The NIL story told by the athletes who lived it

I’d read a fair amount about the NCAA and its NIL cases, and many of those stories included examples of “student athletes” who couldn’t or, now, could make money. But too few of those reports told the story and illustrated the issue with the POV of the athletes at the center.

The first episode sets the book up through the case of Jeremy Bloom (skiing, football), establishing the history of the battle and the bizarre and increasingly untenable status of the NCAA. What sounds absurd today, Bloom was struggling to grasp years ago, and hearing his hope and disappointment through his own words and voice only underscores how baffling the NCAA once was (and can still be).

Out of Bounds is the perfect way for someone only peripherally interested in sports, law or both to learn about what’s ultimately a story of equity and power. It’s a classic story on its own terms, but one any college sports fan — or fan of great story telling — will devour.

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A plus plus (no grade inflation)

For years, I’ve loved the work of Chris Ballard, the reknowned SI journalist. He Is a master of capturing the humanity in his stories and using them to animate some of the biggest questions and challenges facing not just sports, but society. In Out of Bounds, Ballard takes his storytelling brilliance to the realm of the podcast, exploring the “battle of the soul for college sports” through the lens of six indelible characters -- some of whom you have heard of and some you have not. Based on the first episode, I am hooked. The story of Jeremy Bloom is told in only the way Ballard can: with careful attention to detail, mindful of complexity, and an effortless ability to capture the imagination of his listeners. Whether or not you are a huge sports fan, Out of Bounds will captivate you both because it touches on some of the biggest challenges facing our society (use and abuse of power, predatory capitalism) and profiles the human underdogs who took on the establishment in the name of justice. I cannot recommend this podcast highly enough.

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