This image created on Dec. 4, 2024, shows the snow forecast for the northeastern U.S. (ABC News)
(NEW YORK) -- A fast-moving, low-pressure clipper system is forecast to bring snow and strong winds to the Midwest and the Northeast over the next two days, as cold air drives temperatures down towards freezing.
More than 20 states from the Dakotas to New Jersey were under wind and snow alerts as of Wednesday morning.
The Appalachian Mountains in Maryland and West Virginia are under a blizzard warning with potential wind gusts of up to 65 mph and up to 10 inches of snow.
The heaviest snow is expected to fall near the Great Lakes, where a reinforcing shot of cold air will create heavy lake-effect snow bands.
Between 1 and 2 feet of snow is possible from Michigan to upstate New York, while between 3 and 10 inches is possible from Worcester, Massachusetts, to Caribou, Maine.
The I-95 corridor -- including Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York City and Boston -- is not expecting any snow accumulation. But major cities can expect high wind gusts of up to 40 to 50 mph. High winds are especially likely for Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York City.
Below-freezing temperatures were already biting as far south as Florida on Wednesday. Asheville, North Carolina, on Tuesday reported its first snowfall for 966 days.
The clipper system will be followed by strong winds and Arctic air, driving temperatures down across the eastern half of the U.S. Wind chills are forecast to push temperatures below freezing in the Midwest by Thursday morning.
Temperatures may feel as low as -10 degrees in Chicago as of Thursday morning, with Boston temperatures feeling like 6 degrees by Friday morning.
The Carolinas, meanwhile, may record record low temperatures over the coming days.
LW, who asked not to show her face, is a 16-year-old transgender teenager challenging Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming medical treatments that have improved her quality of life. (ABC News)
(WASHINGTON) -- Medical treatments for transgender children, endorsed by major American medical associations and safely used for decades, hang in the balance at the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday as the Biden administration and three families with transgender teenagers ask the justices to strike down a state law banning some gender-affirming care for kids.
The landmark case -- U.S. v. Skrmetti -- comes from Tennessee, which is among 26 states that have moved to prohibit administration of puberty-blocking medication and hormone therapy to minors who seek to identify with, or live as, a gender identity inconsistent with his or her sex at birth.
Oral arguments, which began just after 10 a.m., mark the first time the nation's highest court has openly considered a state law targeting transgender people. It is also the first time an openly transgender litigator, ACLU attorney Chase Strangio, is arguing a case in the Supreme Court chamber.
The historic hearing thrusts the justices to the forefront of a cultural debate that has sharply divided the country and tested the limits of science and parental rights.
The outcome of the case could determine access to health care for hundreds of thousands of trans teens and more broadly influence how communities treat transgender people in hospitals, schools and on sports fields.
The government argues that Tennessee's SB1, which was enacted in March 2023, violates the Constitution's Equal Protection clause because it discriminates on the basis of sex to decide who can receive otherwise legal medical treatments available to youth.
"Put simply, an adolescent assigned female at birth cannot receive puberty blockers or testosterone to live as a male, but an adolescent assigned male at birth can," the administration wrote in its brief to the court.
The Tennessee law expressly allows minors who are not transgender to receive gender-affirming treatments to address a "congenital defect, precocious puberty, disease, or physical injury."
Denying discrimination, the state argues its law is a reasonable regulation of medical treatment based on its purpose, meant to protect children from potential long-term health risks and possible irreversible changes to the body.
The law's Republican sponsors claim that contradictory scientific evidence and documented regret among some young people who have transitioned both warrant caution in developing standards of care.
The law also cites a "compelling interest in encouraging minors to appreciate their sex, particularly as they undergo puberty" and preventing them from becoming "disdainful of their sex." The government says the text proves an intent to enforce gender conformity.
Hundreds of Tennessee transgender children were receiving treatments before SB1 was enacted, legislators concluded. It is not known how many suffered alleged harm.
The plaintiffs in the case include 16-year-old LW and her parents Brian and Samantha Williams of Nashville. After several years of successful hormone therapy, LW now has to travel out of state to continue treatments she says have dramatically improved her quality of life.
"I feel normal now," LW said in an exclusive interview with ABC News last month.
"Our state legislature had made such a big deal out of parents rights during COVID, about masks and vaccines -- that that's for parents to decide these medical decisions for their children," noted Samantha Williams. "And then, they made this medical decision for our child."
Nationwide, an estimated 300,000 Americans ages 13 to 17 identify as transgender, according to the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law. Of those, nearly 100,000 live in states that have banned access to gender-affirming medical treatments for minors.
"It's a case of enormous significance that presents fundamental questions about the scope of state power to regulate medical care for minors, of the rights of parents to make medical decisions for their children… and the level of scrutiny that courts should apply to laws that discriminate against transgender people in general," said Deepak Gutpa, a veteran Supreme Court litigator. "This is a major, major constitutional civil rights issue."
More than 60% of Americans say they oppose law banning certain types of gender-affirming medical treatment for minors, according to Gallup.
Major American medical associations have endorsed the treatments for more than a decade as part of "individually tailored interventions" to support trans kids and affirm their sense of self. Not all transgender children seek medical care to facilitate transition to another sex.
"It needs to be part of a very deliberate process that involves medical specialists, who are expert at doing this, and, again, are following the science," said Dr. Ben Hoffman, a pediatrician and president of the American Academy of Pediatrics. "It all begins and ends with science. This is not about any sort of agenda."
Clinical practice guidelines from the American Endocrine Society, based on more than 260 research studies, recommend the use of puberty-delaying medications and waiting until a child reaches adulthood to consider gender-affirming surgery.
The American Academy of Pediatrics says the effects of puberty blockers are not permanent if treatment is discontinued. Many effects of hormone therapy can also be reversed. Long-term risks may include fertility challenges and possible harm to bone density, but the group says those risks require further study.
In contrast to the U.S. medical establishment, several European countries, including the United Kingdom, have reversed course on the use of gender-affirming treatments as a standard-of-care for transgender children, citing insufficient scientific evidence of long-term benefits.
"When you look at the totality of the medical research, to me there is more than enough uncertainty and evidence of bad outcomes for kids who've gone through these treatments when they reach the later stages in life," said Tennessee Senate GOP Leader Jack Johnson.
A federal district court sided with the plaintiffs, temporarily halting enforcement of SB1, but the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed. The panel of judges concluded Tennessee had a rational basis for enacting the law.
"Kind of the whole ballgame in the case is the debate about whether there actually is discrimination on the basis of sex," said Erin Murphy, a Supreme Court litigator and former clerk to Chief Justice John Roberts.
"It's really not," Murphy argued. "To say providing testosterone to a biological boy and biological girl is the same thing because testosterone is involved -- it's a different treatment that has different risks."
David Cole, former legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing the Williams family, says the court's conservative majority will have to confront the legacy of its decision.
"I think there's no question in 25 years that the court will have recognized that treating people differently because their gender identity is sex discrimination," Cole said.
"The question is whether the court wants to write a decision will be overturned, you know, in the course of the next 10 years or 15 years," he said, "or whether it wants to recognize what is going on, which is sex discrimination."
A decision in the case is expected by the end of June 2025.
(PHILADELPHIA) -- U.S. Marshals are on the hunt for a man they say killed a 29-year-old woman and then buried her body in a shallow grave, according to authorities.
The U.S. Marshals Service Eastern Pennsylvania Violent Crime Fugitive Task Force is asking for the public’s assistance in locating 29-year-old Geovanni Otero, who authorities say a warrant for murder out for his arrest, according to a statement from the U.S. Marshals on Monday.
“On November 27, a warrant murder and related charges was issued by the Philadelphia Police Department and Otero is also wanted for violation of his Pennsylvania State Parole. Otetro is charged with killing 29-year-old Melody Rivera in early November,” the U.S. Marshals said. “Her body was found in a shallow grave in the 900 block of Tustin Road in Philadelphia’s Fox Chase section of the city.”
Otero is approximately 5-foot-10 inches tall and weighs 175 pounds, officials said. He has black hair, brown eyes and tattoos covering the top of both hands as well as a tattoo of a dagger behind his left ear, police said. His last known address was in the 5800 block of N. Park Avenue in Philadelphia.
The U.S. Marshals Service is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to Otero’s arrest and authorities say the reward will be “processed immediately upon arrest and not upon conviction.”
“Geovanni Otero is officially charged with the homicide of Melody Rivera. We are hoping the public can provide information that will assit us in removing this lifelong criminal from society,” said Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal Robert Clark.
The U.S. Marshals Service Violent Crimes Fugitive Task Force is the lead investigative agency tasked with apprehending Otero for the murder and state parole warrants.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Domantas Sabonis scored 27 points and Sacramento made 15 straight shots from the field to beat Houston 120-111 on Tuesday night and deny the Rockets the top seed in the NBA Cup quarterfinals.
The shooting spree by the Kings turned an eight-point deficit late in the second quarter into a 12-point lead midway through the third to give the Kings their only win in four NBA Cup games.
De’Aaron Fox added 22 points, Malik Monk had 17 points and a career-high 12 assists, and DeMar DeRozan scored 16.
The Rockets won their first three games in the NBA Cup and could have clinched the top seed in the West with a win over the Kings. Houston will host Golden State in the quarterfinals.
Jalen Green scored 28 to lead Houston and Alperen Sengun added 24.
Takeaways
Rockets: Houston had won three straight and 10 of 12 games before delivering a dud against Sacramento. The frustration led to coach Ime Udoka and Sengun getting ejected late in the fourth quarter.
Kings: Sacramento found its shooting touch after hitting less than 40% of its 3-point tries in six straight games. The Kings came into the day ranking sixth worst in the NBA by making 33.2% from 3 but went 14 for 30 against Houston.
Key moment
The Kings shooting run began shortly after a heated moment between the teams after a hard foul by Fox against Jabari Smith Jr. There were three technicals issued with Monk getting one for Sacramento and Smith and Dillon Brooks getting them for Houston.
Key stat
The Kings went nearly nine minutes of game action without missing a shot from the field. Sabonis and Fox each made four, DeRozan and Keegan Murray made three and Monk made one.
Up next
The Rockets play at Golden State on Thursday night. The Kings travel to face Memphis.
DALLAS (AP) — Luka Doncic had 37 points and 12 rebounds, Spencer Dinwiddie and P.J. Washington Jr. hit clutch 3-pointers in the final two minutes, and the Dallas Mavericks overcame a 15-point deficit to beat the Memphis Grizzlies 121-116 on Tuesday night and advance to the NBA Cup quarterfinals.
The Mavericks needed a win and help on the final night of group play to earn the West wild-card spot. They will face the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder.
Dallas trailed 111-103 with 3:34 to play and went on a 16-3 run capped by two 3-pointers from Dinwiddie and one from Washington.
Washington scored 18 points, Dereck Lively II had 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Dinwiddie scored 16 for the Mavericks, who have won a season-high five consecutive games and nine of their last 10.
Ja Morant scored a season-high 31 points, 15 in the fourth period, for the Grizzlies. They had a season-high, six-game winning streak snapped and were eliminated from the Cup race.
Desmond Bane added 19 points while Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 14 of his 16 in the first half.
After Dallas took a 60-57 lead into the second half, the Grizzlies dominated the third period 38-22. The Mavericks answered back in the fourth, 39-21.
Takeaways
Grizzlies: Morant didn’t take a shot until 10:07 was left in the first half and finished the half with five points.
Mavericks: They committed a season-high 25 turnovers but were only outscored on turnover points 27-26 because Memphis committed 19.
Key moment
The first of Dinwiddie’s back-to-back 3s, pulling up on a fast break, put Dallas ahead for good 113-111 with 1:40 left.
Key stat
Dallas shot a season-high 44 free throws (making 30) to Memphis’ 14 (making 13). In the fourth quarter, the Mavericks were 18 of 26 from the line while the Grizzlies were 3 of 3.
Up next
The Grizzlies will host the Sacramento Kings on Thursday. The Mavericks will begin a two-game Eastern Conference road trip on Thursday against the Washington Wizards.
CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Rasmus Andersson and Kevin Bahl scored power-play goals and Calgary beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-0 Tuesday night after the Flames honored the late Johnny Gaudreau with a pregame tribute.
Dan Vladar had a 16-save shutout, Yegor Sharangovich scored into an empty net and Mikael Backlund had two assists for Calgary.
Columbus goalie Elvis Merzlikins stopped 19 of 21 shots.
Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau were honored before the game with the Gaudreau family in attendance. Players on both teams had the name Gaudreau and Johnny’s No. 13 on their pregame jerseys.
The brothers were struck by a vehicle and killed while cycling together Aug. 29 in New Jersey.
Johnny Gaudreau played eight seasons with the the Flames before playing two seasons with Columbus. His father, Gus, skated with the Flames on Monday and Tuesday.
The Saddledome chanted “Johnny” during the tribute and “Johnny Hockey” after the Flames took a 2-0 lead late in the third.
Takeaways
Blue Jackets: Didn’t make Vladar work hard enough with 16 shots — just three in the second period — and few chances generated from close range. Took four penalties to Calgary’s one.
Flames: Recovered quicker than the Blue Jackets from the game’s emotional start. Played disciplined with one penalty and spent more sustained time in the offensive zone than Columbus.
Key moment
Andersson, who was a close friend of Gaudreau’s, pointed to his family seated in a Saddledome box after scoring for the Flames.
Key stat
The Flames extended their home win streak to six games for the first time since 2021-22, when they matched the franchise record of 11 games, which was first accomplished in 2015-16.
Up next
The Blue Jackets travel to Edmonton to take on the Oilers on Thursday, while the Flames host the St. Louis Blues on Thursday.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Ivan Barbashev scored on a rush midway through the second period and Adin Hill made 28 saves as the Vegas Golden Knights shut out Edmonton 1-0 on Tuesday night to end the Oilers’ three-game win streak.
Leon Draisaitl’s backward pass went right to Barbashev to initiate the breakaway. He attempted to pass to teammate Jack Eichel on a two-on-one rush when the puck bounced off Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard right back to Barbashev, who then scored.
Hill recorded his second shutout this season and the ninth of his career. He is 5-0-1 over his past six starts, and the Golden Knights are 5-1-1 over their last seven.
Stuart Skinner stopped 15 shots for the Oilers, who were shut out for the fourth time this season.
Takeaways
Oilers: Edmonton had its opportunities in the second period with seven high-danger chances, according to Natural Stat Trick, and nine shots on goal.
Golden Knights: Vegas spent the third period trying to hang on as the Oilers dominated puck possession. The Golden Knights were outshot 16-2 in the period, but their defense shined and limited Edmonton to three high-danger chances.
Key moment
The Oilers had a 6-on-5 advantage in the final two minutes when Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a chance to tie the game. But his rebound shot went off Hill’s right leg with 1:25 left.
Key stat
8 — The number of combined shots on goal in the first period. That’s the second-lowest total of combined shots in a first period and tied for the second fewest of any period this season.
Up next
The Oilers host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday, and the Golden Knights are at the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Washington Commanders hired Mark Clouse as their new team president Tuesday, putting the longtime food executive in charge of all facets of the organization’s business operations when he starts in late January.
Clouse, 56, joins the NFL club after spending the past five years as president and CEO of the Campbell’s Company, which was known as Campbell Soup Co. until last month. This is the first professional sports venture for Clouse, a basketball player at Army-West Point who served 6 1/2 years as a helicopter pilot before going into marketing at Kraft Foods.
“In Mark we have found a dynamic leader with a stellar track record of guiding organizations to excellence, building brands that connect deeply with consumers,” controlling owner Josh Harris said in a statement announcing the hiring.
“As a military veteran and accomplished business builder, he has a proven ability to strengthen both the organizations he leads and the communities he serves. I am confident in Mark’s dedication to building a championship-caliber organization and to support football operations in our drive for excellence on the field.”
He succeeds Jason Wright, who in 2020 became the first Black NFL team president when he was hired by former owner Dan Snyder. Wright stayed on initially under new ownership, and the team said in July he’d be departing following this season.
Clouse has overseen Campbell’s, which is based in Camden, New Jersey, the same place the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers — also owned by Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment — have their practice facility and at one point considered building a new arena. The Ohio native said he was grateful for the chance to lead an iconic franchise into a new chapter of growth.
“The Commanders’ passionate fanbase, which has stood by this team for decades, deserves nothing less than our unwavering commitment to excellence,” Clouse said. “I look forward to supporting ownership, as well as Adam Peters and Dan Quinn, in doing everything in our power to build a championship-caliber organization.”
Harris’ group, which also includes Mitch Rales and Magic Johnson, has transformed Washington’s football and business operations since buying the team from Snyder in 2022. Peters is in his first season as general manager and Quinn as coach in Washington, leading the Commanders to an 8-5 start, and ticket sales have rebounded after years of decline under Snyder.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Royals announced Tuesday they have a reached an agreement with Diamond Sports Group to continue broadcasting their games next season.
The Royals are one of four Major League Baseball franchises that are part owners of their regional sports network.
Games will air on FanDuel Sports Network Kansas City. FanDuel took over naming rights for Diamond’s 16 regional sports networks last month after Diamond had an agreement with Bally since March 2021.
The Royals and Diamond offered a streaming package last season that saw more than 40,000 subscribers.
Diamond Sports Group, which had its bankruptcy reorganization plans approved last month, has agreements with seven teams for the 2025 season. Besides the Royals, Diamond will broadcast the Atlanta Braves, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Angels, Miami Marlins, St. Louis Cardinals and Tampa Bay Rays.
The Texas Rangers, whose deal expired in October, are assessing their options for next season after they announced they would not be partnering with Diamond.
Diamond also has the rights to 13 NBA and eight NHL teams.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell says it was a really easy decision to sign with the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers and the presence of three-time MVP Shohei Ohtani played a part, too.
Snell was introduced Tuesday at Dodger Stadium accompanied by his agent Scott Boras. The left-hander finalized a $182 million, five-year contract last Saturday.
“It was really easy just cause me and Haeley wanted to live here, it’s something we’ve been talking about for a while,” Snell said, referring to his girlfriend. “Then you look at the team. You look at what they’ve built, what they’re doing. It’s just something you want to be a part of.”
Last month, Snell opted out of his deal with San Francisco to become a free agent for the second consecutive offseason after he was slowed by injuries during his lone year with the San Francisco Giants.
Snell gets a $52 million signing bonus, payable on Jan. 25, and annual salaries of $26 million, of which $13.2 million each year will be deferred. Because Snell is a Washington state resident, the signing bonus will not be subject to California income tax.
“It just played out the way that people around me felt comfortable with, I felt comfortable with, they felt comfortable with,” Snell said. “We talked and found something that could work for both of us. You want your worth, you want your respect, and you want enough time to where you can really make a name for yourself. I’ve made a name for myself outside of LA, but I’m going to be invested.”
Two-way star Ohtani, who signed a record $700 million, 10-year deal a year ago, had a historic first season with the Dodgers. He helped them win the franchise’s eighth World Series while playing only as designated hitter and became MVP in the National League for the first time after twice winning the award while in the American League.
“It helps with him in the lineup for sure. That’s big motivation,” Snell said. “You want to be around players like that when you’re trying to be one of the best in the game. Yeah, it played a big part.”
Snell joins Ohtani and fellow Japanese right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto atop Los Angeles’ rotation. All-Star Tyler Glasnow will be back after having his first season in LA derailed by a sprained elbow.
Ohtani didn’t pitch this year while recovering from right elbow surgery but is expected back on the mound in 2025.
The rest of the rotation includes Tony Gonsolin, Landon Knack, Dustin May, Bobby Miller and Emmet Sheehan.
“I pitched on six-man, five-man, four-man rotations,” Snell said. “I’m good with it all as long as we have a plan, we’ll execute it.”
Snell, who turns 32 on Wednesday, went 5-3 with a 3.12 ERA in 20 starts this year, throwing a no-hitter at Cincinnati on Aug. 2 for one of only 16 individual shutouts in the major leagues this season. He struck out 145 and walked 44 in 104 innings.
He was sidelined between April 19 and May 22 by a strained left adductor and between June 2 and July 9 by a strained left groin.
Snell won Cy Young Awards in 2018 with Tampa Bay and 2023 with San Diego. He is 76-58 with a 3.19 ERA in nine seasons with the Rays (2016-20), Padres (2021-23) and Giants.
He has known Andrew Friedman, Dodgers president of baseball operations, since he was 18.
In the aftermath of winning the World Series and discussing how the Dodgers could repeat next year, Friedman said, “All conversations kept coming back to Blake.”
“Usually in major league free agency, you’re buying the backside of a guy’s career, the accomplishments that they have had,” he said. “With Blake, one thing that’s really exciting for us is, as much success as he’s had, we feel like there’s more in there.”
Snell was 2-2 against the Dodgers in his career.
“We couldn’t beat him, so we’re going to have him join us,” Friedman said.
NEW YORK (AP) — The men’s and women’s basketball teams at St. John’s will wear “Lou” patches on their uniform jerseys for the rest of this season to honor Hall of Fame coach Lou Carnesecca, who died Saturday at age 99.
A funeral mass at St. Thomas More Church on the university’s Queens campus will be held Friday morning, and the athletic department will host “A Tribute to Coach Carnesecca” this weekend during men’s and women’s games at the arena that bears his name, St. John’s announced Tuesday.
Led by coach Rick Pitino, the Red Storm men play Kansas State on Saturday as part of the Big 12-Big East Battle. The women’s squad faces Wake Forest on Sunday.
Carnesecca’s reserved seat in Section 7, Row JJ, Seat 3, where he was often a fixture at games after retiring in 1992, will remain empty in his honor.
Both games will be preceded by a video tribute to Carnesecca and a moment of silence inside the arena. A commemorative decal will be installed on the court, and St. John’s players will wear “526” shooting shirts to mark his career win total.
The school also plans to salute his life and legacy with digital billboards on the Long Island Expressway, Whitestone Expressway and New Jersey Turnpike.
The winningest coach in the history of the men’s program, Carnesecca went 526-200 in 24 seasons at St. John’s over two stints from 1965-92. He guided the team to five Big East regular-season titles, 18 NCAA Tournament appearances and the 1985 Final Four.
St. John’s also will host Lou Carnesecca Day when the team plays Butler on campus Jan. 4, a day before his 100th birthday.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Michigan coach Sherrone Moore has fired offensive coordinator Kirk Campbell.
Moore made the move on Tuesday, three days after the Wolverines closed the regular season with a13-10 upset win over rival and then second-ranked Ohio State.
The defending national champions struggled on offense this year and it cost Campbell his job.
“After a thorough assessment of our offense, I made the decision to relieve Kirk Campbell of his duties and move in a different direction,” Moore said.
Moore promoted Campbell to the position, which he had under former coach Jim Harbaugh before he left to lead the Los Angeles Chargers.
The first-year coach said tight ends coach Steve Casula will be the team’s offensive coordinator while he searches for a new one.
Campbell was Michigan’s quarterbacks coach when it won the national title after serving as an offensive analyst during the 2022 season, serving in the same role he previously had at Penn State.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The NCAA’s yearslong efforts to get lawmakers to address myriad problems in college sports could finally pay off in the new, Republican-controlled Congress.
Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican who is set to take over as chair of the powerful Commerce Committee, said recently that a college sports bill will be a top priority, accusing Democrats of dragging their feet on needed reforms. He still needs Democratic support for any bill to pass the necessary 60-vote threshold in the Senate, and that means some compromise with lawmakers who are more concerned about athlete welfare than giving the NCAA more authority.
“Clearly the situation is much more doable with Republicans in control,” said Tom McMillen, a former Democratic congressman who played college basketball and for several years led an association of Division I athletic directors. “From the standpoint of the NCAA’s perspective, this is sort of an ideal scenario for them.”
What’s at stake
Cruz and others want to preserve at least parts of an amateur athlete model at the heart of college sports that has provided billions of dollars in scholarships and fueled decades of success by the United States at the Olympics.
The broad outlines of a bill have been debated for years, with those conversations influenced by millions of dollars in lobbying by the NCAA and the wealthiest athletic conferences. The NCAA has found a more receptive audience on Capitol Hill since Charlie Baker, a former Republican Massachusetts governor, took over as its president in March 2023.
There is some bipartisan consensus that Congress should grant the NCAA a limited antitrust exemption that would allow it to make rules governing college sports without the constant threat of lawsuits, and that national standards for athlete name, image and likeness (NIL) compensation are needed to override a patchwork of state laws.
Those are the key elements of legislation that Cruz has backed for more than a year. Staffers from his office and those of fellow Republican Jerry Moran of Kansas and Democrats Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Cory Booker of New Jersey spent months negotiating a bill that would have been introduced in the current, divided Congress, but those talks stalled.
Bipartisan support key
Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., the outgoing Commerce Committee chair, has been working to advance college sports reform since 2019 but struggled to build consensus on legislation. Still, she agrees with Cruz on at least one problem that Congress could solve — one she saw play out in her home state with the dissolution of the Pac-12 Conference.
“Right now, big schools and their boosters are pitted against smaller schools. We need a predicable national NIL standard that will ensure a level playing field for college athletes and schools,” Cantwell said in a statement to The Associated Press.
A Supreme Court decision in 2021 paved the way for athletes to receive NIL compensation, and now a pending $2.8 billion settlement of multiple antitrust lawsuits against the NCAA has set the table not only for damages paid to past athletes for the NIL money they couldn’t earn but revenue-sharing by schools to their current and future college stars.
Beyond those changes the NCAA was forced to make by the courts, the organization has expanded health benefits for athletes and made new scholarship guarantees. Those new rules took effect Aug. 1, and the NCAA argues they obviate the need for Congress to mandate such benefits.
“We believe that in the next session, members of Congress are going to see the results of those positive changes, and our goal is to build on those and address the remaining issues that only Congress can address,” said Tim Buckley, the NCAA’s senior vice president of external affairs.
Prickly employment issue
The NCAA’s chief goal — and one that seems achievable with Republicans in charge — is “preventing student-athletes from being forced into becoming employees of their schools,” Buckley said.
There are several pending efforts by athletes seeking the ability to unionize, with at least one already tied in up court.
The NCAA has sent athletes to Capitol Hill to tell Congress they don’t want employee status, and some Democrats who previously supported athlete employment have acknowledged the potential drawbacks. Those include drastic cuts to women’s and Olympic sports that might be needed for universities to meet their payroll obligations and financial complications for athletes whose scholarships and other benefits would become taxable.
“For example, the historically Black colleges and universities came together and said, ‘If you force us to treat student-athletes as employees, it’s going to cause us to cancel most of our athletic programs.’ That would be a disastrous outcome,” Cruz said in an appearance at Texas A&M University in September.
Still, overly broad anti-employment language in any bill could imperil its chances of passage. Democrats are hesitant to approve legislation that is seen as too friendly to the NCAA. Booker, a moderate on the issue of athlete employment and a former football player at Stanford, nonetheless emphasized in a statement that he would only support an athlete-friendly bill.
“For too long, the college sports system put power and profits over the rights and well-being of college athletes. And while we’ve made some hard-fought progress in recent years, there’s still more to do,” Booker said. “My advocacy on their behalf will continue in the next Congress.”
Cruz could also face pressure from his own side of the aisle. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., who spent more than two decades as a Division I football coach, has called for Congress to mandate penalties for players who break NIL contracts.
While Cruz understands the need for compromise, he intends to use the power he has to advance his — and, to some extent, the NCAA’s — priorities.
“As chairman, I can convene hearings. I’m in charge of every hearing the Commerce Committee has,” Cruz said on a recent episode of his weekly podcast. “I can decide what bills get marked up and what bills don’t, and it gives you the ability to drive an agenda that is just qualitatively different.”
Athletic directors at Iowa State and SMU are in a turf war over the latest College Football Playoff rankings, leading to a “stay off my lawn” moment on social media.
The background: SMU, at 11-1 and riding a nine-game winning streak into the Atlantic Coast Conference title game, was slotted at No. 8 in Tuesday night’s latest ranking. Iowa State, meanwhile, is at 16th and playing for the title of the Big 12, which appears set to receive only one bid in the 12-team field that comes out Sunday.
Cyclones AD Jamie Pollard doesn’t like that, and made his feelings clear on X, formerly known as Twitter. He pointed out that SMU hasn’t played Clemson, Syracuse, Georgia Tech or Miami — four of the ACC’s top seven teams — and lost at home to BYU of the Big 12.
“Looks like your lawn may be artificial,” Pollard wrote in a post directed to SMU’s AD, Rick Hart.
Hart mowed down Pollard with a response of his own that started with “respect you, but bad take.”
He compared nonconference schedules — SMU’s was better — and pointed out the Mustangs have trailed for only about six minutes of their last nine games.
“I could go on … Stay off my lawn!” he posted.
Iowa State appears to be in a win-or-else mode, while SMU’s fate is a little less clear.
If the Mustangs lose to No. 17 Clemson, the CFP selection committee will have to decide how much to penalize a team that made a title game, while others in contention did not. The choice could, for instance, pit SMU against Alabama, which is ranked 11th and is the last team in this week’s projected bracket.
Of course, some of these differences will be settled on the field Saturday. Pollard, the Iowa State AD, conceded as much by opening his salvo to Hart with this olive branch: “Rick, beat Clemson Saturday and I will respect your ranking,” he said.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Michigan has a nickname for its pair of 7-foot newcomers: Area 50-1.
The tag was unveiled by the school on social media Tuesday night after Vladislav Goldin and Danny Wolf produced otherworldly numbers in a 67-64 victory at No. 11 Wisconsin to open the Big Ten schedule.
Goldin wears uniform No. 50, and Wolf wears No. 1. Both transferred to Michigan this season.
“We’ve got some ALIENS in our front court,” the Wolverines posted on X, formerly Twitter. “Do not enter the paint.”
Their performance served notice that Michigan (7-1) seems intent on bouncing back from an 8-24 season and returning to Big Ten contention under new coach Dusty May.
“I feel like we’re a fairly new team, but I feel like we made huge steps forward in playing together and learning each other,” said Goldin, who joined May in coming to Michigan from Florida Atlantic.
Goldin, a 7-foot-1 center who was part of FAU’s 2023 Final Four team, had a career-high 24 points against Wisconsin. He made three straight baskets to score the final six points of the game.
Wolf, a 7-footer from Yale, had 20 points to go along with seven rebounds, five assists, a career-high five blocks and three steals.
“He really is a guard in a 7-footer’s body — the way he dribbles, the way he shoots it, the way he can create space,” May said following his team’s sixth straight win.
These two big men needed time to learn how to thrive together, though.
Goldin scored 15.7 points per game during his final season at Florida Atlantic, but reached double figures just once in his first six games at Michigan. Wolf had a three-game stretch in which he totaled 19 points.
“I think it always goes back to our coaches’ trust in us,” Wolf said. “We definitely had a few rough games collectively, and other guys stepped up for us to help us win. Through all of that, Coach has stuck with us.”
The breakthrough came last week.
In a 78-53 blowout of then-No. 22 Xavier on Wednesday, Wolf had 20 points and 14 rebounds while Goldin added 18 points. That game showcased the matchup problems they can cause as two 7-footers with complementary skills.
Wisconsin is the rare team that also starts two 7-footers in Steven Crowl and Nolan Winter, but they were no match for the Goldin-Wolf duo.
Goldin and Wolf combined for 44 of Michigan’s 67 points against the Badgers, with Wolf often finding Goldin for easy baskets down the stretch. Crowl had two points and four rebounds in less than 22 minutes before fouling out, while Winter had eight points and five rebounds.
“They’re both vets,” Winter said. “They’ve been around doing this a while. Their games really complement each other well. Them being in that kind of 5-4 ball screen caused some issues for our defense, and they executed really well.”
Well enough to earn themselves a catchy nickname one game into their Big Ten careers.
