Finally!
After 115 years of enforcing imbecilic rules prohibiting college athletes from doing what they want with awards they have won and in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling against it, the NCAA finally has caved in and agreed to allow athletes to profit from their names, images, and likenesses. This will open a whole new world for athletes to earn some money with the blessing of the colleges for whom they fill a variety of sports venues throughout the year.
The new rules went into effect last Thursday, and it’s going to be quite interesting to see how both the colleges and their athletes handle these newfound freedoms. For example, under the old rules, if a college football player was a member of a championship team and was awarded a nice ring, he could wear it, put it in a drawer, or throw it away. What he could not do was sell it to a fan who was willing pay for it. That was a huge no-no, and the punishment could be quite severe. But under the new rules the player is free to sell the ring whatever a fan might be willing to pay.
Last Thursday a number of new state laws permitting college athletes to us their names, images, and likenesses for profit went into effect, and the NCAA threw in the towel as its Board of Directors decided to give all athletes at all schools with an NCAA membership the green light to use their NIL to earn money. While this is a huge boon for the athletes, it may turn out to be a large headache for athletics directors and coaches who may need to deal with disgruntled players who aren’t earning as much cash from endorsements et al as some of their teammates.
I’m all for the athletes finally being able to receive a payback for filling stadiums and arenas to earn millions for their respective schools. But I also hope that this development will lead the NCAA to either relax or abolish some of the myriad ridiculous rules it enforces. Two examples should suffice.
A father and his son traveled to the University of Oregon, where the son was hoping to play football someday. Now it just so happened that the father forgot to pack his shaving supplies. To help him out, a member of the game day staff gave him a razor and some shaving cream. Uh oh! The university had to self-report this incident as an infraction.
And one more. An NCAA rule mandates that basketball players are not permitted to dunk the ball during the final 20 minutes of warmups before a game. (Don’t ask me why, but the rule is stated in the NCAA Men’s Basketball rulebook.) Before a game between North Florida and Tennessee Tech one of the North Florida players violated the rule, and Tennessee was awarded two technical foul shots before the game. Both shots were made, and North Florida lost the game by what? Of course, two points!
So today it’s the approval of NIL, and maybe tomorrow the abolishment inane rules like the two cited above.
He’s Out
Well, “America’s dad” is out of prison, proving once again there is not justice for all.
Bill Cosby, whom about 60 women accused of rape, drug-facilitated sexual assault, sexual battery, child sexual abuse, and sexual misconduct, walked out of prison last Wednesday a free man because the Pennsylvania Supreme Court said Cosby’s due process rights were violated. Cosby was serving a sentence of from 3 to 10 years imposed upon him in 2018 for drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Costand in 2014 while she was in his home.
In reaching their decision to free Cosby, the judges comprising a panel of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court said that when a former Montgomery County district attorney’s agreement not to prosecute Cosby in 2005 in exchange for his deposition in a civil case was used against him in his trial, it violated his due process rights.
While Cosby’s family was obviously overjoyed by the court’s decision, his victims were understandably quite upset. One of them, Victoria Valentino said, “I am outraged! Outraged! Stunned! My stomach is in knots. The work that we have done to uplift women has been overturned by a legal glitch. We now have a serial predator on the street.”
What makes Cosby’s release particularly troubling for his accusers is that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision in no way abrogates Cosby’s guilt of the horror to which he subjected his victims.
As one analyst said, “Despite the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision, this was an important fight for justice, and even though the court overturned the conviction on technical grounds, it did not vindicate Bill Cosby’s conduct and should not be interpreted as a statement or a finding that he did not engage in the acts of which he has been accused.”
And Kevin Steele, the Montgomery County district attorney who prosecuted Cosby, pointed out that Cosby’s release was the result of “…a procedural issue that is irrelevant to the facts of the crime.”
There you have it, legal fans. So much for justice!
Nightmare Continues
At this writing, the death toll at that collapsed condo in Surfside, Miami, stands at 20, as workers continue to sift through the rubble where 128 people are still missing. To make matters worse, Hurricane Elsa is expected to hit the area over the weekend. What an incredible tragedy!
New Thriller
The No. 1 book in hardcover fiction on the New York Times Best Sellers List is The President’s Daughter. Described as “…a rocket ride of a thriller,” the book was written by former president Bill Clinton and super author James Patterson, whose prodigious list of bestsellers is beyond the realm of comprehension. All I know about the novel is that it’s about a kidnapping, and that’s all I want to know because I’m going to begin reading it this weekend. Stay tuned for more details.
Ponder This:
I went to a general store, but they wouldn’t let me buy anything specific.
~Steven Wright
