Bobref

I believe Ohio does not go to neutral sites until Week 2. Higher seeded team gets a home game in Week 1. Ping pong balls are not involved. 😂

At least it’s not up my a$$.

DKDC

It’s not rocket science. The most obvious is the opportunities created by the economic consequences of a commitment to athletic excellence. For example, at Notre Dame, athletic department revenue contributes significantly to the funding of a robust minority scholarship program. Also, the connection between athletic excellence and high numbers of admissions applicants has been demonstrated. Athletic excellence is, in effect, a recruiting tool for the entire student body. That’s a couple. There are more.

No idea. However, I can see several paths from which “athletic excellence” aligns perfectly with what I would assume most institutions of higher learning are trying to accomplish. Still waiting to hear any sort of an answer.

You guys don’t get it. That’s exactly what they are doing!

If you’re good enough to command it, why not? That’s the American way, no?

Couldn’t agree more.

I’m sure they feel the same way about you. 😂🤣 What is the rationale for forcing a student-athlete to choose one or the other?

Because the Supreme Court says you can’t.

Good luck with that.

Less than a year after the Alston decision, and look how the landscape of college sports has changed.

13 yr. NBA official Tim Donaghy was dismissed in the wake of a gambling scandal in 2007.

I have always thought he could play. This makes a lot of sense for the Colts. https://www.stampedeblue.com/2022/3/13/22975371/report-name-been-heard-the-most-at-starting-qb-for-colts-is-raiders-free-agent-marcus-mariota

YES!!!!

I don’t think he’s “garbage.” I think he does not have the mental toughness to be a consistent starting QB in the NFL. He could well become a serviceable backup. … Just not at that price.

How about this: Carson Wentz is the greatest thing since sliced bread. … Like sliced bread, when you first open the package, it’s terrific. Great texture & taste. Everything you could ask for in sliced bread. But then, as time goes by, the bread loses its freshness. The quality declines, until you’ve got just 2 more sandwiches to make, but the bread is all green and moldy. So, it has to be discarded.

So, back to actual football. Amari Cooper to the Browns. He’ll get his $20 million now. Is he worth it … in that offense … with that QB?

That’s sort of what for-profit institutions do, isn’t it?

Exactly.

In addition to the opportunity for a cash grab — which benefits everyone, including players — I think part of the NFL’s reasoning in embracing sports betting is simply bowing to the inevitable. Since the Goodell statement in 2015 quoted in the article, the flow toward public acceptance of gambling has become a tsunami. States legalizing sports betting, online opportunities in abundance, and most importantly, the explosion in popularity of fantasy football, all make gambling on football mainstream today. What was once considered shady, back room, under the table stuff is now family entertainment. Society’s mores changed. The NFL changed correspondingly. What’s the big deal? Why would anyone attribute some sort of nefarious motive to that? Did you know in Indiana, which has a state lottery, state licensed casinos, and legal sports betting, there are also laws on the books against illegal gambling operations. Is enforcement of those laws hypocritical? I don’t hear a lot of people beating that drum.

No idea what his financial situation. But these lawsuits will have 6 figure settlements. Some of those claim some pretty egregious stuff. Those might be more. We’ll never know for sure, because of the confidentiality provisions that will undoubtedly accompany the settlement agreements.

I can’t imagine a set of circumstances where Watson doesn’t do everything in his power to prevent any of these cases from ever seeing the light of day.

Let me add that Watson’s taking the Fifth in his deposition is significant. Texas, like most states, permits an “adverse inference” when a party takes the Fifth in a civil proceeding. That means that if a civil case goes to trial, the jury will be instructed that the defendant invoked his Fifth Amendment rights and, as a result, the jury may assume that if he had answered the questions truthfully, the answers would be unfavorable to his case.

Had he been indicted, I think his career might have been over. Because the burden of proof in a criminal case is so much more exacting than a civil case, a criminal conviction — even a guilty plea as part of an agreement — can be used by the victim as pretty much conclusive evidence in the civil case. But the grand jury’s failure to indict has no legal effect on the civil cases. They will go forward. And waiting at the end of that tunnel is the NFL. Let the depositions begin. And by that I mean the depositions of the claimants. Watson’s deposition was taken yesterday, and all he did was take the Fifth, unsurprisingly.