Upon Further Review: There is no shortage of coverage on the controversy surrounding American gymnast Paul Hamm and his gold-medal winning performance in the men's all-around competition. To recap briefly, Hamm won the gold with a spectacular final routine on the high bar. His score moved him in front of South Korea's Kim-Dae-eun by .012 of a point, the closest margin in history. Subsequently, however, it was determined that another South Korean gymnast, Yang Tae Young, was given an improper start value on the parallel bars. The difference of .1...

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And Now, An Olympic Moment: The New York Times has a humorous piece today parodying the human drama of NBC's Olympic coverage. I understand all too well the economics behind sports broadcasting and NBC's need to drum up ratings to make back its billion dollar investment, but sometimes it is a bit too much. I was in Spain during the 2000 Games and watched the Spanish telecast. They showed every heat of the swimming (my favorite sport), live and in order. No docudramas. No commercials. It was sport-viewing bliss.I know that NBC will never duplicate...

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The United States Men's Basketball Team lost to . . . Another United States Men's Basketball Team?In a stunning defeat, the U.S. Men's Basketball team lost to the Puerto Rican Men's Basketball team in the first round of Olympic play.This, of course, begs the obvious question: Why is there a separate Olympic team for Puerto Rico?Last I checked, Puerto Rico was part of the United States. More precisely, according to the CIA's World Factbook, Puerto Rico is a "commonwealth" of the United States. The Factbook also notes that Puerto Rico's constitution...

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Ten Years Ago... today marked the beginning of baseball's worst labor dispute, the strike that caused the cancellation of the 1994 World Series and sent the game into a tailspin.Everyone knows the negative impacts it had on the game. Attendance dropped precipitously, from a record 31,000 a game in 1993 down to a low of 25,000. Fans left the game in droves and found other sports and activities to occupy their time. Television ratings plummeted, including for the post-season. Only a number of gimmicks, including the wild card and interleague play,...

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The Sponsor Wars of NASCAR: Has the inundation of sponsorships in NASCAR finally driven the sport to absurdity? Sponsor conflicts are not new to the sport -- how could they be when every inch of driver, car and wall is covered with the name of a product, brand or corporation? But this NASCAR season has brought with it a new level of competition, and at some point, an armistice must be reached.For those unfamiliar with the saga, a common trend earlier this season was for the winning driver, once entering Victory Lane, to knock over the giant bottle...

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More on Kobe: In "the sun rising in the east" news, it looks as if the Kobe Bryant criminal trial will be delayed indefinitely. The prosecution is seeking the delay (view the motion here), stating that the many errors made by the judge and the court have hurt the prosecution's case and tainted the jury pool. Of course, the prosecution does not state how the jury pool will possibly improve during a prolonged and highly public civil trial, but this seems to be the beginning of the end of the criminal proceedings. Many experts agree that the prosecution...

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Bryant Accuser Files Civil Suit: The woman accusing Kobe Bryant of sexually assaulting her last year has filed a civil lawsuit against the star basketball player. This action fuels speculation that she will drop the criminal charges against Bryant and instead focus on the easier to prove and potentially lucrative civil case. In a civil case, she must only prove that Bryant assaulted her by a "preponderance of the evidence," rather than the "beyond a reasonable doubt" facing the prosecution in the criminal case. But the civil case could prove fatal...

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Watching NFL Careers Go "Up in Smoke": Every day, thousands of children across the nation dream of being professional athletes. They play in pick-up games with their friends and in recreational leagues in their communities with the hopes that one day, they will be able to play in front of screaming crowds and adoring fans. Over 99.9% of them will not achieve this dream -- they do not have the talent. That is why it is so sad to see those that do have the talent waste it. The NFL provides two examples of such a waste today: Quincy Carter and Ricky...

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New Bill Would Create Tax Break for Team Owners: A new bill being considered by Congress would have an unforeseen, but large, impact on the tax bills of the owners of sports franchises. The bill, which began as a measure to settle a trade dispute with the European Union, now has a number of riders and amendments benefiting a number of special interest groups.One portion would allow sports franchise owners to write off the full value of their franchises over 15 years. Existing law generally limits teams to writing off only the value of player contracts...

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Trial Mismanagement on a Grand Scale: The Kobe Bryant affair is beginning to resemble the OJ Simpson trial as an example of the complete breakdown of the system, and the trial in the case has not even begun. I sincerely hope that the mistakes in this case have been caused by the unfamiliar media circus and does not represent the normal level of incompetence at work in the criminal system.Thus far, clerks in the court have mistakenly released the name of the alleged victim, and information about her. They did this not once, but at least twice --...

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Even More Assumption of Risk: It seems that I can write on little else this summer. A New Jersey appellate court has now ruled that baseball parks must provide protection for fans who are out of their seats and distracted by stadium offerings, including concession stands. The judge in Maisonave v. Newark Bears wrote:"It is not only foreseeable, but inevitable, that in the process of placing orders or reaching for money or accepting the purchases or striking up conversations with others on line, spectators will be distracted from the action on the...

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