The Fumble: Ty Young On The WNBA’s Romance Issue & Are The NCAA’s Cupcake Games Problematic?

Lower-tier college sports programs getting big checks to play D1 teams is nothing new, but at least one HBCU is tired of it.

The Jackson State Tigers beat Edward Waters University 66-14 at last weekend’s Hope Labor Day Classic and were paid $60,000 for their loss. 

EWU President A. Zachary Faison responded by praising his team but apologizing for putting them in a cupcake game that, after expenses, netted them only $30,000.

So The Fumble co-hosts Rodney Rikai and Samaria Terry are exploring why HBCUs are still fighting for the resources they need and if Faison should’ve spoken out.

“A president coming out and saying this, it feels like a little bit of an overstep,” Rodney begins. “You know, that’s supposed to be the Athletic Director’s job or the head football coach. I think when you have conversations like this on behalf of your athletes, you feel like you’re attempting to defend them, but really you make them more of a target, and you make them a laughingstock. Now everybody isn’t looking at them as football players, but people who deserve a level of empathy and sympathy. And that can be demoralizing for a team as a season gets underway.”

For this week’s guest, the crew spoke with former WNBA player and Chicago Sky assistant coach Ty Young.

She talked about everything from her new show Sideline Superstars to her time in the league.

Now that she’s been a coach and has a front-row seat to the league’s growing pains, she’s admitting that players being too vocal about dating breaks focus. 

“It’s not something that’s new with players and teammates dating each other,” Young begins. “It’s been happening for a long time, but players were way more discreet back in the day than the players are now. 

She adds, “Everything is being public now too because of the media, and because of the rise of the women’s league. There’s so much attention on what players are doing, and you know some people say all press is good press. I don’t believe in that, but I believe that it is becoming a distraction because now people are more concerned with who’s dating than the actual games.”