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Uni Watch

Adidas at Center of Emerging College Basketball Scandal

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As you’ve probably heard by now, 10 people connected to college basketball were arrested on federal corruption charges yesterday. If you’re looking for a good roundup of the situation, I recommend starting with this news story and then moving on to this FAQ-style explainer piece, both of which are very solid.

This is not just another NCAA show investigation that will result in a slap on the wrist. These are federal charges based on a two-year FBI undercover investigation. If convicted, those charged could go to prison.

At its heart, this is just the latest in a long series of incidents showing that the college sports scene is a cesspool of corruption. In that regard, it’s not so surprising (although it’s still nauseating to see the some of the details spelled out so explicitly), and under normal circumstances it wouldn’t be any concern of Uni Watch.

But this time there’s a uni-related wrinkle: Of the 10 people charged, three of them are connected to Adidas. Those three people are James Gatto, Adidas’s director of global marketing; Merl Code, who was formerly the director of Nike’s elite youth basketball program but more recently worked for Adidas and is listed in the criminal complaint as a “business affiliate” of the sportswear giant; and Jonathan Augustine, program director of the Adidas-sponsored 1 Family AAU program.

Some of the allegations have nothing to do with the uni-verse, but here are uni-related parts, quoting from this article:

[H]igh-ranking Adidas employees worked with others to pay prospective student-athletes’ families to ensure the players signed with Adidas-sponsored schools and then signed [endorsement contracts] with Adidas once they turned pro, the complaint alleges.

. . .

The allegations against the unnamed school in Kentucky [now known to be Louisville, which is outfitted by Adidas — PL] include payments of $100,000 from Adidas to the family of an unnamed player, identified as “Player-10,” to ensure him signing with the school.

According to the complaint, Gatto, Code, Dawkins and Sood worked together to funnel $100,000 to the player’s family in early June, and Dawkins told the others that he did so at the request of a Louisville coach. “Player-10,” who is described in the complaint as a top recruit, is believed to be Brian Bowen, a five-star guard/forward who signed with Louisville on June 5. The FBI said telephone records show Gatto spoke directly with the unnamed coach multiple times in the days before the player publicly committed to play for the Cardinals.

The indictment also says that prior to paying Player-10’s family, the defendants “first needed time to generate a sham purchase order and invoice ostensibly to justify using [Adidas] funds since they could not lawfully pay the family of Player-10 directly and risk that such prohibited payments be revealed.”

. . .

The FBI alleged Gatto, Code, Dawkins and Augustine attempted to broker a deal to send another high school player to Miami, an Adidas-sponsored school, for $150,000. According to the complaint, “the payments from [Adidas] to Player-12 were allegedly requested specifically by a coach at [Miami] (Coach-3), who allegedly called Gatto directly and who, according to Dawkins, Code, and Augustine, ‘knows everything’ and, in particular, ‘knows something’s gotta happen for’ Player-12 to commit to attending University-7.”

In other words, Adidas manipulated children so they could sell more sneakers. Again, that’s not entirely surprising — everyone knows the AAU scene is basically a sub-cesspool to the college sports cesspool — but it’s still pretty depressing.

I hope this goes without saying, but just in case: This is why we shouldn’t have maker’s marks on uniforms; this is why a school shouldn’t be using its outfitter’s slogan as a hashtag; this is why a school’s marching band shouldn’t be forming the logo of the school’s outfitter; and this is why, as I’ve said for years, the uni-verse and the sports world in general would be better off if jerseys weren’t available for sale. Because all of those “branding” factors are part of the larger Big Uni industrial branding complex that results in the kind of corruption shown in yesterday’s allegations.

It’s worth noting, incidentally, that four of the other defendants are assistant coaches at non-Adidas schools: Lamont Evans of Oklahoma State (which is outfitted by Nike); Emanuel Richardson of Arizona (Nike), Tony Bland of USC (Nike), and Chuck Person of Auburn (Under Armour). So far, those defendants have only been charged in connection with payments involving agents and “financial advisers,” not sportswear shenanigans. But with the federal investigation still ongoing, some additional shoes, or sneakers, may yet drop.

• • • • •

The Ticker
By Alex Hider

Baseball News: Some of the umps’ gear went missing prior to last night’s Rangers/Astros game, so plate ump Carlos Torres had to borrow a Rangers mask. … The Padres apparently outsourced some jersey tailoring to a local sporting goods store for a recent community event. You’d think they’d have Majestic do that (from Brady Phelps). … You can currently bid on this old Dodgers cap worn by Jackie Robinson during his rookie year. It includes inner plates that protected against objects thrown at Robinson (from Michael L. Hayden). … Yesterday was National Pancake Day, so the Tigers gave a Twitter shout-out to prospect Joey Pankake (from BSmile). … This is reportedly the first photograph of people playing baseball in California, from 1860 (from Jim Vilk). … Bethlehem Steel company formed a baseball team in the 1910s, and they went with an abbreviated name on the front of their jerseys (from Seth Horowitz). … Lots of uni inconsistencies in this 1954 University of Cincinnati team photo, but every jersey is gorgeous. Also, the guy in the top row, fifth from left, is Sandy Koufax (from Doug Smith).

NFL News: The Falcons have unveiled their 2017 uni schedule, and announced they will be wearing their black fauxback unis this Sunday and on Nov. 26 (from Jack Daley). … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Tom Bierbaum found a shot of Falcons CB Tom Hayes wearing the white “X” on his helmet in a Week 12 game from 1971, and then Paul Deaver spotted WR Ken Burrow doing likewise. So it appears the the “Brand X” phenomenon was not limited to the team’s home opener. … Ed Sheeran is playing a show in Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium later this year, so he put on a Bucs jersey for some promo photos. He looks thrilled. … The Colts are creating a statue of Peyton Manning, so he struck some poses for them and they outfitted him in an era-appropriate Reebok uniform. Manning wore Reebok for most of his years with the Colts and also briefly wore Puma and Logo Athletic. He never wore Nike. … Fans’ reactions to the players’ anthem protests have led the Ravens’ anthem singer to quit. … Check out this awesome-loking Saints LP record. Great design, if even they did get the helmet stripe wrong (from Patrick Reynolds). … The background image on the Chargers’ website shows RB Melvin Gordon wearing what appears to be mono-navy — a uni combo that the team has never worn with its current uni set (from Austin Ledley).

College Football News: Penn State is wearing fauxbacks this weekend, and will have argyle-patterned end zones to go with them (from William F. Yurasko). … Bowling Green will wear their military appreciation helmets this weekend, which features the names of 111 BGSU students who have died in combat (from Max Seeley). … The Bowling Green helmets also include decals for Hurricane Harvey relief efforts and a salute to teachers. … I can’t think of another team that’s given away produce, but this weekend Fresno State fans can get two free ears of sweet corn with their ticket (from Damon Hirschensohn‏). … Interesting that the stadium signage got in the way of a Gem Blades ad during a Army/Notre Dame game at Yankee Stadium in 1946 (from Ray Hund).

Hockey News: A couple of Predators were missing the navy piping on their shoulder yokes in Sunday’s game in Columbus (from Mike Engle). … Not only does this local TV ad for the Sharks feature old Reebok jerseys, but they feature two different old Reebok jerseys (from John Furstenthal). … The Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL will wear sweaters inspired by retro Orlando Magic jerseys in November. … New uniforms for the University of Denver (from Chris Hatfield). … A group of lucky firefighters will be wearing these beauties during beer league hockey this season. … Sharks RW Joel Ward, who is black and wears No. 42 as a tribute to Jackie Robinson, is considering kneeling during the national anthem.

NBA News: Celtics G Terry Rozier will be going RNOB this year. … The Spurs haven’t yet announced a jersey ad patch for the upcoming season, but their courtside mascot will wear an ad patch on his jersey (from Kyle Buckholder). … Dwyane Wade will likely sign with the Cavaliers, and this NBA on TNT graphic predicted he would wear No. 6 with the team. On ESPN’s website, Wade is already listed on the Cavs roster as No. 3 (from Cameron Sparks). … There’s already a market for NBA knockoff Nike jerseys — and they unfortunately include ad patches (from John Pritchard).

College Hoops News: New unis for the Citadel (from  @willchitty4). … It looks like American University has switched to Under Armour, though these unis appear to be for practice only (from Eric Wright).

Soccer News: Celtic FC will go ad-less for an upcoming Champions League game in Brussels. Their advertiser, Dafabet, is an online gambling company that does not have a license in Belgium (from Ed Zelaski). … The word “bespoke,” when referring to uniforms, is running rampant in soccer articles (from David Brand).

Grab Bag: Virginia Tech unveiled a new university logo yesterday (from Andrew Cosentino and Paul Gaiser). … The US Presidents’ Cup golf team will not be staging any anthem protests during the tournament. … A Belgian cycling team has instituted a ban on facial hair (from Mike Edgerley). … Megyn Kelly’s new talk show is part of NBC’s Today show and uses half of the Today show sunrise logo — but that makes the whole thing look like the North Face logo, as John Furstenthal points out. … Ray Hund sends along these photos of football, baseball and basketball board games from the 1930s.

 
  
 
Comments (85)

    While you and I disagree in general on corporations, I wholeheartedly agree with your take on the issue of maker’s marks and advertising on uniforms.

    Nike can put a mark on replica gear if they want, but on field/court/ice gear should be team branded only. There’s so much clutter and distraction.

    I wish sports could just be sports again.

    When were sports ever “just sports”?
    Do you remember that in baseball, people were officially barred from the Major Leagues simply because of the color of their skin?

    Obviously there are many more examples going as far back as you wish to go.

    Sports has never been about “just sports”.

    Lee

    Agree with the end assessment of why we shouldn’t have maker’s marks, etc, with these companies. I would go so far as coaches make enough too without contracting with these companies but that’s another issue. One has to think this is just proverbial tip of the iceberg.

    this teenager is allowed to take money from Adidas on the up and up.

    link

    funny to see how hoopsters still can’t. I know I know – they get room, board and education.

    This one makes as much sense to me as the NFL ONE HELMET RULE

    He’s also to take money from adidas based on a contract. Not money that has come from bribes that are against federal law. Nowhere close to being remotely similar.

    Does anyone know about in soccer, for club teams… you’ll regularly players that are 17 or 18 playing in top leagues in Europe. I’m assuming these players would be eligible for the same benefits as their older teammates (e.g. endorsements, including shoe contracts).
    I guess my overarching point here is that these clubs’ academies offer not only boarding & more rigorous soccer instruction, but at least some semblance of education, as well–does this stop when they’re promoted to the first team, or traditionally continue ’til the normal age for h.s. (or equivalent) graduation?
    Hell, even in baseball you can turn pro after h.s.
    So, either way, it seems high school & collegiate sports in the US might be the outlier (albeit a very sizable one), and perhaps the “amateur” athletics model we have here, wherein athletes roughly under the age of 20 provide mostly free labor (I know, I know, they get the benefit of an education, which you tooootally can’t put a price tag on, but it’s probably easily worth the hundreds of thousands of dollars some more prominent athletes would be worth) is at least partly to blame, such that athletes can’t be compensated traditionally, so sleazy folks do what they *must* to drum up business.

    “photos of football, baseball and basketball board games from the 1930s”: all worthl–wait, is that Bas-Ket? The one with holes on the board where you get to shoot the ball at the basket?! I had no idea that game went that far back!

    Would the uni-verse be better off if we didn’t pay any attention when athlete A or school B or even league C went from one sportswear company to another? Would Uni Watch?

    Yes. But it’s hard not to pay attention when a league changes outfitters, since it inevitably leads to a change in the uniform designs (even if only on the collars, or whatever).

    Believe me, there’s nothing I’d like more than to de-emphasize the corporate theater aspect of the uni-verse. And believe it or not, I *do* de-emphasize it. There’s plenty of corporate theater stuff that I choose not to cover (including, of course, the entire retail scene, which I mostly ignore). Unfortunately, though, certain aspects of it *have* to be covered.

    All the coverage of new NBA ad patch sponsors KILLS me. On at least 1 of the NBA jersey posts, there was a close up, zoomed in photo of the patch (corporate logo).
    I understand that you have to cover to some extent, but if you truely are against the ad patches, I think you could call the idea of NBA ad patches sufficiently covered/old news, and move on. If you really feel its necessary to give them free publicity, then put it in the ticker.
    But over and over, a new NBA ad patch has been the lead story on this blog, and even if you are complaining about how it ruins the uniform, you gotta realize you are just giving the ad sponsor exactly what they want – more and more eyeballs. I don’t get it.

    Yes, Cole, you’ve made that point many times now.

    You and I have different ideas about what’s newsworthy and how to cover this issue. Let’s please move on. Thanks.

    Well, Paul, I’ve asked several times, but I have never heard your response or reasoning. I’ve gathered from reading the blog over the years that you’re not receptive to suggestions or questions (which you seem to always take as criticism – e.g. your unnecessarily snippy response to my comment above), so I generally walk on egg shells in the comments. But seriously, I would love to know your reason for giving so much coverage to each ad reveal, given your frequently expressed opposition to the ads.
    Thanks in advance for your professional and polite response.

    That didn’t answer my question. I don’t find it “distasteful.” I actually don’t mind the ad patches – I’m an EPL fan, so uniform ads are kind of a non-issue for me. But I’ve been confused about the insistence on giving substantial coverage to the advertisers, given the oft repeated disdain for the ads themselves. I’m also confused by the snippiness.

    As already stated, I cover news because it’s news. I don’t know how else to explain that. If you can’t understand that, then either I’ve failed as a communicator or you’ve failed to listen. Either way, we’ve reached a dead end. Let’s please move on. Thanks.

    Paul, I’m genuinely curious–not trying to catch you on something. Have you ever (or recently) bought or worn a team’s jersey?

    I have never bought or worn a mass-produced jersey for a major team. I’m not boycotting them or acting on any principle — it just holds no interest to me. If you gave me a Mets jersey, I wouldn’t know what to do with it. Just not my thing.

    I have bought and worn many vintage jerseys from high school teams, rec league teams, etc., like the ones shown here:
    link

    In my opinion — I think I’m in a minority on it — the real solution is to put everything out in the open. There’s huge money in college sports and the players should be getting a substantial share of what they generate. If addidas wants to pay to support college players it should be allowed to do it. If a student gets a job acting in a movie, he or she isn’t disqualified from the school play and the studio doesn’t have to hide its payments.

    Venerating the amateur athlete is an outdated philosophy in an era of billion-dollar TV contracts. The idea of amateurs being more noble than pros goes back to an era when only rich guys could afford school so only rich guys could play college sports. They didn’t need jobs and looked down on anyone who did. It’s an old-school elitism that doesn’t work in this country anymore.

    Plus, college sports have always been corrupted by money. A hundred years ago, pro football players used to play on college teams in their spare time under assumed names.

    college sports have always been corrupted by money.

    The construction industry has always been corrupted by the Mafia. Why bother to care?

    Politicians have always been corrupted by wealthy donors. Why bother to care?

    All sorts of people cheat at all sorts of things. Why bother to care?

    People have always engaged in all sorts of reprehensible behavior. Why bother to care?

    And so on.

    Mafia killed people to gain contracts.

    Politics affect the day to day life of people and corruption can hurt a lot of people.

    Paying college athletes hurts no one except for those that think their feelings are more important than the ability of others to make money.

    Actually, manipulating a child to go to a certain school (or sign with a certain agent, or with a certain “financial adviser,” or a certain shoe company), when a different school might be better in the long run, is potentially very harmful. Also illegal. But hey, why let the law get in the way of a good bad argument.

    The only reason this happened is because we have closed the market on players themselves.
    If schools were able to bid for players we wouldn’t have secondary black markets popping up.

    Would they have to be cash bids?

    They already do bid in a way — I don’t think anyone can seriously say a scholarship to Stanford is the same value as one to Southeast Puddlejumper State.

    Under Paul’s logic.
    Lesser academic schools shouldn’t be able to give larger scholarships than better schools since that will negatively affect the student.

    Cash bids make the most sense. Could be deferred cash but either one is better than paying them by looking the other way while they commit crimes.

    A transparent, above-board scholarship offered in the spirit of a school’s educational mission is not the same as an under-the-table cash payment generated by phony purchase orders and driven by the desire to sell sneakers. Equating the two is sophistry.

    Which is why I’m a proponent a “transparent above-board” way of paying student athletes above the scholarship.

    I have not once said that what happened with adidas was correct or moral.

    The point of my last paragraph was not to excuse illegal behavior.
    I was pointing out that the idealistic image of an amateur athlete was a myth even among the people who originated it.
    The idea that a group of skilled laborers should produce revenue and not be compensated with a fair share can not be defended logically. It depends on a carefully constructed out-of-date concept that’s used to create a false sense of purity.

    Do you also believe high school athletes should be compensated? After all, many of them produce revenue.

    What about Little League World Series players?

    And for the umpteenth time, college players are not uncompensated. Free tuition! Free housing! Etc.

    Yes. High Schools that earn more revenue than the cost of the program should return profits to the participants.

    Same for Little League. You are participating in something that generates value, therefore you are entitled to a portion of it. Child actors, models, etc. are paid. A child can start a website and earn ad revenue. There is no difference when you talk about televised sports events that are sold for big money. ($7.5 million per year from ESPN.)

    Scholarship compensation is artificially capped at the price of education. A few teams earn much more than that per year. Those players deserve a cut.

    I actually don’t think sports scholarships are a particularly useful thing for the vast majority of sports and schools. They don’t particularly benefit the student body as a whole in the same way that bringing in academic scholarships might improve the overall quality and value of the education at that school.

    You have an interesting concept of “free.”

    Here’s what’s “free”: They get a “free” education, “free” housing, etc.

    In any case: This isn’t about NCAA violations. It’s about *federal law.* Good luck telling that FBI that this is a “joke.”

    Here’s my questions —

    Are these kids going to school to play football, or playing football to go to school?

    Used to be, the scholarship was valued. The education was valued. People are now treating it like a hoop to be jumped through, rather than an end in and of itself.

    And yes, I’m one of those people that believes the point of education is education, not preparation for Job A or B. A good education does more than prepare you for a job.

    I also think this ties into the pride that used to be taken in the uniform, and part of the reason why some uniforms never changed.

    Here’s my questions…

    Actually, you only asked one question. And the answer, as I’m sure you know, is that there is no single blanket answer. It varies.

    But we do know one thing: A very, very small percentage of college football players will turn pro. An even smaller percentage of college basketball players will turn pro. So if they think they can just skip the education part, most of them are in for a rude awakening.

    Tuition — and the opportunities that come with being admitted to a post-secondary school — are not free. They have unlimited value to the student. What that student does with such opportunities is up to them. -C.

    So selling yourself or someone to the highest bidder is ok? The people who received money from that are not suppose to pay taxes on it?
    This is a “joke”? Corruption is corruption, a crime is a crime. This is a problem with our society. You let corruption or illegal activity go at any level and it only gets worse. Turning a blind eye only makes our society worse.

    I, for one, am shocked. SHOCKED! A group of trust fund babies that play the whitest game in the world are NOT going to stage a protest during the national anthem? You could knock me over with a feather when I read that. What would they protest? That the bar got the iced tea-to-lemonade ratio in their Arnold Palmer wrong?

    Of course, they, like 40% of the population in general, probably don’t even realize what the original protest was all about.

    Mickelson’s statement was pretty nice, I thought.

    But you, like 40% of the population in general, probably didn’t read the article.

    I call that a Phil Mickelson, when there is more iced tea than lemonade…still pretty good, just not Arnold Palmer good.

    Couldn’t the Falcons at least tried to put stripes down the center of the helmet to make it look closer to real? I mean the Jets did it when they wore green helmets.

    When the Jets did the stripes with green helmet in 1994 (instead of white helmets):

    link

    Just looked like they were wearing throwback Saskatchewan Roughriders helmets to Canadian gridiron fans instead of throwback Jets helmets:

    link

    Regardless if you feel the Military Appreciation uniforms are good or not you have to agree that if Bowling Green is going to do it make sure that the flag in the logo is correct. The Blue field with the the stars is always supposed to be in the upper left corner. Bowling Green has it in the right corner!

    Thought that this would be the place to annouce this uni item. Seems that Hatclub,which sells hats, announced they are selling TATC(Turn Ahead The Clock)caps.
    Remember that mid nineties MLB promotion where teams went futuristic? Well they’ve made Mariner and Athletic caps based on those designs.
    Interesting tidbit…

    So coaches will be fired, and then show up at other schools to coach. They might even be desirable hires since they have such good “inside contacts”.

    Meanwhile the NCAA will come down hard on the kids, banning them from college. Some poor (literally) kid will see his dreams gone, while the adults that manipulated him will land on their feet. If the NCAA really had guts, they’d come down hard on the coaches. Not the schools or the kids, but the coaches and people involved.

    Some poor (literally) kid will see his dreams gone, while the adults that manipulated him will land on their feet.

    I’m not sure what part of “federal charges that could result in prison sentences” you don’t understand.

    Never said Pitino was named. But you repeatedly referred to “coaches,” and four coaches are named in the indictment and are facing prison terms. The end.

    link

    So now having seen the Vegas Golden Knights home uniforms on the ice, I can say that I find the gray to be pretty sharp. But the gold somehow looks awful and reminds me of the Predators’ old mustard alternates that were pretty universally reviled.

    I’d probably like them more if the red stripes were the larger ones, with the gold stripe being a smaller accent. But alas, “Golden” Knights and what not.

    I was at the game last night, and previously I was very skeptical the uniforms when first revealed. However I too admit the grey looked pretty sharp on the ice in person. I thought the gold and red stripes ‘popped’ very well, too, imho.

    Also, the referees announced penalties as against “Las Vegas.” As a local strongly opposed to the “Vegas” name, I sure hope they keep it up. Though it’s a shame it necessarily precedes a power play for the other guys!

    How do the graphite (not black) helmets look? Never heard of that in hockey before. I’m skeptical that it could look like faded black.

    Honestly, I thought the helmets looked fine. I think the juxtaposition against the black section in the upper-arm of the jersey makes the helmet color look intentional (as opposed to a black helmet left out in the desert sun for a couple months).

    Great to hear from a local. Do you have a feel for how well the team and NHL hockey is being received in the community? Do you think the team will take hold better than the poor Coyotes have in Arizona?

    Generally, people fall within one of two camps. Either the “this is fantastic, I can’t wait to go to a game” type or a more tepid “let’s wait and see if this isn’t just a really bad idea” mindset. After last night, I’ve seen a couple converts from the latter group into the former. I can’t think of anyone outright against them, or of having a cold-weather sports team here. I truly think the team will take hold much better than in Phoenix.

    Now the Raiders and they’re publicly-financed stadium? That’s a horse of a different color.

    From Ticker: Dwyane Wade will likely sign with the Cavaliers, and this NBA on TNT graphic predicted he would wear No. 6 with the team. On ESPN’s website, Wade is already listed on the Cavs roster as No. 3 (from Cameron Sparks).

    ESPN’s website shouldn’t be an authority. The coder hasn’t changed the jersey number in the player card yet, but has changed the team. To wit, Isaiah Thomas is listed as #4 which is (a) Iman Shumpert’s number, and (b) not correct because Thomas has #3. So ESPN didn’t “already” list something…it’s actually holding old info.

    If link is any indication, looks like D-Wade will take #9 for the Cavs — not #3 or #6. This makes sense…#9 was Wade’s Olympic number while LeBron was #6, and you know that LeBron holds #6 for himself in practice and #23 for the games.

    Very interesting to read everyone’s comments on the College Basketball issues.

    I cannot believe that no one else has commented on what I see as a miss-spelling on one of the Bethlehem Steel uni’s. Look at the guy in the back row on the left. Looks like it might be BTEH to me.

    During the press conference at Louisville announcing the firings, the black backdrop has University of Louisville alternating with the bird head logo, no sign of a corporate sponsor or Adidas anywhere.

    From the Falcons’ fauxback link:

    “The team will wear the throwback design at home twice this season: Atlanta Falcons vs San Diego Chargers (October 23) and Atlanta Falcons vs San Francisco 49ers (December 18).”

    Oops

    Amazing baseball photo from 1860 California.

    Where can I get more info on it? (i.e. locale, circumstances and/or teams?). The surroundings look very similar to where I grew up.

    It is indeed a beaut. Just about the best-composed, clearest photo of early baseball I’ve ever seen. And worth noting that it’s not “the first” photo of baseball in California; it’s the earliest known such photo. Minor distinction but an important difference.

    I almost laughed out loud when I read some news articles to catch up on the college hoops indictments just now. The U.S. attorney in the case called it “the dark underbelly of college basketball.” When it comes to college basketball, there’s nothing but dark underbelly. The whole enterprise, top to bottom, is a morally repugnant heap of filth and corruption in which a few profit from the abuse and exploitation of many to the literal cheers of crowds. Calling this one bit of possibly criminal misconduct “the dark underbelly” is a bit like calling poor housing conditions the bad part of slavery.

    American University DID switch to UA, starting with the 2017-2018 athletics season.
    They did a press release back in June (link)
    The uniforms worn were during their International Exhibition trip, but I haven’t found any confirmation on their use for the regular season.

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