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NIL an open invite to boosters

By Ralph D.Russo The Associated Press By trying to limit how much schools can help college athletes cashing in on their fame, the NCAA seems to have inadvertently opened the door for boosters to get a foothold in a burgeoning market. Now, as the NCAA and its highest-profile Division I member schools try to rein in booster-fueled organizations known as collectives, part of the solution could be taking down the firewalls between athletic departments and athletes when it comes to name, image and likeness compensation. “The school is who helps the athlete when they have an injury? ...

Cashing in: Addison move not surprising

By Bill Contz For the Mirror Much to the chagrin of college football purists who still have their heads buried in the sand, 2021 Biletnikoff Award winner Jordan Addison has entered the transfer portal to explore existing opportunities including a supposedly very lucrative NIL deal from USC. While this blatant insurrection understandably irritates Pitt fans, it’s a move that, given the chance, every single one of us would do the same. Try putting yourself in Addison’s shoes for a minute. Hmm, decisions, decisions. Do I take advantage of that free lease offer from Bowser ...

Riley steered Rivers into coaching

By Tim Reynolds The Associated Press MIAMI — Philadelphia coach Doc Rivers would probably need hours to explain everything that he’s learned from Miami President Pat Riley over the last three decades. Or he could sum it up in three words. “Gosh, everything really,” Rivers said. Some elements of this Philadelphia-Miami Eastern Conference semifinal series — the Heat lead 2-1 after losing Game 3 on Friday night — go back further than this season, or this past summer, or anytime recently. They go back to 1992, when Riley was coaching the New York Knicks and they swung a ...

Senior golfer cashes in on greatest mulligan

By Doug Ferguson The Associated Press Steven Alker knows all about the lean times. He started at home in New Zealand in 1989 and over the next three decades played 556 times on six tours that received world ranking points. Only three seasons were spent on the PGA Tour. He had two full years in Europe. His most financially rewarding year was in 2014 when he earned $261,901 on what is now the Korn Ferry Tour. Alker has been around so long he played the developmental circuit under five names, starting with the Nike Tour. His most consistent golf? That would have been on the ...

Mailbag

MLB needs to embrace technology behind plate I’m sitting here watching Sunday Night Baseball (April 24). What an embarrassment to the game this home plate umpire, Angel Hernandez, is. It’s interesting, amazing and unbelievable that Major League Baseball continues to permit the ineptness of incompetent umpires to call balls and strikes. It is clearly obvious that some umpires are unable to accurately call balls and strikes. Factually, these umpires literally make their own strike zones. Why does this continue to be acceptable to the league? As I said in an ...

Sauce and sizzle at NFL draft

By Tim Dahlberg The Associated Press LAS VEGAS — The NFL draft served up some special Sauce to go along with Roger Goodell’s usual array of hugs. On the first day of the draft, Las Vegas stepped up to provide the sizzle. In a scene that would have been unimaginable just a few years ago, the city delivered just when needed most. If a draft top loaded with defensive players and offensive linemen wasn’t exactly must-see TV, the stunning backdrops on the Las Vegas Strip surely were. And who will ever forget Goodell introducing Ice Cube to kick off the whole show. No, the ...