On Summit

Within hours of the announcement that then president of The Ohio State University, Walter Edward "Ted" Carter had resigned, I received an email from the OSU Alumni Association. To the Association's credit, it wasn't a fundraising email. Rather, it was a missive designed to reassure alumni like me that leaders come and go, but the strength of the OSU community rests with its people. I was assured that our great univesity would move forward, manage this change, and succeed. That the letter came at a bad time is an understatement. My opinion of and support for my alma mater had been in a freefall over the last few years as scandal upon scandal stacked up on campus. So, I reflected on my relationship to the university and offered a version of the following as my reply: Thanks for the update. I don't know that my one voice really makes a difference, but I wanted to write and let you know that any time the subject of college selection comes up in my presence, I actively...

I'll start with some disclaimers. I don't know the first thing about how the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) awards franchises. I expect you don't either. We refer to these civic pleas for major sports franchises as "bids", but what exactly constitutes a bid? Is there a request for proposals I can review? An application? A notice of funding opportunity? Is there a form to fill out? A list of specific targets that a city or community is expected to meet? Some measurable standards? Rubrics? Transparency? If any of those things exist please help me out, because I can't find them. Rather, and by the look of what's happening in Columbus right now, a "bid" for an NWSL franchise consists exactly of a current billionaire MLS owner expressing interest, sending out some press releases, talking to city hall, eyeballing city property, and getting the attention of the central Ohio soccer community. Normally, I'd be excited about the idea of expa...