Fitness
The NCAA’s Supreme Court Blowout Is a Sign of Things to Come
The NCAA went to the Supreme Court in March with high hopes. Arguing before the justices in NCAA v. Alston, college sports’ governing body made the case that it knew what was best for the sports and the athletes who play them—and as a result, the NCAA should get broad deference from the court in setting rules limiting the compensation of those athletes.
“I think the NCAA was hoping that the high court would agree with its public posture that NCAA college athletics are sacrosanct, and they’re inexorably intertwined with higher education and amateur sports,” Michael Burwick, a partner and sports lawyer with the law firm Greenspoon Marder, tells Men’s Journal.
The justices didn’t see it that way. On June 21, the court unanimously ruled against the NCAA, affirming a lower-court ruling that the NCAA’s blanket restrictions on education-related benefits to athletes violate antitrust law. Legally speaking, the NCAA’s view of itself as the arbiter of what should be allowed in college sports is now in tatters—“dead,” as Burwick puts it.
Matt Brown, the publisher of the college sports business newsletter Extra Points, is even blunter about the scale of the NCAA’s defeat.
“They absolutely got their ass kicked,” he says. “It was, I think, the worst possible result for the NCAA.”
The NCAA was looking for an exemption from antitrust laws, which it could have wielded in future lawsuits about player compensation.
The Alston case was, officially speaking, only about one narrow issue of athlete compensation. It dealt with whether the NCAA could impose a national cap on what schools can offer athletes in education-related benefits (like laptops and school supplies). But over the long haul, the ruling is likely to have a much wider impact on how universities treat their athletes.
The plaintiffs in Alston, a group of college athletes past and present, argued that the NCAA’s education-related benefits restrictions violated antitrust law. The NCAA argued at length that they did not, citing the “pro-competitive” benefits of amateurism. Essentially, the NCAA claimed that the well-being of college sports would suffer if the NCAA couldn’t set its own rules––and that people enjoy college sports specifically because the athletes are unpaid amateurs. A district court in California disagreed in 2019, and now the high court has as well.
“Basically, the NCAA’s position has always been, ‘If you don’t allow our restrictions or our system, you will destroy it,’” says Jonathan L. Israel, a sports attorney and partner at the firm Foley & Lardner LLP. “It really has been their main argument for many, many years. And I think the Alston case put that to rest.”
Alston does not end amateurism as we know it, but it opens the door in that direction.
On its own, the ruling won’t fundamentally change college sports. The issue at hand was limited in scope, and the decision for the plaintiffs doesn’t actually require schools to do anything. It simply says the NCAA cannot institute blanket caps on education-related benefits to athletes. Schools can still choose to offer whatever they want. The only difference is that now they’ll risk a recruiting disadvantage if other universities choose to offer more.
The NCAA has long sought an antitrust exemption, first from Congress and then from the Supreme Court. There’s no indication one is forthcoming. The lack of an exemption creates an opening for a future plaintiff to challenge other NCAA restrictions, like the prohibition on athletes getting a cut of the revenue they generate for their schools. (Power conference football teams generate tens of millions of dollars per year in TV money, and the NCAA men’s basketball tournament is a billion-dollar event.) It’s even possible, Israel says, that the ruling filters down to high school athletic associations, giving high schoolers the opportunity to profit off their performance (or at least for some of them to go to court looking for that right). It will certainly weigh on future efforts to control what players can earn in endorsement money.
“The door’s open,” Israel says. “The NCAA’s probably not the only one to find themselves in the crosshairs here. I suspect conferences, high school associations, anyone who’s attempting to control name, image, and likeness in certain ways might look carefully at the Alston case.”
In addition to losing this case by unanimous decision, the NCAA saw its model excoriated in a blistering concurring opinion by Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
“Nowhere else in America can businesses get away with agreeing not to pay their workers a fair market rate on the theory that their product is defined by not paying their workers a fair market rate,” he wrote. “The NCAA is not above the law.”
NCAA president Mark Emmert downplayed the significance of that opinion, saying the most notable thing about it was that eight other justices didn’t sign on. But it left an indelible impression that at least one conservative justice does not buy the NCAA’s legal case at all.
“I would view Kavanugh’s concurring opinion less about a condemnation of the NCAA and more about the fact that in his opinion, the NCAA had no leg to stand on in this case,” Burwick says, “and also anything with respect to future cases involving monetary rewards outside of the educational sphere.”
There are many signs the NCAA is in trouble.
State legislators and governors from both political parties have already taken aim at the association. Many have passed laws that force the NCAA to end its policy of banning athletes from collecting endorsement money.
Both Democratic and Republican members of Congress have gotten their shots in, too. Two Democratic senators recently introduced a bill that would grant college athletes unionization rights, something they’ve never had before. And while that bill is unlikely to pass any time soon, its mere existence is evidence of how the NCAA has become a target in professional politics.
So far, the only official action that has forced the NCAA’s hand has been the state laws (in two dozen states) that effectively made the association’s name, image, and likeness rules illegal.
Amateurism is not dead yet. It’s at least conceivable that the NCAA eventually convinces Congress to pass national laws that would favor the current model. That could come in the form of an antitrust exemption or a national NIL bill with more restrictions than many current state laws.
“It’s not impossible that the NCAA eventually wins,” Brown says.
But mix in the NCAA’s failed plea for relief from the Supreme Court, and add the political headwinds confronting the association in Congress and at the state level, and it becomes clear that college sports amateurism is imperiled. Burwick believes it’s “highly likely” that broader structural reform arrives well within the next decade.
“I don’t really wanna give it odds,” he says, “but in terms of direct payment of players, and the outgrowth of that is going to be unionization, I think that has a better than 50/50 chance of passage in the next five years.”
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The key to 360-degree muscle: 90-degree eccentric isometrics. It might seem like we’re throwing a lot of geometry at you, but the concept behind time under tension (TUT) is simple, says Joel Seedman, PhD, owner of Advanced Human Performance: “Perform the lowering phase of a movement in a slow, controlled fashion, usually 3 to 5 seconds; pause in the stretched position, typically around 90 degrees; then perform the lifting phase in a powerful yet controlled fashion.” Believe us, a time-under-tension workout can humble even seasoned lifters…Eccentric isometrics are like the pressure cooker of training.
“Rather than mindlessly performing slow-tempo reps, you’re using the increased time under tension as a means to fine-tune your body mechanics and alignment, which requires more mental engagement and focus,” Seedman adds.
If you want to forge functional muscle mass and strength while simultaneously bulletproofing the joints and connective tissue, give this 10-move, full-body eccentric isometrics workout a go.
Directions
Perform the following moves as 90-degree eccentric isometrics following the above protocol. Use heavy weight, but not at the detriment of proper form. Rest 60 to 90 seconds between sets and 2 minutes between circuits. Perform once every 2 to 4 days for optimal results.
Best Time-Under-Tension Workout for Total-Body Strength
Circuit 1
A. Barbell Back Squat
Set a squat rack up with heavy weight, then grasp bar and step under it. Squeeze shoulder blades together, then stand to unrack bar and step back with feet shoulder-width apart. Inhale, hinge at hips and slowly bend knees to 90 degrees. Pause, keeping natural arch in low back, then extend through hips to powerfully stand. 3 x 4-6 reps
B. Renegade Row
Start in the top position of a pushup with hands shoulder-width apart on moderate-to-heavy dumbbells (shown). Explosively drive right elbow back to row dumbbell toward ribs while balancing on opposite hand and feet. Pause, then slowly lower weight, stopping a few inches above floor. Switch sides after all reps are done. 3 x 5 reps each side
Circuit 2
A. Dumbbell Bentover Row
Stand with feet hip-width apart, holding two moderate-to-heavy dumbbells in front of thighs, palms facing you. Push hips back and hinge torso forward so it’s nearly parallel to floor, soft bend in knees. Dumbbells should be near shins. Drive elbows back to row weights toward ribs. Pause, then slowly lower down for 3 to 5 seconds. 3 x 4-5 reps
B. Incline Dumbbell Chest Press with Legs Raised
Set an adjustable bench to a 30- to 45-degree angle and lie back with dumbbells in either hand. Engage core and lift legs off floor, flexing feet. Press weights overhead, palms in. Slowly lower to 90 degrees, staying tight and compact. Pause, then drive weights up directly over chest. 3 x 4-5 reps
Circuit 3
A. Dumbbell Bulgarian Squat
Stand lunge-length in front of a flat bench, holding heavy dumbbells in each hand by your sides, palms facing in. Rest the ball on top (shoe’s laces) of your right foot behind you on the bench. Slowly lower your body until your front thigh is parallel to the floor. Pause, then drive through your heel to stand. Switch sides after all reps are complete. 2 x 3-4 reps each side
B. Single-leg Romanian Deadlift
Stand with feet hip-width apart holding dumbbells or kettlebells. Drive right leg up, foot flexed, knee aligned with hip, making a 90-degree angle. Hinge at hips as you slowly lever your torso toward floor, lowering weights and driving right leg back for counterbalance. Hold, then squeeze glutes to reverse. 2 x 3-4 reps each side
Circuit 4
A. Pullup
Hang from a pullup bar using an overhand grip with legs extended and feet flexed. Engage lats and draw shoulders down your back, then pull yourself up until chin is higher than hands. Pause at the top, then slowly lower. Pause at bottom, then reset before your next rep. 2-3 x 4-5 reps
B. Kneeling Overhead Barbell Press
Hold a bar with moderate-to-heavy load at shoulder level with forearms perpendicular to floor. Kneel at end of bench with feet flexed to grip edge for support. Inhale, engage your core and glutes, then press the bar overhead, pushing your head forward so it passes your face, exhaling at the top.
Slowly lower until elbows are at 90 degrees, then hold to maintain tension. Begin your next rep from here. 2-3 x 4-5 reps
Circuit 5
A. Dumbbell Pushup
Place hands on dumbbells (this provides greater range of motion) at shoulder width and feet wider than shoulder width with just toes touching the ground. Keep head neutral and hips high to increase tension on core, chest and tris and reduce stress on spine. Slowly lower to the floor. Stop
once elbows hit 90 degrees, pause, then push up to start. 1-2 x 6-8 reps
B. Biceps Curl
Stand with feet hip-width apart with moderate-to-heavy dumbbells in each hand hanging by sides. Engage biceps to curl the weights up, keeping upper arms still. Pause at the top, then lower slowly. Don’t let arms drop all the way down to keep greater time under tension on biceps. 1-2 x 6-8 reps
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