We build our fall calendars around Saturday kickoff times, and in March we all fill out our brackets.We tailgate in parking lots — rain or shine, hot or cold.We invite our neighbors over to watch the game at our house, then fire up the grill while all the kids run around in the yard — and, yes, we start our kids early, dressing them in baby clothes emblazoned with the logo of our alma mater or our hometown team.College sports can be anything from a conversation starter to the foundation of our most meaningful relationships in life.
We celebrate with our family when our team wins while wishing we could celebrate with the ones we miss.Sen.Rand Paul, R-Ky., delivers an opening statement during a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing for Sen.
Markwayne Mullin's confirmation as DHS secretary in Washington, D.C., on March 18, 2026.(Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)And while Kentuckians stand proudly shoulder-to-shoulder, there are a couple of days each year when we make sure everyone knows whether we wear Cardinal red or Wildcat blue.WEST VIRGINIA'S EPIC WALK-OFF SPARKS EMOTIONAL 'COUNTRY ROADS' CELEBRATION THAT DEFINES COLLEGE SPORTSThese are our traditions.
It’s our community, our county, our commonwealth, and our country.Yes, there are rapid changes happening in college sports.Multiple rulings throughout our courts, including from the Supreme Court, have knocked the old rules out from under college sports, and there’s not much left holding it together today.Players are moving schools every year searching for the highest bidder, while institutions feel powerless to stop the rapid change and the quest for more revenue.The academic element of college sports feels like it’s becoming an afterthought.The pressure to find a solution is increasing.But I don’t want Congress to dictate what’s next.Why would we hand responsibility for protecting college sports to an institution as popular as cockroaches and traffic jams?Former University of Alabama Head Footbal...