And people wonder how they get reputations as blatherers
“Until that gargoyle is off the books, we will not show.” THAT is the only statement that has any force.
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Unless they put their money where their mouth is, and pull out, it’s all BS.
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Agreed. The teabaggers who passed this are counting on these teams to be too cowardly to do ANYTHING and will simply sit there with arms folded, waiting for them to show up.
There is NO difference between this and the admonitions from the yahoos at the Dixie Chicks ten or so years ago to ‘shut up and sing.’
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What is Duke supposed to do, give a legal analysis of the law’s effects? That’s not happening, nor should it. It’s for Indiana’s courts to say what the law’s effects are, and whether they are constitutional. [answer: hell no]
I’m sure the state institutions of Kentucky, Michigan and (to a lesser degree) Wisconsin were all too happy to pile on Indiana. That must have been fun for them.
All the NCAA and the Schools involved want to know is: “Can you GUARANTEE we will still get PAID?”
They don’t care about anything else.
Um. You do know that CBS and Turner Broadcasting bought the rights to air the tournament for nearly $11 Billion dollars over 14 years. Between ticket sales and TV revenue that comes to about $700 million a year. NCAA keeps 40 percent and 60 percent goes to the schools based on how far the make it through the tournament. Just by making this year’s tournament, a school earns its conference a projected $1.67 million over the next six years, broken into annual payments from the NCAA that will start with $260,500 in 2016. A run all the way to the Final Four earns an estimated $8.33 million which with the $1.67 totals $10 million for the conference.
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It would be impractical from a business perspective. You need thousands of hotel rooms, an arena seating at least 60,000 people (it may be more) and other venues to host a Final Four. Not every city has those things, let alone available on such short notice. Plus people got tickets to the final four in the NCAA’s official lottery months ago, as well as through sponsors, etc. How would you accommodate them?
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It would be nice if they could pull the tournament, but at this late date, that’s not going to happen. I’d love it if all four schools would add rainbow patches to their jerseys though. Send a public, visual comment that will be seen on national TV.
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It has become so abundantly clear that the Indiana law goes well beyond “RFRA” laws in other states (18 9f 19) and the Federal law that to equate them at this point is very disingenuous, if not a calculated falsehood. In addition, most of the other states that have modest RFRA laws also have laws protecting equal civil rights based on sexuality. Indiana has none.
This law was written explicitly to enable discrimination against gays, and the state of Indiana – and Gov Mike Pence – are not inclined to “put equal rights on the agenda.” Pence and his legislature are getting the political humiliation that he & they deserve.
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Despite all the BS about what this law isn’t…and we all know exactly what it is, I’m left to ponder one interesting thing. Just what “religious freedoms” does this law actually restore? Which freedoms had been lost, and thus need governmental intervention. To my knowledge you can, even in Indiana, attend any church you wish. You can believe just about anything regarding the existence or non-existence of a deity of any name. You can share, within reasonable social limits, your beliefs and attempt to convince others. You can recognize the religious holidays of your choosing, and even have your children excused from school attendance for them. You may wear whatever clothing your religion requires without fear of governmental interference. You can publish, purchase, and read whatever religious tomes you prefer.
So…exactly what freedoms are in need of being restored? What terrible oppression does this law resolve?
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You can’t think of any lost freedoms because you’re not insane. If you were insane, this law would make perfect sense.
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I would love to see each of the teams appear on the court in rainbow-themed warm-ups just to for some Fundagelical heads to explode… Rainbow-striped head- and wrist-bands would be effective, too…
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You forgot Somalia & Yemen…
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I hear you, but some of these student athletes have worked for 4 years to get there. Why punish them?
When a Big 10 chancellor or president says there is going to be a discussion about this, it does indicate something might happen. I am thinking that the Big 10 might threaten to pull the football championship game permanently. No way they can move the FInal Four. Logisitics too difficult
Translated: It’s a cake. It’s a bouquet of flowers. It’s not religion.
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Now you know what it looks like when you let your legal department write your statements. A nice-sounding and carefully parsed selection of platitudes specifically chosen to not offend anyone with a comparable-sized legal department: We support diversity, motherhood, and apple pie. We stand for our core values, but if you don’t like them, we have others.
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Somalia and Yemen don’t have any laws. You’re thinking of Uganda.
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Hell, with almost nine hundred million Koch-aligned neofeudalist billionaire dollars out trying to win the hearts and minds of the some of the people who can be fooled all of the time, and who thus decide all elections in this country, I may give up agnosticism for most of 2016.
The statements by the Final Four school reps are as much in need of clarity as the original, damned law!! Screw it, take a stand!!