__  __      _        _____ _ _ _
|  \/  | ___| |_ __ _|  ___(_) | |_ ___ _ __
| |\/| |/ _ \ __/ _` | |_  | | | __/ _ \ '__|
| |  | |  __/ || (_| |  _| | | | ||  __/ |
|_|  |_|\___|\__\__,_|_|   |_|_|\__\___|_|
community weblog

Whiter Pete Rose...

In a shocking ruling today, retired Texas judge Ken Curry issued a temporary injunction against the NCAA. The injunction prevents the NCAA from banning Texas Tech QB Brendan Sorsby for the upcoming 2026 college football season - his final season of elgibility. (instead suspending him for two games). This comes after the NCAA was alerted by law enforcement that Sorsby had placed more than $90,000 of bets over the past four years. Estimates range from 3,000-10,000 wagers - including at least 40 bets on Indiana football when he was the Indiana scout team QB.
Sorsby's attorney argued that his gambling habit was a result of addiction and mental health concerns which obligates the NCAA to support him, instead of punishing him. The judge ruled that allowing the ban to go forward would cause Sorsby irreparable injury. While the NCAA has filed an appeal, there's a very strong chance that hearings would not be held until after the start of the college football season. Texas Tech would be the third school Sorsby plays for after starting his career at Indiana University. He transferred to Cincinatti and played 2 years there - tying the university record for most touchdowns in a season. He announced his transfer to Texas Tech in January with an expected 6 million dollar NIL payment. After the gambling allegations were revealed he attended a 35 day gambling rehab program and fought, along with Texas Tech administration, to secure reinstatement. The injunction was sought after the NCAA denied a final apppeal for reinstatement on June 5th. While Texas Tech is trying to follow on the success of their first appearance in the College Football playoff in 2025, a number of other school's Athletic Directors are ordering their staff to cease schedule games with Texas Tech across all sports. There's also speculation that this could be the final impetus to push for the oft-planned and denied "College Football Super League" independent of the NCAA.
posted by drewbage1847 on Jun 08, 2026 at 10:13 PM

---------------------------

I too wish a judge would find that I would suffer an "irreparable injury" if I am not allowed to play for the Red Raiders this season.

Sports betting is such a plague.
posted by hototogisu at 10:33 PM

---------------------------

I agree! I also hate that this case has put me in the position of siding with the NCAA.
posted by drewbage1847 at 11:30 PM

---------------------------

I think I dislike that facet even more than the betting.

I wonder how other schools refusing to play Texas Tech shakes out.
posted by hototogisu at 12:07 AM

---------------------------

Treating alcoholism as a disease might mean you go to rehab instead if jail for drunk driving. It doesn't mean you get to keep driving while your drinking is out of control.

The NCAA (or his school) might be obligated to help him get treatment for his gambling addiction, but there's no way they should be obligated to let a gambling addict keep playing football.
posted by straight at 1:38 AM

---------------------------

Or... the NCAA, who profited handsomely off him, could pay him a stipend while he seeks help for a condition they helped create.
posted by GenjiandProust at 2:35 AM

---------------------------

This is completely on the NCAA's head.

The NCAA could have been able to ban Sorsby, had they done one simple thing - enter into a collective bargaining agreement with the players, in which the association would have defined enforcement powers that would have allowed them to ban him with no ability to bring it to the courts. But because the NCAA and the colleges refuse to deal fairly with the players and seek to retain their unilateral power along with control over the billions that the revenue sports (most notably college football) bring in, they are in the position that they are beholden to the courts - courts that view them as the wage-fixing cartel that they are.

Furthermore, lets not forget that while the NCAA talks a lot about the integrity of the game and the dangers of gambling, they (along with pretty much every other major sports league) happily jumped into bed with the sportsbooks after the Supreme Court played superlegislature and tore down federal law controlling betting, which has been a public health disaster.
posted by NoxAeternum at 3:21 AM

---------------------------

Also, the "College Football Super League" is one of the stupidest things out there. The B1G and SEC like to talk a big game, but the reality is that leaving the NCAA doesn't actually fix the core problem - that the athletes are employees, and without a collective bargaining agreement, they are still a wage-fixing cartel that will have legal struggles with enforcement because of that. Furthermore, they're going to find that if they walk, they're not going to be leaving the NCAA in just football - they're going to be leaving the NCAA period, because the past few years have been the rest of the association's membership expected to clean up their messes.
posted by NoxAeternum at 3:27 AM

---------------------------

All very cogent points. The NCAA and college athletics generally are a disgrace, as is sports betting. But also, the motivated reasoning of football fan judges is pretty hard to overcome.

"Don't you tell that boy he can't play football! We could win the Cotton Bowl with him."
posted by Smedly, Butlerian jihadi at 3:42 AM

---------------------------

How does a retired judge rule on anything?
posted by blendor at 4:31 AM

---------------------------

I had the same question blendor!
posted by LizBoBiz at 4:41 AM

---------------------------

And the initial link doesn't say the judge is retired.
posted by NotLost at 5:03 AM

---------------------------

Retired judge means retired from full-time service. Retired judges can still serve as visiting judges. In his capacity as a visiting judge, he was assigned the trial by Ana Estevez, who presides over Texas' 9th Administrative Judicial Region.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 5:17 AM

---------------------------

I love the FPP title!
posted by riverlife at 5:27 AM

---------------------------

I'll bite: white male athlete shielded from consequences of own actions by a judge.

a tired cultural sickness.
posted by j_curiouser at 6:17 AM

---------------------------

Or... the NCAA, who profited handsomely off him, could pay him a stipend while he seeks help for a condition they helped create.

Sorsby has made millions in NIL money already. He's hardly being exploited by the NCAA. Even if he hadn't, the "NCAA" is a small non-profit organization that has a relatively tiny operating budget. The real actors here are the big football schools, Texas Tech among them, who make hundreds of millions off their programs. The "NCAA" is a convenient shield for them.
posted by Galvanic at 6:52 AM

---------------------------