By Dan Spalding
News Now Warsaw

WARSAW — Indiana has joined 46 other states, allowing high school athletes to enter into "Name, Image, and Likeness" deals with a few stipulations that set it apart from what's happening in college sports.

The new policy was adopted earlier this month and is being called the "Personal Branding Activity Rule."

Under the new rules, Indiana athletes can profit from the following:

• Endorsements
• Personal Appearances
• Social Media Promotion
• Other Branding Opportunities

Similar to guidelines in most other states, Indiana will not allow NIL activities directly tied to their schools or athletic performances.

Warsaw Community School Superintendent Dr. David Hoffert said he's OK with what's happening.

“You just can't wear something that says Warsaw on it and you can't have the likeness of the school that goes with it, but you can sell your own reputation and branding now as a high school student," Hoffert said.

While he's not a fan of what's happening in college sports, Hoffert said earlier this week that activities in the high school level appear to be more of an extension of social media.

“They're influencers in their own right,  so I think this almost falls more under that idea of an influencer than it does really connected with the school," Hoffert said during an interview for In the Know,  the public affairs show you can hear this weekend on Kensington Digital Media radio stations.

*  *  * 

In The Know can be heard at the following times:

News Now Warsaw (99.7 FM and 1480 AM):

Fridays at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Saturdays at 7 a.m. 

Sundays at 7 a.m. & 2 p.m.

WRSW (107.3):

Sundays at 6 a.m.

Willie (103.5 FM):

Sundays at 6 a.m.

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I was raised very humbly, so “I told you so” is not something you hear or read from me very often.

But what’s happening right now in college sports feels like it’s working its way toward a scenario I laid out as what college sports should look like in the future.

You might remember that, in one of my “If I were king of sports” articles, I suggested that college sports should abandon the model of “student-athlete” for men’s and women’s basketball and football and just make those athletes employees of the university.

Under my plan, I would no longer make athletes in those sports attend classes (or pretend to attend classes).

They would be able to take classes if they choose, but wouldn’t have to.

Then they would have to sign a minimum two-year contract for that school, and they would be required to fulfill the terms of that arrangement. They would not be allowed to demand a new contract while that deal is in place, and the school would not be allowed to pay any buyouts. No early transfers. They signed an adult deal for adult money, and they should get treated like adults would.

Each level of each sport would have its own hard salary cap, and schools who went so much as a dollar over that would be penalized with a fine for that season and a 5-percent salary cap reduction for the next school year.

The players would get paid. The portal would be used by fewer players. Fans would have a better idea of who will be on their team next season.

The truth (part #1) is, we are closer to that sort of system than ever before.
We can’t keep going like we are now.

The (truth part #2) is, no one was ready for what we are experiencing now.

Not the NCAA. Not the colleges. Not the athletes.

No one.

And, as predicted, it feels like the Wild, Wild West.

Look, this has gotten so stupid that the transfer portal for men’s and women’s college basketball opened while their tournaments were still going on! Teams were losing in March Madness, and it felt like players were posting on social media that they were entering the transfer portal while they were still on the team plane back
to campus.

Ridiculous!

The truth (part #3) is, someone must be the adult here and get control of what’s going on.
And we have seen the dark side of what is happening already.

You could not watch a game in either the men’s or women’s March Madness without seeing an ad telling fans to be more considerate and careful of what they post on social media about athletes and what their feelings about them are.

The premise of the ad is that people who bet on sports are publicly criticizing college athletes for their failure to perform, which costs the betting party money. Betters are lashing out against athletes for them not winning their bet.

Our little darlings are apparently worthy of getting paid to play their sport but are way too sensitive to handle being publicly held to the fire of the reality that comes with that paycheck.

I have ZERO tolerance for people who want something for nothing, and that is exactly what these college athletes are expecting from the brave, new college sports world we’re living in.

College athletes were not, and are not, emotionally ready to be professional athletes. The system was not intended for them to have to worry about that at this point in their lives. They are supposed to be learning about what they will do when their time as an athlete is over. They are supposed to be building and investing in their futures, not holding out for more NIL money.

Of course, the ironic part of the whole “take it easy on these kids” ad campaign is that the ads directly speak to the gambling angle of college sports.Did no one consider the possibility that college sports embracing betting would have negative effects on athletes?

Nope. No one did. They all just went racing in for cash and to see how high they could stack it.

And the lawyers and agents lined up with rakes and big buckets to get their fill, and no one cared where it might be heading.

So, if these people — any of them — are standing around waiting for people like me to feel sorry for them, they can go pound sand. This is what they all wanted, and this is exactly what they signed up for.

They were right … they screamed “we deserve this”, and they do. Congratulations.

But there is a bill to pay at all of this, and no one wants to pick up the check.

They should have thought about that before they ordered the most expensive item on the menu, then bit off more than they could chew … because now they are choking on it.

The post Nobody was ready for this from college sports appeared first on News Now Warsaw.

WARSAW — Two officials connected to the US 30 project said Wednesday that after final recommendations on how intersections are pared down along the future limited-access highway, the next decisions will come down to money.

[caption id="attachment_101950" align="alignright" width="360"] Warsaw Mayor Jeff Grose (L) shares a thought with former mayor Joe Thallemer during Wednesday's meeting about US 30. Thallemer is the president of the Indiana US 30 Coalition. News Now Warsaw photo by Dan Spalding.[/caption]

The Propel US 30 team hosted a public meeting Wednesday night at Lincoln Elementary in which people had a chance to see an up-close look at more than a dozen segments along the highway that included clusters of existing intersections.

Drawings and flyover videos of the many of the segments highlighted at the meeting are also available at propelus30.com.

Pubic opinion will be accepted on the intersections until Dec. 13.

A final design will be released early next year.

After that, Propel will send the recommendations to INDOT for consideration.

Propel Study Manager Rusty Holt said the state could potentially pick some of the most problematic intersections as it works to prioritize construction plans. That would work in the favor of Warsaw and Kosciusko County where some of the most deadly intersections across the entire stretch of US 30 are found.

Holt said money will be an issue once the Indiana Department of Transportation identifies certain projects.

"It may be that the highest need is Warsaw and so they need to address some issues inside of Warsaw and connect the dots later," Holt said.

INDOT has already given initial priority to a series of intersections west of Fort Wayne and east of Columbia City including two intersections near Steel Dynamics, which publically called on the state to take action earlier this year.

Steel Dynamics has also confirmed their willingness to commit an undisclosed amount of money to support the reconstruction of two intersections that will have a combined cost of upward of $70 million.

Holt was asked if that westward pattern of construction could continue into Kosciusko County.

"If it's one intersection or two intersections that are causing a lot of issues, maybe they would just look to fix those first," he said.

Former Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer said funding will become a main issue if the projects move forward, but adds that many lawmakers across northeast Indiana are strong supporters of revamping US 30.

[caption id="attachment_101951" align="aligncenter" width="900"] A view of the crowd at Lincoln Elementary Wednesday night for the US 30 meeting. News Now Warsaw photo by Dan Spalding.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_101952" align="aligncenter" width="920"] Charts at the meeting displayed specific options for each intersection. News Now Warsaw photo by Dan Spalding.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_101953" align="aligncenter" width="905"] An array of options are available for each intersection. News Now Warsaw photo by Dan Spalding.[/caption]

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