GOP’s risky midterm convention, fixing college sports, remembering 9/11 & an Emmys preview | Ep. 85

Conner Jones: [00:00:02] Hi, I'm Conner Jones.

Parker Jones: [00:00:03] And I'm Parker Jones.

Conner Jones: [00:00:04] And this is Culture Brief, a Denison Forum podcast where we navigate the constant stream of top stories and news, politics, sports, pop culture, technology, and so much more. We do it all from a Christian perspective as always. And Parker, I'm so glad to have you back on the show.

Parker Jones: [00:00:17] Grateful to be here.

Conner Jones: [00:00:18] Great. Uh, Parker, we got a loaded conversation today. There's a lot happening in culture. We got political stuff happening. We got football stuff happening, of course. You know, the return of the NFL is, we're actually recording on Wednesday right now, so there there's a game tonight, oddly enough on a Wednesday. But then the whole weekend, man, Thursday, Friday, if you go to Friday night lights, Saturday of college football, Monday, and I skipped the best day of them all. Sunday, go to church and then watch football all day on Sunday. It's a great time to be alive.

Parker Jones: [00:00:47] It is. I'm very grateful and when football is here, that means hopefully soon enough, cooler weather will be here too.

Conner Jones: [00:00:53] Oh my gosh. For if you're not in Texas, you may not understand, but we're still it's still 100 degrees on September 9th, uh, which is crazy. What else are we going to be hitting on today?

Parker Jones: [00:01:02] Yeah, we've got uh a conversation about the midterms, uh the the wild west of college athletics right now. Uh there was a plane crash in Miami, uh we need to talk about. Uh some anniversaries that are happening this week as well as uh the Emmys are coming up this weekend and like we already mentioned, football.

Conner Jones: [00:01:21] Yeah. All right, let's do it. Let's jump into the brief. Okay, so we're only 54 days out from the midterm elections, which might feel kind of far away, but really that's not that far away. Uh in the political world, that is kind of an eternity. Uh anything can happen every single day, every single hour in politics. It could, you know, soar a candidate or tank a candidate's chances. But one thing that is happening this week is what the Republican Party is calling a midterm convention. You're probably thinking, what in the world is a midterm convention? I think a lot of people are thinking that because that's never happened before. We've never seen a midterm convention. This is not a uh we're not nominating a president. There's no one getting nominated by either of the parties. And the Democrats are not actually doing a convention, just the Republicans. Um, as, you know, they're trying to capitalize on this moment where after Labor Day, a lot of people start to actually focus in on elections. Summer's over. You're going to see more ads and more ads, just constantly, especially as football kicks off. Any game you tune into, there will be just political ads, you know, galore. It's going to be local, it'll be governor, it'll be uh senators. It's going to be a lot of ads coming your way or on your social media feeds. Just get ready. The next few weeks are going to be just a uh a load of information on candidates, which is not necessarily a bad thing. It's good to learn about these candidates. We'll hit on that in a little bit. But to capitalize just on this big moment of people finally maybe starting to tune into what's going on and starting to prep for who they might want to vote for here on November 3rd. Um, yeah, the Republican Party is doing this convention. So we're going to see a parade of lawmakers and candidates and donors and party officials from the Republican Party head here to Dallas actually. Um, I don't know why they chose Dallas when it's this hot outside, but nonetheless, they are on their way. Parker, we were actually hanging out in the backyard at our uh parents' house the other day and we saw one of the C-17s coming in that carries the presidential just like motorcade and secret service materials and equipment uh in preparation for a presidential visit. So that's because Trump is coming in. He's actually speaking both nights of this convention. This convention is going to be on Wednesday, September 9th, which is what we're recording today. So by the time you're listening to this, that first night will absolutely have passed. Trump will have spoken. Don't know what he's going to talk about fully yet. I mean, he's supposed to be making a speech to support the Republican Party and candidates, right? Um, but then Thursday night will be another big night. This will be uh Vice President Pence will be speaking as the keynote address speaker as well as Trump apparently doing another speech on Thursday as well and closing this thing out. Um, so that's kind of what's happening here. They're doing this as a attempt to bring attention to a bunch of candidates who are running across the nation really for Senate and Congress or uh really the House of Representatives there. And they are running there uh and Trump is trying to take whatever weight he's got as the president and as just the central figure of the Republican Party and put it and boost behind these people and the um issues and policies they are facing. Parker, you we were talking about this the other day. You were not even aware that this convention was happening, right?

Parker Jones: [00:04:22] I think I had seen uh one or two headlines uh a while ago about the possibility of this, but that the scheduling of it was kind of unique uh with the start of the NFL and different things. But that was that was it. I didn't know the location. I didn't know um the purpose necessarily. And so and I still don't feel like it's it's getting uh an immense amount of coverage. Maybe it's just my algorithm.

Conner Jones: [00:04:48] Yeah, you're right. Um, I was reading some some reporting this morning from Politico and Axios and Wall Street Journal and stuff around this convention. A lot of people were uh seeming to think that this is not hitting the mark the way that they were hoping it would. It was uh this convention was kind of hastily put together in June. That's when it was announced. So that kind of already made them have to quickly schedule everything, try to find people to come speak, try to organize this massive event at a at the American Airlines Center, which is the big arena in Dallas. Um, it's got a lack of awareness amongst voters just in general. And there's just frustrations within the Republican leadership that um, you know, some people are actually opting some of these people who are running for right, they're running their campaigns right now, races are actually opting not to come to Dallas. They're like, we don't want to be in this at all. Um, we don't want to They need to be on the ground. They need to be on the ground in their own states and or they're worried that being here is going to be a drag on them uh because of the unpopularity of leaders in the Republican Party, specifically Donald Trump himself. Uh they would rather be at home campaigning and meeting with people in their own districts or states. And I totally get that too. Uh one one top Republican was quoted as saying, the vibes here are very bad. Uh and another one said, my this is through Politico, they reported this this morning. He said, or maybe she said, my only hope is that no one watches it since it's competing versus NFL opening games and hopefully nobody notices this embarrassing show. I don't think it will matter. No one knows about it. There's no enthusiasm and it's during football. Only DC people care. That's a brutal assessment of what this is going to be if the idea is it's supposed to help uh invigorate voters and get them out the door. This is not a good prognosis ahead of time. Now, they could be totally wrong. This could end up being a huge hit and a lot of people tune in or what not. But as you made the point a second ago and as others have made the point, there's a bunch of other Republican operatives who uh according to Axios are privately incredulous that a convention designed to draw attention to the party's fall candidates was scheduled opposite of the NFL. They fear the party will struggle to persuade voters to choose politics over football, particularly men who powered President Trump's 2024 comeback. I would tend to agree with that assessment. I'm going to guess more people will choose football or Netflix or YouTube over a political rally in the middle of September on a non-presidential election year. What do you think?

Parker Jones: [00:07:02] Well, if I am the target voter that they're looking for, uh then yeah, I'm not I I I have other things to do Wednesday and Thursday night.

Conner Jones: [00:07:11] Uh yeah, I agree. Parker, you work at a church, so you you'll be busy on a Wednesday night. But for many Americans, you know, they'll be at work or whatever it is, or yeah, they're going to choose the Seahawks versus Patriots or the Rams versus 49ers over watching Donald Trump or JD Vance or some of these uh cabinet secretaries or congressional candidates do speeches. Like it's just it seems like a no-brainer there. Uh so I I'm shocked that they planned it that way. The it gets to a broader question though, this whole convention is should the Republican Party be worried or should maybe the Democrat Party be worried? They're not even hosting one of these. Do they have their own concerns? Uh just to clarify, both parties are suffering from favorability ratings that are pretty poor. They're neither one popular right now. Voters feel that Democrats and Republicans are both just disconnected from their lived realities. Maybe you feel this way. You don't feel like you're being seen or heard by people in power in DC. I can't blame you. Um, I I think that's always been a problem, not just in today's environment. People have always felt that way, uh that disconnect. Um, and you know, we've mentioned here on this podcast, uh and you're probably thinking it too that the primary concern of the majority of us and voter just America in general is the economy. The cost of living is so hard for so many people right now. And that's a a problem that many, you know, Republicans are recognizing and they're saying that the president and this White House are not really addressing well. They're they're distracted. They're not focused on trying to solve the economic problems that Americans are feeling, but maybe not people in DC are feeling, right? Um, and they've had control, the Republican Party has had control of the Oval office, the House and the Senate for the last year and a half plus, as well as really the Supreme Court. And yet it doesn't feel like anybody uh is assessing that their economic situation has gotten better other than you could point to what a lot of people feel is, well, the tech bros are getting richer, the the Wall Street guys are getting richer, all of that stuff. But the the average American is struggling as prices increase, as groceries increase, as gas increases, all this stuff, right? Um, and some just feel that the president himself is a drag on the party ticket. Uh his approval rating has hit an all-time low of 32%, which is actually really low. And 68% of voters say he's not focused enough on the problems most Americans face, which is what we just talked about. Um, do you do you feel that way too, Parker? Like there's a and this may not just be with Trump. This could have been you could feel this way about how Biden was as president or just, you know, leaders in general in politics. They feel uh Americans feel disconnected.

Parker Jones: [00:09:37] There's a lack of awareness from politicians as to what people are actually in need of, right? And so, uh I think a lot of times, and this is true in both parties and just politics in general, the things that are focused on in DC uh are are vastly different than the things that people want the focus to be on. And we see that with with a variety of things, whether it's the uh changing names of bodies of water, um or or whatever it might be, that doesn't that doesn't help the average American, right? And it doesn't mean that thing in of itself is a bad thing. That's not what I'm saying, but it feels like a distraction from where the the the problem really lies.

Conner Jones: [00:10:23] Yeah, well, and if you if if there are successes that the Republican Party has pulled off, they're not doing a great job of advertising that because there are so many distractions, right? Um, and so just listen to this from Axios. They they were kind of giving a summary of everything with polling that they're reading and research they're doing and quotes they're getting from operatives in DC. They said, read the polls, watch economic indicators and talk to President Trump's inner circle in private, and the verdict on his second term seems clear. Even some long-time insiders fear he's trapped by a war that he shouldn't have waged, tariffs that he shouldn't have levied, and monuments that he shouldn't be obsessed with. Uh so everything you just said there Parker, that's the that's kind of the Republican Party concerns right now, right? But then the Democrats have their own concerns. They are marred by the unpopularity of Biden still. Like that is still a drag on their ticket of what happened in those last few years uh before Trump came in and everything with trying to pull together a last second primary and the just what felt like a cover up of Biden's um mental acuity, all of that stuff, right? So they're kind of marred by that. They're also marred by past statements that can be considered super woke. Uh it's something that a lot of Democrats are having to kind of backtrack and find ways to, you know, say, well, I didn't really mean that when they said something that feels extreme. Um and then there's also kind of a general lack of concern about immigration on the Democrat Party side. Uh that is the one factor that people who don't even find Trump to be popular or they they may not agree with him. They do agree that he has handled immigration well for the most part, maybe not everything with ice and all that, but in terms of shutting down the border. So the Democrat Party still needs kind of an answer to that, right? Um and they currently lack the Democrats a central figure. That is not something the Republicans have a problem with. Trump is that central figure and seem to have a successor in either like a JD Vance or Marco Rubio. Um but there's not this person in the Democrat Party aside from you could say maybe like the Clintons or Obama, um which are just past presidents and wife there. They're kind of out of the scene now, they're out of the picture. They're not really um involved in politics the way they they could be or or used to be. But they are, you know, people look to them for guidance for the party. Well, they need somebody to step up. So this is a problem the Democrats have currently, but maybe they will find an answer in the not too distant future. We'll see. I'm sure 2028, the presidential election there will help them find the right type of figure, but they don't have that right now. Um, so that's just kind of an overview of what's going on with the two parties. But what do you need to know about the congressional majorities headed into this next month and a half, right? Headed into these elections. What is each party trying to do here? Well, as I said, the Republicans host the majority in the Senate and the House. They also have the White House, so they won't be losing the White House over the next two years, but they are certainly at risk of losing both the House and the Senate. Uh and there are some very close primaries that have happened. There are some very close uh polling numbers showing that there's a good chance Republicans lose their majorities and maybe both um legislative houses here, but potentially at least one for sure, more than likely the house. Um right now the Senate uh has 53 Republicans and 47 Democrats. So the Democrats need to flip four seats there. Uh three is not enough. That would just simply provide a 50/50 split down the middle of the Senate, uh but the tie breaker is always going to be the vice president, which is JD Vance. So the Republicans would have a 51 to 50 majority there. It'd be very tight, be very close. So if you had any Republicans string off and say, I'm not going to vote with that legislation, that would be a problem for the Republicans. Um, to pull that off, the Democrats would need to flip seats in Republican friendly states like Alaska or Maine or Ohio or Texas. But polling right now actually shows that the Democrat candidates in uh all four of those states have slight leads. So they have a chance there. They're uh in the house, Republicans have a very slim majority and they have for the last two years. It's part of why legislation continues to get just stalemated in uh Congress because it takes just a couple Republicans either not able to vote or choosing not to vote with the majority of the party to stall legislation there, right? Uh they have 218 seats. Democrats currently have 212, uh but there is one independent and there are four vacant seats. So the Democrats need a net gain of three seats to get back that majority, which would then kick out um Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, he would no longer be in power there as the speaker, a Democrat would come in power probably Hakeem Jeffries. Um, so should the Democrats gain the majority in both houses, you can expect them to probably do a few things. One, they're going to hold Trump's policies and his agenda hostage. They're just not going to let anything go through that they can prevent, right? So that would make Trump basically a very lame duck president for the next two years. He would not be able to get through as much as he's been able to push through uh the last couple years here with a Republican majority. And then they would honestly probably seek to impeach him again, potentially on like corruption charges over some of the uh private dealings he's done in the background of his presidency. I would venture to guess they would attempt that, but we'll see. Um that's also been unpopular in the past for them on occasion. Um but it it would make Trump less um powerful most likely. Uh that is what they are hoping for, the Democrats. Republicans are obviously hoping to continue to keep that majority. So we'll see what happens there. Here's my question for all of us. As Christians, how should we approach these midterms? I just did a a kind of an information dump there, but now you're probably thinking, well, should I go vote? What's my part in this? What should I be anxious about this? Should I be worried? Should I what should I do? Um, I would say this, we have to stick to biblical principles and truths and personal convictions while also really, you got to remain kind of open-minded. Um, it's easy to be very close-minded when it comes to politics. Uh but stay kind of open-minded, hear arguments, hear um different um conversations, maybe debates and engage in conversations with your peers, your friends, your family, your co-workers, whatever it is and try to understand different perspectives. Um, you know, there are topics though where we've got hardline stances. You're not going to veer away from our hardline stance on abortion, right? That that is very clear in scripture what that hardline stance is and there are others as well. Um, God has laid out some of those clear guidelines for us in scripture related to some of those stances. But not everything is extremely clear in the Bible. The Bible's not talking about some of the the things we discuss today. We we've talked about AI data centers. That is not laid out in scripture. So, how do you approach that? Well, I it's like I'm saying, go go try to engage in conversations, do research, read what candidates are actually saying. Don't just get a 30-second ad um to to tell you what a candidate thinks or wants you to know or an attack ad for sure. Those are always going to be very skewed. They know that that's most likely what voters will see and that's all they're going to see. I would encourage you to go check out policies, go read their websites, go online, go actually uh read um articles that they've been a part of in interviews or watch their interviews on YouTube or on podcasts or whatever it is and learn what a candidate is actually all about. Um and then that will help you determine, is this person in line with the way I see the world, my Christian worldview? Uh they may not be fully in line, especially if they don't have a faith, but can you see yourself aligning up with some sort of um moral uh you know, moral stances there. Um and then I you know, I would I would encourage us all to go vote. Parker, we've had this discussion like um I personally, I believe it's it's such a beautiful right that we have to vote. So much of the world does not get this right. Um we're blessed to live in this democracy and you've got the opportunity to vote. I would encourage you to educate yourself before you go vote and then yeah, if you are able to, go vote, go use your voice. Uh Christians, we should use our voices. This is an opportunity for us to make an impact on our government, um which is really cool that we've got that possibility and opportunity to do that. Um we live in a free country, right? But ultimately, Galatians 5:1 reminds us that our freedom is found in Jesus. So don't forget that first and foremost that we will always point back to Jesus. We can't put our hope in politicians, we can't put our hopes in a Republican Party, Democrat Party, an independent, a libertarian party, whatever it is. It's always in Jesus, but we do have the opportunity to be educated, to understand the stakes of what's coming down the line and to understand what a candidate is going to want to do or not want to do and where that lines up with your personal convictions and with scripture.

Parker Jones: [00:18:30] Yeah, I was just going to add to that that uh I think scripture gives us a command in Jeremiah 29:4 through 7 uh to seek the welfare of our community. And uh scripture kind of refers to believers, to Christians as exiles in a foreign land. And that's what in Jeremiah 29, that's where Israel is there in Babylon. They have been exiled, but God commands them even though they're only going to be there temporarily to uh to build houses and and plant gardens and seek the welfare of their community. I think we have that same command today and uh engaging in politics is one of the ways in which we can accomplish that.

Conner Jones: [00:19:10] Yeah, it is. Um, that's a really good point, Parker. Great scripture reference there. Uh, yeah, just take that uh as you will and pray about your next few weeks here, next few months as you start to get ready for midterms and as you start to see anxiety bubble up in the American populace because that's just part of what comes with elections. Uh just pray for our country, pray for our leadership and pray that um, you know, God would just lead us into the next generation of whatever it is with these politicians, next generation of hopefully, um, just joy and freedom, um, and prosperity. All right, Parker, let's dive into some college football talk. Well, there there actually is a a tie in here because we are going to talk about college football and college athletics, but uh very much in a way where the government is intervening. Oh yeah. And so there's a political aspect to this too.

Parker Jones: [00:19:59] Uh college football uh has just kicked off. We just had our full first full weekend of college football. There were a lot of uh great games and uh an interesting things and and confusing endings to games. Michigan, Western Michigan. Western Michigan. Power outages at Florida State. Yes, Western Michigan won by the way. Yes, they did. But uh regardless, uh I think some of the the bigger story lines in college football right now are off the field. that it's not what's happening in the games, it's what's happening behind the scenes, whether that is uh the protect college sports Act, which is what we're going to talk about now, or uh the confusion with NFL players potentially heading back to college and everything that's happened with LSU this week and it seems like maybe cooler heads are prevailing in that dispute. But even that is is something that uh would probably not have come about the the conflict between LSU and the Southeastern conference and and and the role of NFL players coming back to college would not have come about if the protect college sports Act was in place. So, what is the protect college sports Act? This is a bipartisan legislation that is being primarily the faces of it are uh Maria Cantwell, Democratic Senator from Washington, Ted Cruz, Republican Senator from Texas, Eric Schmidt, Republican Senator from Missouri. These are the three that have uh uh kind of been the face of this bill and the purpose of it is to restore college athletics to kind of a different era. And I think for a lot of us, if you grew up watching college football or college basketball in particular, there was an authenticity that came with the college level, the amateur level that didn't exist at the professional level. At the professional level, money always won out and still does. But at the college level, there was something to say for uh its authenticity, the fact that it felt attainable, the fact that it was a place where hard work really would pay off. And guys were fighting for uh the next level. But now, college athletics doesn't feel all that different than professional uh professional sports in in the way that money wins out. In fact, in in some sense, college athletics is is actually worse because there's no guard rails. There's no regulation. There's no uh collective bargaining. There's the things, the the the rules and processes and systems that are in place at the professional level in the NBA, MLB, NHL, NFL, do not exist at the collegiate level, but the money is still there. The money is is flowing into the sport at rapid uh rates. Some of it through private equity, but a lot of it is happening through TV deals. So, uh especially in college football, Fox and ESPN are the networks that are in in some sense controlling the future of the sport. They are responsible for uh uh courting teams, programs, universities to move conferences and uh they're responsible for the direction of the playoff and uh they're responsible for so much of the decision making that happens day-to-day because they're the ones that are funneling the money in. And then alongside that, name image and likeness, NIL is a huge factor that didn't exist just a few years ago. And I think on the surface, NIL is a good thing. Players can be compensated for the value that they bring to a university. They're no longer uh going to go unpaid while also uh being responsible for ticket sales, merch sales, etc. But it's been unregulated. And so we went from players get nothing and the pendulum swung to uh these college athletes are getting paid more than they would with a rookie contract at the professional level. And so, uh that's an extreme uh change. And then the transfer portal is is another uh unregulated area where where guys will end up at five schools in five years uh rather than uh staying committed and loyal to a specific university. And so that alongside uh chaos and coaching carousel, the the most uh kind of uh popular or infamous name in college sports right now is Lane Kiffin. He left Old Miss in the middle of a the season last year in the midst of a playoff run to go take another job, right? That's chaos too and there's a a domino effect that follows it every time a major coach like that moves. And then the destruction of regionality is is another thing as these conferences have kind of morphed, uh they uh no longer look uh like they used to. It's no longer regional. I I'm sure this is these all of these are things that are noticeable to you as you engage with.

Conner Jones: [00:24:47] Oh my gosh. I think a lot of the country is noticing this. I I feel for some of these athletes too. The the destruction of regionality is is so prevalent when you see players at UCLA having to travel across the country to play who? Uh Ohio State, right? Like that Rutgers. Rutgers. And and then they have to be in class the next day. Like it's insane. Um and and it also is tough for fans too who would like to travel around to other games. Nonetheless, I it seems like some of the big problems here Parker are what you're noting, there's a lack of a single authority. There's not a there's no the NCAA used to be this. They they can't enforce their rules. They no longer have really the ability to enforce the rules. There's now just conferences that are doing their own thing. They're all making their own deals, they're all trying to make their own rules. Um so there's no central authority complex, which also means there's no central union for the players. This is what you're saying about the professional leagues, right? The NFL has the league that dictates everything that happens. It has the ability to punish players, it has the ability to suspend, it has the ability to fine, to create new rules, to delete rules, to uh punish referees, whatever it is. There's not that in in college sports. And then the players just don't have a union. They don't have the ability to work together to find uh things that are fair for them. And so then you've got these agents that are taking advantage of them and their families as they try to make a couple million dollars. You're also giving, you know, millions of dollars to 18-year-old kids. It was always one thing when you gave it to 22-year-olds entering a professional league. Now 18 is insane. Uh while they're in college. And then you're you're also in an era where these kids are not choosing schools because they want they want to go to that school. Correct. Um which to your authenticity point, that was a huge part of the authenticity. You chose the University of Oklahoma because you wanted to play football for the Sooners, right? Or for the Longhorns at Texas. Like and it was ingrained in your blood and you grew up wanting to go there. Uh and the coaches said, we want you here and we're recruiting you straight out of high school and you're going to come play here for four years and you may be a starter by your second year. Gone are those days. Now it's just who's going to pay me the most? And I will jump between schools each year until I make as much money as I want. Uh and then maybe I'll go to the NFL, but most will not, but they'll still make a good amount of money. And so that's where you get this this situation where you got players who are like, well, I didn't make a team in the NFL, so I think I could go back to college and play at LSU and make a lot of money there, more money than I'll make trying to make it, you know, trying to to score a spot on a roster in the NFL.

Parker Jones: [00:27:10] Right. Yeah, and so all of this, all the tension is felt all across college athletics and uh it's it feels like a bubble that's going to burst in a in a sense. And so Congress is trying to step in and uh government intervention is not something that that most of the folks in college athletics ever desired, but many of them feel like now they need it. And the NCAA feels like they need it. And so the protect college sports Act is uh is supposedly the solution. And and really, uh this bill, the part of the goal of it is to give NCAA anti-trust exemptions that would allow them to actually enforce their rules because a lot of times NCAA will uh create a rule and then uh somebody goes somebody sues the NCAA, they go to court, they sue the NCAA, they win or they get an injunction, a temporary injunction or whatever that allows uh them to circumvent that rule. We've seen this happen several times this year already. Uh if uh if the Congress was able to grant the NCAA an anti-trust exemption much like the professional leagues have, then NCAA would have more power, more central authority to govern the sport in a way where they can actually enforce their rules. And then the bill would also enshrine permanently and legitimize name image and likeness. In other words, it would provide guard rails for it. It would ensure that it doesn't go away, but it would provide guard rails uh that would legitimize the money that's coming in uh rather than it being some of these kind of shady back room deals. It would actually protect players against agents, uh many of whom are are taking advantage of of players that are naive. And then there is an effective compensation cap or salary like cap that would be applied as well uh to universities uh through this bill. The transfer portal would be regulated. athletes would get one uh free transfer, one uh penalty free transfer. Beyond that, they would have to sit a year, which was the old rule. You'd have to always do that. Now you can transfer once without penalty, but a second transfer would would uh you'd have to to pay a penalty. And then uh there would be calendar adjustments. One of the biggest things for college football that's a problem is the coaching carousel and the transfer portal, all that stuff opens up before the season ends and that has a lot to do with the academic calendar because college football, the season, the playoffs go deep into January and and the next semester is already started. And so uh this uh bill would adjust that. And so, uh the the bill, the purpose of it is to restore that trust and authenticity and and bring about guard rails to the wild West of college athletics. And then uh I would I think it's interesting to point out uh some of the voices behind this. Nick Saban, the greatest coach in college football history is endorsing it. In fact, if you watched college football this weekend, there's a good chance you saw an ad for uh of Nick Saban endorsing the protect college sports Act. He is very vocal about trying to get this bill passed. And so, uh that's a a significant aspect of this. What is the likelihood that this bill can pass? Well, the Senate uh is supposed to take this bill to a vote on the floor later this month, perhaps next week. Uh but conveniently, there's a problem. Conveniently, the house has decided to take their extended recess starting next week. And so

Conner Jones: [00:30:42] Basically the house is out of work until after the midterm elections so they can go campaign, which is bizarre that they just got off their one month recess, their summer recess in August, came back for like a week and a half and now they're back or they're not back. They're they they all went back home. So this bill is stuck. Other legislation is stuck as well, but a lot of people have been waiting for this one.

Parker Jones: [00:31:02] Well, and and the Senate should have found a way to to vote on this back in July and they they failed to do so before their recess. And so all that to say, the Senate may vote on this next week, but the house probably won't see it until at least uh mid-November. And then uh the president has expressed his desire to sign this bill. And so, uh because it's bipartisan, it does seem like there's a good chance at least in the Senate it will pass. I think the house, it's uncertain, especially since every midterm election, there's a lot of turnover in the house. We don't really know what a vote in the house would look like.

Conner Jones: [00:31:36] I just wonder what the pushback would be. Like why would anybody not want to vote for this? It sounds like it's going to clean up a big mess other than it some could say maybe it's government overreach. This isn't their space that Congress shouldn't be involved.

Parker Jones: [00:31:46] Yeah, some would say that. I think there's also uh some some voices such as former uh head football Auburn head football coach, Tommy Tuberville. Oh yeah. Uh that he would argue that the bill is too far reaching and that uh maybe it goes beyond the scope of where the government should be involved or beyond the scope of what's actually enforceable and and that the bill would be at risk of of in in the courts uh because it's so broad and that they should just take a narrower path. So there are some everybody sees the need for the reform, but uh some would argue to take one thing at a time. Let's just go after the NIL stuff or let's just go after the transfer portal stuff or the salary cap, but not do uh everything at once. And so the bill is very loaded. But here's what I would say is that uh this bill, I think if it passed, it would push back against two of the things, two of the the sins of our culture that have overtaken every facet of our lives. One is greed. Uh and I think greed would still certainly exist, but the the access to unlimited money uh it would would be limited uh by this bill. The the college sports would be still in a sense money driven. Yes, but I think a lot of the greed that is making decisions now uh would uh disappear because some of the decisions wouldn't even uh be allowed to be made anymore. And then the second is instant gratification. This is I think the great sin of our culture is uh the constant need for instant access to everything. And uh and that leads to indulgence, that leads to greed, that leads to uh pride and selfishness and it it leads to disloyalty. I think this is one of the items that we see now with the transfer portal that instant gratification is it's destroyed commitment. Where instant gratification persists, commitment loses its meaning. And I I think of the story in in the uh book of Genesis of uh Isaac's sons, Jacob and Esau. And Esau, he what does he do? He he falls to the sin of instant gratification and he throws away his blessings, his inheritance, his birthright for a bowl of soup because he's hungry in the moment. And that is a a tendency in our culture today is to lose uh uh the the blessings uh that that come with virtue and commitment and selflessness. There's always a cost when we choose instant gratification over those things. And so in our own lives, I believe we must choose uh the blessings and frankly, the eternal satisfaction that comes with Christ over the temporary passions of greed and gratification.

Conner Jones: [00:34:42] Yeah, I mean, it's super true. Our culture loves instant gratification. I'm guilty of this. I mean, it it's part of what makes us addicted to our phones. That scroll is an instant gratification in some form or fashion. That's just an example. But yeah, everything you're saying about the the college sports and just the landscape that it's become. Uh hopefully it does get cleaned up. Hopefully this bill is the first step in a direction towards cleaning it up because it it's chaotic out there and which is impacting a lot of students and families. Some of you may have student athletes who are impacted by this. Um and maybe you disagree with some of what's in the bill. I would love to hear that. Tell us what what it is in the bill that you think is not good. Maybe you don't like the idea of having a cap on salaries or on transfer portal information or like how often you can transfer, right? Uh I'd be I'd be interested to hear the arguments against that. So, uh let us know your thoughts on that bill, um the perspective to bill. Parker, thanks for that breakdown. Parker also wrote an article on it uh a couple weeks ago for us here at Denson Forum. You can find that. It's a lot of what you just mentioned, but you added some additional context in there as well. Um, great. Thanks, Parker. I may do a mailbag specific episode soon. So, this is me asking you to please send in any questions you might have. Uh it could be about culture at large, it could be about sports, it could be about politics. It could be a personal question for me or another host. Um I'd love to answer those. They can be fun, serious, just curious, whatever it is. Um, you know, whatever you want to ask, we'd like to answer. So shoot us a question at [email protected] over on email. Again, that's [email protected] or a DM on Instagram. You can find us there at Culture Brief Podcast and you can find both those, the email address and the uh Instagram tag there in our episode description if you're on Apple or Spotify, YouTube, wherever it is, look below this episode. All right, let's check in real fast. There was a cargo plane crash, Amazon cargo plane crash in Miami this past Sunday. Uh really unfortunate because it led to the deaths of five people, um which might sound odd if you haven't seen the images, uh you may be questioning like how a cargo plane could have killed that many people. They're usually just two pilots. And that was true. It was just two pilots on board and both pilots were okay, but this plane was a Boeing 767, pretty large aircraft that overran the runway at Miami's airport and then went through a fence and then into a road and took out a few vehicles including a van loaded with seven people and five of those people were killed unfortunately. It also hit another car as well. I believe that driver was injured but is uh on his way to recovery. So, just really unfortunate and just another reminder, man, you just never know. Um we've talked about this before. It's been a weird couple years in American aviation. We've had several massive accidents uh in the last year and a half really since 2025. Um it just it's always interesting to me because plane crashes are not common, but when they do happen, it it makes extreme, you know, news and it hits your social media, hits your phone, hits the news channels, everything because it's like, whoa, this isn't supposed to happen. And it always looks odd when you see a plane uh not in a place it's supposed to be, not in a position it's supposed to be in and it's on fire. Um it's just a stark image uh that you don't forget. So, be praying for those families and always forget or always remember, you just don't know uh what the last second could be. Um you got to be just always aware that you need to be connected with God every moment that you got and pushing people towards the gospel.

Parker Jones: [00:37:58] Um and speaking of remembering, this this week is uh the anniversary, well today, if you're listening to this on on Thursday is the anniversary of Charlie Kirk's assassination, one-year anniversary. And so we think back to that from a a year ago and what a tragic event and moment for our culture to uh kind of everybody everything stopped for for a couple days it felt like and it was um just absolutely shocking. And then of course, uh Friday is the 25th anniversary of 9/11. And so, um 25 years, a quarter century since 9/11 took place. I think for a lot of people that's going to feel uh like time has passed very quickly.

Conner Jones: [00:38:49] Yeah, time has passed very quickly, but also, you know, I I think a lot of people who you got a stark memory of that day. You you're not going to forget what that day felt like. You're not going to forget what happened that day. Um, you know, whether you were far away or you were on the ground, you don't forget. Uh obviously people on the ground there who survived that have a whole different experience and a whole different set of memories and everything and I was um I recently had a conversation with a 9/11 survivor and it it's it's real, it's raw. Um but even for everybody else, the majority of us who, you know, I was five years old and I still remember seeing the towers on fire on my TV before I headed off to school because my parents just weren't sure what was going on yet. Um, obviously later on learned that stuff. But Parker, you were a baby and there's a whole generation of people who have grown up in a post 9/11 world, they may not even remember not just that day, but really what the world was like before that. Uh and it's just shifted everything. So over 25 years, the cultural shifts, the the the wars that came about from this, the the change in our entire society of security and um paranoia, all of that. It's it's very interesting to see. Uh and of course, we continue to honor the families who lost their loved ones uh and obviously the heroes of that day who gave it all, gave everything to go save other lives and the people who even survived who risked it all, um and are able to still tell their stories. What a blessing that is, but man, so many incredible stories of courage and heroism from that day. Grateful for those people. Okay, let's tune into a few things here. Uh just so you all are aware, the Emmys are this, they're actually not this weekend. They're on Monday. Again, why are we why are we putting things against NFL football? They're going to put the Emmys against NFL Monday Night football. Seems like a bad idea.

Parker Jones: [00:40:28] I I would argue those two have very different audiences.

Conner Jones: [00:40:31] They probably do. There is an overlap. You might be the overlap. I am the overlap. Most people are picking one. I would watch the Emmys if there was no football on, but I will choose football over the Emmys and I'll just catch who won the awards and some clips from the Emmys uh later on. But I I'm always interested in it. I'm big, you know, I love great television. I I really do. Obviously, some of the Emmys are going to go to like silly shows or documentaries or or uh journalistic shows and all that too. But I did want to point out the four most nominated shows of this year are uh The Pit from HBO Max, Hacks from HBO Max, Widow's Bay from Apple TV, and Pluribus from Apple TV. Parker, did you have you seen any of those shows?

Parker Jones: [00:41:07] I have seen some of the pit. Yes. Okay. And I look, I've got uh a toddler and a baby and we don't get to sit down and watch much much TV. If I'm watching, if I'm sitting down for TV, it's probably live sports.

Conner Jones: [00:41:20] Live sports or like a you're a Star Wars show kind of guy. You're like, I'll watch Ador. Uh Ador is great. I will say the pit is still, I think it's probably the best show on television, so I'm not surprised that it it's got this many Emmy nominations. And Widow's Bay was like the shocker of the year, came out of nowhere. It seems like so much of the country watched that. Uh great show, just a a fun kind of comical uh show. I love that. Um, so tune into the Emmys if you're interested or just catch who wins. Parker, I know there's a big college football game you wanted to mention.

Parker Jones: [00:41:50] Yeah, well, week two of college football, there's actually a lot of week one didn't have all the marquee matchups. week two has a lot, but the big one is Ohio State and Texas. Ohio State is traveling to Austin. They're the number one team in the country. Texas is number four. And so, uh yeah, to have a top five match up in in uh this early in the season is is abnormal. Uh we did have it last year and Ohio State came out on top in in this game last year. So just a uh blockbuster game, one of the the most important games of the entire season.

Conner Jones: [00:42:23] A couple guys on those teams too that are Heisman favorites as well as potential, you know, first round draft picks. Oh, NFL. Certainly Arch Manning is the name people are going to talk about. But Jeremiah Smith, the wide receiver at Ohio State is is maybe the most electric player in in college football.

Conner Jones: [00:42:38] Both those guys will probably be in the NFL next year. Um unless they decide to go to the NFL and then come back to college and try that again. Stop, stop. But yes, it is NFL opening weekend. So, you know, as we previously mentioned, by the time you're listening to this, we will know the result of the Seahawks and Patriots, which is exciting because they were playing Wednesday night. That is just throwing me off. Wednesday night. Uh and then Rams and 49ers playing in Australia of all places, Melbourne, Australia. Uh they have traveled all the way across the world and they both took different strategies there. The Rams went like a uh no, the 49ers went a week ahead to adjust to the time there in Australia and everything. And the Rams were like, we're doing a different strategy. We are flying in, going straight to the stadium and right afterwards flying back home. Um so they're not even spending time in Australia outside of the game. They're going to try sports science here, see which one gets the better, you know, situation for their bodies. Uh going to be exciting. But yeah, full weekend of football, excited for that. I'm most pumped Parker for our Dallas Cowboys kicking us off on Sunday Night football against the Giants. Let's go Cowboys. We can do it this year. I believe. I believe. You don't seem to believe.

Parker Jones: [00:43:39] I'll believe when I see it.

Conner Jones: [00:43:40] Well, I I I will watch. I tend to agree, but I keep them at arms length. I believe this year. I I'm feeling much better. Uh and then Monday night, you know, is appointment television, got the Chiefs Broncos. Parker, I just want to end this off with a question here. Do you have a favorite NFL theme song?

Parker Jones: [00:43:57] Ooh, Fox.

Conner Jones: [00:43:58] Fox. Man, when that kicks on and it's like Kevin Burkhart and Tom Brady coming on. Yeah. Or used to be Troy Aikman and Joe Buck.

Parker Jones: [00:44:05] I think Fox is my favorite. NBC is the nostalgic one for me because that was like as a kid, that meant the weekend was over and I had to go to school the next day.

Conner Jones: [00:44:12] Yeah, it was like you got three last hours of the weekend. I was like, oh, we're going to have a great time watching the Bengals play the Ravens on Sunday Night football. Um, yeah, Sunday Night football is my favorite or Monday night. I just love them. They're great. and it's just a nostalgic thing. So love to hear those songs. Everybody, enjoy your week and weekend and you know, we'll see what happens, what comes out of this Republican midterm convention. We'll see what comes out of college sports Act and everything else going on in culture. We'll see you all next week. Thank you for joining us on this week's episode of Culture Brief, a Denison Forum podcast. All articles and videos mentioned in this episode will be linked in the show notes. If you want to help us reach more believers with truth in today's chaotic culture, please share this podcast around and leave a five-star rating and review. All episodes are produced by Sound of a Rose. For more information, you can visit soundofarose.com. See you next Thursday.