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Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
The SEC (the Sports One) Is Acting Like It's Invincible
Good morning and welcome to another edition of Free Agent! Maybe think twice before jumping for joy today (especially because the A's still lost). Plenty to talk about today, with college football in turmoil again (I could copy and paste that every week), plus an interesting sports-related tax issue to discuss, along with two new racing documentaries and the NBA and NHL reaching the final stages of their playoffs. Let's get to it. Locker Room Links S-E-C Guarantee? The SEC seems to think it's invincible. If it gets its way, it just might be. Advertisement We've only had one 12-team College Football Playoff and even though the format is already changing for this season, the college football world can't stop talking about expanding the playoff (again) and changing the format (again). The all-powerful SEC and Big Ten don't want to take any chances. They think they can design the best system: four automatic qualifiers for each of them, plus two each from the ACC and Big 12, one team from the midmajor Group of 6 conferences, and three at-large spots. Based on tradition and hubris, they think they're the best conferences, they've always been the best conferences, and they always will be the best conferences, so they deserve multiple automatic qualifiers even if their top teams have a relatively bad year. Multiple automatic qualifiers would be unprecedented in American sports. The other college sports, to my knowledge, don't give out more than one automatic qualifier per conference. The NFL doesn't guarantee the NFC East two playoff spots just because the division has some of the league's most powerful and historic teams. The only parallel I can think of is European soccer, where the international club competitions dish out a given number of qualification spots to the top teams in each country (though the number of spots per country is based on a coefficient formula calculated by team performance in the last five years of the competitions—sounds a bit like the old BCS, doesn't it?). Advertisement It's not, however, all that unprecedented in American business. Startups rise to the top of their new fields, and once they become powerful enough to crush their competition, they call for rules and regulations that will hold back any new upstarts with funny ideas or better business practices. But no matter how dominant they get, a new competitor eventually comes along to knock them off their pedestal. The SEC is following this playbook, the sports version of crony capitalism. It has long been the best conference in college football, but its grip might be slipping—they haven't sent a team to the national championship in two years. The system is changing (expanded playoff; name, image, and likeness payments; direct "revenue-sharing" payments to players) and different teams in other conferences might find different ways to succeed amid the chaos. But if the SEC can guarantee that a quarter of its conference gets into the College Football Playoff, that's going to be an advantage in recruiting players and coaches. Of course, if the SEC and Big Ten each have four of the best 16 teams in the country, they don't need to worry about automatic qualification. So why not just stick to proving it on the field? We'll see if they decide to take their ball and go home. They're the Ones Writing It Off Did you know the Los Angeles Dodgers can write off Shohei Ohtani's contract for tax purposes? Advertisement Not just Ohtani's contract—Mookie Betts', Freddie Freeman's, Yoshinobu Yamamoto's, and everyone else on the team too. For tax purposes, these contracts are "intangible assets" that can be written off over 15 years. It's a good deal if you can get it, but the gravy train may soon slow down (but it's not getting scrapped). Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed by the House of Representatives, only half the value of those contracts could be written off instead of the full value, the New York Times reports. But that change will only affect future owners. One NFL owner told the Times the provision "felt punitive" and speculated that Trump is using the possible change to get leverage over sports owners. (Leverage for what isn't exactly clear, but who knows when Trump will want leverage for some kind of deal.) A White House spokesperson suggested to the Times that the change had more to do with ticket prices to sporting events: "The president is committed to ensuring that sports teams overcharging ticketholders do not receive favorable tax treatment. His focus is on fairness for fans, not team ownership." (This feels like grabbing a screwdriver to try to put out a grill fire—they don't seem especially related.) Advertisement One team to watch in this space is the Atlanta Braves. The team is owned by a publicly traded company. Under the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act, publicly traded companies will have limitations (starting in 2027) on how much of a write-off they can take from their highest-paid salaries. It could mean a $19 million tax hike for the Braves—though not if their new lobbyists have something to say about it. Green Flag Let's go racing. Two new documentaries dropped last week that will be of interest to motorsports fans. There are a ton of new sports documentaries these days, but Earnhardt (four episodes, one hour each, on Amazon Prime Video) shows them all how it's done. Too often we get documentaries that are too one-sided—usually too deferential to the star power of the main character. Earnhardt could have been like that, and if anything, the racing aspects could have used a little more of a "Raise Hell, praise Dale" vibe. But with the late Dale Earnhardt only able to speak for himself through archival footage, the documentary gets three of Earnhardt's four children to open up about their family life—the positives and the negatives (with a lot of the latter). Sports documentaries should give viewers a fuller picture of their subjects, and Earnhardt absolutely succeeds. Advertisement On a completely different note, Netflix gave the Drive to Survive treatment to the 2024 season of the all-female F1 Academy racing series in the super creatively titled docuseries F1: The Academy (seven episodes, 30–40 minutes each). Whether you saw all the racing action last year or skipped it but had your interest piqued, it's worth a watch (as long as you can put up with a bunch of "girl boss" pop music in the soundtrack). The stakes and racing action are compelling enough on their own, and they're coupled with the interesting backgrounds of girls who dream of making it to Formula One someday. Plus, Americans Lia Block and Chloe Chambers get a solid amount of airtime. It's unlikely anyone from this crop will eventually make it to Formula 1, but it's fun nonetheless to learn their stories and watch them compete. The Finals Who you got? We're doing another Free Agent reader survey, and I want to know who you're rooting for in the NBA and Stanley Cup finals. Personally, I'm pulling for the Indiana Pacers. I don't have much against the Thunder (other than their crazy stadium deal—$1,200 in tax dollars per resident!). But I have forgiven the Pacers (franchise, not the players of the time) for the Malice at the Palace and I think some Midwestern solidarity has them pulling at my heartstrings. Also, apparently they're weird. Advertisement On the ice, I'm hoping for a Florida Panthers repeat. I'm not super happy about rooting for a repeat, but I'd rather see that than see Canada finally break their three-decade Stanley Cup drought. Canada already got to win the 4 Nations Face-Off this year, they can't get the Stanley Cup too. (Although los petroleros are one of my preferred Canadian teams.) Take a minute to fill out the survey here and let me know what you're thinking. Replay of the Week I knew this was legal in pickleball. I had no idea it was legal in tennis. That's all for this week. Enjoy watching the real game of the weekend, the Kalamazoo Growlers against the Battle Creek Battle Jacks. The post The SEC (the Sports One) Is Acting Like It's Invincible appeared first on
Daily Mail
a day ago
- General
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS NFL star Jedrick Wills chooses to miss the entire 2025 season due to concerning medical issue
NFL offensive tackle Jedrick Wills could miss the entire 2025 season in a bid to recover from a lingering knee issue. The 26-year-old, who was a first-round pick by the Browns in the 2020 NFL draft, started just four games for Cleveland last year as he dealt with the injury. Wills is now a free agent and, according to Fox Sports, he is planning to sit out most - if not all - of the upcoming campaign.
Washington Post
2 days ago
- General
- Washington Post
Wade Miley becomes a free agent after opting out of his minor league deal with the Reds
CHICAGO — Wade Miley has opted out of his minor league contract with the Cincinnati Reds, making the veteran left-hander a free agent. Miley, 38, is coming back from Tommy John surgery . He went 1-2 with an 8.84 ERA in seven starts at Triple-A Louisville this season. Cincinnati had until Sunday to make a decision on Miley, who is looking for a starting opportunity. The Reds could have brought him up and put him in their bullpen.
BBC News
5 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Striker Dalby in demand
Bolton Wanderers have joined Wigan Athletic and Blackpool in the race to sign ex-Wrexham striker and free agent Sam Dalby, who spent last season on loan at Dundee United. (Football League World), externalRead the rest of Friday's Scottish gossip.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The Steroid Olympics Are Coming
Good morning and welcome to another edition of Free Agent! Don't forget to organize a Fight Club with your friendly neighborhood geopolitical rivals this week. We're talking about the Olympics today—not the real ones, the new Enhanced Games that allow athletes to use steroids (or not). Then we'll move on to a new Netflix documentary on Brett Favre, followed by Formula 1's Monaco dilemma and a wild story of a journalist getting banned in England. Locker Room Links Olympians, But Enhanced Some world records might soon fall.* Advertisement *But don't expect to see them in the actual record books, not even with an asterisk. The first Enhanced Games are coming in May 2026, an Olympics-style event where athletes who are using performance-enhancing drugs are allowed to compete. "Enhanced Games athletes will be allowed to take substances that are legal in the United States and prescribed by a licensed doctor," reports ESPN's Dan Murphy. "Examples may include testosterone, growth hormone and some types of anabolic steroids. Illicit drugs—cocaine, for example—will not be allowed." (One wonders where the legally murky status of marijuana comes in.) Athletes who aren't taking performance-enhancing drugs are also allowed to compete, which could create an interesting contrast. So far there are only plans in place for short-distance swimming, track, and weightlifting events. I'm sure the public is generally against professional athletes using steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs, hence the web of rules and testing in major sports leagues. But, as my Reason colleague Ronald Bailey has written, it's still good for the Enhanced Games to show what athletes are capable of when science boosts them beyond the fullest of their natural abilities. Science is already changing athletic competitions in other ways, from faster running shoes to quicker swimsuits and analytics-inspired tactics. Advertisement Let enhanced competitions bloom, and let them compete for the public's attention against nonenhanced events too. Doping is probably more common than we already think anyway. Complicated antidoping rules often punish athletes for accidentally taking a drug they didn't know was banned, or reward athletes who have done better than everyone else at cheating the system. One world record has already fallen: Greek swimmer and former Olympian Kristian Gkolomeev, who started taking performance-enhancing drugs in January, beat the world record in the 50 meter freestyle by 0.02 seconds in a February time trial. By the way, don't expect the Trump administration to express "deep concerns" over all of this like the Biden administration did—Donald Trump Jr. is a partner at a venture capital firm that has invested in the Enhanced Games. Don't Blame Me, Blame Brett A new Netflix documentary, Untold: The Fall of Favre, looks at the complicated legacy of Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre. It's an engaging watch, although viewers probably won't learn anything important they didn't already know about Favre, his sexually inappropriate text messages, and his welfare-related scandal in Mississippi. For me, the documentary raised two questions that I wish had been explored. Advertisement The narrative at the beginning of the movie is clear: Favre was so popular in Green Bay that local fans and the media treated him like a god. But the media knew Favre, despite his family man image, was gallivanting around. None of the journalists interviewed in the documentary seemed surprised at Favre's behavior in the explicit text messages. Why didn't any of them report on Favre's indiscretions sooner? It would have been unpopular and difficult, but it would have been the right thing to do, morally and journalistically. One reporter who did the right thing and followed through on unpopular journalism is Anna Wolfe, who won a Pulitzer Prize in 2023 for reporting on the Mississippi welfare funds scandal. Mississippi officials used federal welfare funds on a new volleyball building at the University of Southern Mississippi (where Favre's daughter was on the team) and on Prevacus, a concussion-treatment company that Favre invested in. What surprised me is that government officials spend money on stadiums and politically well-connected companies all the time, just not through welfare funds. All Mississippi had to do was claim the money spent was going to create jobs, and hardly anyone would have batted an eye at it coming out of some state "economic development" fund. Why were they so incompetent in their crimes? Monaco Monotony The Monaco Grand Prix is famously the crown jewel of the Formula 1 calendar, the most historic race with the most glitz and glamor. Yet the actual racing often sucks. Modern F1 cars got bigger, but Monaco's narrow streets stayed the same, with the race turning into a fast, noisy parade without any passing. This year officials tried to fix the quality of the action by mandating that every driver make two pit stops—a good attempt that ultimately failed to make much difference because the problem with Monaco isn't pit strategy, it's that no one can pass on the track. Advertisement F1 regulations are set to change next year, and the new generation of cars will be lighter and smaller with more electric power for temporary speed boosts. Hopefully that solves part of the problem. If not, F1 might have to research any possible adjustments that could be made to the circuit to create longer straights for overtaking (though the Monégasque government may resist anything involving permanent construction). The other option is to just leave it as is and tell critics to get over it: F1 has different kinds of circuits with different kinds of challenges, and Monaco is just going to be what it is. Fencing Off Forest Imagine the Philadelphia Eagles denying Tony Romo press credentials and keeping him from commentating on one of their games, just because he was one of many people who called out the Eagles owner for doing something crazy. That's basically what happened in England this week. Advertisement Earlier this month, Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis went onto the field immediately after a match to angrily confront the team's manager. (When something similar happened on Ted Lasso it felt overwrought and unrealistic, but Marinakis showed me wrong.) Pretty much everyone agreed it was a crazy thing to do, and Gary Neville had the gall to join the chorus, calling it "scandalous." This weekend, Neville was supposed to commentate on the final Nottingham Forest match of the season, the most important match of the Premier League's final day. But as Neville detailed on Instagram, calling it an "unprecedented action," Forest "would not give me an accreditation or access to the stadium as a co-commentator." Marinakis is going to have to grow some thicker skin or no one will be left to commentate on his team's matches. (Forest lost the match, 1–0). Replay of the Week The Indianapolis 500 was chaotic, with drivers struggling to adapt to low temperatures (apparently temperatures in the 60s are too cold for them). Marco Andretti crashed out on the very first turn. Multiple cars crashed trying to slow down or stop on pit road. Josef Newgarden's bid for a three-peat ended with a fuel system failure. NASCAR driver Kyle Larson spun himself out, ending his attempt to finish both the 500 and the 600-mile NASCAR race on the same day. Advertisement But the most shocking thing was that the chaos actually started before the race even began, when series mainstay Scott McLaughlin crashed during the pace laps. That's all for this week. Enjoy watching the real game of the weekend, Southern Miss against Columbia in the NCAA Baseball Tournament. The post The Steroid Olympics Are Coming appeared first on
