Tort Liability for Fans Hit by Soccer Balls

Interesting piece by Attorney Mack Sperling on North Carolina Business Business Litigation Report on a new decision by the North Carolina Court of Appeals:

All lawyers know, from first year torts class, that if you are hit by a baseball at a baseball game, you are unlikely to have any claim against the operator of the baseball stadium. There's a well developed body of law to that effect.

Today in Allred v. Capital Area Soccer League, Inc., the North Carolina Court of Appeals held that the rules of the game may be different when it's a soccer game being played. The Allred case is apparently one of only three cases in the country that deals with injuries suffered by spectators from soccer balls kicked into the stands.

The Plaintiff in Allred was attending a women's professional soccer game at State Capital Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina. She was sitting in the stands behind one of the goals, and was hit in the head by a ball during warmups, when "many balls were directed towards the nets in a relatively short period of time." Op. at 4.. She suffered "substantial head injuries." Op. at 2.

For the rest of the piece, click here.

Read More

Non-Tendered Players Become Free Agents

On Friday December 12, all teams had a deadline to decide whether or not to tender a contract offer to a select number of their players. If the player was non-tendered by the deadline, that player was granted free agency. The vast majority of the players impacted by the deadline are eligible for salary arbitration. Teams can still negotiate with a player that was non-tendered an offer, but the player obviously has the right to negotiate with other teams as well. Typically, the issue is one involving the likely amount that the arbitration panel might award if the two sides cannot reach an agreement.

According to my research the following American League players were non-tendered by the deadline and became free agents:

John Bale (Kansas City Royals), Chris Britton (New York Yankees), Jaime Burke (Seattle Mariners), Daniel Cabrera (Baltimore Orioles), Kevin Cash (Boston Red Sox), Justin Christian (New York Yankees), Lance Cormier (Baltimore Orioles), Jairo Cuevas (Kansas City Royals), Joey Gathright (Kansas City Royals), Jonny Gomes (Tampa Bay Rays), Aquilino Lopez (Detroit Tigers), Doug Mathis (Texas Rangers), Jason Smith (Kansas City Royals).

According to my research the following National League players were non-tendered by the deadline and became free agents:

Reggie Abercrombie (Houston Astros), Mario Alvarez (Los Angeles Dodgers), Denny Bautista (Pittsburgh Pirates), Matt Belisle (Cincinnati Reds), Angel Berroa (Los Angeles Dodgers), Yhency Brazoban (Los Angeles Dodgers), Chris Burke (Arizona Diamondbacks), Chris Capuano (Milwaukee Brewers - who was signed to a minor league deal by the Brewers), Randy Flores (St. Louis Cardinals), Charlie Haeger (San Diego Padres), Robby Hammock (Arizona Diamondbacks), Clay Hensley (San Diego Padres), Norris Hopper (Cincinnati Reds - who was quickly signed by the Reds to a one-year deal), Chuck James (Atlanta Braves), Tyler Johnson (St. Louis Cardinals), Wil Ledezma (Arizona Diamondbacks), Gary Majewski (Cincinnati Reds), Scott Mathieson (Philadelphia Phillies - who was signed to a minor league deal by the Phillies), Aaron Miles (St. Louis Cardinals), Joe Nelson (Florida Marlins), Scott Proctor (Los Angeles Dodgers), Tim Redding (Washington Nationals), Takashi Saito (Los Angeles Dodgers), Jeff Salazar (Arizona Diamondbacks), Willy Taveras (Colorado Rockies), Ty Wigginton (Houston Astros).

Read More

Total Jerk

I was total jerk to my girlfriend today. I am always frustrated over time, and I finally took it out on her. I am such a complete dick.

I am frayed at the edges right now. I need sleep, but I don't have the time to get any. I suck the bottom out of a coffee pot in hopes that it will help me cheat the little death. It doesn't. But it does make me more pleasant. I need my java.

As always, I continue to be intoxicated by work and projects. Those things continue to be satisfying to me. But I might be taking it too far. I don't know. I almost had my power turned off today because I was too distracted to go down and pay the bill which I have plenty of money to cover. I don't have money issues. I have time issues.

Just being confessional today.

Read More

Interesting tidbit

Hall-of-Fame running back Franco Harris was an elector from Pennsylvania for Barack Obama.

Read More

Billy Joel Piano Man Auckland

A video of Billy Joel singing Piano man from his New Zealand concert, I didn't film this clip, I found it on youtube.

Read More

Sabrina - SO cute!

So today I dragged Bree out of her paddock, gave her a thorough brush, trimmed her mane and tail and popped her on the lunge. Not sure who had the most fun, me or her! She's very cute and trotted around with her little nose down and even popped over a tiny fence. Just 10 minutes today at walk and trot on each rein and tomorrow I will try my old mac boots on her for size and clamber aboard - if she doesn't mind.

Such a pretty girl

Trotting nicely
But THIS is what she loves!
With Bryce
Don't think you are going to see ...

Me jumping this height on her! Canter

Read More

Minority Football Coaches and Civil Rights

The new-old controversy in college football is the lack of Black head coaches in Division I-A college football. With recent firings and resignations, there are four Black coaches (out of 119 schools) in a sport in which approximately 46 % of players are Black. Exacerbating this problem is the recent trend of current head coaches at major programs designating a current (usually white) top assistant as the new future head coach whenever the current coach retires, a process that pretermits any future coaching search in which outside, Black candidates might be considered for the job. Essentially, the practice locks-in the current state of coaching at many major schools.

Richard Lapchick, one of the leading scholars on collegiate sport, race, and society, criticizes this state of affairs. He argues that the NCAA should adopt a version of the NFL's "Rooney Rule," which requires that teams interview at least one minority candidate for a head coaching job. Lapchick calls his proposal the "Robinson Rule," after the late Eddie Robinson, the all-time-winningest D-I coach at historically back Grambling State (a D-I-AA school) who never even got an interview for a D-I-A head job.

So here are my questions for con law and employment-law types out there: Would such a rule be constitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment? The NCAA is not a state actor, but individual state schools would be in following and carrying out such a rule. So, given the current state of Equal Protection law, would it be unconstitutional for a governmental actor to automatically interview and give serious consideration to a minority for every position? Or, as to private schools, does it violate Title VII? Finally and conversely, would the NCAA's failure to adopt such a rule (or a similar rule designed to ameliorate the dearth of opportunities for minority coaches) violate Title VII (Lapchick reports that the Black Coaches Association is considering using Title VII to challenge current hiring practices)?

Read More