A Dangerous Precedent? The story of Raul Mondesi has become very intriguing and has many (including myself) wondering if baseball should step in to prevent players from taking this sort of action. To recap the past month, Mondesi formerly played for the Pirates. In early May, he left the team to return to the Dominican Republic, citing a need to defend himself in a lawsuit filed by a former colleague. The Pirates, dismayed at their player's sudden departure, placed him on the inactive list on May 11 and ordered him to return on May 18. He...

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Quick Hits: Here are a couple of interesting items that are not worth an entire post:FindLaw offers a book review of Alan Shipnuck's The Battle For Augusta National. The verdict: well-written, but perhaps not enough material to warrant a 300+ page book.Former Carolina Panthers player Anthony Bright has sued the team and wide receiver Steve Smith, claiming his NFL career was ruined after a film-room fight in 2002.The New York Times ran an interesting article over the weekend analyzing the value of naming rights deals to the company's that spend...

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More on Colorado and Title IX: Erik Brady of USA Today has an article on the impact the Colorado recruiting scandal could have on other schools.Title IX, the law that bans sex discrimination at schools receiving federal funds, is best known in its sports context for a three-part formula that determines if schools are fairly apportioning opportunities to play. Less well known is that schools can be sued for monetary damages under Title IX for knowingly allowing sexual harassment to take place in any setting, including athletic ones.****"We are...

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Law Protects Youth Sports Officials and Coaches: As a youth baseball umpire, I am especially interested in this story out of Alabama. A concerned legislator helped pass a law two years ago that increases the punishment for any fans, parents or others that harass, menace, threaten or batter an umpire or coach. Thus far, the law has not had to be used, but it should make the men in blue feel a little saf...

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NHL Labor News: As the NHL season comes to a finish with the Stanley Cup Finals, the labor stoppage looms on the horizon. The two sides seem diametrically opposed and Commissioner Gary Bettman says the owners will stop at nothing short of a radically different labor agreement. This has all of the markings of a huge struggle, and one that can only be bad for the game of hockey. More updates will come as the negotiations commence.More from the Sports Business Ne...

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Clarett Not Giving Up: As expected, the legal team for Maurice Clarett will continue the struggle in the wake of Monday's unfavorable decision. Clarett will file a motion to have the case heard en banc, or by the entire 2nd Circuit. If that motion is denied, then the team will appeal the case to the Supreme Court.Meanwhile, the player lost in the shuffle is Southern California's Mike Williams. Williams awaits the final outcome of the Clarett case, but has begun the process of seeking reinstatement of the NCAA. Unlike Clarett, Williams has the...

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Appeals Court Rules Against Clarett: Following its preliminary ruling against Maurice Clarett, a panel of the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals issued its formal ruling against the prospective NFL prospect today. The court rejected both the reasoning and the holding of the District Court opinion and focused its opinion on the fact that antitrust rules could not be used to relations better left to labor law.This lawsuit reflects simply a prospective employee's disagreement with the criteria, established by the employer and the labor union, that he must...

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Ticketmaster and Antitrust: Does Ticketmaster border on violating antitrust laws? At most venues, for most events, your only option is to use Ticketmaster, unless you want to drive to the venue box office. There are a few minor competitors (i.e. tickets.com), but nothing major. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?...

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Suit Accuses NCAA of Antitrust Violations: A former walk-on at the University of Washington has filed a lawsuit against the NCAA, claiming that the organization's scholarship limitations violate antitrust laws. The suit is a proposed class action on behalf of all Division I-A football players in the past four years that were not granted scholarships. The named plaintiff played football at Washington from 1997 to 2000.This lawsuit seems doomed on a number of levels. For one, the roster sizes in all sports are capped. An NBA team can only have...

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Betting and Sports: Does legalized betting benefit athletics? At least one study says the answer is yes. For more, see this artic...

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NFL Labor News: New York Giants coach Tom Coughlin has a reputation for being a disciplinarian, but the players union and the league think he went too far this off-season. After "seven to ten" players lodged complaints with the league, the NFL responded by penalizing the team two days of organized work-outs next week. According to league rules, every team is allowed a maximum of 14 organized team activity days during the offseason. Each day is to last a maximum of six hours, with no more than two hours spent on the field.In Cleveland, quarterback...

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Williams to Face Re-trial: Former NBA player Jayson Williams will face a re-trial on the charge of reckless manslaughter, prosecutors announced Friday. Williams was acquitted of the most serious charges against him, including aggravated manslaughter and two weapons charges. He was convicted of four charges of attempting to cover up his involvement in the shooting, including tampering with witnesses and evidence. He faces a sentence of up to 13 years on those counts.Re-trying Williams on the reckless manslaughter charge does not violate double...

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Tarver Faces Bankruptcy Troubles: ESPN has an article on the financial struggles of Antonio Tarver, who owes creditors nearly a million dollars and whose assets are tied up in bankruptcy cou...

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In Memoriam: Doug Pappas I was saddened to learn that Doug Pappas, who maintained the incredible Business of Baseball weblog, passed away this past week while vacationing in Big Bend National Park. Pappas, who was only 43, represented one of the best sources on the Internet for the relation between baseball and business. His site was one of the inspirations for my own and he will be missed.SABR has an obituary here. Also, a touching piece from Jay Jaffe at Futility Infield...

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Historical Licensing Deal Rumored: According to the Sports Business Journal and Gamespot, video-game maker Electronic Arts (EA) is close to signing a licensing deal with the NFL Players Association for $1 billion (with a 'b') over four years. This would be an exclusive licensing deal, meaning that no other video-game makers could use NFL team or player names or likenesses during the period. This remains a rumor at this point, even though it was printed in the SBJ and ESPN. A moderator at espnvideogames.com apparently phoned EA and was told that...

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A Look at NFL Contracts: USA Today ran an interesting article last week on NFL contracts. Because these contracts are not guaranteed, one should evaluate their worth by looking at the first three yea...

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Disabled Group Sues Over New Arena: A group of disabled veterans and four of its members have filed a suit in federal district court claiming that the new FedEx Forum in Memphis fails to comply with the American with Disabilities Act. The dispute centers on the fact that the wheelchair seating at the FedEx Forum, as presently designed, does not provide for permanent wheelchair seating locations. Instead, the FedEx Forum is designed with wheelchair seating positioned on removable platforms. The arena is scheduled to open in the fall.You can read...

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ESPN Sued Over Score Data: ESPN has been sued by Sportsnetwork.com for "stealing" real-time minor league baseball scores and data. ESPN has denied misappropriating real-time data and using automated searches, saying it only performs manual searches of the site to update its own box scores at the end of innings and the end of games. Sportsnetwork.com appears to have a better case than in NBA v. Motorola, because ESPN is a direct competitor and ESPN's use reduces the incentives for Sportsnetwork to gather the data. In addition, there appears...

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Supreme Court Passes on Ravens Dispute: The Supreme Court declined a chance to hear an appeal in a copyright dispute between the Baltimore Ravens and an artist who claimed the team stole his idea for the team's logo. In the first trial, a jury held that the team did indeed use the artist's idea. This case arose out of a follow-up trial two years later, when a new jury ruled that despite the conversion, the artist was not entitled to a share of the team's merchandising revenues. The artist appealed, arguing several procedural errors, including...

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Loria and MLB Arbitration Begins Today: The arbitration hearings begin today in the fraud case against Jeffrey Loria and Major League Baseball. The hearings center on the lawsuit filed under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act lawsuit filed by 14 former minority partners in the Montreal Expos. The partners claim that Loria, who owned the Expos from 1999 to 2002, hoped to sabotage the team's operations in the hopes of getting the team to move elsewhere:The minority partners, who now own about 6 percent of the Marlins, filed...

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Possible NHL Agent Scandal: Beyond the Score links to a story about a potential agent scandal in the NHL. The agent is accused of paying a player $50,000 to leave IMG and fall under his representation. Now, the player is back at IMG and the agent wants his money back.Have you ever heard the one about the man who walked into the police station and reported his bag of marijuana had been stolen? If you are going to break the rules, sometimes things like this will happen. The agent will probably get the money back, but it appears his career in...

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No Charges in CU Scandal: Colorado officials have said that no charges will be filed in the recruiting sex scandal centered on the University of Colorado. A special task force reviewed the allegations and the evidence before deciding not to take criminal action.But does this signify the end of the scandal? Many think the answer is no and that many people in the administration should be fired. I agree that there seems to be a problem at Colorado and that the athletic department should be held more responsible for these actions. But, anyone who...

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How Sports Affects the Law: Not only does the law affect sports, but sports can have a major impact on the law. In the wake of the acquittal of Jayson Williams (read more here), the state of New Jersey is pushing to get a new homicide charge written into the law. A charge of "criminally negligent homicide" would be easier to prove and carry lighter penalties than aggravated or reckless manslaughter.The proposed law change comes as a direct result of the media attention the trial received. There have undoubtedly been similar cases in New Jersey...

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Title IX Deemed Non-Discriminatory: In a decision that keeps with previous precedent, a federal appeals court has ruled that Title IX does not discriminate against male athletes. On Friday, the DC Circuit ruled in National Wrestling Coaches Ass'n v. Dept. of Education that the plaintiffs failed to show that the anti-discrimination law directly caused a reduction in men's sports.The court, following the reasoning of previous Title IX cases, held that the independent schools made the decisions to cut male athletic teams (rather than adding female...

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Back to Speed: I apologize for the lack of posts recently, but now that exams are done, the sports and law should continue to flow free...

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Home Stretch: An exam today and another tomorrow means no posting. For interesting reads, please see the Sports Economist, Doug's Business of Baseball and Sabernomics. There are other sites as well listed on the left in the blogroll, all of which I recomme...

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Agency Problems in DC: Washington draft-pick Sean Taylor has fired the agent that represented him throughout the draft. I don't think this poses any legal problems (most agents work on an 'at-will' basis), but it could if the contract signed guaranteed some form of liquidated payment or guaranteed sum.The firing has raised speculation that Taylor will hire the Postons to be his representative. The Redskins have a history of strife with that agency stemming from the LaVar Arrington situation, and it is reported that the team passed on Kellen...

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More on the NBA and Early Entry: My recent post concerning the decline in television ratings and the possible tie with younger players drew considerable talk in the Comments section. For those of you that might have missed them, here are some excerpts.David makes a great point about the pampering of basketball players, almost from birth:Elite basketball players, like most elite athletes, are pampered and told they are the best. They are frequently much better than everyone else who they play, and there is no need to work on fundamental basketball...

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Updates on Kobe Bryant Case: As much as I don't like it (mostly because of the bad name it gives sports law), I realize that criminal law is still law and so it is probably time for an update in the Kobe Bryant case. The most interesting issue is still the application of Colorado's rape shield law and the information about his accuser's past sexual history. You can read more on that issue here and the law in this earlier post. CrimLaw also has some links.In procedural matters, the Bryant has pleaded not guilty and a trial date has been set...

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More on Price and SI: The US District Court judge in the Mike Price case has allowed Sports Illustrated to appeal his decision ordering the magazine to reveal its sources. Price has sued the publication for defamation stemming from his dismissal as the Alabama football coach. In December, the judge ruled that an Alabama law protecting newspaper, television and radio reporters from being forced to reveal their sources does not extend to reporters for magazines. The judge asked the Alabama Supreme Court to rule on clarify this issue of state...

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Ex-Bonnies Suing University: From Espn.com:Former St. Bonaventure athletic director Gothard Lane is suing the school for libel, saying university officials maliciously damaged his reputation following last year's player eligibility scandal.Lane is seeking at least $3 million in damages, according to papers filed in U.S. Federal Court in Buffalo on April 14. A court date has not been set.And, in related news:Former St. Bonaventure coach Jan van Breda Kolff is suing the school, saying he was wrongfully dismissed following last year's player eligibility...

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Iowa's Ironic Policy: The state and University of Iowa have made headlines in the past few weeks because of the state's policy on not playing teams with American Indian nicknames, such as "Braves," "Indians," etc. This year, Iowa dropped baseball games it had schedule with Bradley, because their team is nicknamed the Braves. The university has also said it would turn down a lucrative football series with Florida State because their team is nicknamed the Seminoles.The merits of such a policy can be debated, and you can seeboth sides of the controversy.But...

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More on Bloom: You can read the opinion in the Bloom case here (Word document).Unless appealed further (which is still an option), Bloom most likely will not be in uniform for the University of Colorado this fall. While some commentators think the NCAA got this one right, I think the NCAA could have made an exception or drawn a bright-line in this case that would not have jeopardized the integrity of the student-athlete proce...

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Posting this Week: Three exams this week, so posting will be lite once again. Back to normal by next we...

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Spider-Bases No More: The court of public opinion has trumped and there will not be Spider Man bases across ballparks in June. After seeing the universal public outrage at the proposal, Columbia Pictures agreed to take the bases idea, which had been its own, out of the agreement with baseball.This is great news for baseball fans and purists. It also serves as a reminder that advertisements can backfire and result in negative publicity for the advertiser. Hopefully, baseball and potential sponsors will take note of this and remember that there...

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Bloom Appeal Denied: A Colorado appellate court has denied Jeremy Bloom's appeal seeking a preliminary injunction against the NCAA. Bloom was hoping the court would stop the NCAA from preventing him from playing college football while receiving the endorsement money he needs to be an Olympic skier.You can read more on the case he...

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You Can't Sue Over This, But Don't You Wish You Could? Major League Baseball has agreed to sell promotions for Spider Man 2 ON THE BASES. The bases will be adorned with Spider-Man logos to promote the new movie, with some teams getting up to $100,000 for desecrating their field.And that is exactly what they are doing. I understand the economics of sports and the need to generate revenue. Outfield signs are signs behind home plate are one thing. But this is on the field of play. The terms used to describe baseball fields include "diamonds"...

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Coach's "Crybaby Award" May Cost Him Job: A junior high basketball coach is in trouble over a "Crybaby Award" he gave one of his players at the end-of year banquet, but the school may face legal hurdles if it attempts to fire him. The coach awarded a 13 year-old player the award because he always begged to get into games and "whined" a lot. The player was called up to stage and presented the award in front of all of his teammates and guests at the end-of-year banquet.The school board voted yesterday to fire the coach, but the board's own attorney...

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Marcus Dixon Wins Appeal: The Georgia Supreme Court has overturned the conviction of Marcus Dixon on felony child molestation charges, ruling the state should have used the narrower statute of misdemeanor statutory rape. Dixon was accused of raping a sixteen year-old girl when he was eighteen. He claimed it was consensual sex, and was acquitted of the rape charge. He was still guilty of statutory rape because of her age, but the prosecution attempted to use the much harsher, and broader, felony child molestation statute to get Dixon a harsher...

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On the Feds and Steroids: Doug Pappas at Business of Baseball has a detailed look at the seizure by federal agentsof the drug test samples from 1400 major league baseball players.Pappas blames the federal agents for choosing to "trample on the privacy concerns" of Major League Baseball and its players. As has been stated by many, though, the seizure was perfectly legal under the 4th Amendment. There are clear ties between this lab and the Balco investigation. As a result, the government is legally justified in seizing these samples in hopes...

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Great Site for Small Firms: The nice folks at Law.com have provided a link to this blog. If you are a small firm or a solo practitioner, be sure to check out the Law.com Small Firm Business page. There are some interesting stories and links to other relevant websit...

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Call for Commentary: The fun of exams is upon us (or rather, me). Thus, blogging will be lighter for the next two weeks. I will endeavor to post on big news and stories. However, if you have any commentary on an issue that you would like to share, please let me know via email. I will post any interesting views as guest pos...

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