Amateurism in college sports is dead. Has been for a while.
Someone, evidently, still needs to tell the NCAA.
Your move, Clifton Corker.
The latest example of college sports’ inability to manage itself is that Corker, a federal judge in Greeneville, Tennessee, is having to do it for them . He’s deciding whether the NCAA will be allowed to enforce its rules regarding the use of name, image and likeness benefits in recruiting against the University of Tennessee or other schools.
Even if Corker sides with the NCAA for now, it’ll likely be a temporary victory. Because, as a general rule, courtrooms in a capitalist society won’t be OK with non-negotiated restrictions on what their citizens can earn.
Collective bargaining should be the starting point for the NCAA’s efforts, rather than pointless legal fights to delay outcomes that have long felt preordained. NCAA leaders need real solutions. They won’t find any in Greeneville.
But there they were, and here I am, looking east and rolling my eyes.