The Bari Weiss hysteria continues. Exactly what in "this piece isn't ready" and "try harder to get comment from the administration" constitutes the death of American journalism? www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...

The new Trump naval ship will look like a casino.

Wrote this on #philliprivers and #lindseyvonn. Aging athletes are so much more interesting. www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025...

God save us all from the sulky, inert, privilege squandering, hate-brooding of boys who think they're entitled to rights but no duties.

"...the man who has outgrown emotions and beliefs, the man to whom good and evil are as one."

This Stooge. www.thedailybeast.com/keystone-kas...

Phillip Rivers is out there writing a Disney movie. #nfl #colts #AARP

Oh man I wish I'd a writ that.

Sign on the field: "For Every Sack of Phillip Rivers AARP Receives A Donation."

Me to the spouse: "What do you want to do today?" Spouse: "I want to be snowbound."

What does Phillip Rivers do today? Guesses?

Let's play a game. What do you think Kash Patel's next job will be?

How long before somebody recruits Tom Brady to suit up?

Anybody awake out there? Ilia Malinin just performed the single most stunning athletic achievement I've seen in my lifetime. SEVEN quadruple jumps in four minutes, plus a back flip. And landed them on razorblades on ice.

Sniveler is such a good word.

What do taxpayers get in return for universities tax exemptions? That's a big question. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

The evergreen George Will with a mighty piece of writing. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

"Taxation is theft" happens to be a pet sentence of an undersecretary in the current administration drawing his salary from taxation.

The combination of the writing plus that acting was devastating. At the end, the whole audience sat stock still for a long a minute, tears streaming down faces, and then there was this eruptive leap-and-shout, and roars for curtain call after curtain call.

Helen Lewis is worth three laugh out loud per piece, and four "God that's a great observation(s)," plus several bolts of pure writer's awe.

The absolutely lethal pleasure of reading Helen Lewis on Olivia Nuzzi: "This morning, I went whale watching, and the guide recommended that we “keep our eyes on the horizon and look for blow.” (This is also a good way to find RFK Jr.)" Don't miss. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...

"Formal power and personal incompetence." I'd like to write as pointedly well as Tom Nichols. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...

That Adm Bradley gave the order is "implausible." But if he "did give the order on his own...it would mean Hegseth’s Defense Dept is even more dysfunctional and out of control than anyone might have guessed." The great Tom Nichols, former Naval War College prof: www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...

That crying drunk Hegsheth was radicalized by military dysfunction, which every soldier in every war has faced because of the sheer size of the org. (On D-Day some cargo boats were packed in a way that caused them to sink.) Now HE'S responsible -- and he's ducking fire. What a creep.

Here's who I got to see in the original London production of Stoppard's Arcadia in 1993: Rufus Sewell, Bill Nighy, Harriet Walter, Felicity Kendal, Samuel West. All of them directed by Trevor Nunn. God, what knockout. It left me shivering in my seat.

This is why the presidents want help from Congress. A survey showed the overwhelming majority of them want lawmakers to legislate on athletic spending.

Exactly. Congress needs to rewrite its proposed legislative bills to get the priorities right. The SCORE and SAFE Acts don't address the spending, but easily can. www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025...

The severance payouts are just one of the biggest symptoms. As I wrote here: www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025...

The beauty but profundity of Tom Stoppard's Arcadia, captured in a letter from an audience member. I saw the same production, and it slew me in a way no other theater experience ever has.

Severance payouts for fired FBS head football coaches at FBS public institutions this season have mounted to nearly $228 million for just 15 coaches (see Table 1 in this document). www.knightcommission.org/wp-content/u...

Just for the record, I stand by what I wrote about Lane Kiffin 15 years ago. www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...

My suggestion for how to make schools act like schools again. www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025...

What a tool.

Reupping this in light of the Lane Kiffin and Mark Stoops news. www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025...

Mark Stoops will be owed 75 percent of his contract, amounting to almost $38 million. This is educational behavior?? Kentucky athletics should have to devote an additional $37 million to academic benefits over the same time frame. Congress, PLEASE write that law. www.espn.com/college-foot...

Of course they're fighting it. Hard.

The problem is that athletic scholarships would be classified as compensation for services rendered for the university's benefit, rather than a "disinterested" educational grant.

It would be the consequence of either. If college athletes are reclassified as employees, their scholarships would be considered compensation rather than non-taxable educational assistance and grant.

Paul, how would you even define the labor class?

Athletic scholarships are the same -- the educational benefits are non taxable. But some Senators are calling for them to be taxable in the wake of NIL. taxfoundation.org/blog/ncaa-ta...

Yes, but what I'm talking about is not a "cap" but legislating a spending mandate that works as a cap but is not a cap. Match every athletic revenue dollar spent on salaries to academic benefits. If Lane Kiffin gets 12 mil a year, so does academics. These are supposed to be educational nonprofits.

Employee status would be a disaster for athletes, and purely unworkable. You want to tax their scholarships and all their other benefits? You want their disagreements with professors and coaches adjudicated by arbitrators? How do you even DEFINE the labor class? What happens to Olympic swimmers?

I think they will pass legislation -- there is a lot of bipartisan agreement -- but the big question is whether they will fold to influencers who want to cap players but not coaches or athletic directors, so they can keep their spending advantages.

Well thank you! This subject makes people feel like cats in yarn but the main fix is actually simple: mandate matching spending on academics. Ole Miss pays Lane Kiffin $12 million? Mandate another $12 mil must go to academic benefits.

I balked at this with an elderly relative. Got a bad hit from the supposed "guardian." Took over the care myself with the help of a good small agency and never regretted it. It was rewarding.

Limited antitrust exemption -- tied to matched spending mandates on academics. It's a functional cap without the legal problems.

The fix to college sports is not that hard. Make these schools act like, you know, schools. www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025...

The only way college athletics leaders get antitrust exemption is if it comes with agreement that every revenue dollar that goes to coaches AD salaries is matched by a dollar to academic benefits

A Navy Captain; which Sen. Kelly is; is an O-6. A very senior officer. An Army Captain is an O-3. A relatively junior officer. An Army Major; which Sec. Hegseth was; is an O-4. I hope he saluted Capt. Kelly before and after lecturing him on “good order & discipline.”