Keep an eye out this week, you never know what job opportunities will suddenly come your way.
asserted
opportunities → keep → eye
OK, then a little bit of messing around on why Saturday night's alright for fighting.
asserted
night → mess → fighting
Alex Ovechkin bizarrely claimed he was "not in politics" after appearing in a commercial for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin's party (but at least he answered an ESPN reporter's questions about the ad).
asserted
he → claim → ad
Rep. Joe Wilson (R–S.C.) sent NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman an angry letter about the ad but stopped short of calling for punishment.
asserted
Wilson → send → punishment
- The 2028 Los Angeles Olympics will not have a $20 billion to $40 billion benefit to the region's economy.
asserted
Olympics → have → economy
- Logan and Jake Paul went to the Pentagon, people got mad online, and Jake defended himself in a lengthy post.
asserted
Jake → go → post
- Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is not happy with how the MLB playoff bracket seeds are placed.
asserted
seeds → place → ?
- Lately it seems like every sports-related TV rating is going up, but here's an outlier from golf: The Solheim Cup (the women's version of the Ryder Cup) got far fewer viewers this year than in the past.
asserted
Cup → seem → past
I watched Saturday afternoon and the Sunday singles and got very into it (Jennifer Kupcho has a new fan).
asserted
Kupcho → watch → fan
The U.S. narrowly lost, but people missed out on an entertaining event.
asserted
people → lose → event
- Swiss soccer captain Granit Xhaka will miss at least three international matches, and possibly face legal consequences, for faking his COVID-19 vaccination certificate.
uncertain
Xhaka → miss → certificate
- Elsewhere in Reason, my colleagues had two pieces about the viral post by Texas Republican candidate Bo French, who seemed unhappy about the race of students in a photo of celebrations during the Texas win over Ohio State: "Why the Right Should Celebrate the UT-Austin Football Photo" by Robby Soave, and "Despite Nativist Outcry, Texas Shows the Melting Pot Works Incredibly Well" by Nick Gillespie.
asserted
Pot → have → Gillespie
- Congratulations to my Reason Foundation colleague Rich Sill, who this season attended 100 MLB games in all 30 ballparks.
asserted
who → attend → ballparks
(How he did all this travel and kept his job, I do not know.)
asserted
I → do → job
Mission accomplished #BaseballMaxxing @MLB @MLBNetwork @RaysBaseball @raysbeisbol @tropicanafield
Following the end of the 5th inning (official game) we celebrate.
asserted
we → accomplish → inning
The Senate is likely to pass the Protect College Sports Act (PCSA) this week.
asserted
Senate → pass → Act
In procedural votes last week, it got 70-plus senators backing it.
asserted
senators → get → it
It still has to pass the House of Representatives, which is out of session until after the midterm elections—that's plenty of time for something to go wrong.
asserted
something → have → time
Some people think the bill faces a difficult path in the House, but it's hard to argue with so much support in the Senate.
asserted
it → think → Senate
The bill is pushed by Sens. Ted Cruz (R–Texas) and Maria Cantwell (D–Wash.), who have garnered bipartisan support (and opposition) for the bill.
asserted
who → push → bill
If the bill becomes law, it would be unprecedented government micromanagement of American sports.
asserted
it → become → sports
Sports and law have collided before, but not to the extent that Congress has told a sports organization how to cap compensation, handle athletes switching teams, or ban coaches from leaving their jobs at a certain time of year, among other minute details.
asserted
athletes → collide → details
Fueling support for the bill are several misconceptions about the state of college sports.
asserted
misconceptions → fuel → sports
Here are the talking points behind the bill, and what you should know about reality.
asserted
you → know → reality
The numbers on athletic department finances seem less than ideal: About 94 percent of Division 1 colleges, and 71 percent of power conference schools, directly lost money on athletics in the most recent academic year studied by the Government Accountability Office.
asserted
percent → seem → Office
What you don't see in those numbers is the reason schools are OK with this: There's evidence that athletics programs offset their losses by keeping up nonathlete student enrollment rates, and thus, raise university revenues through tuition (though the exact numbers can be hard to quantify).
asserted
numbers → see → tuition
Furthermore, not every student-athlete is on a full ride—some economists say nonscholarship or partial-scholarship athletes who just want to play sports in college help cover team costs.
asserted
who → say → costs
We all wish students were picking their schools based on academics, but many are picking based on how much fun it looked to storm the field against Alabama.
asserted
it → wish → Alabama
Saying that schools lose money on athletics is like saying a business lost money on marketing—that's probably only true if you don't count the money you made because of the marketing.
asserted
you → say → marketing
Still, in some places, the drive to compete has squeezed taxpayers (Cantwell's office found six states that "earmarked state tax dollars, raised taxes, or created significant tax breaks to benefit college athletics") and students (a majority of Division I colleges use mandatory student fees to help fund athletics—over $2,500 a year at a couple of schools).
asserted
majority → compete → schools
Politicians and universities should not do this!
asserted
Politicians → do → this
Unlimited transfers are getting out of control!
asserted
transfers → get → control
If players weren't getting paid, this would be hard to control.
asserted
this → pay → ?
Thankfully, players are signing name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals.
asserted
players → sign → deals
NIL deals are contracts, and contracts are (in theory) easily enforced.
asserted
contracts → enforce → theory
Courts are still working out some of the issues here.
asserted
Courts → work → issues
But the best example of this is actually a one-year contract: After the 2025 season, Washington quarterback Demond Williams Jr. signed a lucrative revenue-share agreement with the school.
asserted
Jr. → sign → school
Days later, he tried to enter the transfer portal (rumor has it Lane Kiffin was trying to get him to LSU).
asserted
Kiffin → try → LSU
But contracts have consequences, and this one clearly stated that Williams could not enter the portal.
uncertain
Williams → have → portal
Two days after trying to transfer, Williams said he'd stay put after all.
asserted
he → try → ?
…and 95 more, not listed.
The Aporia
