Sports Daily: Compensation cops

Hey y’all.

We’ll get to Kirk Cousins, the Braves and the Dream momentarily.

But first: It’s a day that ends in “y” — which means it’s a good time to rag on the NCAA for a bit.

Quick links: Brewers 4, Braves 1 | Dream crush Fever | Cousins in camp

BAG MAN COMETH?

Our pal Ken Sugiura recently published a column about the future of college sports in the wake of the House vs. NCAA ruling.

The gist? Significant changes — from scholarships to Title IX — have always elicited doomsday proclamations.

Like this one from 1938, when the University of Pittsburgh’s chancellor declared that, while it wasn’t a sin to pay for someone to go to college, “it is a sin, so to speak, to pay him to go to college to play a sport for that college.”

Heaven forfend.

And while Mr. Chancellor would be scandalized by the current state of affairs, perhaps he’d find a bit of solace in one part of the new settlement.

The most-likely-to-fail-miserably part, actually: the NIL clearinghouse.

There’s a lot going on with this settlement, which also includes backpay for former athletes and allowing schools to directly compensate current ones.

• Tech continues AD search with revenue payments looming
• Video: The post-House future of college sports

So perhaps this part missed you: A new clearinghouse called NIL Go, in which the accounting firm Deloitte (really!) is tasked with determining whether deals that athletes receive are “fair market value.”

Ostensibly, the goal is to root out pure pay-for-play.

But reader: All it’s going to achieve is more chaos. And lawsuits.

Who’s to say what fair market value is, really? What a legitimate business deal is?

🤔 Can I give a softball player a thousand bucks to sign autographs at my car dealership?

🤔 Is the endorsement of an offensive lineman at Georgia Tech worth $500? Or $50K?

🤔 Is Carson Beck worth a Lamborghini?

🤔 What do you get when you cross and elephant and a rhino?

Schools are already promising recruits (and current athletes) compensation packages that include third-party cash. Deloitte apparently told some coaches that about 70% of past deals involving booster collectives would’ve been kiboshed under the forthcoming rules.

But can the clearinghouse really assess the many thousands of arrangements avalanching its way? Accurately?

Nope.

And either way: This is America, baby. Capitalism. And putting limits on someone’s earning power still feels awful antitrust-y to me.

It will, undoubtedly, end up in court. As others have suggested, we may just usher in a new era of the illicit bag man, too.

The money’s here and, one way or another, it’s staying.

Because in college sports, the deadliest sin is not trying to win.

Agree with me? Hate me? Shoot me an email and let me know.

PLAYING THE ROLE

History’s most expensive backup quarterback showed up for Falcons minicamp on Tuesday — and refused the opportunity for a heel turn.

Kirk Cousins says he’s here to work: “Obviously, you’d love to play, but I’m not going to dwell on things that aren’t reality. That’s not the situation I’m in, so it’s (energy) better spent to be focused on the situation I’m in and controlling what you can control. And I think that’s the right mindset to have.”

And the young man anointed to start in Cousins’ stead?

Michael Penix Jr. says all is well: “Kirk, he’s always been the same guy from Day 1. He always told me since I got in, ‘I’ve got your back.’ I told him I’ve got his back. We support each other and that’s how it’s always going to be.”

🏈 Don’t miss columnist Michael Cunningham’s take on the situation. Or this story about receiver Drake London being “underappreciated.”

THE BIG NUMBER: 9

That’s how many points the Atlanta Dream allowed in the third quarter of last night’s game against the Caitlin Clark-less Indiana Fever.

The defensive clampdown fueled their 77-58 home win.

“It helped us win on a night where we didn’t even shoot it that great,” head coach Karl Smesko said.

🏀 Atlanta now sits at 6-3 — the third-best record in the WNBA. It hosts the struggling Chicago Sky on Friday in College Park (7:30 p.m. on Ion).

BRAVES TAKE ANOTHER L

The Braves, of course, are trending the opposite direction. And they found themselves back on the wrong side of the ledger Tuesday, dropping the second game of their series with the Brewers, 4-1.

Starter Grant Holmes put forth a decent enough effort, striking out nine while allowing three runs over 5⅓ innings. But Ronald Acuña Jr.’s RBI single was all the offense could muster.

⚾ On deck: Day baseball! Today’s rubber game in Milwaukee starts at 2:10 p.m. on FanDuel Sports. Spencer Schwellenbach gets the start for Atlanta.

ALSO INTERESTING

⚽ Atlanta United gets back to business Thursday at NYCFC (7:30 p.m. on AppleTV). We still don’t know who will start because just about everyone important has been playing for their respective national team.

🏆 Big shouts to Emory University, which does in fact play sports and just won the Learfield Director’s Cup as Division III’s most successful all-around athletic program. The women’s golf team helped out by winning a national title.