Confused about the recent decision...

...to allow the Northwestern football team to form a union? Brian Phillips, writing in Grantland, has a good piece on the subject, "The Northwestern Decision: An Explainer." (I think it could be the most underrated story of the year.) Money quote:

Amateurism has NEVER been about an ideal; it has ALWAYS been about control. In American college sports, it’s used to control the economy of the game, ensuring that profits go to the organizers rather than to the players whom fans are paying to watch.

Hat tip: Joe Tracy.