Texas Tech, Maine Democrats, and SunTzu

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In 1919, Eight Chicago White Sox players were credibly accused of taking money from mafia gamblers to fix the World Series. All 8, including certain Hall of Famer Shoeless Joe Jackson, were permanently banned from Major League Baseball by Commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis.

In 1963, NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle suspended Paul Hornung, who was the league's MVP two years earlier, indefinitely for gambling on league games. Rozelle also banned All Pro and future Hall of Famer Alex Karras for the same offense that year. Both were readmitted to the league in 1964 after admitting to their offenses.

In 1983, Rozelle suspended Colts QB Art Schlichter for gambling in conjunction with a larger FBI investigation, which effectively ended his NFL career.

In 1989, MLB Commissioner Bart Giamatti permanently banned the all-time hits leader Pete Rose for betting on games while he was manager of the Cincinnati Reds. Rose accepted a settlement of permanent banishment in exchange for baseball not releasing the findings of its investigation of gambling by Rose. Just like Shoeless Joe Jackson, Rose died having not been inducted into the Hall of Fame.

In 2007, 13-year veteran NBA referee Tim Donaghy was caught in a gambling, point shaving, and game fixing scandal not by the NBA but by the FBI. Donaghy was sentenced to time in federal prison and never officiated another NBA game.

Those are just a few of the higher profile gambling scandals in major sports. Every American professional sports league and the NCAA expressly prohibits gambling on games involving teams in their leagues, especially their own teams, going back over 100 years to the Black Sox scandal. It is the red line that can't be crossed as it sits at the heart of the structural integrity of sport, and every participant, whether coach, player, or official, knows it.

The NCAA is a voluntary organization of member institutions that was organized to govern college athletics. By choosing to join, member institutions agree to abide by the agreed upon rules regarding amateur status, recruiting, rules governing play, and championships in exchange for access to NCAA governed competitions and revenue sharing. By taking the field of play and accepting scholarship and revenue sharing from the member institutions, athletes subscribe to those rules as well.

Unlike the major professional leagues like MLB, the NFL, and the NBA, the NCAA does NOT have collective bargaining, and in 2021, the NCAA lost an anti-trust lawsuit that completely blew open the door to paying players and unlimited transfers between the universities.

One of the players who took advantage of the unlimited transfers and new NIL rules was a quarterback named Brendan Sorsby, a 5th year senior who previously played at Indiana and Cincinnati. In January Sorsby transferred to Texas Tech, where he was supposedly guaranteed in excess of $5 million to quarterback their team in the 2026 season.

In an eligibility hearing with the NCAA in May, Sorsby admitted to betting on his Indiana team over 40 times with at least two of the bets being AGAINST Indiana, as part of over $90,000 of bets made over the past 4 years he was a college quarterback. Sorsby was suspended by the NCAA for the 2026 season after his admission.

With their $5 million investment at risk, but more importantly the success of the program that Texas Tech and their boosters- especially a booster named Cody Campbell- have invested tens of millions of dollars in, effectively having bought their way from perineal doormat to championship contender, Texas Tech appealed the suspension. Last Friday, the NCAA denied the appeal.

On Monday, a state court in Texas ignored the written rules that Sorsby and Texas Tech agreed to and overruled the NCAA and granted a temporary injunction that reinstated Sorsby's eligibility despite the fact that he was deemed ineligible for gambling offenses that he admitted to, and that in every single instance before, had led to the suspension or permanent banishment of the offender. The legal rationale? That Sorsby is an addict and would suffer irreparable mental harm if he wasn't allowed to play football. No, I am not kidding.

In every single sport, gambling has been the bright red line that nobody was permitted to cross for over 100 years. Gambling on your team is the sports world's version of insider trading. It is illegal for a reason. The athlete has access to scouting reports, practice intel, injury intel, even locker room mood- all of which affect outcomes- and that isn't even considering how the game is played, coached, and officiated; or heaven forbid, the athlete throws the game.

It is all about the integrity of the game. Fair and honest competition is the implied promise to the opposition and fans. People invest hundreds of millions of dollars nationwide into a sport whose competition and results now can't be trusted. The integrity of the game has now been compromised. Every missed block, every bad throw, every fumble, every penalty, every missed kick, every instance of loafing, and every mistake now will call into question the legitimacy of the game. One of the greatest sports on earth, college football, is now compromised thanks to the greed of Texas Tech.

Texas Tech has since gone on a PR offensive to justify the unjustifiable. Mega booster Cody Campbell- who financed a large part of this fiasco, has attempted to draw a moral equivalence between gambling on games and speeding tickets at SEC schools. The Texas Tech AD released a comical written statement on Wednesday. A 22-minute round table video was released yesterday by the school and only inflames the situation further. They're in a PR hole and they just keep digging, but they don't care; they have their quarterback.

Perhaps the most egregious act was put forth by Texas AG, and GOP nominee for the now open US Senate seat, Ken Paxton. In a statement released yesterday that can only be described as idiotic, Paxton threatened the Big 12 conference and NCAA member institutions with damages in excess of $200 million if the conference or NCAA punishes or boycotts Texas Tech.

Again, Brendan Sorsby and Texas Tech VOLUNTARILY joined the NCAA and Big 12 conference, broke the rules that they agreed to, and now are suing and threatening further suits if they don't get their way. The lure of rings and riches is too much for Texas Tech to ignore. There have too much money and glory at stake. There is nothing they won't do nor any amount they won't spend to win a championship- which by the way is won on the field and in no way guaranteed regardless of how much money they spend or how much they cheat.

As a political observer, I am shocked and outraged by Paxton's behavior just as much as I am with Texas Tech as a college football fan. It is politically untenable in addition to being offensive. It is bullying. It is extortion. It is lawless. It is not befitting the professional standard expected of a state AG or prospective US Senator. In case you were wondering, Paxton accepted $30,000 in contributions from the afore mentioned Texas Tech booster Cody Campbell and another $755,000 from Texas Tech alumnus and oil tycoon Tim Dunn, who just happens to be the largest political contributor in all of Texas.

I don't know how any fan or alumnus of any Texas university not named Texas Tech could vote for him now. Bear in mind that 3 other Texas universities are in the Big 12- Baylor, Houston, and TCU, all of whom he has threatened in writing. Paxton has picked sides now against universities in his state- his constituents- who have chosen to abide by the rules and I don't know how he comes back from this.

Of course we should not be surprised. Just look at the Maine Senate race. Everything the democrats have accused Trump of, every supposed red line, every moral outrage whether real or imagined- none of it matters now because the democrats nominated a candidate, Graham Plattner, who has been documented guilty of everything they accused Trump of. But they don't care. It is all about power and money, just like with Texas Tech, they are willing to do whatever it takes to get what they want.

Election fraud, ActBlue, money laundering, Russia Russia Russia, FISA gate, 39 indictments, impeachments, bribes, intimidating whistleblowers, leaks, fake news.... none of it matters. Just like with Texas Tech, there are no rules, no standards, no morals, and no obstacles to get what they want.

I expect it from democrats, it is in their DNA, and it is the only way they can win. I didn't expect it from college football. And I REALLY didn't expect it from a GOP AG running for a pivotal senate seat, with so much at stake. Perhaps it is my wonderful memories of decades of Saturdays on campus or in front of the radio and TV rooting on the Dawgs and Georgia Southern.

SunTzu wrote that "an evil enemy will burn his own nation to the ground to rule over the ashes" You're seeing it now with Texas Tech, Ken Paxton, Maine democrats, and the socialist left in general. Our esteemed host and colleague sitting in front of me wrote the great book "Politics and Pro Wrestling." Maybe the sequel should be "Politics, College Football, and Pro Wrestling."

Just sayin'....