Positive Energy - Which one of these things is not like the others?

I'm Erik Stuart, a 30-something married guy living in San Mateo, CA. I'm in eBay's corporate strategy group, and I lead eBay's efforts to look at & develop relationships with internet startups. (Posts about Web 2.0, the internet, and anything else are my fault and don't reflect on my employer, except to the extent that they hired me and continue to keep me around.) I'll also blog about sports, games, musical theater, economics/physics/other science stuff, and whatever else strikes my fancy.

Which one of these things is not like the others?

“Major League Baseball is the only professional sports league with broad antitrust protection. The National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League, the NCAA, NASCAR, professional tennis and Major League Soccer supported the NFL in this case, hoping the high court would expand broad antitrust exemption to other sports.”

(from http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5214509&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines)

At least the professional leagues have an honest reason for trying to gain antitrust protection: namely, to increase their own profits. The NCAA, ostensibly, has no such motive, and, in its absence, strives instead to expand its own power and influence. This is, IMO, a scarier inclination, as it 1) is less likely to serve an actual need and 2) clothes itself in the guise of service, rather than self-aggrandizement.

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