Why Mark Emmert and the NCAA will never admit defeat

Dancing around defeat: The name of the game for Emmert.

Mark Emmert is no fool. He might feign indifference and ignorance, but he knows exactly what he’s doing.

The current president of the esteemed (loose definition) NCAA, Emmert, is no stranger to controversy. With a trademark word salad, the man practically invites a not-so-subtle war of words whenever he steps in front of a microphone.

With the Final Four in both Men’s and Women’s college basketball around the corner, the president, or should I say, CEO (important definition), had thoughts on the current state of his nonprofit organization (loose definition).

Most notably, Emmert discussed the fallout of the landmark Alston vs. NCAA case from last summer — where the United States Supreme Court voted 9-0 (!!!) in favor of collegiate athletes getting academic benefits and reimbursements.

I’m sorry, Mark, I don’t quite understand? Let’s rewind.

Did you mean to say you cannot lose landmark Supreme Court cases and still win?

I’ll be vulnerable for a second and admit that I can speak fluent word-salad. (It’s a learned skill. It would be best to possess it in life, dear readers.)

What Emmert’s saying about Alston v. NCAA — which may soon help flip the paradigm of major college sports’ outright exploitation of young men for and women for profit — is that he and his “nonprofit” will never admit defeat. At least not in public.

And for a good reason: The NCAA’s fight to maintain their Vise-Grip over what amounts to free labor on the field, on the court(s), on the grass, in the pool, and in the ring, is a public relations battle. It’s one contested over a microphone, in front of people sitting in folding chairs while holding small recording devices. All decisions will, ultimately, evolve there.

The moment Emmert is honest and surrenders ground, even an inch, on the practice he and his cronies are trying to uphold is the exact moment they lose forever. If there’s still an opening, no matter how small, to influence public opinion and sway legal experts at the very top of the American legal system — then Emmert and Co. will do everything in their power to use it and pry it open.

I’m aware I might be preaching to the choir, but the NCAA has never been about amplifying and helping the “student-athlete.” As you also might know, student-athlete, in itself, is a key language choice. Emmert and his friends use a funny euphemism purely to uphold the segment of collegiate athletics that operates like a billion-dollar NFL or NBA organization behind a thin veil of valuable continuing education they don’t actually care about.

If the NCAA were about protecting students, or athletes, or any people at all, don’t you think there’d be more material substance and action to that than the usual dog-and-pony show? But there isn’t, and there may never be.

The only thing Emmert and his NCAA have ever cared about protecting is the lining of their pockets. He would’ve admitted outright defeat in a unanimous Supreme Court case if that weren’t true. You know, that same Supreme Court famous for having every serving Justice agree on setting a legal precedent.

They might pretend otherwise, but Mark Emmert and the NCAA know what they’re doing. It’s nothing to the benefit of young people who deserve better.

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