Welcome home Robbie

Well Robbie is back from his holidays serving mares up north and it is lovely to have him back in our paddocks. He's looking a tiny bit the worse for wear after being 'on the road' for nearly a week but I am sure after a few good night's sleep in his old paddock and a belly full of food he will be feeling much better. Poor boy was clearly very tired and I doubt the truck driver getting stuck up our road for half an hour helped! Then it took 10 minutes to get the door to open and then he had to stand at the top of the ramp for ages before he was allowed to walk off - such a good boy, did everything he was told and was a complete angel. Love ya Rob and it's so nice to have you home.

Um, don't try and turn around there Mr Truck Driver

Robbie really just wanted to get off and eat!

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CHAPPAQUIDDICK.

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Instant Replay and Appellate Review

Chad Oldfather (Marquette) and Matthew Fernholz (J.D. Candidate at Marquette) have posted Comparative Procedure on a Sunday Afternoon: Instant Replay in the NFL as a Process of Appellate Review to SSRN. The paper considers analogies and distinctions between replay review (for which I have expressed my distaste) and judicial appeals. Here is the abstract:

During his confirmation hearings, Chief Justice John Roberts famously likened the judicial role to that of a baseball umpire. The increased prevalence of video evidence makes it likely that judges will find another sporting analogue for their role – that of the instant replay official in the NFL. (Indeed, many have already done so.) This Essay explores the analogy. In so doing it seeks not only to consider its appropriateness in a narrow sense (much as many commentators considered the appropriateness of the Chief Justice’s analogy), but also to conduct something of a comparative analysis and thereby to use it as a vehicle for illustrating some general characteristics of a process of decisional review.

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New Zealand 100 Australia 78

For the second time in three days, New Zealand has created a huge sporting upset, this time by beating Australia in Basketball by the score of 100-78.

Aussie won the first test by seven points

The margin of 22 points in the second test means New Zealand wins the series, will get the top ranking for Oceania at the 2010 world champs in Turkey, and is also now the holder of the Ramsay trophy.

It was a sublime effort, led by Kirk Penny who once again lead his team with the coolness that was needed, kudos also has to go to unknown player Vukona, who scored 25 points and got 12 boards.

The importance of this victory should not be underestimated by the NewZealand media or sporting public, not for the fact that we won the series or will have a a easier group in Turkey, but for the fact Basketball is a truly global game and Australia is a top team, like our Ice Hockey counterparts a victory in Basketball over Australia is a much bigger acheivement than beating them in Rugby Union, Netball or Lawn Bowls, hopefully our media will acknowlege this, but Im not holding my breath.

So once again congrats to the New Zealand Basketball team for one of the great sporting victories in our Nation's history, and roll on the world champs.

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Dryer v. NFL: Retired NFL Players Sue for Use of Identities

As detailed by Nooman Merchant of the Associated Press, a group of retired NFL players are suing the NFL under the Lanham Act over the NFL's use (and particularly NFL Film's use) of their identities. Merchant interviewed me for the story. Here is an excerpt and my comments:

* * *

NFL Hall of Famer Elvin Bethea [#65 above, a defensive lineman who played for the Houston Oilers and recorded a lot of sacks while doing so] and five other players sued the league for using their names and images for profit without their permission.

The players filed a class-action lawsuit Thursday in federal court in Minneapolis. The lawsuit accuses the NFL of exploiting retired players' identities in films, highlight reels and memorabilia to market the league's "glory days" without compensating the players.

"It's really turned into a big property," said Bob Stein, a lawyer for the players.

* * *

Michael McCann, a sports law expert and professor at Vermont Law School, said the lawsuit was similar to a complaint filed last month by former UCLA basketball player Ed O'Bannon against the NCAA. O'Bannon is seeking unspecified damages for the use of former players' likenesses in video games and other material. [O'Bannon v. NCAA]

In this case, McCann said, the NFL would likely refer to its collective bargaining agreement with the NFLPA. The player contract in that agreement gives publicity rights to the league.

"Whether there's sufficient language in there affecting retired players remains to be seen," McCann said.

In June, a group of more than 2,000 retirees won a $26.25 million settlement with the NFLPA over the use of their likenesses in video games, trading cards and other sports products. The retirees sued in 2007, accusing the union of failing to actively pursue marketing deals for such products.

* * *

To read the complaint for Dryer v. NFL, click here.

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Pashley, Speed, Hipster Bag

In my review of the Pashley Princess, I mentioned weight and lack of "agility" as counterpoints to her positive features. One thing I did not discuss was speed. Many assume that heavy "Dutch"-style bicycles cannot go fast and are not appropriate for long distance travel. I assumed this myself, and initially did not take Eustacia on super-long trail rides the way I did my roadbike Marianne.

But when put to the test, Eustacia came through with flying colours. We took the Pashleys on the Minuteman Trail, where we had previously only gone on our roadbikes. Pashleys are fast if you only give them a chance! They are slow to accelerate, but once they get going, they pick up speed better than I ever imagined, and roll oh so smoothly while doing it. We were absolutely flying on these bikes, and to our amazement, we made about the same time as on the roadbikes. I attribute this to the fact that going fast on the roadbike feels scary and dangerous, so I tend to self-regulate my speed, especially limiting it on downhills. The Princess, however, feels safe and stable even going downhill at 30mph, so I don't feel the need to slow down.

Gaining a better understanding of the gearing has also helped tremendously. And of course, a broken-in saddle plays a big role in comfort level (I know that Sigrid of My Hyggelig has reported pain from the rivets in her Pashley's saddle when riding long distance, but I have not had this problem). I am very happy with how this bicycle handles speed and distance, and have no hesitation taking Eustacia on half-day trail rides - basket and all. Longer rides than that I have not tried yet on any of my bikes.

The bag I am wearing... After Anna's post on Cyling is Good for You, I broke down and bought a Chrome for carrying my laptop. Given their hipster status, I think it's pretty funny to wear one of these bags while riding a heavy steel lady's bicycle with a coasterbrake. But I just don't feel comfortable keeping my laptop in a pannier and the Chrome provides the best support and the safest closure of all the bags I've tried. The one I bought is the Mini Metro, all-black. It fits my 15" MacBook Pro and anything else I might want to carry in it for the day. I am thinking of covering up the logo and maybe personalising it a bit.

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More Commercialization of the Student-Athlete

Sports Business Daily, citing timteblog.com, reports that the Fort Myers Miracle minor-league baseball team is holding a "What Would Tim Tebow Do?" promotion on Wednesday night during its game against the St. Lucie Mets (See Tebow: The Minor-League Baseball Gimmick). According to timteblog.com, the park is going to use Tim Tebow's name and/or indentity in the following events:

• Free promise rings for everyone entering the stadium.
• First pitch will be a "jump pass."
• Team manager and gameday staff will deal with problems by asking themselves "What Would Tebow Do?"
• Guy named "Tim Tebow" (not THAT Tim Tebow) will try to walk on some water.
• Faith healer on premises (bonus: if a Miracle fielder makes an error during the game all fans in attendance get a ticket to the regular-season finale next weekend -- really?)
• Plenty of jumbotron replaying of "The Promise."
• If you're wearing college gear at the game -- presumably Florida stuff -- you could win tickets to the Florida-Arkansas game.

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