Time - USA (2019-10-14)

(Antfer) #1

14 Time October 14, 2019


TheBrief News


On sepT. 30, afTer califOrnia gOvernOr
Gavin Newsom signed into law SB 206—a
bill that allows the state’s college athletes
to profit from their names, images and like-
nesses and to sign endorsement deals despite
NCAA rules forbidding them—state lawmak-
ers across America followed California’s lead.
The Democratic leader of Florida’s house filed
a bill mimicking California’s first-of-its-kind
law, which goes into effect in 2023. So did a
legislator in Illinois. Not even five hours after
the California news broke, two Pennsylvania
house members, Dan Miller and Ed Gainey,
circulated a “Fair Pay to Play Act” of their
own. “The future is starting in California,”
Miller says. “It’s time to roll. ”
So far, the NCAA is refusing to embrace
this sea change. The organization argues that
a patchwork of state laws will bring chaos
to college sports and “make unattainable
the goal of providing a fair and level playing
field.” But inequality is already rampant in
college sports. Football powers such as Ala-
bama, Clemson and Georgia consistently sit
atop coaches’ polls and have resources, like
gleaming facilities and reputations for churn-
ing out pros, that the lower rungs of Divi-
sion 1 can’t offer. If Alabama starts losing
recruits to UCLA because players can sign
endorsements in California, Alabama can
change its state laws to keep up.

POLITICS


Spin-doctored images
Canada’s Green Party leader, Elizabeth May, apologized after
staffers edited a photo of her so the disposable cup she held
looked reusable. Here, other electoral collages. —Ciara Nugent

FACE-OFF


During the 2014
Texas GOP primary
for Senate, former
Representative Steve
Stockman’s team
pasted rival Sena-
tor John Cornyn’s
face onto a photo
of Florida’s then
governor Charlie Crist
smiling with President
Obama.

WINDOW DRESSING


In 2015, India’s state
information agency
shared a doctored
photo of Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi surveying flood
damage in Chennai
(formerly Madras)
from a plane, crudely
pasting a closeup of
a neighborhood over
the window.

SHOE SHAME


Staff for Australian
Prime Minister Scott
Morrison wanted to
remove his scruffy
sneakers from
an official family
portrait in January


  1. Social-media
    users were quick
    to point out they
    had given him two
    left feet.


NEWS


TICKER


Judge rules
for Harvard on
admissions

A federal judge sided
with Harvard University
in a high-profile
affirmative-action
case on Oct. 1, saying
the institution has
the right to consider
race in making
admissions decisions.
The plaintiffs, who
alleged the school
discriminates against
Asian Americans, say
they’ll appeal all the
way to the Supreme
Court if necessary.

Far right
sees losses in
Austria vote

Austria’s center-
right People’s Party
(OVP)—led by former
Chancellor Sebastian
Kurz—won a snap
national election on
Sept. 29, taking 37%
of the vote. The poll
was triggered by a
corruption scandal
involving the far-right
Freedom Party, whose
support fell by a third,
to 16%.

Sanders
has heart
procedure

After feeling chest
discomfort on Oct. 1,
Vermont Senator and
2020 Democratic
presidential candidate
Bernie Sanders had
two stents inserted
to address a blocked
artery. He canceled
campaign events to
rest, but his team
said he was “in
good spirits.”

College sports officials fear a player-
payment movement will spread, but schools
and their athletics programs aren’t actually
likely to be hurt by such laws. First, under the
California model, they aren’t on the hook for
compensation: third parties, whether sneaker
companies or local car dealerships, are the
ones making payments. Second, allowing
players to profit shouldn’t damage the sup-
posed purity of “amateur” college athletics
and turn off fans. Critics made similar argu-
ments about the Olympics when more pro-
fessionals began competing in the 1980s. But
Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt seemed to do
O.K.; the Games attract multibillion-dollar
TV deals. Plus, college sports will always be a
fun spectacle: the 11 a.m. tailgate sausage and
beer will still taste good, even if the starting
linebacker is a Tuscaloosa Toyota pitchman.
Most important, these laws promote basic
fairness—and not just for future NFL stars.
Female athletes, for example, will be able to
promote themselves and secure sponsorships
while thriving in college—a key allowance as
professional opportunities remain sparse in
women’s sports. And for the many athletes
from disadvantaged backgrounds who
don’t end up making the NFL or NBA, their
monetary value soars while they compete
in college. Why shouldn’t they seize it?
“California gives us hope that there’s a level
of justice we can get to,” says Gainey, the
Pennsylvania lawmaker co-sponsoring a
bill. “At the same time college athletes are
helping schools make millions, let them help
themselves. Let them make some money.”
—sean gregOry

GOOD QUESTION


Will a law permitting
player payments ruin
college sports?

MAY: GREEN PARTY OF CANADA; NORMAN: BEATRIZ SCHILLER—THE LIFE IMAGES COLLECTION/GETTY IMAGES; CHIRAC: JACQUES DEMARTHON—AFP/GETTY IMAGES

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