Today nothing is done in a bipartisan manner. However, the College Sports Protection Act is somewhat a bipartisan bill. During a visit Thursday to #PFTPM, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) was asked why this specific effort has support from both sides of the aisle. “These coaches in these conferences, you know, have a lot of power, and the Power Five are represented in both states by Democrats and Republicans,” Murphy said. “They’ve spent a lot of money on this bill. This place is flooded with lobbyists representing the schools, and the players don’t really have a voice here. They just don’t. All the player organizations are opposed to this bill, but the players don’t have money, or they don’t have enough money, not as much money as the colleges. So I think part of it is that a lot of my colleagues have heard a lot from the coaches and from the schools, and they haven’t heard a lot from the athletes. I have a long-standing relationship with “A lot of athletes and a lot of athlete organizations. So I hear from them how this bill will affect students, but I don’t think, unfortunately, their voice has been heard adequately in Congress.” That seems to be changing. Whether it’s Ted Cruz’s bizarre, boo-filled segment on College GameDay or something else, the opposition is finally coming together. And Murphy is among the most prominent voices against it. Does that mean he’ll be on Saturday’s edition of GameDay? “I mean, the reality is that those students are probably going to boo any United States senator who shows up,” Murphy said. “I mean, maybe they’ll oust Ted a little more, but I don’t think there’s a real market for any politician to be on that show. So, I don’t know, if I get invited, I’ll think twice.” It will be interesting to see if ESPN invites anyone to present the opposite point of view than what Cruz advocated last week. NAACP President Derrick Johnson’s appearance on Tuesday night’s SportsCenter was reportedly aimed at getting the other side on the ESPN platform ahead of a potential Senate vote on the bill. That hasn’t happened. So why not provide the same time this weekend that wasn’t provided last weekend? Even without another live guest to make the assembled audience (and those watching on TV) wonder what the hell is going on, there should at least be a commentary on the decision to give Cruz a one-way track to talk about the bill, along with a summary of some of the strongest arguments against it.
