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With One Colossal Mistake, the NCAA Lost Control of College Football

Trump Puts Stamp on College Athletics. Hopper's First Pro Tennis Win. Coming War on Gas-Powered Leaf Blowers.

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Steve Ulrich
August 11, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 12 minutes

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AUGUST 11, 2025 | composed by STEVE ULRICH
The news you want, the news you need on NCAA DIII. #whyD3
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🏖️  Back From Vacation. Trying to get my head back in the game.

🗞️ In Today’s Edition. One Colossal Mistake Cost NCAA Control of College Football. Trump Putting His Stamp on College Athletics. Hopper Hopes 1st Pro Win Catapults His Tennis Career to New Heights. Coming War on Gas-Powered Leaf Blowers.

📆 What’s Happening This Week. The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel meets virtually on Wednesday. UW-Stevens Point’s Brad Duckworth, Thiel’s Joe Schaly, and Hampden-Sydney’s Chad Eisele represent DIII.

TOP STORY
1. With One Colossal Mistake, the NCAA Lost Control of College Football

by Rachel Bachman, Wall Street Journal

“Ever since it was founded over a century ago to organize college football, the NCAA has grown into the central authority for running—and policing—all of college sports. And for most of that time, despite bumps in the road, it has kept that authority.

But a radical shift is under way. A handful of athletic conferences, built around football giants, is in the process of seizing power.”

» Why It Matters. “This group of conferences, not the NCAA, sells its own football broadcast rights and keeps the billions in annual proceeds. This group, not the NCAA, controls colleges’ most valuable postseason, the College Football Playoff. And most significantly, this group recently launched its own enforcement arm, the College Sports Commission—a for-profit organization led by the former top lawyer at Major League Baseball.”

» The Key Stat. “How did this happen? How did the NCAA - a nonprofit founded in 1906 to rein in the brutality of major-college football - lose control of that sport? It all comes down to 40 years ago, when the NCAA made one colossal mistake.”

» What They’re Saying. “It was subtle at the beginning. It was just television rights,” said Keith Dunnavant, whose book, The 50-Year Seduction, covers how TV shaped college football. “But in the end, when you control most of the money, you can leverage all the power.”

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NEWS
2. ‘Political Gold’: Trump Putting His Stamp on College Sports

by Amanda Christovich, Front Office Sports

“College sports has been a political battleground for candidates across the ideological spectrum for years. They’ve turned games into makeshift political rallies and spent millions on advertising during major sporting events. But few have actually dared to make policies to actually alter NCAA sports - except President Donald Trump.

The further Trump gets into his term, the more he is leaving his fingerprints on college sports policy. He hasn’t shied away from associating himself with the professional leagues, either - but he has already taken multiple executive actions directly impacting the NCAA level.”

» Driving The News. “Since taking office in January, Trump has used executive orders to weigh in on the NIL (name, image, and likeness) landscape and the athlete-employee status debate, as well as ban transgender athletes from women’s sports and require schools to protect the Olympic pipeline.”

» Reality Check. “Ultimately, Trump ended up issuing a wide-ranging executive order on July 24 titled “Saving College Sports.” The order attempts to ban third-party “pay-for-play” NIL deals, and requests that the National Labor Relations Board explore athlete employment status - hinting that it should state athletes are legally considered amateurs, and not university employees. The executive order also attempted to preserve the strength of NCAA Olympic sports.”

» Worth Noting. “Whether he makes a concrete impact, Trump clearly wants to be seen as involved in these issues going forward. Says Jarrod Loadholt, partner at D.C. lobbying firm Ice Miller: “We should all anticipate that the White House will continue to engage.”

#WhyD3
3. With First Professional Win, James Hopper Has the Belief to Build a Career

James Hopper (photo by Conor Kvatek, USTA)

by Margaret Piatos, Cavalier Daily

“It is not often that a Division III tennis player goes pro. It is even less likely that they win a professional title within their first 10 or even 20 matches. But for James Hopper, who played four years of DIII tennis before transferring to Virginia, the path has never been conventional.

Just weeks after graduating from Virginia, the former Cavalier standout secured his first professional tennis title in the doubles bracket July 20 at the M15 Monastir in Tunisia — a major milestone and early validation of his decision to go pro.”

» Court Awareness. “Before landing in Charlottesville, Hopper became one of the most accomplished players in Division III tennis history — winning back-to-back NCAA doubles titles and earning All-American honors in both singles and doubles four years in a row at Case Western Reserve. His record-breaking success there set the stage for his graduate transfer in 2023 to Virginia, where he proved he could thrive at the highest levels of college tennis.”

» Quotable. “There are a lot of levels I have to climb through to get to the top,” Hopper said. “It motivates me every day, knowing that I have the potential to get to the highest level, but that I'm not there right now.”

NEWS YOU CAN USE
4. Lightning Round ⚡️ 

» Championships. “The NCAA Board of Governors this week approved funding to support two major initiatives: enhancing the Division I basketball performance fund and establishing two new women's championships in stunt and acrobatics and tumbling.”

» Reprimand. “The NCAA Division III softball committee issued a public reprimand to ETBU head softball coach Janae Shirley for comments made in the post game press conference after the Tigers fell to Texas Lutheran 2-0 in the Super Regionals on May 23.”

TRANSACTIONS
5. Comings and Goings 

1 LAWN THING
6. The War on Gas-Powered Leaf Blowers

by Brendan Cosgrove, Morning Brew

“Your neighbor may have to find something else to do at 6am on Saturdays, because some lawmakers are coming for his gas-powered leaf blower, citing environmental and noise concerns.

What’s the problem? Gas-powered leaf blowers are greater polluters than cars, pound for pound, since their engines are smaller and often less efficient. Using a commercial gas-powered leaf blower for one hour creates as much smog-forming pollution as driving a light-duty car for more than 15 hours, according to the California Air Resources Board.

Leaf blowers also kick up particulate matter, which can cause respiratory and heart problems. Plus, gas-powered versions of the lawn care tool can hit 106 decibels, enough to damage hearing, per the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.”

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