Cincinnati sued former quarterback Brendan Sorsby in federal court Wednesday, alleging he breached his NIL contract with the Bearcats when he refused to pay a $1 million exit fee after he transferred to Texas Tech.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, seeks $1 million in liquidated damages, which the school said Sorsby was contractually obligated to pay within 30 days of transferring.
Colleges went from "we care about the players" to suing their players in just two NIL years.
I've become convinced that the only way we're ever gonna have rules again is for the players to collectively bargain. The only other way it could happen is for Congress to get involved, which nobody wants.
Of course, the college changed their approach radically. The rules changed radically and are still being made because the colleges no longer have leverage over the players. The colleges are not prepared to navigate the NIL landscape which has at least a touch of the Wild West to it and utterly lacks leadership.
Personally, I don't see a leader from the colleges or the players which is why you hear occasional pleas for a college football or sports commissioner. Congress should stay the hell out of it because the players will get screwed in that scenario.
I do not have any sympathy whatsoever towards the colleges because (1) they've taken advantage of the players for decades, (2) they haven't the first idea of how to work with the players precisely because of the past, and (3) they've totally confused the issue of intercollegiate athletics with their primary mission, which is to educate and conduct research.
Congressional involvement, even if well-intended, would be a fiasco in nobody's best interests.
The problem with collective bargaining in this case is who decides on behalf of all current and future players what they give away or agree to? Once bargained, it is very hard to unwind and re-bargain. And most of the athletes are far too inexperienced to make good decisions. So it becomes an agent-driven show.
At present, there is very little reason for the players to give up any leverage.
Yeah, no kidding. It's a long way from the days of Lou Carnesecca at St. John's and Rollie Massimino at Villanova. In the 1970s, the big games on the Rutgers men's basketball schedule were St. John's and Villanova. I went to a few of those.
Same. Mrs Slug watches TikTok daily. She likes it.
I am trying to cut back on social media. I gave up X long ago.
I am close to giving up on Bluesky because I find it depressing.
I will probably keep using Instagram because I can communicate with friends and family through that website.
I expect to keep visiting WFC because I can talk about Cal sports here and I can have a conversation with reasonable people here when the opportunity arises. As I get older, I feel myself gravitating towards calmer interactions, even in these turbulent times.
The United States women's hockey team has a date with Flavor Flav in Las Vegas in July to celebrate its gold medal victory in the Milan Cortina Olympics.
Under the heading "IT'S HAPPENING," the rapper posted a note on his X account on Thursday, announcing he's hosting a "She Got Game" weekend event from July 16-19 in partnership with MGM Resorts. The post said the event was being held to honor the women's hockey team and other female athletes, with details to follow. The message featured a picture of the U.S. women's hockey players celebrating in a circle.
A publicist for Flavor Flav confirmed the event without providing further details.
So freaking proud of those guys. Gritty win, in a season defined by gritty wins. They survived an off night by Dai Dai and general poor shooting to pull it out. This is a game that tournament teams win, and they F'ING DID.
Incredible night from a bubble perspective, too. All five other bubble teams that played last night lost: Texas, TAMU, Georgia all lost, and - most importantly - Ohio State and Santa Clara lost big.
Ohio State is now 0-10 in quad one games but is somehow still on the bubble. What are we even doing here, Lunardi?
BERKELEY -- The California men's basketball team received six clutch points from Justin Pippen in the final minute of action to take a late lead and work to a final 73-69 win over visiting SMU tonight at Haas Pavilion. The victory marked the Golden Bears' 20th win of the season -- the first time since 2016-17 that Cal has reached the 20-win mark. The Bears are now 20-8 overall and 8-7 in ACC play, while the Mustangs move to 19-9, 8-7.
DAVIS— Fueled by five freshmen arms, the California baseball team won its third straight game Wednesday night defeating UC Davis 7-2 on the road at Dobbins Field.
I thought Cal did play UCD every year. At least recently. No 3 had a teammate that played for UCD and I checked the schedule every year between 2021 and 2023 and I thought they were on it. Though it's like 1 game a year, not a multi game series. One year it was rained out and I think we didn't go the following year because my son was at UCSC.
The seventh-ranked California women's tennis team (4-0, 2-0 ACC) is back at the Hellman Tennis Complex this week to host ACC matches against No. 27 NC State on Friday and No. 73 Wake Forest on Saturday.
The Golden Bears have posted all four of their wins at Hellman and are winding down a seven-match homestand that concludes with a March 8 match against Pepperdine.
Now 8-3 on the year, California sets up for its first MPSF road test of the season.
• The No. 4 Golden Bears (8-3, 0-1 MPSF) have one game on the docket this week, taking a trip to Tempe, Ariz., to face Arizona State (19-2, 1-1) at 12 p.m. PT on Saturday (Feb. 28).
Twenty-five men and 16 women from the California track & field team will be competing for conference titles over the next three days, as the Golden Bears will meet with squads from the 17 other ACC Institutions at the ACC Indoor Championships on Thursday-Saturday. The meet will be hosted at the TRACK at new balance, a world-class facility in Boston.
California women's gymnastics (10-4, 4-1 ACC) will head to Sacramento for the Sacramento State Tri Meet with the host-team Hornets and San Jose State Spartans on Friday at 6:30 p.m. PT. It will be the Golden Bears' final road test of the regular season before returning to Berkeley for a two-week homestand. Fans can watch the meet via live stream on Overnght and follow along with live results on Road To Nationals Live Stats.
Tara Danielson and Steve Danielson have been named Donna Fong Directors of Field Hockey, California Co-Directors of Athletics Jay Larson and Jenny Simon O'Neill announced Wednesday. The coaches take over for Shellie Onstead, who previously held the position for 31 years and announced her retirement in January.
wow, we won a tight game in the 2nd half. good job to all who rooted us on live.
i was SO tired last night i went to sleep about 930p ET before the game even started. woke up and watched the replay w/o knowing what happened and before looking at any other devices.
Other Colleges
Cincinnati sues Sorsby over $1M exit fee after Texas Tech transfer
https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/48035774/cincinnati-sues-sorsby-1m-exit-fee-texas-tech-transfer
Cincinnati sued former quarterback Brendan Sorsby in federal court Wednesday, alleging he breached his NIL contract with the Bearcats when he refused to pay a $1 million exit fee after he transferred to Texas Tech.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, seeks $1 million in liquidated damages, which the school said Sorsby was contractually obligated to pay within 30 days of transferring.
Colleges went from "we care about the players" to suing their players in just two NIL years.
I've become convinced that the only way we're ever gonna have rules again is for the players to collectively bargain. The only other way it could happen is for Congress to get involved, which nobody wants.
Of course, the college changed their approach radically. The rules changed radically and are still being made because the colleges no longer have leverage over the players. The colleges are not prepared to navigate the NIL landscape which has at least a touch of the Wild West to it and utterly lacks leadership.
Personally, I don't see a leader from the colleges or the players which is why you hear occasional pleas for a college football or sports commissioner. Congress should stay the hell out of it because the players will get screwed in that scenario.
I do not have any sympathy whatsoever towards the colleges because (1) they've taken advantage of the players for decades, (2) they haven't the first idea of how to work with the players precisely because of the past, and (3) they've totally confused the issue of intercollegiate athletics with their primary mission, which is to educate and conduct research.
Congressional involvement, even if well-intended, would be a fiasco in nobody's best interests.
The problem with collective bargaining in this case is who decides on behalf of all current and future players what they give away or agree to? Once bargained, it is very hard to unwind and re-bargain. And most of the athletes are far too inexperienced to make good decisions. So it becomes an agent-driven show.
At present, there is very little reason for the players to give up any leverage.
St. John’s misses its last 24 shots in getting blown out by UConn. Also had a streak of 12 misses in the first half.
Wow, that's a level of ineptitude I haven't seen or read about in a long while.
The Big East generally is a shadow of what it once was. It is a stunning thing to behold.
Locally, Georgetown is definitely not what it used to be.
Yeah, no kidding. It's a long way from the days of Lou Carnesecca at St. John's and Rollie Massimino at Villanova. In the 1970s, the big games on the Rutgers men's basketball schedule were St. John's and Villanova. I went to a few of those.
Wordle
Whew
Wordle 1,713 6/6*
⬛⬛🟨⬛🟩
🟨⬛⬛⬛🟩
🟨🟩⬛⬛🟩
⬛🟩🟩⬛🟩
⬛🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
unlike the NYT Crossword, at least you almost always get it right.
3 today, mostly a well informed guess
My 37 day (personal record) NYT crossword streak is in jeopardy. Lotta day left, but a long way to go.
It wasn't fast or pretty, but I lived to solve another day
i believe in you.
in other news .. driving up to Burlington today. i'll probably take the scenic route, Taconic > i87 > lake george > Burlington
Nice!
Lemme know if you have time for a quick stop in Albany and say hi. I'll give you the nickel tour of the State Capitol and buy you a coffee.
maybe not today as i need to get up there by a certain time. one of these days for sure.
does Wordle vary throughout the week? i wonder if they have some algorithm to make an easy or hard one?
TikTok
i dont get it. clearly i am in the minority
I don't either. However I do check out Youtube shorts which I guess is similar.
Same. Mrs Slug watches TikTok daily. She likes it.
I am trying to cut back on social media. I gave up X long ago.
I am close to giving up on Bluesky because I find it depressing.
I will probably keep using Instagram because I can communicate with friends and family through that website.
I expect to keep visiting WFC because I can talk about Cal sports here and I can have a conversation with reasonable people here when the opportunity arises. As I get older, I feel myself gravitating towards calmer interactions, even in these turbulent times.
Twitter made me unhappy. I'd quit for a while, but then the Calgorhythm would pull me back in.
But when it became X and really started force feeding me lies, I quit for good. I don't miss it.
Happy to be back on the DBD!
Speaking only for myself, I'm glad you've returned to the DBD. It's become a bit more lively since your return!
Me too
PRO
Game 59 wrap: GSW deep bench smokes tanking Grizzlies on road back-to-back
https://dubnationhq.com/p/game-59-wrap-no-spoiler-title
U.S. women's hockey to celebrate gold in July with Flavor Flav
https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/48045186/us-women-team-celebrate-gold-july-flavor-flav
The United States women's hockey team has a date with Flavor Flav in Las Vegas in July to celebrate its gold medal victory in the Milan Cortina Olympics.
Under the heading "IT'S HAPPENING," the rapper posted a note on his X account on Thursday, announcing he's hosting a "She Got Game" weekend event from July 16-19 in partnership with MGM Resorts. The post said the event was being held to honor the women's hockey team and other female athletes, with details to follow. The message featured a picture of the U.S. women's hockey players celebrating in a circle.
A publicist for Flavor Flav confirmed the event without providing further details.
Cal
So freaking proud of those guys. Gritty win, in a season defined by gritty wins. They survived an off night by Dai Dai and general poor shooting to pull it out. This is a game that tournament teams win, and they F'ING DID.
Helps that SMU couldn't hit a FT. But we did try to give it away at the end.
when we had that late 2nd half stumble and dry spell and they briefly took the lead i was fearing we lost it.
seemed like we figured it out just enough. played good D, etc.
Same.
Pippen calmly made huge plays to get things back on track. Dude is unflappable.
Pippen is really the best player we have. Ames has scored more but is mercurial. Pippen is the Steady Eddie.
He’s the engine.
Incredible night from a bubble perspective, too. All five other bubble teams that played last night lost: Texas, TAMU, Georgia all lost, and - most importantly - Ohio State and Santa Clara lost big.
Ohio State is now 0-10 in quad one games but is somehow still on the bubble. What are we even doing here, Lunardi?
[MBB] Cal Earns 20th Win With 73-69 Thriller Over SMU
https://calbears.com/news/2026/2/25/mens-basketball-cal-earns-20th-win-with-73-69-stunner-over-smu.aspx
BERKELEY -- The California men's basketball team received six clutch points from Justin Pippen in the final minute of action to take a late lead and work to a final 73-69 win over visiting SMU tonight at Haas Pavilion. The victory marked the Golden Bears' 20th win of the season -- the first time since 2016-17 that Cal has reached the 20-win mark. The Bears are now 20-8 overall and 8-7 in ACC play, while the Mustangs move to 19-9, 8-7.
[BASE] Cal Downs UC Davis 7-2
https://calbears.com/news/2026/2/25/baseball-cal-downs-uc-davis-7-2.aspx
DAVIS— Fueled by five freshmen arms, the California baseball team won its third straight game Wednesday night defeating UC Davis 7-2 on the road at Dobbins Field.
I enjoy Cal baseball, especially when Cal plays universities west of the Mississippi. Cal should play UC Davis annually.
I thought Cal did play UCD every year. At least recently. No 3 had a teammate that played for UCD and I checked the schedule every year between 2021 and 2023 and I thought they were on it. Though it's like 1 game a year, not a multi game series. One year it was rained out and I think we didn't go the following year because my son was at UCSC.
[WTEN] No. 7 Cal Hosts NC State, Wake Forest
https://calbears.com/news/2026/2/25/womens-tennis-no-7-cal-hosts-nc-state-wake-forest.aspx
The seventh-ranked California women's tennis team (4-0, 2-0 ACC) is back at the Hellman Tennis Complex this week to host ACC matches against No. 27 NC State on Friday and No. 73 Wake Forest on Saturday.
The Golden Bears have posted all four of their wins at Hellman and are winding down a seven-match homestand that concludes with a March 8 match against Pepperdine.
[WPOLO] No. 4 Cal Hits Road For Test At No. 5 ASU
https://calbears.com/news/2026/2/25/womens-water-polo-no-4-cal-hits-road-for-test-at-no-5-asu.aspx
BEAR BITES
Now 8-3 on the year, California sets up for its first MPSF road test of the season.
• The No. 4 Golden Bears (8-3, 0-1 MPSF) have one game on the docket this week, taking a trip to Tempe, Ariz., to face Arizona State (19-2, 1-1) at 12 p.m. PT on Saturday (Feb. 28).
[MTEN] Tennis Travels To Tobacco Road
https://calbears.com/news/2026/2/25/mens-tennis-tennis-travels-to-tobacco-road.aspx
Who:
No. 48 California (7-5) at No. 50 Duke (5-5) & North Carolina (7-3)
Where:
Durham, North Carolina
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
[T&F] Bears Head To ACC Indoor Championships
https://calbears.com/news/2026/2/25/track-field-bears-head-to-acc-indoor-championships.aspx
Twenty-five men and 16 women from the California track & field team will be competing for conference titles over the next three days, as the Golden Bears will meet with squads from the 17 other ACC Institutions at the ACC Indoor Championships on Thursday-Saturday. The meet will be hosted at the TRACK at new balance, a world-class facility in Boston.
[WGYM] Cal To Take On Hornets, Spartans In Tri Meet
https://calbears.com/news/2026/2/25/womens-gymnastics-cal-to-take-on-hornets-spartans-in-tri-meet.aspx
California women's gymnastics (10-4, 4-1 ACC) will head to Sacramento for the Sacramento State Tri Meet with the host-team Hornets and San Jose State Spartans on Friday at 6:30 p.m. PT. It will be the Golden Bears' final road test of the regular season before returning to Berkeley for a two-week homestand. Fans can watch the meet via live stream on Overnght and follow along with live results on Road To Nationals Live Stats.
[FH] Tara, Steve Danielson Named Donna Fong Directors Of Field Hockey
https://calbears.com/news/2026/2/25/tara-steve-danielson-named-donna-fong-directors-of-field-hockey.aspx
Tara Danielson and Steve Danielson have been named Donna Fong Directors of Field Hockey, California Co-Directors of Athletics Jay Larson and Jenny Simon O'Neill announced Wednesday. The coaches take over for Shellie Onstead, who previously held the position for 31 years and announced her retirement in January.
wow, we won a tight game in the 2nd half. good job to all who rooted us on live.
i was SO tired last night i went to sleep about 930p ET before the game even started. woke up and watched the replay w/o knowing what happened and before looking at any other devices.
HAG and I get credit for DBD-shaming JimmyChitwood to show up at Haas, which might have been the difference in a close game.