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The chaos has reached the parallel universes.
I’ve spent the last few years marveling at how sports seem to be the only place where fans leave their politics and vicious opinions at the door. Isn’t it amazing to see a packed house in the Dean Dome where everyone is rooting for the same thing? I often wondered how this contradiction works.
Well, apparently, it doesn’t work anymore. The country is divided in ways we’ve never seen. Two political parties have lost their families and friends while a so-called third of the country pays no attention and lives life.
It may stay that way in pro sports, where they have player unions, arenas are sold out and the competition is fierce. I love the rules instituted years ago that opposing players and coaches must congratulate each other after a best-of-seven series and championship games end.
College basketball and most college football do that after every game. The hoopers form the handshake lines and the gridders look to find opposing players they know from home or meeting on recruiting trips.
Who knows where, or if, the madness will end in politics. You think an election in November is going to settle anything or fan the flames of division even more? Well, at least we have our favorite college teams to watch and cheer for.
Not so fast, you alumni and fans.
Have you attempted to read anything about House v. NCAA, where settlements are ready to be announced that will make some amateur athletes pro millionaires almost overnight? NIL payments are trying to be regulated. Ha!
That is the proverbial tip of the iceberg, where the NCAA luxury liner is about to get shattered where everyone aboard will lose something. Non-revenue or Olympic athletes won’t get paid anything from the billion-dollar settlement that could also destroy the NCAA by the millions big schools will spend to pay past athletes and keep the current games going. Certainly, some HAVES will get richer. Many HAVE NOTS may be out of the sports business.
Just as House v. NCAA is releasing information about exactly what is happening in court, the first major lawsuit over NIL misdeeds came out when a player from California was supposedly offered $13 million from a coach, big boosters and collectives at the University of Florida before they reneged on the deal.
He hired a famous lawyer who has defended athletes for years, while the Gators will likely lose a coach and millionaire car dealer who made illegal promises then backed off at signing day. The kid has since transferred to Georgia, where there is supposedly enough money and control to do NIL right.
We’ll see how all that turns out. But free agency, revenue sharing and collective bargaining are in college athletics to stay. The games and how they played them to win will be the big losers.
Featured image via Associated Press/Michael Conroy
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
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