How’s everyone’s weekend going? Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Thanks for spending a portion of your Sunday with the Six.
COLLEGE SPORTS AIN’T FOR AMATEURS ANYMORE
It’s fair to say Congress has a lot on its plate this year.
There’s the normal business of running the country and this year, do so during an election cycle. In November, 34 seats in the Senate will be up for grabs.
Those busy senators managed to schedule time this week to discuss the 800-pound gorilla in the board room of every university in America: the professionalization of college sports.
Tuesday in Washington, something called the House Education and Workforce Committee held hearings involving various higher education athletic administrators. While this was going on, a separate event hosted by author and former presidential candidate Ted Cruz also discussed the state of college athletics.
What prompted the house hearings was the recent union certification by the Dartmouth College men’s basketball team. Being a publicity addicted Texas senator, Cruz seized on an opportunity to make headlines. One star speaker did just that.
Just-retired college football coaching legend Nick Saban (wearing a non-crimson colored sports jacket) stole the show with his candid comments on name, image and likeness legislation, which he said has become ruinous for the sport:
All the things I believed in for all these years, 50 years of coaching, no longer exist in college athletics. It's whoever wants to pay the most money, raise the most money, buy the most players is going to have the best opportunity to win. And I don't think that's the spirit of college athletics, and I don't think it's ever been the spirit of what we want college athletics to be.
Saban also called NIL “a great concept,” and suggested revenue sharing with athletes. But he referred to the current model as “pay for play” which is not the spirit––or rule––NIL was created under in 2021. Having coached for almost two decades at heavily-resourced Alabama, Saban would know all about raising and spending money. No one should feel sorry for a coach who in his last season made eight-plus figures in salary. But Saban bluntly admitted why the NCAA and universities are lobbying so hard for Congress to act: they don’t know what to do about NIL. The Dartmouth unionization scares them. And if forced to, they have no idea where they are going to get the money to pay all these athletes.
Right now, the professionalization of college sports is in the hands of individual states. Most are ruling in favor of player’s rights. If an individual athlete wants to get paid or change colleges, the legal system is saying sure, go right ahead. Schools have no right to get in the way or impede movement of any kind, according to the courts.
Education leaders claim federal legislation would provide unilateral guidelines and amnesty from future lawsuits.
Cruz said Tuesday he gives the odds of congressional action this year at “50-50,” adding: “The clock is running...It's not too late to get it done, but we're getting close to it being too late to get it done. I still think there are elements there of getting bipartisan agreement. We just have not been able to get everyone to the table to sign off."
Good luck with getting that done.
The number of seats up for grabs (468 House, 34 Senate) likely makes this issue too hot to handle before November. Post-election, any restructuring of power on The Hill could determine how legislation is structured in 2025 and beyond. A more Republican-leaning Congress might be more amenable to direction that leans towards standardizing player compensation while a Democrat-controlled one could back a pro-union model (although comments from the hearings indicate little momentum for employee-classification of athletes).
Regardless of what happens between now and the election, we have barely scratched the surface on compensation in college sports. How this all looks in three or five or 10 years will be dramatically different than today.
Certain: the athletes are going to get theirs. And the money has to come from somewhere.
Let’s proceed with the Six.
1. Bears Commit $2B To Build Domed Stadium In Chicago.
Much going on so far this year with the Chicago Bears. Most immediate, the team holds the top pick in the draft (update: Saturday, the team traded its latest failed franchise QB, Justin Fields, to the Steelers for a 6th round draft choice). If the Bears keep the pick and select a quarterback, there’s a good chance he will be throwing passes inside a new stadium, one not far from the current one. News came down this week that the franchise was committing $2B of its own money (billions!) for a brand spanking new facility on the lakefront. There’s been no reporting on how much the public will have to kick in to meet the total cost but this time around, the stadium will have a roof and Sportico breaks down the numbers.
2. 6 Never Trumpers Look Back.
For the third consecutive time, Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee for President. This development is disappointing for many, alarming for others, but there’s also millions of Americans who will vote for him again. There are millions who never will. While Dems lazily label all Trump supporters white supremacists, I still have yet to hear a compelling intellectual argument from the #NeverTrump Republicans. Whenever I get into a TwitterX back-and-forth with these people it usually boils down to personal distaste for the man, irrespective of his ability to govern the country. Politico interviews six #NeverTrumpers and there is some interesting analysis here. I’m still waiting for one of these people to honestly explain––give a sensible political reason––why Trump is now a three-time party winner.
3. Covering British Royalty: It’s Getting Weirder.
So the “where’s Kate?” stories are creeping up all over the internet. This of course is in reference to recent coverage of Prince William’s better half, Kate Middleton, not seen publicly for a bit of time. The timeline of Royal PR missteps makes up the top of this fascinating article from Nieman Lab, and includes an interview with a former royal correspondent, who explains some of the eccentricities of the job. The reporter explains how there is no unified Royal media team, and that different palaces connive and compete. The “royal rota” of core reporters may get direct information, but can never acknowledge it as such. And Royal handlers can silence newspapers. Sounds like a super fun beat.
4. A Town Derailed.
This is a true multi-media story where eye-opening photos are only matched by great writing from Time. The magazine follows-up on the derailment of a Norfolk Southern train in East Palestine, Ohio in 2023. A year later, as diligently reported, some families are still reeling, despite the assurances from authorities.
5. How Steven Spielberg Dominated The Oscars 30 Years Ago.
The Oscars went on last weekend, and the ceremony crowned a new Hollywood Big Shot. "Oppenheimer” won best picture and it’s writer and director, Christopher Nolan, finally got his long overdue academy recognition. Thirty years ago, there was another big shot who had directed a bunch of critically acclaimed and box office hits but had yet to be validated by industry elites. This excellent article from Variety takes a look back at Steven Spielberg’s big night in 1994 and what turned out to be one of the most pivotal times in pop culture history.
At a Texas zoo, workers attempted to put food out for a 34-year old gorilla named Elmo. The zookeepers thought they were safe until…Elmo appeared. A lesson to those who mingle with the creatures of the wild: never turn your back.
Thanks for reading everybody and have a great rest of your weekend.
There will be no Sunday Six the next two weeks. We’ll return April 7.
Have a suggestion for The Sunday Six? Send email to jonjkerr@gmail.com.