This Just In

President Obama is proud of the new legislation that will cap executive compensation at $500,000 for any financial firm that accepts a government bailout.

That's less than any head football coach in the SEC. Less than I think all the men's basketball coaches. Less than 2/3rds of the women's basketball coaches in the Big 12.

$500,000 can get you an assistant coach/recruiting coordinator -- but not a defensive coordinator -- at Tennessee.

I'm not really sure what this says for America. An attempt at retroactive vengeance for a bunch of Bonfire of the Vanities-types puts the federal government in the wage and price controls business. (FYI -- The bill should have been called the Lawyers Employment Act; good luck in court. See: NCAA vs. restricted earnings coaches.)

Meanwhile, a market-driven escalation of coaching salaries the past few years threatens to cripple athletic departments, and in turn, injure the bottom line of some of our most important public institutions.

Then again, Urban Meyer did have a better year than A.I.G.