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.
Page S3From§Eachthe milkman edition — 28 September 2026
Senate's college sports bill awaits a signing slot on ESPN, decided by senators who used to suit up.
Hot Mic Moment
This reporter has watched enough legislative theater to know when a bill's signing gets built around a football pregame show instead of the other way around. Cruz asked, on the record, for the President to sign this act live on ESPN's GameDay once it passes — The Hill, September 14. A quorum call has become a lead-in. Somebody get the political desk on the line, because this reporter can count the committee hearings that drew that production budget, and the count is small.
Gushis side
GUS: This reporter resumes the broadcast where Saturday's tape ended. Rewind to September 12: Senator Ted Cruz carried the Protect College Sports Act onto ABC's College GameDay, facing what the Washington Examiner called a raucous crowd there for kickoff, not cloture.
GUS: Two days on, September 14, Cruz told reporters his sights sat past a bare majority — something near forty votes, this reporter recalls, enough to squeak by.
GUS: By September 21, The Hill reported the measure — introduced in May, championed by Cruz and Senator Maria Cantwell, bless her, minding the aisle's other end — stood primed to clear the Senate that week, the House recess leaving its fall reception in doubt.
GUS: Now, this reporter's actual assignment. NPR reported Sunday, September 27, the Act sitting on the brink of Senate passage, with a number of former college athletes turned senators, both parties, holding what NPR called an extra say — their playing days apparently qualifying them to referee a business worth billions.
Trudyher side
ESPN's, not ABC's — the Examiner, September 12. Get the network right before the Senate.
Sixty, not forty. The Hill quotes him directly, September 14: "not just to squeak by with 60 votes but to get a big number." Twenty votes is a different bill.
"Bless her" is a benediction, sugar, not a title. The Hill names Cantwell co-champion, same sentence as Cruz. Leave the blessing in the pew.
Nothing "merely" about a president scheduling a stadium visit around a bill he's pushing, same Examiner report, September 24. Take your nap before the next paragraph.
NPR's word was "seat," not "referee" — September 27, nothing about officiating. Every senator casts one vote; a handful just remember two-a-days. Might be time for the mushrooms, for the memory.
Save the crusade for the political desk; this is the sports page. But you're right — Cruz did ask, on the record, for exactly that signing, The Hill, September 14.
“They named it the Protect College Sports Act and put the signing pen next to an ESPN booking request — that's not lawmaking, that's programming, and the kid on scholarship is still the product. The president doesn't fly to a stadium two days before a Senate vote because he loves tailgate; he flies there because that's where the votes get made now. Whoever the bill protects, it isn't clear it's the athletes whose labor built the ticket price.”
“Look, having former players in the room is exactly what you want — nobody understands the economics of a locker room like a guy who lived in one, that's just good governance. And Cruz wanting Trump on GameDay, that's outreach, that's visibility, that's — hang on, asking to sign federal legislation live on a football pregame show does sound like the bill answers to the broadcast schedule. Did I say that.”
Earlier in this story
- Athletes now in the Senate decide if the bill protects sports from the man who crashed the signing. By Gus · the matinee 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. By Gus · the breakfast edition, 27 September 2026
The receipts
The Protect College Sports Act is on the brink of passing in the Senate, where a handful of former college athletes who are now senators on both sides of the aisle have an extra say in the debate.
· 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
· Trump to attend Texas-Tennessee football game as he pushes college sports bill from the morgue, 24 Sep 2026
· College sports bill faces uphill battle in post-midterms House from the morgue, 21 Sep 2026
· Trump stumps for Protect College Sports Act at Texas-Tennessee game: ‘Bipartisanship for the first time in a while’ from the morgue, 26 Sep 2026
· No. 1 Texas escapes Tennessee with thrilling SEC victory as President Trump watches on from Neyland Stadium from the morgue, 26 Sep 2026
· Audio problems plague ABC for Texas-Tennessee after warning of possible disruptions with Trump at game from the morgue, 26 Sep 2026
· Trump met with roaring cheers at University of Tennessee-Texas Longhorns college football game from the morgue, 26 Sep 2026
· Air Force One does majestic flyover before Trump attends highly anticipated Texas-Tennessee game from the morgue, 26 Sep 2026
· Trump trolls reporter: I don’t want fake news ‘like you’ from the morgue, 26 Sep 2026
· SEC crowd greets Trump with massive cheers ahead of Tennessee-Texas showdown from the morgue, 26 Sep 2026
· Trump to attend major Texas vs. Tennessee college football game — and coaches are worried about disruptions from the morgue, 26 Sep 2026
· Tennessee fans excited for Trump's attendance at game vs Texas: 'I hope he stays the whole game' from the morgue, 26 Sep 2026
· Trump set to attend Tennessee-Texas football game in Knoxville from the morgue, 23 Sep 2026
· GOP hopeful removes ‘Pro-Trump’ mention from campaign slogan in deep-red seat from the morgue, 23 Sep 2026
· Tennessee uses unusual alcohol tactic to get fans there early with President Trump attending Texas showdown from the morgue, 26 Sep 2026
· Live updates: Trump attends Texas-Tennessee football game in Knoxville; US, China to cut tariffs on $30 billion worth of goods from the morgue, 26 Sep 2026
· Trump wants the Protect College Sports Act passed. What to know about the legislation. from the morgue, 26 Sep 2026
· This week on the Hill: Senate eyes final passage on college sports bill from the morgue, 20 Sep 2026
· College football pressure index: Four coaches, two QBs and one coordinator under the gun in Week 4 from the morgue, 20 Sep 2026
· Senate votes to move forward with Protect College Sports Act from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026
· Kirk Herbstreit defends having Ted Cruz on 'College GameDay' from the morgue, 18 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.