Open Records

For Ashleigh and I’s part in the team story, most of our information is already available to us. We are most concerned with the changes in GHSA policy regarding transfer, which we have been able to track from year to year. I’m not sure if these even qualify as open records, but if there were any kind of meeting notes that discussed the thought process behind the changes, that would be of great use to us. It is definitely apparent that the committee shifted focus from year to year, making large amounts of changes to one specific topic. Additionally, this would probably be of use to the entire team, but just knowing the amount of transfers within GHSA over the last few years and what their cites causes were would also give me a better idea of what the actual trend is and how GHSA is managing it as they continue to update policy. As far as retrieving them, it would likely be easiest to go through an administrator or secretary at the GHSA office.

For my personal story, I would need to see a budget breakdown of a NCAA team’s expenses. USA Triathlon has given grants to NCAA teams so I would like to know how they are spending their money, whether it be on equipment, coaches salary, travel, etc. I would go through a point person at the university for that request. Since USA Triathlon is a private company, I unfortunately cannot dig into their records, although they have the most valuable information to me, like how spending on elites has changed over the last few years, changes in USAT personnel because of NCAA or success in the sport, along with the amount of athletes competing in general.

Potential Records

Personal story

none

All of the hard data (career games played, PER, college statistics, past NBA draft results) I need for my story is publicly available, via NBA.com/stats and basketball-reference.com. The pool of players I’m looking at is pretty big: players drafted from 2003 – 2011 (they have >5 years worth of NBA Data to look at; avg. NBA career is 4.8 years).

Team story:

current team rosters (e.g , Grayson)
Transfer migration patterns in GA high schools

High school records can be hard to track, but we’ve already started compiling a list of local HS football transfer transfers to contact. We may need to file open records request to know the amount of transfers (within GHSA) over the last few years; some patterns may emerge once we parse the data (like if there’s an area or school most transfers are leaving)

Jenkins v NCAA

The case centers on the issue of paying student athletes. This is obviously an issue that has been prevalent for a long time. It’s even more so now because of TV deals. The argument is that the players are basically signing on to the stipulations of the universities profiting off athletic ability. However this violates antitrust laws.

The compliant said that the NCAA makes billions off the hard labor of college football and basketball players who perform “services” for the University. The notion that players are exploited has been well documented. Only a slim percentage of college athletes actually are worth what colleges provide for them.

Possible Stories:

At what point are college athletes worth more than the benefits they receive from scholarships? How many athletes actually reach this threshold?

How do non-revenue producing athletes feel about this issue?

If more athletes attempted to unionize, how would they go about doing it differently than the Northwestern football players did?

If college athletes got paid, how does this change the integrity of collegiate sports?

Jenkins vs. NCAA

I’m no legal expert, but it seems to me the root issue of the Jenkins vs. NCAA case is the classic argument that the NCAA is exploiting its athletes. The four athletes who serve as plantiffs in the class-action lawsuit claim that they should be compensated because they generate an extreme amount of revenue for the NCAA and that the NCAA holds little interest in maintaining their amateurism as STUDENT-athletes. The case then goes into defining the terms, allegations, etc.

I think there are a lot of interesting stories that could stem from this. Should college athletes be paid is an age-old debate that always sparks interest, but that is the obvious route. This case could call into question the rules set for playing in professional leagues. To enter the NFL, players must play in college for three years. If an athlete does not have the financial means to do so, they could be missing out on an opportunity, likewise with basketball players.

Another interesting discussion that could stem from this case is whether the NCAA or the schools should profit the most from ticket sales, television deals, etc. If individual schools profited as much as the NCAA did, many schools could afford facility renovations, more staff, etc.

Jenkins v. NCAA and potential stories

The Jenkins v. NCAA case centers itself on the hot-button issue of compensating student-athletes for their participation. Early on in the complaint, Jenkins brings up the point that these athletes, such as UTEP’s Kevin Perry, have their remunerations restrained by “artificial restraints” that are dependent on the athletes’ school of choice. What’s not restrained, however, is the financial benefits these particular universities or schools see as a result of the athlete’s play on the court or field. The argument is that these players have essentially signed on to “cartel agreements” and therefore violate antitrust laws.

I think it’s important to also remember that it’s not just football players involved in this case, as Rutgers basketball player J.J. Moore is also named as a party involved.

Potential story ideas

A look at how much the schools of the specific players mentioned in this complaint made from their respective sport
Catching up with those involved in Northwestern’s attempt to unionize. What would they have done differently? Do they foresee any change that will allow a team to successfully unionize?
A profile on a current athlete such as Perry and Moore that features a log of their hours during a typical week in a season. How much time is left for the academic aspect of their lives?
In basketball, how many athletes would forego college basketball if the NBA allowed? How many athletes in that situation cite financial concerns as a major motivating factor?

Jenkins

The Jenkins, et al. v. NCAA case brings to light the issue of paying student-athletes. The case is in light of the rise in schools profiting off of student-athletes’ success such as video games, apparel, etc. It is an issue that is very prevalent in my life as a student-athlete but remains controversial when you consider what student-athletes are given to compensate their involvement.

Story ideas:

What/Who are the most bought college player apparel?
Amateur status and how much athletes are missing out on their winnings. EX: If an athlete wins Olympic trials and doesn’t take the earnings, how much are they missing out on?
Can non-revenue sport athletes survive at being professional with the income they get? vs. College degree?

Jenkins case and possible stories

The Jenkins, et al. v. NCAA case centers around the idea that the value a student-athlete brings to the school is capped at the amount of his or her scholarship, and the amount of money they bring into the school far exceeds this amount. Jenkins argues that this is illegal and violates federal antitrust laws. The complaint says that the NCAA and the Power Five conferences make billions of dollars off football and basketball players “who perform services” for the universities. This notion of whether players are exploited is the same as we discussed on Thursday in class. The complaint says that the universities do not sign contracts with the best interests of their student-athletes in mind and those athletes are unable to receive any portion of that revenue. Without the athletes, this revenue would not exist.

Possible stories:

Sport vs. service: How do we differentiate the two? Do college athletes perceive their athletic careers are furthering their involvement with sports or as providing a service in exchange for a scholarship?
How do the athletes of non-revenue sports feel about cases like this?
Breaking down the compensation athletes get in the form of tuition, cost-of-living stipends, housing, food, etc. This would help pinpoint how athletes are currently valued.
Any chances that more schools will try to unionize?
What percent of student-athletes give more value to their university than the university gives to them in the form of scholarship? It’s got to be tiny.
How would the culture of college sports change if athletes could be paid?

Open Records Law Change in GA

explaining the new law and whether you believe it’s fair to journalists, other records requesters, and the public’s interest by Sept. 28.

I think it’s really interesting that there is a model request form, which I didn’t know about. I also didn’t know that you could have to pay to receive the open records (it makes sense why you would have to – I just never thought about that) and that some of them could cost up to $500.. what would be an example of an open records retrieval that costs $500?

I personally don’t understand why they changed the law…They changed it from 3 days to 90. Ninety days to ONLY respond to the requester, the requester could still then wait even longer to receive the open records. I think it should have stayed at three days or they could have made it three to 5 business days to respond back to the requester. Ninety days is entirely too long and I think it’s unfair to journalists and everyone else who uses open records because if you’re trying to right a story or whatever you’re doing with the open records, and you need information that can only be obtained through open records, you’re going to have to wait a long time to even hear back.

I think changing the law was fine, but I’m not sure why they decided on 90 days. I personally think three days to a week is enough time to decide if you’re going to accept or deny the request.

Reading the article about Fetty Wap’s performance here at UGA is very interesting to me, as I attended that concert. I personally think performer’s riders are insane. I would love to know how much of that food actually got eaten (I know there are a lot of crew members and what not that need to be fed).

Open Record Act

The recent controversy about Georgia’s Open Records Act spurs a lot of conversation about what the act truly is protecting. That is my main concern about the new act is that I feel there isn’t circumstantial evidence to what this benefits or how it helps to keep things safer. I understand that 3 days in the prior ruling may be stressful on a state entity if there is a flood of requests and the association wants to make sure that the request is dealt with in a thorough manner. However, ninety days in the life of a reporter and a 24-hour news cycle is difficult to navigate. I have notice subtle frustration and blatant frustration with getting information for articles. Most recently, I saw an article about the 2020 Chick-fil-a Bowl and whether or not Georgia will be participating. The journalist was able to get the information from Virginia, but not Georgia.

“This document was obtained by The Telegraph in a Freedom of Information Act request in the state of Virginia. The Telegraph also requested the contract through Georgia’s Open Records Act, although the university has 90 days to return any documents related to athletics.”

I don’t see how a simple piece of information like this needs to be held onto.

Open Records Act

I believe the new law is very fair to journalists, records requestors and the public’s interest because it’s making everything transparent and honest. I think the Fetty Wap and Ludacris situations brought much light to the concerns of Georgia’s Open Records Act. Now the University, at least in my opinion, looks crooked and sloppy. They allowed a celebrity to push them around and then not even delivered what was promised. Now the public can be more aware of what takes place behind the scenes and find out information that has been looked over or forgotten. Administrations such as UGA Athletics may not think they act is fair because they are now being exposed. But this will make them think twice before they allow a 2^nd rate celebrity take advantage of them and take their money.