educational opportunities any different than Apple, Nike, RJ Nabisco, 3M, Caterpillar, etc? They exchange money and benefits for services rendered. They are not loyal or can reasonably expect loyalty from anyone that they hire. The more they want someone the more they sweeten the pot realizing that no matter how sweet that pot is they run the risk each day of that resource (see I didn't even say person) turning in notice because an even sweeter pot was offered by a competitor.

I get for many of you there is is this sense of pride and loyalty to being a Cougar fan or fan of any sports team around the world. However at the end of the day these kids are sought after for what they can do to make the University look good. The idea is they perform, the team wins, the team brand which is the school they represent grows and entices more around the world to want to attend said university.

Enjoy being a Cougar fan. Enjoy the program, Enjoy the game live or on screen. Enjoy cheering for the kids wearing royal blue. However if they are looking for a sweeter pot or have received confirmation of what "they think" is a sweeter pot somewhere else, than let them move on without retribution. We would be giving our fellow cougar fans all the attaboys in the world if we found out that they were able to leverage and negotiate their position at company X for a better position, salary, opportunity at company Z. None of us would be shaking our heads upset or with a jaundiced view of our fellow cougar fan as someone of low character, or someone who lacks loyalty after all that company did for them.

Even more so when you are looking at your fellow 30 or 40 something cougarfan with pride and a thumbs up, shouldn't they know better than a 19/20 year old who has barely gotten his/her feet wet in life? In today's social media driven world I am sure that many of these kids scan through all their feeds and see daily derision and vitriol regarding decisions they have to make for themselves from people who imo know little to nothing about the prospect's personal life. Yet how does that reflect on the institution many of us cheer for? Does that feel like an open door welcoming them back should they have a change of heart or even if they are a calculatingly savvy wolf exploiting the system for their or their family's benefit as much as possible before returning to the fold as it were?

Regardless, Fan can either be extended as a Fanatic (one who spends copious amounts of time twisting emotionally with every turn of their favorite team and takes it personally when kids choose not to stay even to the point of making poor choices in comments they post on their social feeds about those kids) or a Fantastic (one who is excited each season and hopeful that the team they cheer for will excel and do great things. One who cheers on the efforts of the kids that do stay and wishes those that didn't all the best while focusing their energy on being positive even if things aren't going so well) Which one are you?