Dark Days for American Journalism; Gambling's Grip; Geno Gets It

Both the Washington Post and LA Times last week announced they would decline to endorse a candidate in the most important presidential election of our lifetimes.

The billionaire owners of the newspapers--Jeff Bezos and Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong--made the call, over-ruling the editorial boards of both papers to stop endorsements of Kamala Harris.

The Post's publisher's "explanation" said the newspaper would "return to its roots" and no longer endorse in presidential elections, something it has done since 1976, and claimed that the decision was "consistent with the values the Post has always stood for and what it hoped for in a leader: character and courage in service to the American ethic."

Really? If the Post truly had decided to stop making endorsements as a matter of principle, it should've announced it months ago, instead of waiting until the final days before the election.

Rather than "character and courage," the decision showed only weakness and cowardice. 

And perhaps fear of antagonizing a certain candidate who has promised to target and prosecute the "enemy within" if he wins.

Ironically, the Post's motto has been "democracy dies in darkness."

Well, one of the main functions of a newspaper in a democracy is to speak truth to power, not to kneel before it.

And one of the clearest indications of an autocratic society is intimidation and silencing of the free press. 

They said it couldn't happen here. 

It's already happening here.

World Series Promotes Gambling: A few seconds before the first pitch of the 2024 World Series Friday night--featuring a dream matchup between the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers--Major League Baseball treated us to a gambling ad for a FanDuel Parlay. 

The "Same Game Parlay" promoted a $5 bet to win $63.28 if Aaron Judge recorded 2+ total bases, Giancarlo Stanton hit a home run, and Shohei Ohtani recorded an RBI. Play-by-play announcer Joe Davis even had to read the promo aloud over the on-screen graphic.

Just what you wanted to hear before the Dodger's Jack Flaherty threw the first pitch of the World Series to the Yankees' Gleybar Torres.

Here we have players being threatened by gamblers who blame them for their losses. We have lives being ruined by gambling addiction. We have players being suspended or banned for placing bets on their teams.

Yet our sports leagues continue to shamelessly promote gambling to line their coffers with money from their valued "partners."

Nothing is sacred, not even the World Series.

It's sick.

Geno Gets It: Connecticut women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma, the 11-time national champion who will pass Stanford's Tara VanDerveer this season as the winningest coach of all time, is also one of the smartest people in college sports. 

Fortunately, he's not afraid to tell it like it is. Last week, Auriemma discussed NIL, the transfer portal, and the realities of what has become a very big business.

"The NIL part, I think it's a test. It's a test for whether we keep the charade of student-athlete and amateurism or do we call it what it is: semi-professional, pay-for-play sports. Either keep the charade of student athlete--but teams wouldn't be going 3,000 miles to play conference games if it had anything to do with student athlete welfare, that's number one. So we obviously threw that in the garbage can.

"So let's just call it what it is. We're gonna pay these guys to play basketball, or pay them to play football, or pay them to play any sport at a university. And then let's make it a business and figure out how do we manage this business. 

"Other sports have done it. Pro sports have done it. They sign kids to contracts, and you're bound to your contract, and let's honor the terms of the contract. Let's do it. You've already got kids holding out. You've already got guys playing and going, 'I ain't playing anymore until I get more money.' So we've become professional sports. Let's say it, and let's act it. And let's stop the charade.

"The Portal? How about we teach kids how to make a commitment and stick to it? A coach can leave anytime he wants. I can. I have a buyout. That's a great idea. Let's sign kids to a contract and let's put a buyout in it. Let's make it a business because that's exactly what it is. That would fix it. And let's have a salary cap."

Amen.

The horse is out of the barn. The train has left the station. Or whatever analogy you want to use. The NIL/transfer portal era of college sports is upon us, and it's totally out of control.

The only way to restore some order is to sign players to contracts and institute salary caps.

Yes, it's pro sports 2.0. But the current iteration is an unleashed and uncontrolled mess, one where schools poach players with huge NIL offers, players transfer at the drop of a hat, and disillusioned coaches leave the game.

It has to stop.