NCAA's New 5-Year Rule; NBA Draft Notes; Giant Stench; Mr. Personality; MAWA Court

In recent years we've seen a new phenomenon emerge in college football and basketball--the seven year player. 

Used to be, you'd have four years to participate in your sport, or perhaps five if you were red-shirted or had a season-ending injury.

But the recent rule changes allowing athletes to play up to four games without losing a year, a variety of waivers issued for injuries or coaching changes, and the NCAA's grant of an additional "COVID Year" and then a blanket waiver for junior college athletes, have resulted in dozens of six and seven-year players.

With the advent of NIL dollars and the transfer portal, many athletes are anxious to extend their college careers as long as possible to cash in.

One of the most noteworthy was Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia, a finalist for the Heisman Trophy in 2025, who played two years of junior college at New Mexico Military Institute, two years at New Mexico State, and after winning a legal battle with the NCAA, two years at Vandy.

The epidemic of 25 and 26-year olds, as well as the endless legal challenges, apparently became too much for the NCAA suits to bear, so they decided to simplify eligibility rules and hopefully restrict college sports to college-aged athletes.

Last week the D-1 Cabinet approved a new eligibility standard allowing athletes five years of competition in their college careers, instead of four, but eliminating virtually all redshirts and waivers.

The new "age-based eligibility model" will start athletes' eligibility clocks when they first enroll at a college or junior college, or at the beginning of the academic year following their 19th birthday, whichever occurs first.

Redshirts are eliminated and waivers will no longer be available to extend eligibility other than for pregnancy, official religious missions or active military service.

The upside is that everyone gets a fifth year to compete and, hopefully, we'll be spared the endless lawsuits and waiver claims.

In my mind, it's one of the best things the NCAA has done in a long time.

NBA Draft Notes: The Warriors went with a Michigan player with the No. 11 pick in the draft, but not the one we had recommended, selecting forward Yaxel Lindeborg instead of 7-3 center Aday Mara.

We still like Mara, but LIndeborg is a solid pick and will be a good NBA player.

He gives the Warriors more size (6-9), and he can shoot, pass and defend multiple positions. But he's not a rim protector. He won't be able to counter Victor Wembanyama, Chet Holmgren, or Nikola Jokic. 

And wouldn't you know the aging Warriors would take the oldest player in the first round? Lindeborg played six years of college ball at Arizona Western, UAB and Michigan and will be 24 in September.

In the second round the Warriors chose 6-7 guard Lajae Jones of Florida State with the No. 54 overall pick. Jones averaged 12.7 points and 5.7 rebounds last season for the Seminoles of the ACC, after previously playing at Tarleton State, Barton Community College in Kansas and St. Bonaventure.

So between them, the two Warriors' picks played at seven different colleges and junior colleges. Must be some kind of a record.

Draft Grade: B

Meanwhile, former Stanford guard Ebuka Okorie went at No.17  to the Detroit Pistons, who traded up to get the pick.

It's an interesting choice, because all-star Cade Cunningham has the ball 90% of the time for the Pistons. Perhaps they see Okorie as an off guard? Or do they plan to use him to run the second unit and/or relieve Cunnngham of some of the ball handling duties? 

It will be interesting to see how it plays out and if Okorie can overcome his lack of size and seasonining to make an impact in the NBA.

Giant Woes: The stench around the San Francisco Giants is getting stronger. 

The Giants leadership completely blew the controversy over four players who added Bible verses or refused to wear rainbow-themed caps on Pride Night, failing to discipline the players and issue any kind of a meaningful response to the community. 

Even major league baseball has acknowledged the Giants' "inadequate" communication and direction to their own players.

Then team president Buster Posey made matters worse by refusing to answer questions from the media in one of the most awkward and tense press conferences I've witnessed. 

Posey read a short statement about "differing perspectives" and said "it's not something I'm going to revisit." 

When the press corps lobbed questions about whether the team educated players about league policies or if they were required to wear the caps or if new manager Tony Vitello was cutting it, Posey looked down or shifted uncomfortably in his chair while continuously repeating "I'm going to answer baseball questions." 

His dodge made him seem gutless, lacking in confidence, lacking in leadership.

Perhaps Posey is sympathetic to the "Christian Four". Baseball players are notoriously conservative as a group, and Posey is obviously a favorite of team owner Charles Johnson, who has contributed millions to several right wing politicians and causes.

Either way, as the face of the team, Buster needs to show some leadership and not evade questions from the media. 

To this observer, he seems to be in way over his head as team president.

Mr. Personality, Former Notre Dame and LSU coach Brian Kelly, perhaps the most disliked figure in college football, apparently is being hired by CBS sports to call Mountain West Conference games this season. 

Not sure who the genius at CBS is who thinks Kelly can add anything to a broadcast, or that any fans actually would want to listen to him, but this will rank as one of the worst announcing hires ever made.

For Kelly, it's obviously just a temporary landing spot, on the way to his next coaching gig. For CBS, it's the opportunity to add a well-known coach to the announcing booth. 

An opportunity they should've turned down.

MAWA Court: The racist in chief, aided and abetted by the conservative majority on the Supreme Court, ended humanitarian protection for people from Haiti and Syria under a program known as Temporary Protected Status. Congress had created TPS in 1990 to provide temporary legal status to people fleeing war, natural disasters or other crises in their home countries.

Over 300,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians will likely be deported, thanks to the disgraceful opinion authored by Samuel Alito.

 Trump has a history of derogatory statements against Haitians, accusing  them of “poisoning the blood” of our nation and “eating the pets” of their neighbors. He described their home country as a “shithole” that is “filthy, dirty, disgusting.”

If discrimination was “a motivating factor” in the case, it would violate the Constitution’s equal protection clause, and the program would've survived. But Alito, writing for the majority, concluded that Trump’s comments were not “overtly racial.”

Right.

Alito and company also decided the Trump administration could turn away migrants seeking asylum along the U.S.-Mexico border by physically preventing them from crossing into the United States.

The inscription on the Statue of Liberty reads: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free."

Under Donald Trump and Samuel Alito, that invitation now only extends to white people.

It's pretty clear, after 10 years of watching Trump, that his MAGA movement is really a MAWA movement--Make America White Again.