Many of you were optimistic that the federal courts would hear the Corbett case against the NCAA. You’ll be disappointed in today’s decision by U.S. Middle District Judge Yvette Kane to dismiss the Pennsylvania governor’s.
Said Kane, “I cannot find any factual allegations supporting the allegation of ‘concerted action’ that might nudge its conspiracy claim into ‘plausible’ territory.”
Of course, the NCAA was tickled pink. whereas Corbett has not yet reacted to the decision.
The question for Kane hinged on the viability of the antitrust allegations. Just because Penn State has been burned does not make an antitrust case.
“The fact that Penn State will offer fewer scholarships over a period of four years does not plausibly support its allegation that the reduction of scholarships at Penn State will result in a market-wide anticompetitive effect, such that the ‘nation’s top scholastic football players’ would be unable to obtain a scholarship in the nationwide market for Division I football players,” wrote Kane.
“In another forum the complaint’s appeal to equity and common sense may win the day, but in the antitrust world these arguments fail to advance the ball,” Kane kannily kontended.
NCAA’s shyster, Donald Remy, said:
“Our hope is that this decision not only will end this case but also serve as a beginning of the end of the divide among those who, like Penn State, want to move forward to put the horror of the Sandusky crimes behind the university and those who want to prolong the fight with the pain for all involved.”
If you can parse that sentence, you’re good. Very good. What I take it to mean is: “We won. Fuck you.”
The 27-page memorandum of dismissal is available at Judge Kane’s website.
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