OK so they're not fabulous but here are a collection of shots taken today and a brief video downloaded to YouTube.Friday, June 15, 2007
Weanling photo shoot
OK so they're not fabulous but here are a collection of shots taken today and a brief video downloaded to YouTube.A Critical Evaluation of the Top Tier
Regular readers of the blog here will notice that I enthusiastically support Ron Paul for President. I also temper that support with the knowledge that the electorate is too fucking stupid to elect a principled guy like Dr. Paul. I despise when people complain about crooks and liars getting into office, yet these are the people they vote for. Honest people can't make it in politics because the American people are fucking retarded with shit for brains. They get the government they deserve--good and hard deep in their bleeding asses. But I digress. . .
Here is my critical evaluation of the "top tier" of candidates. These are the slimy fucks with the most money and the highest likelihood of winning.
1. HILLARY CLINTON
I despise this cunt. With Hillary, we'll get nagged into a nanny welfare state. And she will be a hawk on the war because everyone thinks she'll be weak on defense because she's a chick. Instead, she'll be a real bitch.
2. BARACK OBAMA
He's just a polished version of Al Sharpton. He plays white, so he'll get some of the white vote. But a black man can't win the oval office in the USA. I don't have a problem with his race, but he does not represent my viewpoints at all. He'd be like Hillary on all the issues. OTOH, if he came out strong against the war, he'd get my vote.
3. JOHN EDWARDS
This guy is barely top tier. He could win the general election, but he won't get there.
4. AL GORE
He's not a candidate, but like Fred Thompson, he's running. He's biding his time to consider a strategy. Then, he will run and win the Democratic nomination. I despise this fucker almost as much as Hillary. But he might be the one to end the war.
5. MITT ROMNEY
This guy is absolute slime. He will say anything to get elected. He is the GOP version of Bill Clinton.
6. RUDY GIULIANI
Rudy is an Italian fascist. This country would become a civil liberties nightmare under his watch.
7. JOHN McCAIN
McCain isn't much different than Giuliani except that he learned his lesson from the last presaidential campaign and has pressed his lips firmly to the ass of the Religious Right. Throw in ardent support for the war, and he stands no chance of winning the nomination. This is rather ironic considering how much he has sold out. But I think he sacrificed some self-respect in the process.
8. FRED THOMPSON
This guy will probably win it all. I don't agree with Thompson on a lot of shit, but I suspect he is a political realist. He will support the war, but he'll pull us out after he gets elected. He is the least of all evils, and he'll probably get my vote in the general election. I always go with the one who is most likely to cut taxes.
The wild card in this race is NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg. He has the money to run an independent campaign. He is also nauseating as fuck with his nanny state bullshit. Who will he hurt most? That is the question. If Fred Thompson wins the GOP nomination, I think Bloomberg will hurt the Democrats. But I don't know.
Go Ron Paul.
Here is my critical evaluation of the "top tier" of candidates. These are the slimy fucks with the most money and the highest likelihood of winning.
1. HILLARY CLINTON
I despise this cunt. With Hillary, we'll get nagged into a nanny welfare state. And she will be a hawk on the war because everyone thinks she'll be weak on defense because she's a chick. Instead, she'll be a real bitch.
2. BARACK OBAMA
He's just a polished version of Al Sharpton. He plays white, so he'll get some of the white vote. But a black man can't win the oval office in the USA. I don't have a problem with his race, but he does not represent my viewpoints at all. He'd be like Hillary on all the issues. OTOH, if he came out strong against the war, he'd get my vote.
3. JOHN EDWARDS
This guy is barely top tier. He could win the general election, but he won't get there.
4. AL GORE
He's not a candidate, but like Fred Thompson, he's running. He's biding his time to consider a strategy. Then, he will run and win the Democratic nomination. I despise this fucker almost as much as Hillary. But he might be the one to end the war.
5. MITT ROMNEY
This guy is absolute slime. He will say anything to get elected. He is the GOP version of Bill Clinton.
6. RUDY GIULIANI
Rudy is an Italian fascist. This country would become a civil liberties nightmare under his watch.
7. JOHN McCAIN
McCain isn't much different than Giuliani except that he learned his lesson from the last presaidential campaign and has pressed his lips firmly to the ass of the Religious Right. Throw in ardent support for the war, and he stands no chance of winning the nomination. This is rather ironic considering how much he has sold out. But I think he sacrificed some self-respect in the process.
8. FRED THOMPSON
This guy will probably win it all. I don't agree with Thompson on a lot of shit, but I suspect he is a political realist. He will support the war, but he'll pull us out after he gets elected. He is the least of all evils, and he'll probably get my vote in the general election. I always go with the one who is most likely to cut taxes.
The wild card in this race is NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg. He has the money to run an independent campaign. He is also nauseating as fuck with his nanny state bullshit. Who will he hurt most? That is the question. If Fred Thompson wins the GOP nomination, I think Bloomberg will hurt the Democrats. But I don't know.
Go Ron Paul.
Eighth Circuit Hears Oral Argument in Fantasy Baseball Case
Yesterday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eight Circuit heard oral arguments in a dispute over fantasy sports operators' right to use baseball players' names and statistics. The oral argument can be heard here (it takes a while to download).For previous Sports Law Blog coverage of this case and related issues, see:
Judge Rules in Favor of Fantasy Baseball LeagueHT to recent UT Law grad Justin Stone for passing along the link.
Should Fantasy League Operators Pay Licensing Fees?
The Law, Politics, and Linguistics of Fantasy Sports
Major League Baseball v. Fantasy Sports
Can Player Statistics Be "Owned"?
Are Fantasy Leagues Bad for Baseball?
Sports, Technology and Law: Do Leagues Own Statistics?
Thursday, June 14, 2007
PRINT-Casino Royale by Ian Fleming
After seeing the latest James Bond movie, I became very interested in reading the Bond novels that Ian Fleming wrote. Fleming's Bond is way different than the one seen in the movies. Daniel Craig's version comes closest to the spirit of the character that Fleming envisioned which is a man with a certain amount of ambivalence and roughness.
Casino Royale reads like a noir thriller. It is gritty and dark. Bond does not always prevail, and he has his doubts about his profession and his "friends." Like the movie, Bond must gamble to accomplish the financial ruin of a black market banker named Le Chiffre through the gaming tables at the Casino Royale. Things get ugly from there, and Bond is simultaneously rescued and betrayed.
Most people are not familiar with this Bond. They have grown accustomed to the cartoon of the movies. But you will like this Bond a lot more. I highly recommend this book for your summer reading.
Yi Jianlian's Age, NBA Employment, and Immigration Law
In the upcoming NBA Draft, Yi Jianlian, a 7'0 forward from China, will likely be among the first six or seven players selected. The Boston Celtics, which pick 5th, are said to be highly interested in him, as are the Chicago Bulls. As detailed on Rookiepedia, Yi offers an intriguing mix of size, shooting ability, and sound fundamentals. He has been compared to Pau Gasol, Toni Kukoc, and even Kevin Garnett. With such acclaim for Yi, it is not surprising to read ESPN's Chad Ford comment that "a number of NBA general managers and scouts who have followed Yi closely have said he's the third-best prospect in the draft."But notice that we have not mentioned Yi's age as an asset. It's because there is uncertainty as to how old he actually is. His passport states that he was born on October 27, 1987, meaning that he should be 19. And the NBA believes him. So too does ESPN. But DraftExpress and NBADraft.net list him as 22. The Houston Chronicle goes further, intimating that he may be 25. Even Chinese basketball fans are not immune from confusion. All told, Yi may be as young as 19 and as old as 25. How is that possible?
Here's how:
Questions surround Yi's correct birthdate, his official passport in China has him listed as being born on October 27, 1987, but it has been rumored that his date of birth may have been intentionally falsified so to be eligible in junior competitions. The estimates of his birthday are between 1984 to 1987.
In 2004, he was listed as being born in 1984 in China's Four Nation Tournament, although authorities said it was only a "typo".
A Houston Chronicle article reported that Yi told Shane Battier he was 24 in an exhibition game before the 2006 FIBA World Championship [which occurred in August, before his October birthday]. However, Yi later denied the allegations.
As noted by Tom Ziller on AOL Fanhouse, the difference between being 19 and 25 is profound 
when projecting a player's upside and ability to ameliorate weaknesses. For instance, if Yi lacks strong rebounding skills at 19, teams can expect that he'll improve as he fills out and works with NBA coaches; if he lacks those skills at 25, he may never develop them, or at least not to the same extent. The age discrepancy likewise changes how we gauge his past success: dominating other the competition at 19 is a lot more impressive than doing so at 25. In short, Yi is a completely different NBA prospect if he's 19 than if he is 25, or perhaps even 22.
Determining Yi's actual age may prove to be a difficult task. Indeed, in China, the accuracy of birthdates has been called into question on numerous occasions. Such accusations are especially rife with regards to the Chinese basketball program. As recently as November 2006, Xinhua, China’s national news agency, noted that birth certificates and ID cards could be forged to register for a U-18 competition and that some players even went as far as to adopt a new name. A senior Chinese Basketball Association official, Zhang Xiong, admitted that age fraud was a problem and that past youth squads had indeed included overage players.
The implications of Yi's uncertain age go beyond the basketball court. They affect whether Yi, a foreign national seeking to work in the United States on a temporary basis, can be employed by an NBA team. To work in the United States, Yi will likely pursue an "O-1 visa"
which is a visa designed for a person of extraordinary ability in his field. At the very least, Yi is a lock to qualify for the lesser “P-1 visa” which is almost automatically accorded to NBA athletes under contract. Either way, a completed I-129 visa form, which is a petition for nonimigrant worker, will be required as part of the visa application process. It will be reviewed by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency of the Department of Homeland Security and will explicitly ask for Yi's date of birth. If it is later determined that Yi lied about his age, he can lose his visa status and even, albeit unlikely, be deported, while his team and the NBA could face sanction if they knowingly facilitated in any deception of the U.S. government. So before Yi receives his first NBA pay check, Yi will have to reveal his actual age, or risk the consequences (as some Major League baseball players have likely done, without consequence).
It is interesting how the NBA fought so hard for a minimum age floor of 19, and yet seems oddly content with sanctioning the draft entry of a player whose age may be 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, or 25. We don't question the difficulty of obtaining Yi's age, but the NBA is well-financed business operation with business contacts throughout the world. Moreover, the league could deny Yi's eligibility until he and his representatives established greater certainty about his age. Instead, the NBA seems unmoved by the issue, which is puzzling given the ramifications that such a high draft pick could have on one of its member franchises and the credibility of the league itself. In the interest of sporting and legal integrity, we believe that it is imperative that the NBA be as vigilant with ensuring the accuracy of a player's birth date as it is with ensuring that the player meets the age floor.
[Note: Co-author Jason Chung is a graduate of McGill University and author of an article on race and the Wonderlic Exam. He is also a research assistant for Jon Hanson and Michael McCann at the Project for Law and Mind Sciences at Harvard Law School]
when projecting a player's upside and ability to ameliorate weaknesses. For instance, if Yi lacks strong rebounding skills at 19, teams can expect that he'll improve as he fills out and works with NBA coaches; if he lacks those skills at 25, he may never develop them, or at least not to the same extent. The age discrepancy likewise changes how we gauge his past success: dominating other the competition at 19 is a lot more impressive than doing so at 25. In short, Yi is a completely different NBA prospect if he's 19 than if he is 25, or perhaps even 22.Determining Yi's actual age may prove to be a difficult task. Indeed, in China, the accuracy of birthdates has been called into question on numerous occasions. Such accusations are especially rife with regards to the Chinese basketball program. As recently as November 2006, Xinhua, China’s national news agency, noted that birth certificates and ID cards could be forged to register for a U-18 competition and that some players even went as far as to adopt a new name. A senior Chinese Basketball Association official, Zhang Xiong, admitted that age fraud was a problem and that past youth squads had indeed included overage players.
The implications of Yi's uncertain age go beyond the basketball court. They affect whether Yi, a foreign national seeking to work in the United States on a temporary basis, can be employed by an NBA team. To work in the United States, Yi will likely pursue an "O-1 visa"
which is a visa designed for a person of extraordinary ability in his field. At the very least, Yi is a lock to qualify for the lesser “P-1 visa” which is almost automatically accorded to NBA athletes under contract. Either way, a completed I-129 visa form, which is a petition for nonimigrant worker, will be required as part of the visa application process. It will be reviewed by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency of the Department of Homeland Security and will explicitly ask for Yi's date of birth. If it is later determined that Yi lied about his age, he can lose his visa status and even, albeit unlikely, be deported, while his team and the NBA could face sanction if they knowingly facilitated in any deception of the U.S. government. So before Yi receives his first NBA pay check, Yi will have to reveal his actual age, or risk the consequences (as some Major League baseball players have likely done, without consequence).It is interesting how the NBA fought so hard for a minimum age floor of 19, and yet seems oddly content with sanctioning the draft entry of a player whose age may be 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, or 25. We don't question the difficulty of obtaining Yi's age, but the NBA is well-financed business operation with business contacts throughout the world. Moreover, the league could deny Yi's eligibility until he and his representatives established greater certainty about his age. Instead, the NBA seems unmoved by the issue, which is puzzling given the ramifications that such a high draft pick could have on one of its member franchises and the credibility of the league itself. In the interest of sporting and legal integrity, we believe that it is imperative that the NBA be as vigilant with ensuring the accuracy of a player's birth date as it is with ensuring that the player meets the age floor.
[Note: Co-author Jason Chung is a graduate of McGill University and author of an article on race and the Wonderlic Exam. He is also a research assistant for Jon Hanson and Michael McCann at the Project for Law and Mind Sciences at Harvard Law School]
New Sports Law Scholarship
New scholarship:
Peter Charlish and Rob Heywood, Anti-doping inconsistencies snare American star, 8 TEXAS REVIEW OF ENTERTAINMENT AND SPORTS LAW 79 (2007)
John A. Fortunato and Jef Richards. Reconciling sports sponsorship exclusivity with antitrust law, 8 TEXAS REVIEW OF ENTERTAINMENT AND SPORTS LAW 33 (2007)
Paul Greene, Paving a new path to conviction in Olympic doping case, 59 MAINE LAW REVIEW 149 (2007)
Matt Maher, Note, You’ve got messages: modern technology recruiting through text-messaging and the intrusiveness of Facebook, 8 TEXAS REVIEW OF ENTERTAINMENT AND SPORTS LAW 125 (2007)
Brandon T. Moonier, Comment, The legal game behind fantasy sports: copyright protection and the right of publicity in professional performance statistics, 26 ST. LOUIS UNIVERSITY PUBLIC LAW REVIEW 129 (2007)
