Wednesday, August 28, 2013

College Football’s Most Dominant Player? It’s ESPN - NYTimes.com - By JAMES ANDREW MILLER, STEVE EDER and RICHARD SANDOMIR - Far beyond televising games, ESPN has become the chief impresario of college football. By infusing the sport with billions of dollars it pays for television rights — more than $10 billion on college football in the last five years alone — ESPN has become both puppet-master and kingmaker, arranging games, setting schedules and bestowing the gift of nationwide exposure on its chosen universities, players and coaches. The money and programming focused on college football by ESPN, as well as its competitors, have transformed the game, creating professionalized sports empires in the midst of academic institutions. At a time of rising tuition and fiscal struggles, the millions of dollars that flow to the top athletic departments are, with few exceptions, used to enhance athletics, not academics. Celebrity coaches earn many times more than college presidents, and even teams at financially strained public universities train in lavish facilities financed by donors and corporate sponsors.

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http://themeck.blogspot.com/2013/08/college-footballs-most-dominant-player.html


Parents and cheerleaders angry as school bans its OWN cheer uniforms from class after deciding they are too risque for the dress code | Mail Online - The decision by administrators at Countryside High School in Clearwater, Florida, has left many parents scratching their heads and has upset many of the cheerleaders - who say wearing uniforms on the Fridays before games is important for school spirit. - Mail Online

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http://themeck.blogspot.com/2013/08/parents-and-cheerleaders-angry-as.html


Nick Saban says winning national title 'cost me a week of recruiting' | College Recruiting Blog | www.ajc.com - Michael Carvell - Even though Alabama had just gotten priceless publicity from winning a national championship, Saban was focused on (and annoyed) that he would be tied up with banquet and media obligations less than a month before signing day.

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http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/college-recruiting/2013/aug/27/nick-saban-says-winning-national-title-cost-me-wee/


8 juicy allegations from the new Bachmann “tell-all” book - Salon.com - “She fired a staffer with seven children, the eighth on the way, on Christmas Eve” BY ALEX SEITZ-WALD AND ALEX HALPERIN - A new book co-written by a former senior staffer on Michele Bachmann’s presidential campaign alleges that the conservative congresswoman is a fake Christian diva who fires pregnant staffers on Christmas Eve and takes advantage of her devoted supporters, when not being taken advantage of by the political consultants she hired. Published on Amazon for Kindle late last night, “Bachmannnistan: Behind the Lines, a Report From the Inside“


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http://www.salon.com/2013/08/27/8_juicy_allegations_from_the_new_bachmann_tell_all_book/


Photo of retired Marine, a double-amputee, being carried by wife goes viral online - NY Daily News


http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/photo-marine-carried-wife-viral-article-1.1438472


In Manziel saga, compromise is the key | FOX Sports - Clay Travis - Outkickthecoverage.com


http://msn.foxsports.com/collegefootball/story/johnny-manziel-ncaa-autograph-scandal-compromise-needed-082713


The College-Loan Scandal: Matt Taibbi on the Ripping Off of Young America | Politics News | Rolling Stone


http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/ripping-off-young-america-the-college-loan-scandal-20130815?link=mostpopular1