always going to change hands, whether some people like it or not. I would assume some rules will be passed to regulate it, but I don't think Congress will be the ones stepping in to fill the void.
The NCAA will have to do something, but they've been a little slow to act and I wonder if anything they attempt to do to regulate it will be basically ignored. It's kind of like the old cliche about putting the (whatever it is) back in the box.
You can do it, but it will never be the same. It's the wild west out there, and you can't really reasonably go FROM that to suddenly restricting transfers. The best they'll likely be able to do is cap earnings. But you know what? Players are still going to go to wherever has the best situation, and the school that can provide that is going to have an edge, period.
I've visited plenty of cities before, but there are always more I'd like to try out. The ideal vacation spot for me would be:
1. Affordable,
2. Have a lot of things to do,
3. Is walkable/easy to get around,
4. Has outdoor activities either nearby or easily accessible.
That's really my main checklist. So if I'm vacationing somewhere in the continental United States, I'm going to either Los Angeles or Las Vegas.
Wait, you might say. Neither one of those locations are all that walkable or affordable. The biggest issue with both of those cities is that you will spend plenty of money there that you might save getting there. Like, way more money than you think.
Vegas isn't the most walkable city in the world, but you can walk around pretty easily there if you can get to a general area where a lot of your activities are. My last trip to Vegas was in the winter with a 5-year-old and he did great without us having to Uber much.
You can stay in Vegas cheaper than you can stay in L.A., there's a ton of stuff to do and you can get to outdoor activities relatively quickly. So I'd say Vegas for the U.S.
The problem with L.A. is if you'd like to do any activity in an area of the city that you are not in at the moment. Want to get to West Hollywood while you're staying in Venice? Get ready for an hour-long Uber ride that costs $50. It's not worth it. But it is SUCH a great foodie town, and it has areas that are both A. walkable and B. rich in things to do and see.
I've been to L.A. twice in the last five years and I have really enjoyed it both times, although eating and drinking there is going to be more expensive than Vegas. Flights are pretty affordable to get there though and you can find a decently-priced place to stay.
If we're going with North Carolina or local vacations, though? I feel like you have to pick a beach and a mountain destination. And so I would pick Myrtle Beach and Asheville.
I realize I'm super boring here with all of my choices and I won't apologize for it. Asheville has a fantastic local food and obviously beer scene, and it's nice and walkable and the weather is great. Plus there's enough going on for it to be fun.
Myrtle Beach is just always going to win for me over almost any of the North Carolina beach destinations I have been to because it's just got so much going on. You will never lack for a mini-golf or seafood buffet or even a hotel with a poolside bar where you can get bucket-sized drinks (it's a real thing). But if I had to pick just one local destination spot, it's Asheville. I just feel so refreshed every time I go to the mountains in general and I never regret going either.
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