Skiing and Legal Liability: A Tale of Two States The LA Times has a story comparing the legal regimes of California and Colorado when it comes to injuries on the ski slopes. It seems that skiers in Colorado face an increased risk of legal liability, both civil and criminal, than those in California. Greater public awareness has reduced collisions on some slopes . . . . Resorts have installed warning signs, fencing and mazes in congested areas and intersections, and employees intercept reckless skiers and snowboarders during busy times.Despite these...

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No Padding? No Complaint The Wall Street Journal ($) ran an article the other day detailing how NFL players are wearing less padding than at any point since the early days of the game. The reasons? Aesthetics, quickness, peer pressure and wanting to "look tough." In 1995, the NFL changed hip, thigh and knee pads from "mandatory" to "recommended" equipment because so many players were stripping down that the earlier rule was considered unenforceable. A few NFL teams require players to wear thigh and knee pads but even on those teams, "there are...

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Accord Reached on DC Stadium: From the Washington Post: Under the new proposal, which the 13-member council is to vote on today, the city will purchase insurance for potential cost overruns on the stadium and split the payments with Major League Baseball. Also, District officials will continue pursuing private financing for the project for several months. But Cropp said she will drop a requirement that 50 percent of the construction costs be paid for with private money.The Sports Economist has mo...

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A Vicious Hit: I watched live the hit that Jaguar Donovin Darius put on Packer Robert Ferguson last night. It was vicious and it even looked intentional. He was right to be ejected the game and he will be fined by the NFL. But should he face legal liability? No.Most likely, he will not, because Ferguson (thank goodness) appears that he will make a full recovery. If Ferguson had been more seriously injured, however, legal liability certainly would have been discussed, if not pursued. Witness the plea deal being discussed in the Todd Bertuzzi case....

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Mets v. Sportschannel: From New York Lawyer: The New York Mets won an early round of litigation yesterday with a ruling rejecting Sportschannel's plea for a preliminary injunction that would have blocked the Mets from negotiating a new licensing deal for a regional sports network.Sportschannel Associates v. Sterling Mets, No. 603548/04, by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Helen Freedman of the Commercial Division arose from a licensing agreement granting Sportschannel exclusive rights to broadcast the Mets regular season games.The contract was set...

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Baseball and Drugs Links: An op-ed in the New York Times today highlights a major problem of the current drug problem in sports: it does not stop at the professional or collegiate level, but is also seen in high school. My brother was friends with the young athlete mentioned in this piece, and so I know first-hand the dangerous consequences of performance-enhancing drugs.For a great deal more on this topic, check out Only Baseball Matters, where John has a number of posts and many links to outside sources that have addressed this issue.And the...

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More on the DC No-tionals: As expected, Major League Baseball rejected the DC Council's modified stadium financing proposal, putting the Expos/Nationals back into the realm of uncertainty. In the comments to yesterday's post, Mike correctly wonders how such an important vote could have come so late in the process. In DC, Mike Wilbon echoes this sentiment, while also noting that despite all of the political rhetoric, the nation's capital is still baseball-crazy. Thomas Boswell continues his sharp criticism of the DC Council and poses a good hypothetical:...

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The Players Association as Bully? When the NBA Players Association is not fighting the league about brawl suspensions, it also likes to fight with community youth groups. I am not sure who is right and who is wrong in this landlord-tenant dispute, but I am sure both parties share in the bla...

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Can a Stadium Be Torn Down Before it is Built? In a stunning development, the DC Council approved legislation yesterday that requires private financing to cover half of the cost of a new baseball stadium. This is an enormous change from the original deal the city had with Major League Baseball, which required that the new stadium be publicly funded.Many are happy, seeing this as a key strike in the drive against publicly-financed stadiums. Others are dismayed that this decision may have ended baseball in the nation's capital before it could even...

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Interesting Debate at Legal Affairs: This week's Debate Club at Legal Affairs features a discussion between Gary Roberts and Paul Finkelman, two sports law experts on the current steroid problems in baseball. I hope to be weighing in on the debate later this week. You can view the discussion he...

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Baseball on Drugs Links: In addition to the Legal Affairs debate, here are a few other entertaining reads on the baseball steroid situation. Bill Gifford at Slate looks at who dopes, why the dope and who it hurts. Carl Elliot says that baseball players are no different than the rest of the country in taking performance-enhancing drugs. Finally, Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus wonders if performance-enhancing drugs actually help a player in a baseba...

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NHL Players Reject Owners' Counterproposal; Season Cancellation Very Possible:In the latest of discouraging signs that the 2004-05 NHL Season will be canceled, the National Hockey League Players' Association rejected a counterprospal from the owners that included a hard salary-cap (or, as the owners euphemistically call it, "cost-certainty"). Last week, the owners rejected an initial proposal from the NHLPA, which assented to significantly reduced player salaries, but not a hard salary cap. No further meetings are scheduled, and the 90-day lockout...

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Gaming Monopoly? EA Sports Signs Exclusive Licensing Agreement with the NFL & NFLPA:Looks like football videogames could stagnate a bit in the near future, as Electronic Arts has entered into an exclusive 5-year licensing agreement with the National Football League and the National Football League Players' Association to develop, publish, and distribute football videogames. EA now has exclusive rights to NFL teams, stadiums, and players for use in their games, which include John Madden Football and NFL Street. As a result, rival franchises...

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Drugs in Baseball: Two recommendations from yesterday's New York Times. This article discusses the last major drug problem in baseball: cocaine. And, on a lighter note, this article asks if Balco could have helped Wee Willie Keel...

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Exams cometh... ...and then the holidays, so posting will be light over the next 2 weeks. I will try to post an interesting story a day. If you see anything good, please send it my way. Then we can all gather around the Festivus pole for the feats of streng...

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Arenas and Financial Impact: I am not saying that the public should pony up $300 million or more every time an owner wants a new stadium. But ask the owners of businesses around NHL arenas if these facilities don't have an impact on the local economy. The city of Detroit, for example, estimates that it receives $10 million in direct revenue from hockey games over the course of a season, from sources including parking, public transportation, concession sales at Joe Louis Arena and a surcharge on Red Wings tickets. And according to David Littmann,...

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Maybe it slipped his mind as he got into the limo... Latrell Sprewell was suspended one game for yelling a sexual vulgarity at a fan during a game last weekend. You would think he would be more careful, especially because of his difficulties in feeding his fami...

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More on the Brawl: As expected, the Oakland County (Detroit) prosecutor charged five players and seven fans with criminal charges stemming from the Malice at the Palace. Four of the players (Artest, Jackson, David Harrison and Anthony Johnson) were charged with one count of assault and battery, a misdemeanor that has a maximum penalty of three months in jail and a fine of $500. Jermaine O'Neal was charged with two counts of assault and battery.Five of the fans were charged with the same offense. The prosecutor says it is unlikely that any will...

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On Violence in Sports: The ACS Blog has an interesting post on the subject and wonders if race has played a role in the uproar over the Malice in the Palace. I tend to think no, as my comment to the post indicat...

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A Bit of Humor: In this day and age, it's not just the players that need to take steroids.Update: Apparently, steroid humor is all the rage. Witness this piece in the New York Tim...

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Professional Baseball and Interstate Commerce: In this recent post, I concluded in one sentence that baseball is interstate commerce, and thus can be regulated by Congress. It also seems that the legislation would pass constitutional muster: professional baseball is certainly within the realm on interstate commerce. It may not have been in 1922 (see the Supreme Court reference in the Times article), but it certainly is now.The 1922 case I refer to is Federal Club v. National League, a case in which Justice Holmes wrote: The business is giving exhibitions...

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Baseball Player's Contract Terminated: No, not Jason Giambi (though Major League Baseball is now talking tough on drug testing). Rockies pitcher Denny Neagle's contract was terminated by the team after he was cited for solicitation, his second legal problem within the past year. The team cited section 7 (b) (1) of the Uniform Player Contract, which states the team can terminate the contract if a player shall "fail, refuse or neglect to conform his personal conduct to the standards of good citizenship and good sportsmanship or to keep himself in...

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Congress to Take Action on Steroids?: As I have said before, Congress is not happy with the steps (or non-steps) baseball has taken to curtail the use of performance-enhancing drugs. Now, John McCain has said publicly that Congress will act if baseball does not, perhaps even introducing legislation that would require some type of drug testing. I still believe this is more of a bluff, and that Congress really wants baseball to act on its own, but such legislation is still a possibility. It also seems that the legislation would pass constitutional...

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Interesting Development in NBA Dispute: The league apparently has decided not to seek a restraining order preventing arbitrator Roger Kaplan from hearing an appeal of the Pacers brawl suspensions. The NBA has said it reserves the right to challenge the arbitrator's finding after it is issued.This is an interesting strategy. By allowing Kaplan to hear the cases, Stern is making an important concession to the union and is permitting his own power to be checked. This could be very important in the next collective bargaining negotiations and could...

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A Must-Read: Peter Gammons is an excellent author and this column is no exception. I highly recommend Gammons's take on the steroid situation and why it is in the best interest of the players association to agree to drug testi...

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Now the NBA and NBPA are Brawling: In an update to this earlier post, arbitrator Roger Kaplan has ruled that he has jurisdiction to decide whether the brawl-related suspensions can be appealed to someone other than Commissioner Stern. Kaplan plans to hear the case next Thursday. The league, though, has responded by filing a lawsuit in federal court challenging the arbitrator's authority. The lawsuit contends that the NBPA and the players violated the collective bargaining agreement by taking the appeal to a grievance arbitrator. The union responds...

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Could Things be Any Worse for Wally Backman?: The temporary D-backs manager was sentenced to ten days in jail for violating his probation, a charge that emerged during his hiring fias...

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Yankees and the Giambi Problem: As expected, it will not be easy for the Yankees to sever ties with Jason Giambi. As the New York Times reports, the team now believes that it will not be able to void the player's contract. In addition, any attempted buy-out of the player would need not only his approval, but also that of the union: In a buyout, the Yankees and Giambi would have to determine how much money each would give up to end their relationship. How much would the free-spending Yankees give Giambi to have him drift away? How much would Giambi,...

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More Balco Fallout: There is a question that I have not addressed yet, but is of the highest importance: Where did these transcripts come from? Grand jury transcripts, including this one, are sealed and confidential. Leaking them is a felony in most cases. This article states that only a select number of people had access to the transcripts: the judge and clerks, the defense attorneys and the government attorneys. Someone in that group, or an employee of one of these people, leaked this to the San Francisco Chronicle. I hope that this person is...

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Et tu, Barry:? After yesterday's bombshell announcement about Jason Giambi (here and here), the San Francisco Chronicle is now reporting that Barry Bonds admitted to using banned substances in 2003, but said that he did not know they were banned at the time. Although Bonds's grand jury testimony remains sealed, it has apparently been leaked to the paper as Giambi's was:Bonds testified that he had received and used clear and cream substances from his personal strength trainer, Greg Anderson, during the 2003 baseball season but was told they were...

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More on Giambi's Punishment: More details have emerged regarding potential punishment for Jason Giambi, after he admitted using performance-enhancing drugs. From the SF Chronicle: Giambi could be disciplined under guidelines of the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the owners and players, the industry source said, and have his contract voided under guidelines of his employment with the Yankees. He has four years remaining in his deal and is due $82 million.But a source close to the union said the labor agreement supersedes a player's contract...

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Can Congress Prevent Sports Gambling?: In 1992, Congress passed the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act. The act prohibits states from legalizing sports gambling (the law grandfathered any existing state laws that permitted gambling on sports, saving Las Vegas). Now, however, the New Jersey legislature is considering Bill 3493 that would legalize sports gambling in its Atlantic City casinos. Obviously this would mean big tourism dollars, which is one of the reasons the state is considering it.Many are opposed to the bill, however, including...

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Williams Not Coming Back: In other drug news, former NFL player Ricky Williams rejected a plan whereby he would be suspended for the final four games this season and then regain his NFL eligibility. His attorney indicates that this may end Williams's football career. Hopefully, Wlliams will enjoy holistic medicine and make enough to pay the Dolphins the $8 million he owes th...

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Selig Wants More Drug Testing: In response to the Giambi revelation, Bud Selig issued the following statement today: This once again demonstrates the need to implement a tougher and more effective Major League drug-testing program. I have instructed Rob Manfred, Executive Vice President of Labor Relations, to look into this situation and to continue working with the Major League Baseball Players Association to have a drug-testing program that mirrors the very effective policy we currently have in the Minor Leagues. I will leave no stone unturned...

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Fight over NBA Suspensions May be Headed to Court: According to Peter May of the Boston Globe, the NBA Players Association will file a second appeal of the suspensions of the three Pacers players. The fight is heated on many fronts, including who has the power to make the final decision. The league contends that this was an on-court incident, and thus, per the CBA, the final authority rests with Commissioner Stern. The NBPA, on the other hand, is attempting to have arbitrator Roger Kaplan assert jurisdiction and rule on the case.There are several...

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Fighting Against Motorcycle Helmet Laws: The Wall Street Journal (no link available) featured an excellent article yesterday about the crusade of motorcycle riders to repeal mandatory helmet laws in states across the nation. Currently, twenty states and the District of Columbia have laws requiring all riders to wear helmets. Of the other 30, some require helmets for younger riders or riders without insurance; others leave the choice to riders.Opponents of helmet laws say that they restrict vision, are overly hot in the summertime, and that the...

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More on Giambi: As expected, the sports community is abuzz with the news that Jason Giambi took performance-enhancing drugs. Some of the best posts are at Baseball Musings, Baseball Crank, and Pirate's Cove.Many thanks to Jayson Stark for providing further details on the possibility that the Yankees could void Giambi's contract. According to Stark's source, all guaranteed baseball contracts contain two clauses: (1) The player must agree to keep himself in first-class physical condition and adhere to all training rules set by the club.(2) The use...

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Giambi Admits to Using Steroids -- What Now?: The San Francisco Chronicle reports that in Grand Jury testimony last December, Yankees first baseman and former American League MVP Jason Giambi admitted to taking both steroids and human growth hormone. The testimony was given as part of a grand jury investigation into Balco, a California drug company accused of distributing performance-enhancing drugs to athletes. Obviously, this testimony contradicts Giambi's previous public statements that he never took performance-enhancing drugs. The article...

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Rushing the Court(house): This is my column this week for the Harvard Law School Record:Much has been written about the despicable brawl that occurred two weeks ago during the Pistons-Pacers NBA game. Some have blamed the players for going into the stands; others have accused the Detroit fans of causing the fight by throwing both insults and objects. The league acted swiftly, handing out player suspensions, and civil and criminal liability will soon be determined. But the fall-out from this travesty will reach far beyond the NBA. Officials in all...

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More Fall-out from Pistons-Pacers: The legal consequences of the fight two weeks ago in Detroit continue to mount. Two fans have been barred indefinitely from the Palace, home of the Pistons. One of these fans threw the cup at Artest that incited the brawl; the other ran onto the court and was punched by both Artest and O'Neal. More fan punishments will no doubt be coming, as the man who threw the chair in the melee has now been identified. The name of the man, whose picture can be seen here, has not been released, but officials have said that...

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Impact of the NHL Lockout: I have not written much about the NHL labor dispute, mostly because there has not been that much to report. The luxury tax has become a real sticking point and it does not seem that we are any closer to hockey now than we were six months ago. This season seems lost -- how about next season?The impact of the stoppage is being felt all over. Obviously, Canada feels it the most, with marketers wondering where to advertise without Hockey Night in Canada. While many of the players have gone to Europe to play, this article...

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Jockey Sues Guild over Insurance Fund: Gary Donahue, a paralyzed former jockey, has filed a lawsuit against the Jockey's Guild, seeking an answer as to what happened to the $1 million Disabled Jockey's Fund. Donahue learned the fund would be terminated in 2004 and is seeking an injunction to prevent this from happening.This is another story that shines a light on the plight of professional jockeys. Jockeys face debilitating injuries with each ride, and once injured, find that insurance they believed they had does not come close to covering their...

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A Permanent Olympic Home?: Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle has an interesting idea: move the Olympics to a permanent location. Cities would not spend $14.6 billion on a one-time event, as Athens just did. Large venues will not be built that sit empty afterwards. And by putting 'Olympicland' on an island in the South Pacific, no country will "own" the Olympi...

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Blogger Problems: Sorry for the lack of posting the last few days -- Blogger has been giving me a lot of proble...

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Sick of Your Family Yet? If you read Espn.com (who doesn't?), then take a minute and help out Kareem. He would love to hear your thoughts about ESPN Insider he...

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Williams to Serve Suspension and Return to Dolphins: Reports out of Miami have Ricky Williams being moved from the retired list and sitting out the final four weeks of the season as a 4-game suspension. After serving this four-game suspension, Williams will be cleared to play in the NFL next season. He will remain part of the Dolphins, to whom he is still under contract. The question remains, though: will the Dolphins want him back after he abandoned the team this season?ESPN's John Clayton says that Williams's attorney did an amazing job in brokering...

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Happy Thanksgiving: Posting will be light the next few days, due to the Thanksgiving holiday. Hope everyone enjoys a nice break, some turkey and some footba...

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Seven Years Later, Simpson Has Not Paid: This is only tangentially related to sports, but it is an eye-opening story about how getting a judgment only begins the battle. Seven years after a jury found OJ Simpson civilly liable for the deaths of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson, the LA Times reports that the families have collected only a tiny amount of the $35 million awarded. The exact amount the families have been paid was not stated, but it looks to be only $1-2 million.How is Simpson avoiding paying? Well, he is "searching for the real...

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Frustrating: I just had a long post written about the new legal updates for the brawl, and blogger lost it. Very frustrating. Since I don't have time to re-write it, I am linking to the best articles from today and will hope to write more later.Very good update of the legal situation and the appealIs this bound to happen again?Violence is a part of the NBA's historySome local fans have already filed a laws...

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Agassi Wins UK Tax Battle: From The Independe...

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Contractual Implications of the Other Brawl: With all of the focus on the Pistons-Pacers melee over the weekend, few people are talking about another ugly sports fight, this once occurring on the field between the Clemson and South Carolina football teams. A player fight escalated into a ten-minute brawl, with police having to come onto the field to break it up.The teams have responded with a swift and definitive punishment: neither team will play in a bowl game. I think this is a great statement for the schools to make: if you embarrass the school,...

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A Few Legal Ramifications of the Brawl: I have not heard any definite reports, but one rumor has the Pacers season-ticket holders filing a class action suit against the Detroit Pistons organization. I assume the theory is that the failure to control their fans led to the fight that led to the suspensions which have reduced the value of their season tickets. Good luck. You might want to add Ron Artest to your list of defendants.The second thing I have heard, and the one that seems more plausible, is that the NBA's actions could severely hurt the...

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Is David Stern a Coward? A corollary of the argument that the fans are to blame is that David Stern was wrong in reprimanding the players and not the fans in his press conference on Sunday. I think this is misguided for a few reasons.One, as I said below, the players should shoulder the majority of the blame, and thus, they should have received the majority of the reprimand.Besides that, however, ultimately Stern is not responsible for the fans. He is responsible for the players and the teams, but it is the teams that must control their fans. You...

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Are the Fans to Blame? Although many people (myself included) have come out blaming the players after the Pistons-Pacers brawl, there is a vocal group that wishes to place the blame squarely on the Detroit fans. Juan Non-Volokh links to the Miami Herald's Dan Le Batard: It was ugly and awful and historically staining, and now, it will get worse as the media machine cranks up, and the wailing begins about how our millionaire athletes are spoiled, entitled and out of control.But the fans are more to blame for the riot in Detroit than those players...

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Appeals Court Preserves Two-in-Four Rule: In a decision issued last week, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the NCAA's "Two-in-Four rule", overturning a lower court decision that the rule violated antitrust laws.The rule limits NCAA basketball teams to playing in an "exempt" tournament only twice in a four-year period. An exempt tournament is one in which the three or four games only count as one for the purposes of the maximum 28-game regular season. The exempt rule was created to encourage participation in tournaments in hard-to-reach...

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Father of Teen Football Player Sues League: The father of a teenage Florida football player that died during a game has sued the youth league, claiming that his son received no medical attention after collapsing on the field. The exact cause of death from the November 6th accident has not yet been determined, but officials suspect a neck injury. The suit claims that the South Florida Football League failed to have trained medical personnel or equipment available at the game.This is a tragic accident and one feels for the player's family. It could...

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A Tale of Two Cities: As an update to my posts on the DC baseball stadium (here and here) and the comments debate, this article on TNR Online says that DC Mayor Anthony Williams has sold out his city in order to bring in professional sports. The article cites a number of studies that find that spending public money on professional sports decreases, rather than increases, overall public welfare.Hat Tip: My friend Josh, who would appreciate this carto...

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When $252 Million Isn't Enough: Murray Chass has another great article over at the NY Times. In this piece, he comments on the absurd practice of giving bonuses to players making $20 million a year for accomplishments such as making an All-Star team or finishing in the top 10 in the MVP voting. Today general managers routinely include contract provisions for award bonuses - star packages, they're called - not as inducements but as a way of placating star players for whom their enormous salaries and signing bonuses aren't enough.Just last week,...

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The Verdict Is In... ...and the punishments are appropriately severe for the players involved in the Pacers-Pistons debacle this weekend. Fortunately, David Stern did not give out slap on the wrists, as I had feared, but suspended 9 players for 140+ games. The harshest penalty was assessed against Ron Artest, who was suspended for the remainder of the season (72 games). Teammates Stephen Jackson, who ran into the stands and punched several fans, and Jermaine O'Neal, who clocked another fan that had come down onto the court, were suspended for 30...

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