Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Rodney Fort 🐀 @rodneyfort.bsky.social · 11h

Whistleblowers make the best police in situations difficult to patrol. (Fort, Economics of Governance 2022.)
www.espn.com/college-spor...

New tip line for NIL violations to commence

The College Sports Commission launched an anonymous tip line Wednesday to allow for reporting of possible NIL infractions.

www.espn.com

Rodney Fort 🐀 @rodneyfort.bsky.social · 11h

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/o...

Opinion | You Beat Trumpism by Banding Together. It’s as Hard and as Simple as That.

www.nytimes.com

Rodney Fort 🐀 @rodneyfort.bsky.social · 1d

I think he is just doing what commissioners do—owners’ bidding. They like the WNBA. But always want to squash players. Novelty is that it appears that Silver is commissioner of two leagues.

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Rodney Fort 🐀 @rodneyfort.bsky.social · 1d

The WNBA already has a commissioner…Oh that’s right, just another reminder about who actually runs the WNBA. Silver serves at the will of NBA owners.
www.nytimes.com/athletic/669...

NBA’s Adam Silver says WNBA conflict has ‘become too personal’

Silver said he will step in if need be to CBA negotiations but has not yet.

www.nytimes.com

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Rodney Fort 🐀 @rodneyfort.bsky.social · 1d

No place at this table for the players. Not collectively bargained, antitrust possible. Pretty sure there will be lawyers.
www.espn.com/college-foot...

NCAA officially adopts Jan. 2-16 portal window

The NCAA has officially adopted Jan. 2-16 as its new, singular transfer portal window for all FBS, FCS players beginning in 2026.

www.espn.com

Rodney Fort 🐀 @rodneyfort.bsky.social · 1d

This is a great place for difference-in-difference analysis.

JJ Cooper @jjcoop36.bsky.social · 1d

Conventional wisdom says if you throw extremely hard as an MLB SP you at significant risk to blow out and fade away.

In reality, the hardest throwing MLB SPs are the most long-lasting/durable. I studied 236 MLB SPs that debuted from 2008-2015.

www.baseballamerica.com/stories/to-h...

To Have A Lengthy MLB Career, Pitchers Need To Throw Hard

J.J. Cooper digs into years' worth of MLB pitching data to investigate the connection between throwing harder and career length.

www.baseballamerica.com

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Reposted by Rodney Fort 🐀

Brad "Pencil Necked Geek" Humphreys @bradhumphreys.bsky.social · 2d

Here's a link to an ungated copy

rdcu.be/eJoJu

Horizontal Product Differentiation in Higher Education Markets and Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Changes

rdcu.be

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Rodney Fort 🐀 @rodneyfort.bsky.social · 2d

Very informative.
www.sportico.com/leagues/hock...

How the NHL Looks Out for Small Markets as Salary Caps Rise

The NHL's new collective bargaining agreement will increase the league's revenue-sharing pool, benefiting low-revenue teams like the Blue Jackets.

www.sportico.com

Reposted by Rodney Fort 🐀

Rachel Bachman, WSJ sports reporter @realbachscore.bsky.social · 5d

Sources: www.loc.gov/resource/sn9...

www.loc.gov/resource/sn8...

www.loc.gov

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Reposted by Rodney Fort 🐀

Rachel Bachman, WSJ sports reporter @realbachscore.bsky.social · 5d

The early years of the Michigan-Wisconsin series were marked by catastrophic collapses of the stadiums they played in. In the Ann Arbor game, players actually helped rescue people from the wreckage.

Chicago (1902) and Ann Arbor (1905)

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Reposted by Rodney Fort 🐀

Lindsay Gibbs @lindsaygibbs.bsky.social · 5d

Engelbert deserves the criticism she is getting. But Adam Silver and the NBA are the biggest obstacle in WNBA labor fights. My latest for @cbssports.bsky.social:

www.cbssports.com/wnba/news/ge...

WNBA's Engelbert under fire — but the NBA's power looms larger

Engelbert faces blazing criticism from WNBA players, but the NBA's ownership and influence remain the central challenge to the league's future.

www.cbssports.com

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Rodney Fort 🐀 @rodneyfort.bsky.social · 5d

Read and learn.
www.cbssports.com/wnba/news/ge...

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert is under fire, but the NBA is the real power worth challenging

Engelbert faces blazing criticism from WNBA players, but the NBA's ownership and influence remain the central challenge to the league's future

www.cbssports.com

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Rodney Fort 🐀 @rodneyfort.bsky.social · 5d

It’s not a new “cost” problem. No school is required to pay the $20.5mil. And without NCAA constraints, new rev opportunities make it possible *for the obvious group*. Everything has always been driven by *revenue* differences.

Rodney Fort 🐀 @rodneyfort.bsky.social · 5d

Indeed. Otherwise sounds like we all turned into dead weight. Good on you.

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Rodney Fort 🐀 @rodneyfort.bsky.social · 5d

Not that hard: A particular level of sports at given U is best for Univ admins. The more sports generate, the less UAs have to invest. Result: Revenue imperative dictated to ADs. Always was that way. New twist? New forms of revenue are now OK. So ADs go get it. Still the same rev imperative.

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Rodney Fort 🐀 @rodneyfort.bsky.social · 6d

Ah. Thanks.

Rodney Fort 🐀 @rodneyfort.bsky.social · 6d

Link?

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Reposted by Rodney Fort 🐀

John Thorn @johnthorn.bsky.social · 6d

The Massachusetts Game had four bases PLUS a striker's point. The fourth base was home, which a runner had to touch to score. Below is the New York Game (same story), with a distance between first and third base of "42 paces OR yds." [Emphasis mine; see: ourgame.mlblogs.com/the-making-o... ]

The Making of Baseball’s Magna Carta

The Making of Baseball’s Magna Carta Something odd, unusual, unexpected, even — to one not inclined to superlatives — utterly amazing has just now turned up, some 160 years since it vanished …

ourgame.mlblogs.com

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Rodney Fort 🐀 @rodneyfort.bsky.social · 6d

Interesting. Watching Clev Det. At Progressive Field. All of the ads behind home plate are Geico.😆

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Rodney Fort 🐀 @rodneyfort.bsky.social · 6d

And always remember, the WNBA is just the owners acting cooperatively to their own ends. And the commissioner serves at their pleasure.

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Rodney Fort 🐀 @rodneyfort.bsky.social · 6d

A picture showing a *player* squashing the basketball is obvious, and telling, bias. If there is a stoppage, highest probability is a lockout by *owners*. And absurdly low pay by the *owners* is the major issue.
www.nytimes.com/athletic/668...

Is the WNBA headed for a work stoppage? The consequences could be grim for the league

What happens if the players association and the league don't reach an agreement by the Oct. 31 deadline?

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Rodney Fort 🐀

Andy Schwarz @andyhre.bsky.social · 7d

The new Democratic party alternative to the SCORE Act (called the SAFE ACT) has a major trojan horse designed to recreate the pre-1985 CFB landscape where there is far less content available on over-the-air or basic cable TV.

Section 903: Expansion of Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 to College Sports Amends the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 to exempt from the antitrust laws, any joint agreement by an association of schools consisting of (1) at least all Football Bowl Subdivision institutions, or, in the alternative, at least each of the 136 highest earning institutions, or (2) any other group of institutions other than those in (1), to pool media rights if the association agrees to distribute revenues in accordance with the requirements under Section 904.

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Reposted by Rodney Fort 🐀

Candace Buckner @candacedbuckner.bsky.social · 7d

The WNBA coaches are raging, the players are revolting and the loyal fan base along with those who are just learning your name are ridiculing the entire operation.

So what are you going to do, Commissioner?

www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2025/...

Column | Listen up, Cathy Engelbert: The WNBA has a big problem.

Napheesa Collier said the quiet part out loud in a league where players pride themselves on action, not gratitude.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Rodney Fort 🐀 @rodneyfort.bsky.social · 8d

Just discovered this. Some hall of famers never played post-season and quite a few WS had no eventual hall of famers.
sabr.org/journal/arti....

Hall of Famers Who Never Played in the World Series – Society for American Baseball Research

sabr.org

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Rodney Fort 🐀 @rodneyfort.bsky.social · 8d

Fair enough.

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