It's not the first time, nor will it be the last. This past Saturday, College GameDay devoted a segment to the upcoming vote on the Protect College Sports Act this week in Congress. Regardless of your political leanings, a college football pregame show devoted time at the official kickoff of the season to publicly support national legislation with no representation of the opposing view.
Is this the new normal? Is this the expectation moving forward? Without question, college football needs some sort of reform. But is this act the fix? And should it be debated on a college football pregame show to kick off a new season of Saturdays in the fall? If Saturday was an example, where was the debate? There was none.
I'm not naive enough to believe sports and politics have never mixed on sports television programming. I've always argued that if there is a direct connection between sports and a political debate, then engage. But engage properly. Except, Saturday provided a moment where the intersection was direct. However, the forum was not open to the other side.
Instead, this was lobbying. Not discussion. This was advocacy, not debate.
Yes, Nick Saban is a staunch supporter of the act proposed in Congress. In fact, he testified before a Senate committee in support of the bill and appears in a commercial supporting it. Yes, Pat McAfee is also a supporter of the act. He's said as much on his daily sports talk program.

#sports #debate #political #pregame