Northwestern Football Players Seek Union Status

Midweek musings: The state of the union Tuesday had a meaning other than anything about President Barack Obama addressing both houses of Congress and the American people. Football players at Northwestern University became the first college athletes to ask for labor union representation. You have to admit it’s not every day that NU can claim to be No. 1.

* NCAA Chief Legal Officer Donald Remy: “This union-backed attempt to turn student-athletes into employees undermines the purpose of college: an education. Student-athletes are not employees, and their participation in college sports is voluntary. We stand for all student-athletes, not just those the unions want to professionalize.”

* Northwestern athletic director Jim Phillips: “Northwestern believes that our student-athletes are not employees and collective bargaining is therefore not the appropriate method to address these concerns. However, we agree that the health and academic issues being raised by our student-athletes and others are important ones that deserve further consideration.”

* Wildcats coach Pat Fitzgerald tweeted: “Kain [quarterback Kain Colter, who is the person leading the effort] and our student-athletes have followed their beliefs with great passion and courage. I’m incredibly proud of our young men! GO CATS!”

* The NU football players face a challenge in winning this battle, but the fact that they are the ones to tackle this issue has to be regarded as a victory for those of us who believe these “student-athletes” deserve to have some rights — not to mention the possibility of receiving a financial benefit beyond a college education.

* Because it’s cold and snowy and late, I think I’ll stop providing quality, creative content typing right now and run some photos for folks enduring frigid temperatures (and elsewhere). Included is April Rose, a favorite around here who also is in one of the videos below:

April Rose always is welcome around here, regardless of hair color.

Playboy’s January 2014 Cybergirl, Khloe Terae.

Karen Kennedy can warm things up with photos like this one.

Here is where to go for a daily dose of non-gratuitous video (thanks to the eclectic efforts of the editorial and video departments at ElliottHarris.com):

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