Monday’s ruling in the Brendan Sorsby case has had ripple effects far beyond Texas Tech and the Big 12 conference.
Pete Thamel of ESPN, citing three unnamed conference sources, reports that Big Ten officials “are expected to discuss in the upcoming days a league-wide mandate to not play Texas Tech in any sports.”
Without reviewing the schedules of the various sports at the far more than 10 schools of the Big Ten, it’s impossible to know how much of this is real or performative. For example, no Big Ten teams are scheduled to play Texas Tech in football this season.
And so pardon me if I view this as nothing more than a way to fuel the sudden outrage sparked by a ruling that was hardly a surprise. This isn’t the O.J. Simpson acquittal; everyone knew or should have known that Sorsby and Texas Tech had a real chance to get the relief they wanted from a state court, even after the local judge (who attended Texas Tech as an undergrad and as a law student) recused himself.
“Don’t mess with Texas” is the slogan, and the NCAA was trying to keep a football player in Texas from playing Texas football. While it wasn’t a slam dunk that Sorsby would win, where were all of the many voices who are now wringing hands and gnashing teeth when the table was being set for the meal that was eventually served?
Plenty of reporters and columnist treating the decision like a sneak attack on the integrity of all sport. Where was that outcry before the case was decided? Ditto for the various conferences, athletic directors, and coaches who are suddenly crowing, both on and off the record?
Most notably, Kansas State Athletic Director Gene Taylor said on Monday — on the record — that the outcome is “fucking bullshit.” He could have said something like that while the case was still pending.
It’s almost as if the various voices deliberately kept quiet when they sensed this was coming, so that they could then light the fuse on a national reaction that they hope will lead to the Congressional antitrust exemption the NCAA and its members crave.
Without understanding why and how Judge Ken Curry reached his decision (and his four-page ruling doesn’t shed much light on the process), it’s impossible to know whether he got it right or got it wrong. Regardless, everyone who is expressing strong sentiments now could have made their voices heard in the weeks before Curry put pen to paper on Monday morning and signed the order restoring Sorsby’s eligibility.
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