Tommy Tuberville

This is an opinion column.

It’s time for another edition of the SEC X-files, this time starring Sen. Tommy Tuberville.

Why did Tuberville use the fear of trans-gender athletes to poison the Protect College Sports Act at the 11th hour?

Is Tuberville really that out of touch?

The NCAA already banned trans-gender athletes. Women’s college sports are restricted exclusively for people born as females. So why did Tubs, at the last minute, demand that language be added to the Protect College Sports Act (PCSA) specifically stating that people born male can’t compete against women?

As the SEC X-file goes, it’s because Tuberville’s favorite conference wanted the bill to die despite giving the outward appearance that the SEC wanted to help the legislation become law.

The upshot: Major college football is now racing towards a Super League after the failure of the Senate to even vote on the Protect College Sports Act (PCSA).

Ah, democracy in action.

And special-interest groups, too.

From the very beginning, I said that PCSA was a bad deal for the SEC. It was co-sponsored by Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who is on the payroll of Texas Tech super booster Cody Campbell. Campbell and Cruz wanted PCSA to limit the power of the SEC and the Big Ten. For them, the PCSA was never about capping NIL budgets and giving schools anti-trust exemptions to limit transfers.

It was about kneecapping the SEC.

If we’ve learned anything over the summer, it’s that Campbell’s Texas Tech isn’t about protecting college sports. Texas Tech is about breaking the rules and winning at all costs.

In a way, I respect the rebellious pluck of the Red Raiders, but don’t confuse my cynical nature with supporting Texas Tech.

Amid Sen. Cruz and President Donald Trump’s call to action to save college sports, Texas Tech was trying to play a transfer quarterback who had been accused of betting on his own team. Meanwhile, Texas Tech was also paying a transfer softball pitcher $1 million to win the Women’s College World Series.

You can’t make this stuff up.

This was supposed to be the most important summer in the history of college sports. That’s what they were saying.

Nope, just another reminder that the federal government should never have been tasked with the job of regulating college sports. Congress is just going to ruin a good thing.

Shocking to no one, they never voted on PCSA.

It was all for show.

Tuberville must have watched the Rodney Dangerfield cult classic movie “Ladybugs” the night before going into the office and had a great idea. Why not just use the threat of trans-gender athletes to save the SEC?

Tuberville, of course, wasn’t the only Southern senator who had problems with PCSA. In the end, there was a long list of Southern politicians who wanted this amendment to flounder. Louisiana Senator John Kennedy, a Republican, said he wanted to explore the idea of capping ticket prices to games.

Huh?

Should the feds be in the business of regulating ticket prices? Obviously not. It was just another stall tactic to protect the SEC.

Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock, a Democrat, said the bill was too complex to rush a vote. There were others in the SEC footprint who moved to slow the bill. The Southern senators understood the assignment: kick the PCSA down the road and hope it goes away when Congress reconvenes in September.

It’s worth remembering how we got here. Don’t forget all the sudden urgency back in May and June.

Cruz went across the aisle to co-sponsor a bill written by a Democrat from the Pacific Northwest. Save women’s sports, was the plea from Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington.

Rein in the chaos, cried Sen. Cruz.

Personally, I enjoyed watching all the national sports reporters try and cover politics with such earnestness and vigor.

This thing is going to come down to the wire!

The SEC and Big Ten are now on board!

Alas, nothing happened.

And why was that?

Because nothing was ever going to happen. The SEC opposed the bill from the beginning and, behind the scenes, that stance never changed. The SEC is in a fight for power and survival. If it means leaving the NCAA to preserve it, then so long and thanks for all the fish.

The final day before August’s Congressional recess came and went without a vote and now the bill is in limbo.

Hopefully it dies off for good. Given a chance, Congress will ruin college sports forever.

This might come as shocking news to everyone who has faith in Washington, but it’s almost like the Senate was happy to waste everyone’s time and money.

Maybe that was the point all along.

Or maybe Tubs is a hero of this story.

Or maybe, in the end, it was all those trans-gender athletes we keep hearing about who saved the SEC.

MAILBAG SOUND OFF

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