A college volleyball game on Wednesday has set a world record – for the largest attendance for a women&#8217;s sporting event in history &#8212; after more than 92,000 fans packed the Nebraska&#8217;s Memorial Stadium in Lincoln.
The event took place at the college football stadium when thousands of fans showed up to watch the five-time National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) champions University of Nebraska Huskers battle the University of Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks, <a href="https://people.com/nebraska-volleyball-breaks-world-record-for-womens-sports-attendance-7964147" target="_blank" rel="noopener">People magazine</a> reported. And the Huskers ended up claiming victory for the night, winning the matches 25-14, 25-14 and 25-13, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nebraska-volleyball-may-break-world-attendance-record/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CBS</a> noted.
The record was announced in between the matches and fans went wild, the outlet noted. A typical NCAA volleyball match usually takes place in 10,000 to 20,000 seating arenas.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Nebraska just set the world record for largest attendance at a women’s sporting event.
92,003 fans filled Memorial Stadium for the Huskers&#39; volleyball match against Omaha <a href="https://t.co/GCEdWc0DFE">pic.twitter.com/GCEdWc0DFE</a>
&mdash; TIME (@TIME) <a href="https://twitter.com/TIME/status/1697319742984294452?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 31, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Husker Nation, you’ve done it,&#8221; a message on the Husker&#8217;s X account later. &#8220;The WORLD RECORD for a Women&#8217;s Sporting Event lives in Lincoln.&#8221;
&#8220;Today&#8217;s attendance: 92,003. There is NO PLACE like Nebraska,&#8221; the post added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Husker Nation, you’ve done it.
The WORLD RECORD for a Women’s Sporting Event lives in Lincoln.
Today’s attendance: 9️⃣2️⃣,0️⃣0️⃣3️⃣
There is NO PLACE like Nebraska. <a href="https://t.co/lQFguWHyp8">pic.twitter.com/lQFguWHyp8</a>
&mdash; Nebraska Volleyball (@HuskerVB) <a href="https://twitter.com/HuskerVB/status/1697055268725538941?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 31, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;It&#8217;s incredible. I don&#8217;t have enough words to describe it,&#8221; Nebraska middle blocker Andi Jackson said, according to <a href="https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/38294591/nebraska-volleyball-sets-world-record-attendance-women-sporting-event" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ESPN</a>.
&#8220;We were walking out of the tunnel after the second set, and we heard on the speaker we had just broken the world record,&#8221; she added. &#8220;Everyone was trying to stay locked in, but we were also so excited. I can&#8217;t describe how grateful I am to be a part of it.&#8221;
Nebraska sophomore middle blocker Bekka Allick said during a press conference before the match that it was a &#8220;once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It honestly leaves me speechless … It&#8217;s hard to grasp 94,000 people,&#8221; <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nebraska-volleyball-may-break-world-attendance-record/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CBS</a> reported.
The Huskers fans surpassed the previous world record of 91,648 set on April 22, 2022, in Spain at a Champions League soccer match between FC Barcelona and Wolfsburg, the outlet noted.
The previous record set for a women&#8217;s sporting event in the United States was set on July 10, 1999, with 90,185 fans at the Women&#8217;s World Cup soccer final between Team USA and China at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.
&#8220;I remember that like it was yesterday,&#8221; Nebraska coach John Cook said of that World Cup match, ESPN noted. &#8220;It was so impactful seeing those women compete and their celebration afterward. It made a mark on women&#8217;s sports in this country. They showed what could be done.&#8221;

University of Nebraska-1

College Volleyball Game Breaks World Record For Women’s Sports

Fans

NCAA

Nebraska

Universities

Volleyball

The following is an excerpt from the new book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/American-Playbook-Winning-Country-Democrats/dp/1668022346/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2EIWGD6O73X26&amp;keywords=clay+travis&amp;qid=1691529618&amp;s=books&amp;sprefix=clay+travis%2Cstripbooks%2C105&amp;sr=1-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">American Playbook: A Guide to Winning Back the Country from the Democrats</a> by Clay Travis (Threshold Books/Simon &amp; Schuster).
In the summer of 2020, I had to fight one of the biggest battles of my career.
The Big Ten and Pac 12 were close to deciding it was too dangerous to play college football, and if they canceled their seasons it was believed the SEC, Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), and Big 12 would soon follow suit. And if college football wasn’t played, no other college sport would be played, either.
I decided right then and there I would fight harder for the playing of college football than I’d ever fought for anything in sports. Over the next several months, Outkick, both my radio show and the website, became the most aggressive media outlet in the country to support playing college football. Why was playing college football so important in my opinion?
First, the data was overwhelming that there was no substantial risk to young, healthy players. That was despite the fact that news outlets like CBSSports.com were running hyperventilating pieces claiming that if college football was played at least eight players would die because of Covid. (The actual number of athletes who died from contracting Covid because of sports? Zero.) But the most important data here was that if college football was shut down, many high schools wouldn’t play fall sports and many wouldn’t open at all.
I had regular conversations with Southeastern Conference Commissioner Greg Sankey during this time. He told me that one of the biggest challenges he faced was how many southern high schools would shut down their seasons if college football wasn’t played. As a public school kid who knew the importance of high school sports to so many in the country, especially to many kids who would otherwise just vanish when it came to schooling, I couldn’t let that happen.
I made the calculated decision to go all in fighting for college football to be played. I was a maniac about it, pulling every political lever I could to influence governors on the issue, and I aggressively used my two biggest platforms, Outkick and my national sports radio morning show, to that end. I got every governor with an SEC, ACC, or Big 12 school in his state I could on the air. We’d never had governors on the radio show before, but I had our staff reach out to all of them in an effort to get them on to publicly support the return of sports.
We had Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on several times. DeSantis was important because he said that not only did the SEC and ACC schools in his state need to play football, but so did every high school. We also hosted Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, and Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt. We put together an entire coalition of red state governors who would all come out in favor of college football being played in their states.
Each of these governors — all with ACC, SEC, and Big 12 schools in their states — came on and endorsed the idea of playing college football in the fall. Each time I would get a governor to publicly endorse playing, I would text Greg Sankey, the SEC’s commissioner, and let him know we had another political supporter keeping the dream of playing the season alive.
I can’t impress upon you enough, by the way, how much I came to respect Sankey. Under immense pressure from the sports media — almost all of whom were convinced the season had to be canceled because it wasn’t safe to play — he stayed calm and reasonable.
Early on in the Covid era, I even called Sankey and told him that he was used to sports media being in favor of sports, but that wasn’t going to be the case now. “You need to tell every president and school athletic director what’s coming. They’re going to get ripped to the high heavens for even considering playing. Get them ready.”
<div class="image"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone wp-image-601387 size-medium" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/08/American-Playbook-cover_hr-199x300.jpg" alt="" width="199" height="300" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/08/American-Playbook-cover_hr-199x300.jpg 199w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/08/American-Playbook-cover_hr-382x576.jpg 382w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/08/American-Playbook-cover_hr-768x1159.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/08/American-Playbook-cover_hr-1018x1536.jpg 1018w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/08/American-Playbook-cover_hr-1357x2048.jpg 1357w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/08/American-Playbook-cover_hr-1360x2040.jpg 1360w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/08/American-Playbook-cover_hr.jpg 1400w" sizes="(max-width: 199px) 100vw, 199px" /></div>
I wasn’t just lobbying to get governors on to endorse playing college football. I also worked as hard as I could to get the biggest asset of all, President Donald Trump, on my radio show to call for sports to be played, too. Years ago, when Trump was elected, I told my wife that one day we’d get him on my sports radio show. I even predicted it on the air. Everyone laughed. 
It didn’t seem crazy at all to me, though. After all, Trump was a monster sports fan and we agreed on many overlapping issues of sports and politics, particularly as they pertained to getting sports back under way, which was an important signpost of a return to normalcy in the country.
Then, one day, it happened. After months of lobbying, the time was right for Trump to come on the show and endorse the importance of playing college football.
The night before the interview, when I told my kids the president was coming on the radio show, my middle son said, “That’s awesome. He knows Vince McMahon!” (My boys are big WWE fans.)
I couldn’t sleep the night before the interview. For regular listeners of my sports talk radio show, they all know our phones never worked. I mean, just complete and total tech failure all the time. My biggest fear was that we’d get Trump on the air and then we’d accidentally drop him. Or he wouldn’t be able to hear us. In radio, the tease is what you say as you go to break to try to encourage people to keep listening. That morning my radio tease was “Up next, the president of the United States.”
That’s probably the best radio tease imaginable. 
Trump came on the show and said he 100% supported college football being played. But that barely moved the needle. Later that very same day, the Pac 12 officially announced they were canceling their fall season. Shortly thereafter the Big Ten did the same. My stomach sank. After months of fighting, it appeared we were close to losing the battle for college football.
Late in that summer of 2020, after the Big Ten and the Pac 12 had canceled their seasons, SEC commissioner Sankey called me. “I think I’m going to have to cancel the season,” he said. “The only reason I haven’t done it yet is because I just can’t figure out how to do it.”
I encouraged him to hang out for as long as he could and keep up the fight. We just needed, I thought, to get the players to report to campus. Once they got to campus and started practice, and in the South in particular, where college football is religion, it would be nearly impossible to stop the games.
On Outkick and on the radio show we redoubled our efforts. I worked like a maniac, enlisting support wherever I could, fighting harder for college football to be played than I’d ever fought for anything in my professional career. Slowly, we gained allies. The parents of Big Ten football players, it turned out, were furious they weren’t being allowed to play and filed lawsuits challenging the Big Ten’s arbitrary decision to cancel the season.
For most of my career, I’d been an SEC guy, but suddenly I was the most popular media figure in the Big Ten, one of the only media members with a large audience who was willing to fight for football. Our crew was small, but committed. As the football season inched closer, I began to work with the Trump White House, Tim Pataki in particular, to reverse the decision to end the Big Ten football season. We gained momentum, with Trump even getting on the phone with Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren to try to get that conference to reverse its decision.
Heck, I was even involved in strategy sessions with the White House to figure out how to save college football. 
But we still needed more allies. 
That’s when the players themselves, who had mostly been quiet, suddenly spoke out on social media. Clemson’s star quarterback, Trevor Lawrence; Ohio State’s star quarterback, Justin Fields; and many more players started a let-us-play hashtag on Twitter that went viral.
For months I’d been hearing from players, coaches, and administrators behind the scenes about how badly they all wanted to play, but they’d been afraid of being ripped to shreds by the sports media, who overwhelmingly had opposed a return to play for all sports and spread rampant fear-porn about the deaths that would ensue if sports returned.
Indeed, Mike Gundy, the Oklahoma State football coach, had faced significant censure in May 2020 when he’d suggested his players should return to campus and resume regular workouts. He’d been so vociferously attacked for sharing this opinion that many coaches stayed quiet, afraid of being swarmed by a mob on social media.
Finally, Outkick had public allies.
Slowly, thanks to steadfast leadership from SEC Commissioner Sankey and the players speaking out so loudly, the SEC, the Big 12, and the ACC began to hold the wall. We just needed to reach kickoff and have the games start. Because once the games started I was confident the parents of players in the Big Ten and the Pac 12 would force those conferences back to the football fields, too.
During this time, despite being the most likable and humble person in sports media, I made a lot of enemies in the sports media industry. People who had previously been my friends ripped me in public on social media, and in their articles they wrote about the impossibility of playing football during Covid. Negative articles about me and Outkick piled up. I’ve never been more attacked in my entire career.
But as I said when I started the book, my idol as a kid was Davy Crockett — be sure you’re right and go ahead. 
I knew I was right. 
And if I’m confident that I’m right, nothing is going to stop me.
I worked hard, harder than I’d ever worked before. I drove the people around me, those working at Outkick, very hard, too, the radio show, everyone. I wasn’t always the nicest version of myself. Sometimes I lost my temper with our workers and lashed out when I thought we weren’t making smart decisions or things weren’t being implemented rapidly enough. I was impatient. There was so much to make happen and it felt like everyone was against us and we didn’t have enough time to do everything we needed to do to make the season happen.
In the late summer of 2020, every day felt like a whirlwind. I barely slept. I was on my phone constantly, running Outkick and all my shows and fighting to save the college football season with every ounce of energy I had.
The players reported to fall camp in the SEC, the Big 12, and the ACC. Kickoff inched closer and closer. In private conversations, Sankey held out hope with me that if smaller college games could kick off and then the NFL kicked off, momentum would carry through and everyone would play.
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On August 30, 2020, the first college football game of 2020 kicked off. It was Austin Peay at Central Arkansas. 
I watched every minute of the game, luxuriating in the return of football to television.
A month later, on September 26, the SEC kicked off a full slate of conference games. It was nearly a month later than normal, but finally, at long last, the season was under way. The ACC and the Big 12 also kicked off their games.
On opening day, I poured myself a tall glass of whiskey. I’m not ashamed to admit that when kickoff happened in the SEC, I cried. “We did it,” I told my wife. “We really did it.” 
Not only did the SEC, the ACC, and the Big 12 play nearly complete seasons, but the Pac 12 and the Big Ten, under immense pressure from their own players, parents, and fan bases as the other conferences were playing, came rushing back to the field, too, even though their teams were only able to play shortened seasons.
And not only was college football played, but not one player or coach suffered serious Covid illness or death as a result. In fact, it didn’t happen anywhere in college athletics. As I’d been arguing all along, football itself was far more dangerous to players than Covid.
Just about every high school in the entire South played football as well. We’ll never know how many kids stayed in school because of those games, but I’m convinced we used sports to help ensure that millions of kids had as close to a normal 2020 school year as possible.
College football being played in 2020 remains my proudest moment in professional life. If Outkick and our radio show hadn’t existed, I’m not sure it would have happened. When there were almost no voices in the entire country advocating for college football, we helped give the necessary space to commissioners, school presidents, athletic directors, coaches, and players to make the season happen.
There are many people all over the country who deserve credit for college sports being played in the fall of 2020, but I’m confident no one in sports media did more than Outkick.
So, again, I will always be immensely proud of what we accomplished.
* * *
Clay Travis is the cohost of <a href="https://www.clayandbuck.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show</a>. He is the founder and president of OutKick, and is also a podcast host, TV anchor, columnist, editor, and the author of &#8220;Republicans Buy Sneakers Too,&#8221; &#8220;On Rocky Top,&#8221; and &#8220;Dixieland Delight.&#8221; Follow him on Twitter @ClayTravis.
This excerpt is taken from <a href="https://www.amazon.com/American-Playbook-Winning-Country-Democrats/dp/1668022346/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2EIWGD6O73X26&amp;keywords=clay+travis&amp;qid=1691529618&amp;s=books&amp;sprefix=clay+travis%2Cstripbooks%2C105&amp;sr=1-1">American Playbook: A Guide to Winning Back the Country from the Democrats</a> by Travis Clay. Copyright 2023 by Clay Travis. Reprinted by permission of Threshold Books, An Imprint of Simon &amp; Schuster, Inc. 
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Kentucky v Tennessee

How Fighting For College Football Became The Biggest Battle Of My Career

Books

Clay Travis

College Football

Readers Pass

Former <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/nba" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NBA</a> player <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/charles-barkley" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Charles Barkley</a> made his opinion about politicians clear this week when discussing <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/ncaa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NCAA</a> President Charlie Baker’s suggestion that the association consults with politicians about name, image, and likeness guidelines. 
During an <a href="https://fox59.com/sports/sports-illustrated/b7f6835f/charles-barkley-slams-ncaa-presidents-idea-to-talk-to-politicians-about-nil/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interview this week</a>, Baker said that he would be speaking to people “in Washington” about creating consumer protections for college athletes and their families as they navigate the name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals, which allow athletes to profit off of their role as an athlete. 
&#8220;Did he say we&#8217;re going to ask the politicians to help us? See, that pisses me off already. Our politicians are awful people,” Barkley said in response to Baker’s comments during coverage of the NCAA basketball tournament. “We can&#8217;t ask these politicians nothing. Those people are awful people. Democrats and Republicans — they&#8217;re all crooks.&#8221;
Baker, who formerly served as the Republican governor of Massachusetts, said that he wants to “create transparency and accountability” around NIL “so that families actually know what they are getting into.”
To do this, he said the NCAA would be talking “with the folks in Washington,” saying that federally enforced guidelines would be a good way to ensure compliance in all 50 states, a task he said could be difficult without the federal government’s help.
Barkley, a member of the NBA Hall of Fame, was not impressed, offering a different plan to regulate NIL deals. “I would actually go to people who actually care about basketball … I would put a committee together. I would love for Clark [Kellog] to be on the committee. Get some coaches, get some players, and let’s try to work this thing out,” he said. 
Barkley, long known for his frank speech, is a host for TNT’s popular “Inside the NBA,” a show he <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/charles-barkley-announces-hell-be-leaving-inside-the-nba-in-two-years-blames-jackaes-trying-to-get-you-canceled" target="_blank" rel="noopener">once said</a> he would be leaving because of his frustration with cancel culture. 
“It’s gotten so out of hand right now, I couldn’t imagine having to watch myself. You can’t even have fun nowadays without these jackasses trying to get you canceled and things like that,” he said in June 2021. 
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“All we ever talk about behind the scenes now is, ‘Yo man, be careful going in this direction.’ We can’t even have fun anymore,” Barkley added. “A lot of our bosses are cowards.”
Despite those comments, Barkley signed a major contract extension with TNT in October 2022.

Tennessee v Auburn

‘They’re All Crooks’: Charles Barkley Slams The Idea Of Getting Politicians Involved In College Sports

Charles Barkley

College sports

Politics

The world has gone mad, but in a beautiful touch of irony, an annual college basketball tournament known for its own brand of mayhem is here to offer us some relief.
March Madness has always been a huge distraction for me. When I was an elementary-aged homeschool student and that first Thursday morning slate of NCAA tournament games rolled around, I couldn’t focus on anything other than basketball, especially the schoolwork my mom was trying to get me to finish.
The moment we were on lunch break, my brothers and I immediately turned on the games. We were then right back at it after school, glued to the screen until we couldn’t keep our eyes open.
For the next few weeks, we woke up and went to sleep to the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJjEFf4T89Q" target="_blank" rel="noopener">voice</a> of Jim Nantz and the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9euMKtYLK0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tune</a> of the famous CBS theme song.
<div id="attachment_512740" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-512740" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-512740" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/GettyImages-1473290797-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/03/GettyImages-1473290797-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/03/GettyImages-1473290797-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/03/GettyImages-1473290797-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/03/GettyImages-1473290797-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/03/GettyImages-1473290797-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/03/GettyImages-1473290797-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/03/GettyImages-1473290797-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Michael Reaves/Getty Images</div>
Letting the tournament distract me became easier as I gained more independence and went to college. My professors’ lectures during those few weeks in March had to compete with the split-screen footage of tournament basketball I was watching on my laptop, preferably in the back of the classroom.
For decades, March Madness has done what all sports are supposed to: Give us a brief escape from the madness of this world and throw us into the thrill of competition. In a culture dominated by daily political controversy that often boils into insanity, the month of March is a welcome relief because it provides an escape from a world gone mad into a world of hopes, dreams, and magical three-point shots.
We love March Madness for the many things it offers us — the buzzer-beaters, Cinderella stories, and bracket challenges — but we also love it for what it doesn’t give us: the overbearing political agendas constantly being shoved down our throats by the legacy media, Hollywood, and even <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/lebron-james-says-brittney-griner-shouldnt-even-want-to-come-back-to-america" target="_blank" rel="noopener">professional sports</a>.
March Madness is successful because it gives us a massive dose of what we want from it year after year: do-or-die basketball.
Other than the tournament’s pure entertainment value, March Madness also offers our minds a much-needed break from the constant bombardment of tragedy and stupidity of the world we live in. Instead of worrying about Chinese spy balloons, UFOs, and train derailments, March Madness lets our minds wander to bracket pools, three-point percentages, and our team’s chances to win it all.
Not that we shouldn’t care about the world events around us. It’s important to stay informed, but every once in a while, we need to decompress. And this tournament’s “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRlwNcnIddo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shining moments</a>” will give us a much-needed distraction as every tournament since the spectacular event’s inception somehow manages to provide.
For those who aren’t convinced that March Madness is the distraction you need for the next three weeks, consider the magic it has given us in the past and promises to give us again.
The 2023 tournament will be the 83rd time that teams run the gauntlet to make it to the top of the college basketball mountain, and it only gets bigger every single year. The <a href="https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2023-03-08/march-madness-history-comprehensive-guide-mens-tournament" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NCAA men’s basketball tournament</a> has grown in size and popularity since its humble beginnings in 1939 when only eight teams played for the right to be crowned national champions. Oregon defeated Ohio State by a score of 46-33 in the untelevised <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/kidspost/2022/03/17/march-madness-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">inaugural championship game</a> played in front of just 5,000 people. 
Twelve years later, in 1951, the tournament expanded to 16 teams. It was during this 16-team format that legendary coach John Wooden had his remarkable run at UCLA with the Bruins winning seven consecutive titles between 1967-1973. The tournament doubled to 32 teams in 1975, and the sport’s popularity would explode from the late 1970s into the ’80s thanks to the likes of Michigan State’s Magic Johnson, Larry Bird of Indiana State, and of course, North Carolina star-turned-basketball-legend Michael Jordan.
<div id="attachment_512737" style="width: 881px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-512737" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-512737" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/GettyImages-515543370-871x576.jpg" alt="" width="871" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/03/GettyImages-515543370-871x576.jpg 871w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/03/GettyImages-515543370-300x198.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/03/GettyImages-515543370-768x508.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/03/GettyImages-515543370-1536x1015.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/03/GettyImages-515543370-2048x1354.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 871px) 100vw, 871px" />Indiana State&#8217;s Larry Bird (L) and Michigan State&#8217;s Earvin Johnson are a tangle on the floor under the Michigan State basket early in the NCAA national basketball championship game. Michigan State won the championship 75-64.</div>
While covering the 1982 tournament, commentator Brent Musburger used the term “March Madness,” the official nickname for the tournament ever since. In 1985, March Madness doubled again to 64 teams, and then in 2011, the “First Four” stage of the tournament was introduced, bringing the total number of teams invited to the event to 68. 
That’s right — March Madness showcases 68 teams who compete in a combined 67 games crammed into three weeks, and it’s all brought to the viewer through the miracle of live TV. What’s not to love? 
And it gets even better.
Ever since David triumphed over Goliath, people have fallen for the underdog story, and every year, March Madness reminds us that the little guys always have a chance. Take the University of Maryland Baltimore County’s historic victory in the 2018 tournament for instance. While being tasked with taking the court with the unfortunate name “Retrievers,” UMBC became the first 16-seed to win a game in the tournament, taking down the top-seeded Virginia Cavaliers. 
There was also Lehigh’s improbable win over Coach K’s Duke dynasty in the first round of the 2012 tournament. We all cheered for a small school called Butler when their team reached back-to-back Final Fours in 2010 and 2011 and came inches away from beating Duke in the 2010 national championship game.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Gordon Hayward&#039;s near miracle shot bounces out, from every angle" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ai_bOHGovPg?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
We fall for the feel-good Cinderella stories like Florida Gulf Coast’s “Dunk City” Sweet 16 run in 2013, Loyola’s 2018 Final Four run helped along by their team chaplain and 98-year-old nun Sister Jean, and the 2022 story of St. Peters with their charismatic young coach. We hold our breath when the biggest games in the sport go back and forth in the last minutes before being decided on a last-second heave, such as Villanova’s spectacular victory over North Carolina in 2016. 
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Villanova vs. North Carolina: Final minutes of national title game" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yTThyQPoXxY?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Starting with tip-off in Dayton, Ohio, Tuesday night, until the final horn on April 3 in Houston, we can take a small break from the outrageous talking points spewed on nightly news talk shows and turn on the TV to simply appreciate a group of 10 young men showcasing raw talent on the basketball court. 
Thank goodness March Madness is here. Welcome the distraction, fill out your brackets, cheer for the underdog, absorb the excitement, and brace yourself for the unpredictable.
I’ll be catching every minute I possibly can.

Houston v Baylor

Brackets, Buzzer Beaters, And Cinderella Stories: Why March Madness Is A Welcome Distraction

Basketball

U.S.

Police testified on Tuesday that University of Alabama basketball superstar Brandon Miller allegedly brought the gun used in the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-247-alabama-s-controversy-continues-guest-josh-pate">Tuscaloosa killing of a woman</a> that led to capital murder charges for his now former teammate Darius Miles and 20-year-old Michael “Buzz” Davis.
A report from <a href="https://www.al.com/news/2023/02/darius-miles-texted-brandon-miller-to-bring-gun-used-to-kill-jamea-jonae-harris-police-testify.html">AL.com</a> lays out how Miller allegedly brought the gun in his car to the location where the shooting happened after Miles allegedly texted Miller to bring it. The same article then goes on to say, according to police, that Miller&#8217;s car was one of two cars blocking the Jeep of the victim before the shooting.
The Tuscaloosa chief deputy district attorney, who graduated from Alabama&#8217;s Law School, said there is nothing to charge him with. Now I&#8217;m not a lawyer, and I am not going to pretend to be one, but if that isn&#8217;t a crime, how does it not at least warrant a suspension from coach Nate Oats and Alabama basketball?
Coach Oats is well-known for talking about the ‘hard-hat mentality,’ and how a great culture works, and what holding people accountable means — well it seems his words were just words. Even with all the information that&#8217;s been revealed about this case, Nate Oats is still choosing to play his best player regardless of his ‘accountability&#8217; mantra.
We hear coaches talk all the time about doing the &#8216;right things&#8217; and how their program builds young men up, but it seems that Nate Oats only cares about one thing — winning. 
Now I know people will say, &#8216;well it isn&#8217;t against the law, so why should he sit?&#8217; Well I have news for you: Most player suspensions aren&#8217;t because they broke a law. Being late for practice isn&#8217;t against the law; missing class isn&#8217;t against the law; hell, making bad grades isn&#8217;t against the law — and those infractions pale in comparison to being associated with murder.
There is also no way you can convince me that someone bringing a gun to a place where they know there is conflict is totally oblivious to what may happen with said gun. What if this were someone who wasn&#8217;t a superstar and a future lottery pick? How would they be faring right now under the same circumstances?
Nate Oats’ comment, &#8220;You can&#8217;t control what kids do outside of practice&#8221; isn&#8217;t wrong. But guess what you can do Nate? You can suspend them, you can do the right thing. 
I would say the same thing about Bruce Pearl if it were Auburn or John Calipari if it were Kentucky in the same situation.
Again, I am not a lawyer, but I do know that this should have warranted definitive action by the team, not just sweeping it under the rug. Some things are bigger than basketball, bigger than rivalries, bigger than sports — and this is definitely one of them.
We&#8217;re already losing college sports with all of the recent changes — like telling players it&#8217;s okay to quit and hit the transfer portal the minute they face adversity.
If we lose the role morality plays in college sports, then we will have truly lost it forever.
Jake Crain is co-host of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/crain-and-company" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&#8220;Crain &amp; Company.&#8221;</a> the Daily Wire&#8217;s sports show hosted by former athletes and coaches: Jake Crain, Blain Crain, and David Cone. Follow him on Twitter @JakeCrain_
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Alabama v Tennessee

Alabama’s Nate Oats Needs A Better Response To The Tragic Murder In Tuscaloosa

Alabama's Nate Oats Needs A Better Response To The Tragic Murder In Tuscaloosa

College basketball

Guns

Murder

Former college swimming star <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/lia-thomas-competitor-riley-gaines-shuts-down-propaganda-rumors-she-dodged-trumps-kiss/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Riley Gaines</a>, who tied transgender swimmer <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/swimmer-who-competed-with-lia-thomas-at-ncaa-championships-no-one-warned-us-he-would-undress-with-us/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lia Thomas</a> at last year&#8217;s NCAA championships, said sharing a locker room with a biological male felt like being a victim of &#8220;some form of sexual assault, voyeurism.&#8221;
Gaines, an All-American at University of Kentucky and a five-time Southeastern Conference champion, is calling for the NCAA to have separate facilities for transgender competitors. She said seeing the male genitalia of Thomas, who swam for University of Pennsylvania, in the locker room left her feeling violated.
“There’s a 6’4&#8243; biological man dropping his pants and watching us undress, and we were exposed to male genitalia,” she recalled. “Not even probably a year, two years ago, this would have been considered some form of sexual assault, voyeurism. But now, not even are they just allowing it to happen, it’s almost as if these large organizations are encouraging it to happen.”
Although Gaines, who attended <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-took-victory-lap-during-state-of-the-union-for-strong-manufacturing-sector-industry-leader-says-trump-deserves-the-credit/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">President Joe Biden&#8217;s State of the Union speech</a> Tuesday as a guest of Rep. Lisa McClain, (R-MI), tied Thomas in the women&#8217;s 200-meter race, it was Thomas who was initially awarded the medal. That added insult to injury for Gaines, who doesn&#8217;t believe biological males should be able to compete against women.
“You have all these people all the time tell me how courageous it is to speak to this and how brave I am, but truthfully, does it make someone brave to just acknowledge that women deserve equal opportunities?&#8221; she said. &#8220;That’s how far we have come as a society and within our culture.”
Thomas was hailed by college sports&#8217; governing body after claiming to have become a woman, Gaines noted.
“Of course, after the NCAA championships the NCAA then nominated Thomas for NCAA Woman of the Year,&#8221; she said. &#8220;So we’re celebrating this movement. This isn’t something that happened by chance on a one-off basis; they’re encouraging men to compete in women’s sports.”
Gaines said her female peers are afraid to come forward and say it is wrong to allow biological males to compete against women.
“People are terrified, especially speaking from my experience of talking to other NCAA swimmers specifically,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Lia Thomas’s teammates even. They are told their school has made their stance for them. They are told that if they feel uncomfortable seeing male genitalia in the locker room, then they should seek counseling resources. They&#8217;re told that they will never get into grad school if they speak out.”
&#8220;All of these terrible, awful things that are not true. They are told, of course, that they will be called a bigot and hateful and transphobic, but it doesn’t make you any of those things to acknowledge that there are two sexes, you cannot change your sex and women deserve respect and opportunities,” she concluded.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/i-left-there-with-no-trophy-ncaa-female-swimmer-who-tied-for-fifth-with-trans-athlete-says-officials-put-lia-thomas-ahead-of-her">‘I Left There With No Trophy’: NCAA Female Swimmer Who Tied For Fifth With Trans Athlete Says Officials Put Lia Thomas Ahead Of Her</a>

NCAA SWIMMING: MAR 18 Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships

Riley Gaines: Lia Thomas Naked In Locker Room Would Have Been Considered ‘Sexual Assault, Voyeurism’

Lia Thomas

Riley Gaines

Sports

Colorado State University apologized to a Utah State basketball player from Ukraine after some fans chanted &#8220;Russia&#8221; at him during a game Saturday.
The player, Max Shulga, is a guard for Utah State <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/sports/utah-state-sports/2022/03/01/he-prepares-his-next-game/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">and a native of Kyiv</a>. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/ukraine-russia-war" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Russia invaded his home country</a> roughly one year ago in a conflict that continues to this day.
&#8220;Following tonight’s basketball game, we became aware that a small group of individuals in our student section chanted &#8216;Russia&#8217; at a student-athlete from Utah State, who is from the Ukraine,&#8221; the Colorado State Rams <a href="https://twitter.com/CSURams/status/1622105290220130311" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said in a series of tweets</a>.
&#8220;On behalf of Colorado State, we apologize to the student-athlete and Utah State. This is a violation of our steadfast belief in the Mountain West Sportsmanship Policy and University Principles of Community,&#8221; the account added. &#8220;Every participant, student, and fan should feel welcomed in our venues, and for something like this to have occurred is unacceptable at Colorado State.&#8221;
The chants could be heard in a CBS Sports Network broadcast when Shulga steps up to the free throw line near the end of the game, according to a clip posted to social media. Utah State, the visiting team, was leading 83-77 with less than a minute left on the game clock.
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 <a href="https://t.co/ASa8Jjvu0l">pic.twitter.com/ASa8Jjvu0l</a>
&mdash; Colby LeBaron (@clebaron617) <a href="https://twitter.com/clebaron617/status/1622091636951113729?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 5, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Shulga made three out of four shots from the free-throw line in the final minute, <a href="https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/35592920/colorado-state-sorry-russia-chant-ukrainian-player" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to ESPN</a>. The final score was 88-79.
&#8220;I have so much respect for [the Utah State University men&#8217;s basketball team] and Max Shulga,&#8221; tweeted Colorado State University men&#8217;s basketball coach Niko Medved. &#8220;We have amazing fans and students but this is not acceptable! My sincere apologies.&#8221;
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I have so much respect for <a href="https://twitter.com/USUBasketball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@USUBasketball</a> and Max Shulga. We have amazing fans and students but this is not acceptable! My sincere apologies. <a href="https://t.co/PGPdGmVE7T">https://t.co/PGPdGmVE7T</a>
&mdash; Niko Medved (@coachNikoMedved) <a href="https://twitter.com/coachNikoMedved/status/1622108867306872834?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 5, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Following these public apologies, Utah State Athletics released a statement on Sunday.
&#8220;Utah State University and its athletics department fully supports Max Shulga, and his family, who reside in Ukraine,&#8221; the statement said. &#8220;The incident that occurred during our men&#8217;s basketball game at Colorado State last night was inappropriate and unacceptable. We appreciate the Colorado State administration and basketball staff for not condoning such behavior.&#8221;
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Statement from Utah State Athletics regarding last night’s game against Colorado State. <a href="https://t.co/AfelA0eskl">pic.twitter.com/AfelA0eskl</a>
&mdash; Utah State Athletics (@USUAthletics) <a href="https://twitter.com/USUAthletics/status/1622305742094221312?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 5, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Both schools are members of the Mountain West Conference.
Conference officials <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/05/sport/colorado-state-apology-russia-chant-utah-state" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told CNN</a> they are “aware of the situation and are currently reviewing the incident.”

Colorado State University basketball

University Apologizes For ‘Russia’ Chant At Ukrainian Basketball Player

University Apologizes For 'Russia' Chant At Ukrainian Basketball Player

General

Russia

Ukraine

Ukraine-Russia War

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hes-made-national-championship-plays-georgia-offensive-coordinator-backs-stetson-bennett-says-quarterback-gives-bulldogs-best-chance-to-win" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Star Georgia Bulldogs quarterback Stetson Bennett</a> was arrested and charged with public intoxication in Dallas on Sunday, according to authorities.
The Dallas Police Department said officers responded to reports of a man banging on doors sometime around 6 or 7 a.m., <a href="https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/with-a-sparkling-stadium-and-surging-program-san-diego-state-makes-an-easy-case-for-pac-12-expansion/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">per multiple news reports</a>.
&#8220;The preliminary investigation found when officers arrived, they located the man, Stetson Bennett, 25, and determined he was intoxicated,&#8221; police said in a statement. &#8220;Bennett was taken into custody, transported to the City Detention Center and charged with public intoxication.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/georgia-bulldogs-quarterback-stetson-bennett-arrested-on-public-intoxication-charge-in-dallas-police-say/287-4f0caf3c-6d7d-4c46-a1fc-535aac7638a8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Local news outlet WFAA</a>, an ABC affiliate, reported Bennett was released from custody before 11 a.m. Video from the television station showed Bennett being released. He did not respond when asked what he was doing in Dallas.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Stetson Bennett arrested: Georgia QB released from custody in Dallas" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nPIB2sGzXHI?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/stetson-bennett-and-the-advent-of-the-perpetual-adolescent" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bennett led</a> the Georgia Bulldogs to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-217-georgia-wins-back-to-back-national-championship" target="_blank" rel="noopener">two straight national championship victories</a>, most recently with a triumph over the TCU Horned Frogs. He was named offensive MVP in both championship wins and was a <a href="https://www.11alive.com/article/sports/college/georgia-bulldogs/stetson-bennett-finishes-fourth-heisman-voting/85-f0521a45-62ae-499a-975b-fd8eed4eb2a4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2022 Heisman Trophy finalist</a>.
A sixth-year student, Bennett was <a href="https://www.sportingnews.com/us/ncaa-football/news/stetson-bennett-age-georgia-qb-college-eligibility/bz2ftloec5xf3u8apchwdhs5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">allowed to complete last season</a> thanks to the <a href="https://www.ncsasports.org/coronavirus-sports/ncaa-eligibility-coronavirus" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NCAA granting players an additional year</a> — six total — to complete four full seasons in a sport because of the COVID pandemic.
Bennett is expected to graduate with an economics degree in May, <a href="https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/stetson-bennett-playing-with-house-money-as-georgia-enters-key-two-game-stretch-with-eyes-on-repeating/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to CBS Sports</a>.
<a href="https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/35551758/georgia-qb-stetson-bennett-arrested-public-intoxication" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ESPN reports</a> Bennett is considered a potential pick in the NFL draft in April.

Stetson Bennett

Georgia QB Stetson Bennett Arrested

Celebrities

Dallas

Georgia

Texas

The University of Georgia Bulldogs are again college football national champions, having thoroughly decimated the underdog TCU Horned Frogs 65-7. 
Beyond the questions about what this means for Big-12 football or whether the Michigan Wolverines would have given Georgia an actual challenge, another nagging question is making the rounds: The age of Georgia’s quarterback Stetson Bennett.
Longtime radio broadcaster Chris “Mad Dog” Russo made a <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/sports/legendary-broadcaster-mad-dog-russo-rails-against-georgias-stetson-bennett-kid" target="_blank" rel="noopener">compelling point</a> about the quarter centurion still playing in the NCAA. “I have a major problem with Stetson Bennett, 25 years of age, playing college football,” said Russo. “I can see it for one year. Last year he won. Burrow was 23 going on 24 when he won. But 25 years of age, playing quarterback for Georgia, he should’ve left last year … What is the cut-off date? When do we sit here and watch a college athlete and say ‘you know what? This is ridiculous! … When does that get to be a joke? What is the age? Thirty?’ There’s gotta be an age where this is enough already.”
There are, in fact, four NFL quarterbacks who will be leading their teams into the playoffs who are younger than Bennett.
Granted, Bennett’s is a compelling story. At only <a href="https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/33016492/how-georgia-stetson-bennett-went-walk-college-football-playoff-national-championship" target="_blank" rel="noopener">5 feet 11 inches</a> and 185 pounds coming out of high school, the QB’s only FBS scholarship came from Middle Tennessee State University. After being a walk-on at Georgia, he was red-shirted his first year and never took a snap from center. Then he transferred to Jones County Junior College. After one season he returned to Georgia in the backup role until the starting QB’s injury gave him his shot. Bennett won the job as starter and went on to win back-to-back championships.
Get the scriptwriter on the phone!
Still, as cool a story as it is, the fact remains that a 25-year-old played college football in the most important game of the year. Something seems just intuitively wrong about a full-fledged adult playing against 19 and 20-year-old kids. Or at least what used to be considered an adult. 
Perhaps Bennett’s situation is emblematic of a larger social phenomenon that seems to be growing not just in this country but the First World: The advent of the perpetual adolescent. 
In 1940, only 5.5% of U.S. men and 3.8% of women went on after high school to earn a college degree. As Mark Steyn likes to point out, the United States tackled the Great Depression, won the Second World War, and became not just a global superpower but a hyperpower courtesy of a populace with an average eighth grade education. 
Today the percentage of Americans with college degrees is 36.6% men, 39.1% women.
There is meaning in these numbers. Certainly for many, college is a net positive. Especially in the STEM fields where it is an essential for competency in the workplace or as a foundation for graduate schools in professions such as medicine, mathematics, engineering, etc. But for many, college is a waste — as your barista behind the counter who holds a degree in primitive cultures and indentured servitude courtesy of student loans will attest. 
For many, the main function of college now seems to be to defer entering adulthood.   
An even more telling illustration of this trend towards the extended adolescence is the percentage of Americans who hold advanced degrees. That number is now 13.1%, up from just 8.6% in 2000; the number of Americans with a post-collegiate education has more than doubled from 10.5 million in 2000 to 24.1 million in 2021. 4.7 million of them went even further to earn PhDs.
Such trends toward deferring entering the workforce as long as possible can be seen in the data: The median age of the U.S. labor force, which has risen from 39.6 in 2001 to 41.7 in 2021, is projected to hit 42.6 by 2031. 
The phenomenon of the perpetual adolescent will have detrimental impacts down the road, in both social and economic spheres. 
The longer one waits to enter the workforce and get on with their adult lives means the longer one waits to get married, start a family, and buy a home — all cornerstones of a stable society. Starting a family later, if at all, means less of a biological window to have children, reducing the number of offspring. 
It’s no coincidence that as Americans become more ‘educated’ they are also having fewer children. From 1950 to the present, the U.S. birth rate per 1,000 has been cut in half from 24 to 12. 
These numbers are ominous because, while we have opted to have fewer and fewer children, we have also drastically expanded the entitlement and social safety net programs by federal and state governments. 
Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid — and a myriad of literally 100 other programs — run on tax dollars. As they grow, they need more taxpayers entering the workforce earlier, and to stay in it longer, to remain solvent. Yet, the exact opposite is taking place. To paraphrase Milton Friedman, you can have a low birth rate or a welfare state, but you cannot have both. 
Throw into the mix the average American lifespan has lengthened by two decades since the inception of Social Security due to competent medicine and soon the age pyramid will be inverted. More people demanding more subsidies for a longer span of their lives from fewer workers spending less time in the productive, i.e. tax-yielding, workforce is a mathematical Jenga tower. One that is already teetering.
Math has no ideology. Numbers, not political wishful thinking, will have the ultimate say.
According to the BLS there are currently 10.5 million job openings out there. All one needs to do is drive into a commercial district of any town and you will see “Now Hiring” signs on many storefronts. But it’s hard to go to work when you’re too busy earning that advanced degree in underwater basket weaving, despite being well into your twenties. 
So, to compensate, the West looks to the impoverished countries of the world to import the children they are not having to fill the jobs their own entitled Peter Pans won’t take. 
To be sure, there are those in their 20s who still live at home solely for economic reasons. They would love nothing more than to get on with their lives and be on their own. But with the average rent for a one-bedroom in Manhattan, for example, approaching $4,000/mo this is problematic. 
I freely admit, it was easier from a purely financial standpoint to move into adulthood in 1990 than today. But for many, going to college, then grad school, then pursuing a doctorate is a way to put off the inevitable ‘big person living’ for as long as possible. And the delay is funded by the federal government, offering loans that will place them in bondage for decades to come. This is a socially and economically unsustainable dynamic in the fabric of American life. One that sees no abatement in the near future.
So, we see the eternal children in football stands cheering on the Stetson Bennetts of the world who are still playing games in college at an age at which their grandparents were already well into their adult lives, living in their own homes and working full-time jobs while raising a family.
Brad Schaeffer is a commodities trader, musician, and writer whose articles have also appeared in The Wall Street Journal, New York Daily News, National Review, The Federalist, Zerohedge, Substack and other news outlets. He is the author of the acclaimed World War II novel <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Another-Time-Place-Brad-Schaeffer/dp/1682616630" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.com/Another-Time-Place-Brad-Schaeffer/dp/1682616630&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1659708848976000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3j8XHp_hW4Eei6fy_WS4oB">Of Another Time And Place</a>. Brad’s newest best-selling novel, <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Extraordinary/Brad-Schaeffer/9781642939422" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Extraordinary/Brad-Schaeffer/9781642939422&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1659708848976000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3RcUIjvMA9Rf9h4FYUl8Op">The Extraordinary</a>, is about a teen-aged boy on the autism spectrum telling us in his own words how he and his family cope with his war veteran father’s PTSD.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

2023 CFP National Championship – TCU v Georgia

Stetson Bennett And The Advent Of The Perpetual Adolescent

adolescents

Social Issues

Social Security

The National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) has selected outgoing Republican Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker as its next president.
Baker will begin his role as the NCAA&#8217;s top executive in March 2023, according to the announcement. His term as governor ends in January.
&#8220;We are excited to welcome Governor Charlie Baker to the NCAA and eager for him to begin his work with our organization,&#8221; Linda Livingstone, Baylor University president and chair of the NCAA Board of Governors, said in a <a href="https://www.ncaa.org/news/2022/12/15/media-center-ncaa-announces-governor-charlie-baker-to-be-next-president.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>.
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The NCAA is pleased to announce that Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker has accepted an offer to become the NCAA’s next president. Read the full press release and statements here: <a href="https://t.co/CyTBmL0aw3">https://t.co/CyTBmL0aw3</a> <a href="https://t.co/reEp5RpYDE">pic.twitter.com/reEp5RpYDE</a>
&mdash; NCAA (@NCAA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NCAA/status/1603412306532401153?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 15, 2022</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Governor Baker has shown a remarkable ability to bridge divides and build bipartisan consensus, taking on complex challenges in innovative and effective ways,&#8221; it continued. &#8220;As a former student-athlete himself, husband to a former college gymnast, and father to two former college football players, Governor Baker is deeply committed to our student-athletes and enhancing their collegiate experience. These skills and perspective will be invaluable as we work with policymakers to build a sustainable model for the future of college athletics.&#8221;
Current NCAA President Mark Emmert announced his intention to step down last April. He has led the association since 2010 and is expected to remain in an advisory role until June of next year.
The governor&#8217;s history of developing bipartisan policy solutions stood out to the search committee as it sought the association&#8217;s next leader, according to the statement.
&#8220;I am honored to become the next president of the NCAA, an organization that impacts millions of families and countless communities across this country every day,&#8221; Baker said in the NCAA&#8217;s announcement.
The NCAA includes more than 500,000 college students in its various sports each year, according to its website, and serves as the nation&#8217;s largest organization representing collegiate student-athletes. The organization has enacted several innovations in recent years, including the addition of the transfer portal and <a href="https://www.ncsasports.org/name-image-likeness" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NIL</a> (name, image, and likeness) policy changes that permit college athletes to receive financial compensation.
Baker will most likely have to contend with controversial social issues facing collegiate sports. For example, the NCAA&#8217;s policies related to biological males competing in female sports sparked harsh criticism when <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/lia-thomas-teammate-competitor-blast-title-as-illegitimate-in-wake-of-fina-transgender-restrictions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lia Thomas</a> competed for the University of Pennsylvania&#8217;s women&#8217;s swimming team during the 2021-2022 season.

Charlie Baker

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker Selected As Next NCAA President

Massachusetts

Prominent athletes, coaches, commentators, and others posted touching tributes on Tuesday to beloved Mississippi State college football <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mississippi-state-football-coach-mike-leach-in-critical-condition-after-suffering-massive-heart-attack-report-says">coach Mike Leach</a> following news of his death. He was 61.
Leach sustained a heart attack at his home in Starkville on Sunday. He was airlifted to the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, where he died.
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was just one of the hundreds who reacted on social media.
&#8220;Prayers to the Leach family!&#8221; the former Super Bowl MVP tweeted with praying hand emojis. &#8221; True legend of the game!&#8221;
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Prayers to the Leach family!🙏🏽🙏🏽 True legend of the game!
&mdash; Patrick Mahomes II (@PatrickMahomes) <a href="https://twitter.com/PatrickMahomes/status/1602672792369074181?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 13, 2022</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;There is no way I would be where I am today if not for Mike Leach and everything he taught me about the game,&#8221; Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury, who played under Leach at Texas Tech, shared in a statement.
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Statement from Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury on the passing of Mike Leach, who was the head coach at Texas Tech during Kingsbury’s record-setting career as a QB there: <a href="https://t.co/yleLkRHIOK">pic.twitter.com/yleLkRHIOK</a>
&mdash; Mark Dalton (@CardsMarkD) <a href="https://twitter.com/CardsMarkD/status/1602672386939273216?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 13, 2022</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Truly one of the most innovative offensive minds in football, he was more than a coach,&#8221; he added. &#8220;He was a mentor, a friend and one of the most special people I&#8217;ve ever met. My heart goes out to Sharon, the Leach family and everyone who had the privilege of knowing and loving him. Our sport was better because of Mike Leach and is far less interesting without him.&#8221;
&#8220;Heartbroken. Prayers for the entire Leach family and [HailStateFB],&#8221; Tennessee Volunteers head football coach Josh Heupel tweeted, along with a statement calling Leach &#8220;one of a kind.&#8221;
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Heartbroken. Prayers for the entire Leach family and <a href="https://twitter.com/HailStateFB?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HailStateFB</a> <a href="https://t.co/pluR0EMCDN">pic.twitter.com/pluR0EMCDN</a>
&mdash; Josh Heupel (@coachjoshheupel) <a href="https://twitter.com/coachjoshheupel/status/1602670546193375233?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 13, 2022</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;He saw something in me that no one else did,&#8221; the statement read. &#8220;Like so many across our sport, I am grateful for Coach Leach&#8217;s impact on my life both personally and professionally. His offensive philosophy and vision were ahead of his time, and they continue to shape the game today.&#8221;
&#8220;Off the field, he was one of a kind &#8211; an incredible storyteller, a man full of wisdom and someone who always cared about his former players and coaches,&#8221; he added. &#8220;I enjoyed our friendship over the years.&#8221;
&#8220;[Mike Leach was] the smartest coach I&#8217;ve ever been around. &#8230; He&#8217;s one of the truly irreplaceable figures in the history of the game,&#8221; ESPN commentator Paul Finebaum shared. &#8220;Records are one thing &#8230; but the legacy that one leaves behind is what I heard from his many friends and coaching colleagues.&#8221;
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&quot;[Mike Leach was] the smartest coach I&#39;ve ever been around. &#8230; He&#39;s one of the truly irreplaceable figures in the history of the game. Records are one thing &#8230; but the legacy that one leaves behind is what I heard from his many friends and coaching colleagues.&quot;
—<a href="https://twitter.com/finebaum?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@finebaum</a> <a href="https://t.co/JwIamgWCnW">pic.twitter.com/JwIamgWCnW</a>
&mdash; Get Up (@GetUpESPN) <a href="https://twitter.com/GetUpESPN/status/1602673796166590466?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 13, 2022</a></blockquote>
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And they weren&#8217;t the only ones shocked and saddened to learn of the coach&#8217;s death.
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Got to have a few beers with Mike Leach one evening several years ago and have wanted to spend more time with him ever since. Such a cool cool dude. RIP coach.
&mdash; Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) <a href="https://twitter.com/DaleJr/status/1602669669013508098?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 13, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Mike Leach had a law degree &amp; never played or coached college football. But, in 1987, he got a shot to coach the offensive line at San Luis Obispo for $3,000.
“I knew that I would start from behind. But I did think I had the ability to learn.”
He became one of the best coaches. <a href="https://t.co/PmoyBSos5V">pic.twitter.com/PmoyBSos5V</a>
&mdash; Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) <a href="https://twitter.com/darrenrovell/status/1602672508037201923?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 13, 2022</a></blockquote>
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The world and college football are a better place because of Mike Leach. We lost a legend and I’m going to miss my friend very much. I cannot believe this has happened. Devastating. I will cherish the many talks and laughs. He will be dearly missed. God Bless Mike’s family 🙏🙏🙏
&mdash; Sean Salisbury (@SeanUnfiltered) <a href="https://twitter.com/SeanUnfiltered/status/1602673011089358848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 13, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Mississippi State just announced Mike Leach has died at 61 years old. Sad day for college football fans everywhere. Some stories here about what a great guy he was. Prayers for his family. <a href="https://t.co/En4NcVSSJV">pic.twitter.com/En4NcVSSJV</a>
&mdash; Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClayTravis/status/1602668335040454661?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 13, 2022</a></blockquote>
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I never played under coach Mike Leach but I respected his philosophy towards the game growing up… RIP COACH you was apart of the birth of how the game is played today 🙏🏿
&mdash; Dez Bryant (@DezBryant) <a href="https://twitter.com/DezBryant/status/1602668039350231040?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 13, 2022</a></blockquote>
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For those who love college football, it’s quirkiness, unique offenses, youthful spirit are a significant part of that. Mike leach embodied so many things that make the sport fun. Even better — he shared them w so many people. He let us in. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RIPCoachLeach?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RIPCoachLeach</a>
&mdash; Colin Cowherd (@ColinCowherd) <a href="https://twitter.com/ColinCowherd/status/1602693704363511809?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 13, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Literally lost for words. <a href="https://twitter.com/Coach_Leach?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Coach_Leach</a> gave me an opportunity to come back to my alma mater to coach and I’ll forever be grateful for that. Always showed me so much love and respect since the first day we met. I’ll miss you coach and thank you for everything 💔🕊️ <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HailState?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HailState</a> <a href="https://t.co/q60x8w8HPH">pic.twitter.com/q60x8w8HPH</a>
&mdash; Taveze Calhoun (@Calhoun__23) <a href="https://twitter.com/Calhoun__23/status/1602671097626984450?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 13, 2022</a></blockquote>
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So incredibly sad. Mike Leach was the best. Just a unique, awesome person. <a href="https://t.co/3ekgicv3SG">https://t.co/3ekgicv3SG</a>
&mdash; Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/1602665054062649344?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 13, 2022</a></blockquote>
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There will never be another one quite like Mike Leach.
A true college football original. <a href="https://t.co/ZnpJwMXT2q">pic.twitter.com/ZnpJwMXT2q</a>
&mdash; SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) <a href="https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1602676510254682113?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 13, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gonna-terrorize-you-sec-coach-drops-incredible-wedding-advice-for-sports-reporter">&#8216;Gonna Terrorize You&#8217;: SEC Coach Drops Incredible Wedding Advice For Sports Reporter</a>

Mike Leach-2

‘True College Football Original’: Sports World Sends Tributes Following Beloved Coach Mike Leach’s Death

Sports World Sends Tributes Following Beloved Coach Mike Leach's Death

Death

Mississippi

The Southeastern Conference (SEC) has fined the University of Tennessee $100,000 after football fans flooded the field following its win over the University of Alabama.
The Saturday night victory broke a 15-game losing streak against the Crimson Tide in the longtime conference rivalry.
<a href="https://www.secsports.com/article/34809764/tennessee-fined-competition-area-policy-violation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SEC policy</a> states that &#8220;access to competition areas shall be limited to participating student-athletes, coaches, officials, support personnel and properly-credentialed individuals at all times. For the safety of participants and spectators alike, at no time before, during or after a contest shall spectators be permitted to enter the competition area. It is the responsibility of each member institution to implement procedures to ensure compliance with this policy.&#8221;
The fine for the penalty is $50,000 for a first offense, but Tennessee is currently on its second offense following a 2006 basketball violation against Florida. The fine of $100,000 is based on the second offense. Penalties for a third offense and beyond are $250,000.
Fines against schools in the conference are deposited into the SEC Post-Graduate Scholarship Fund, according to the policy.
In addition to storming the field, fans ripped down the goalpost, marching it out of Neyland Stadium. Fans carried it to the Strip area of Knoxville and later tossed it into the Tennessee River.
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Down goes the goalposts. Not an ounce of alcohol is gonna be left in Knoxville tomorrow morning. <a href="https://t.co/SKQMIenwp1">pic.twitter.com/SKQMIenwp1</a>
&mdash; Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) <a href="https://twitter.com/barstoolsports/status/1581431978385346560?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 15, 2022</a></blockquote>
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The mayhem occurred after a wild game that ended in epic fashion. Tied 49-49, Alabama attempted a 50-yard field goal to win without going into overtime. The kick soared wide right, leaving the Volunteers 15 seconds and a tiny window of opportunity.
Two plays later, Tennessee had moved the ball far enough to attempt its own field goal from 40 yards for the final play of the game. The kick by the Vols Chase McGrath spun sideways, barely clearing the crossbar on the final play, sending fans into a frenzy.
More than 102,000 spectators were in attendance, with thousands storming the field as fireworks launched into the night sky. Security was quickly overwhelmed as students and other fans soon took over during the massive celebration.
University of Tennessee System President Randy Boyd was seen in a video on social media responding to the scene.
&#8220;Randy, what&#8217;s that gonna cost?&#8221; he was asked.
&#8220;It doesn&#8217;t matter, we&#8217;ll do this every year!&#8221; he responded.
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Randy, what’s that gonna cost? “It doesn’t matter, we’ll do this every year!!!” <a href="https://twitter.com/Vol_Football?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Vol_Football</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/randyboyd?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@randyboyd</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Vol_Sports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Vol_Sports</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Vol_Sports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Vol_Sports</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/BarstoolTenn?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BarstoolTenn</a> <a href="https://t.co/eJm3bMScAq">pic.twitter.com/eJm3bMScAq</a>
&mdash; Hanes Torbett (@Tarheelbb) <a href="https://twitter.com/Tarheelbb/status/1581455716984197120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 16, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Sunday afternoon, the school&#8217;s athletic director, Danny White, posted the need for donations to replace the goalpost before next week&#8217;s home game.
&#8220;We had some fun, didn&#8217;t we?&#8221; he wrote. &#8220;New link below. Help us out #VolNation!&#8221;
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We had some fun, didn&#39;t we?
New link below. Help us out <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/VolNation?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#VolNation</a>! <a href="https://t.co/iybdSw14dn">https://t.co/iybdSw14dn</a>
&mdash; Danny White (@AD_DannyWhite) <a href="https://twitter.com/AD_DannyWhite/status/1581729442556424193?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 16, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Tennessee Vols Head Coach Josh Heupel was ecstatic in the postgame interview.
“This is college football at its absolute best,” Heupel said, <a href="https://www.espn.com/college-football/recap?gameId=401403921" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to ESPN. “We were the best team on the field tonight. That’s all we can control.”
Tennessee remains undefeated at 6-0 and was ranked #3 in the nation&#8217;s latest AP NCAA football standings released on Sunday. Alabama dropped to #6 at 6-1. Conference rival Georgia ranked #1 at 7-0.

University of Tennessee

University Of Tennessee Fined $100K For On-Field Celebration After Beating Alabama

Football

Tennessee

University of Alabama

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