Sports & Entertainment Beat

Welcome back to the "Spotlight!" If you’re like me, after having fasted all day Wednesday, you’re probably relieved to be diving back into your morning coffee, mid-morning snack, mid-mid-morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack and so on. Of course, I am referring to Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement in the Jewish faith in which one seeks forgiveness for their misdeeds by neither eating nor drinking for 24 hours and then (to loosely paraphrase the Torah) gorges oneself with bagels, cream cheese and lox when all is said and done, only then to seek forgiveness of one’s cardiologist. Fittingly, over the past few days, there have been other prominent (and less caloric) instances of making amends in the realm of Sports and Entertainment. To start us off, Kim Kardashian agreed to settle charges from the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) over her having promoted via social media the EthereumMax cryptocurrency token without having disclosed that she received compensation (approximately a quarter million dollars) for the promotion. Perhaps I have been in this world for too long, but I don’t know how someone would not understand that Kardashian was being paid for the post. In any event, in lieu of fasting, Kardashian agreed to forfeit the fees she received from EthereumMax, plus a $1 million fine. Elsewhere in Hollywood, Alec Baldwin agreed to settle a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of Halyna Hutchins, the Director of Photography of the film, “Rust” who was tragically killed on set when struck by a real bullet from what was supposed to have been a benign prop gun wielded by Baldwin during filming. In this case, the sum to make Hutchins’ family “whole” was undisclosed, but unquestionably, no amount of money could ever make up for the loss. With that backdrop of doing one’s best to legally right wrongs, what, if anything, is the olive branch that will be extended to Miami Dolphins Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who—after having clearly demonstrated neurological distress following an in-game hit on September 25th, was not only cleared by a neurologist to return to the same game, but also cleared to take the field again just four days later. As you may have heard, the results of the latter decision were horrifying to see, as Thursday Night Football viewers witnessed Tagovailoa experience brain trauma that sent him straight to the hospital. Thankfully, Tagovailoa says he is doing much better, and his case is causing a re-examination of the NFL’s concussion protocols, but what comes next for him and those who might have wronged him (hopefully more than a bagel and a schmear) is a question that will remain, for the time being, in the "Spotlight."

• • As the mid-term elections approach, on tap for the new Congress will likely be a renewed look at federal name, image and likeness (NIL) legislation. For the sake of leveling the playing field across all states and athletic programs, hopefully the outcome will be greater than NIL.
  • Chris Hemsworth, who plays the role of Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and is in far better shape than me, signs an exclusive first look deal with NatGeo Channel. The announcement itself is not that all unusual given that he’s not someone who likes to be low-key (get it…Lo-ki?).
  • Phil Collins and two Genesis bandmates sell their song catalog for approximately $300 million. For Collins, it’s just another day in paradise.