the BigAmateurism monologues

On Friday, July 30th, the NCAA Board of Governors emerged from seclusion to announce the formation of a “constitutional convention committee” that will propose “dramatic” changes to the NCAA constitution. A Constitutional Review Committee will redraft the NCAA constitution to usher in a new era in NCAA governance. The Committee will be comprised of 22 members from in-system stakeholders such as university presidents, conference commissioners, athletics directors, “independent” members of the NCAA Board of Governors, and students from each division. Buttressed by comments from Board of Governors Chair Jack DeGioia (president of Georgetown University) and “independent” BOG member Robert Gates (former Secretary of Defense and Texas A&M president), the Committee intends to have recommendations in place by November 15th, 2021, with final proposals to be provided to the Board of Governors by December 15th, 2021. In three-and-a-half months, the Committee aims to accomplish what Mark Emmert said just sixteen days ago would take “years.” An obvious question arises from this newfound need for a ground-up restructuring of college sports: how can we trust the same people who created this to correct it? This episode discusses the NCAA’s most recent desperate attempt to remain relevant in the college sports world and uses it to transition into an analysis of the perfect storm (2019-present).