ABC's audio turned into a static-filled mess Saturday.
Page S2From§Eachthe breakfast edition — 27 September 2026
The stadium that cut its beer to half price to fill the seats by kickoff roared for the man stumping from the stands for a bill The Nation says threatens athletes' labor rights, and the Senate is expected to pass it Monday.
Hot Mic Moment
Put me on the political desk, because here is what that stadium was rented to sell. The top item on the Senate's calendar for the two weeks the House is gone is, per NBC, an NCAA-backed bill setting federal guidelines for the athletes. The Nation ran it Friday: the bill threatens athletes' labor rights. The labor rules get sold from the fifty-yard line, and the man in the upper deck pays half price for the beer that seated him in time to cheer.
Gushis side
GUS: Ladies and gentlemen, this reporter has the whole week's tape. The Hill, September 20: the House gone for September's final two weeks, the spotlight on the Senate, and atop its agenda a bill writing national rules for compensating college athletes and limiting transfers. Introduced in March. A measure like that deserved a closing argument. It got an aircraft.
GUS: On Saturday, September 12, Senator Ted Cruz carried the bill onto ESPN's College GameDay before what the Examiner called a raucous gathering, its closure vote delayed by the August recess. Monday he told reporters his goal was to squeak by with sixty votes. Tuesday the Senate voted to advance it.
GUS: Wednesday, September 23, the White House confirmed to The Hill that the President would attend Texas–Tennessee in Knoxville, his first college football game since January's College Football Playoff National Championship, where Miami defeated Indiana. Thursday the Examiner had the itinerary, reported by OutKick founder Clay Travis, and the purpose: the continued push for passage. Knoxville prepared: gates open early, a third off the beer, a kindness to the gals working concessions.
GUS: Saturday delivered. The New York Post called the flyover majestic; Fox had the new-look Air Force One over a roaring stadium. From the stands the President vouched for the bill — "Bipartisanship for the first time in a while" — and said, "Mike Johnson's fantastic. And we actually had 78 votes, if you can believe it." The broadcast carrying it, per the Post, dissolved into a static-filled mess.
GUS: One more Tennessee dispatch. Wednesday, former state Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Hatcher, who won August's primary running as a "Pro-Trump" candidate while Rep. Andy Ogles held the President's endorsement, took the Pro-Trump line out of his slogan.
Trudyher side
Aircraft later, paperwork now. The Washington Examiner, Saturday: the Protect College Sports Act was introduced in May, and Monday's expected passage would be the furthest a collegiate sports bill has ever gotten in Congress. Furthest ever, Gus.
Read the quote instead of paraphrasing it. The Hill, September 14: "Our goal from the beginning was not just to squeak by with 60 votes but to get a big" — and in the same breath the senator said he'd like the President to sign it live on College GameDay. Kirk Herbstreit told reporters that Friday, "We had him on because they were going to be voting this week." That's a television window, sugar, not a whip count.
Reverse the teams — The Hill says Indiana defeated Miami. And the discount was fifty percent. Fox has the gates opening early with 50% off beer, and the New York Post called it an unusual alcohol tactic to get fans there early. Half price is no kindness to the women working those taps. It's a longer line at the same wage.
The audio failed; the crowd held. Texas escaped Neyland anyway, Colin Simmons with five sacks and Raleek Brown scoring twice, per Fox. I read the Knoxville wire from the flyover to the final gun. Not one dispatch records a senator changing.
So a stadium in Tennessee roared at him the same week a Republican in a deep-red Tennessee seat took his name off his own slogan, per the Examiner's Wednesday exclusive. One of those is a receipt. Go lie down, Gus, before that microphone gets hot.
Gus, you are a sportscaster hollering labor law into a live microphone. The receipts: NBC, September 15, calls it NCAA-backed and bipartisan, and Elie Mystal wrote in The Nation on September 18 that it threatens athletes' labor rights. You're right, and the vote is Monday.
The receipts
Neyland Stadium opened its gates early with 50% off beer as Tennessee Vols fans gear up for the No. 1 Texas SEC showdown and Trump's arrival.
These players and coaches are feeling the heat, roughly one quarter into the regular season
Trump arrived in Knoxville to a roaring Neyland Stadium crowd as the new-look Air Force One flew over ahead of the No. 14 Vols vs. No.
Elie Mystal In this week’s Elie v. U.S ., our justice correspondent looks at the many ways Cruz’s bill threatens athletes’ labor rights. Plus: why our mail-in voting nightmare isn’t over.
With ESPN's "College GameDay" also on campus, Trump's presence typically is expected to cause heightened security in Knoxville.
President Donald Trump is renewing his push for Congress to pass the Protect College Sports Act, attending Saturday’s No. 1 Texas-No. 14 Tennessee game in Knoxville days before the Senate is expected to pass the bill Monday — the furthest a collegiate sports bill has ever gotten in Congress.
President Donald Trump vouched for the Protect College Sports Act while attending the University of Texas versus University of Tennessee college football game on Saturday, saying he thinks House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) can ensure its success in the lower chamber. “Mike Johnson’s fantastic. And we actually had 78 votes, if you can…
President Trump will attend the University of Texas vs. University of Tennessee college football game in Knoxville on Saturday, the White House confirmed to The Hill on Wednesday. The game will mark the first college football game Trump has attended since January's College Football Playoff National Championship when Indiana University…
President Donald Trump is planning to attend the Texas vs. Tennessee college football game this Saturday, the White House confirmed to the Washington Examiner. The president’s appearance at the sports event comes as he continues pushing Congress to pass the Protect College Sports Act.
The Southeastern Conference matchup between the No. 1 Longhorns and No. 14 Volunteers in Knoxville is already one of the biggest games in the country this weekend.
Football analyst and ESPN personality Kirk Herbstreit defended the network's decision to have Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on the network's flagship college football pregame show last week. "We had him on because they were going to be voting this week," Herbstreit told reporters Friday, referring to the Protect College Sports Act, a Senate…
A huge Texas-Tennessee matchup had a little extra pageantry.
President Donald Trump fired back at a reporter Saturday before boarding Air Force One for the University of Tennessee vs. the University of Texas college football game. “I want real news, not fake news, like you,”
President Trump received an enthusiastic welcome while attending a college football game in Tennessee on Saturday.
With the House out of session for the final two weeks of September, the legislative spotlight is squarely on the Senate, where lawmakers face a packed stretch of work on several of the GOP’s remaining priorities. On top of their agenda is legislation that would create national rules for compensating college athletes, limiting transfers…
Texas silenced Neyland Stadium, as Colin Simmons recorded five sacks and Raleek Brown scored twice to beat Tennessee with President Donald Trump watching.
EXCLUSIVE — Former Tennessee Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Hatcher has changed his campaign slogan to remove a reference to President Donald Trump. Hatcher, who ousted incumbent Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) in Tennessee’s August primary, ran as a “Pro-Trump”
President Trump left Knoxville for the White House Saturday afternoon after attending the University of Texas vs. University of Tennessee football game — an appearance coming ahead of senators' last chance to pass the Protect College Sports Act before recessing into a lame-duck period. Trump flew to Knoxville Saturday morning to watch…
· Cruz: Trump should sign college sports bill live on ESPN's 'College GameDay' once passed from the morgue, 14 Sep 2026
· Cruz faces rowdy crowd at College GameDay while promoting the Protect College Sports Act from the morgue, 12 Sep 2026
· Senate votes to move forward with Protect College Sports Act from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front. The byline is a pen name for a column drafted by a machine and checked by the editor: how this is made.