Cheerleader Boots Save Rookie: Indians rookie pitcher Kyle Denney was the victim of a random shooting yesterday, as a bullet pierced the side of the team bus and hit him in the calf. Luckily, his injury was not so severe, as the cheerleader boots he was wearing slowed the bullet down.What?Yes, apparently as part of a rookie hazing ritual, Denney was wearing a USC cheerleader uniform, including tall white boots. This is perhaps the first time that a hazing ritual has prevented further injury. No word on whether the rookie covered in shaving cream...

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Baseball in DC: To no one's surprise, baseball will announce today that the Expos will be moving to the Washington DC area. ESPN's Jayson Stark has a report on what concessions the league offered Peter Angelos so he would not take legal action to prevent the move. Hopefully, this will revive a franchise that at one time was competitive, but has been a doormat since the 1994 strike.What does this mean for baseball in Canada? So far, the Toronto Blue Jays have remained a viable team, though not one in competition. Canada is even having trouble holding...

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American Indian Names: Really a Problem? This article once again describes the Iowa state policy against playing any college team that has an American Indian as its mascot. I say once again because I have noted this policy before.But again, I must point out the hypocritical nature of this policy. From my earlier post:But what is ironic is that the University of Iowa is nicknamed the 'Hawkeyes.' I wondered what that referenced, so I looked it up. From Portal Iowa: "The 'Hawkeye State' was first suggested by James G. Edwards as a tribute to Indian...

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This should be illegal... Are you kidding me? Someone please confirm this as a joke so that I can sleep at night. Does this not at least constitute child abuse in some way?Hat tip: College Basketball B...

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Williams Loses Arbitration, But May Win Free Agency: An arbitrator has ruled that former Dolphins running back Ricky Williams breached his contract when he suddenly quit the team before training camp this summer. As a result, Williams must repay the team $8.6 million in bonus money he was paid under his contract.But there is an interesting twist to this story. According to the Miami Herald, if Williams were to file bankruptcy, he could not only avoid paying the Dolphins most of the money he owes, but would also become a free agent in the process....

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A Deterrence Analysis of New Federal Penalties for Unscrupulous Sports AgentsThis probably won't be on the agenda for Thursday's debate between President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry, but sports agents will now violate federal law (in addition to NCAA rules and, if applicable, state laws) should they lure student-athletes into unknowingly signing contracts that forfeit their remaining collegiate eligibility. The law, which was co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon (D-TN) and U.S. Rep (and former Nebraska football coach) Tom Osborne (R-NE)...

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Hamm Protects Gold Medal in Front of CAS: In a 12-hour hearing in Switzerland, Olympic gold medalist Paul Hamm defended his all-around gymnastics title in front of the Court of Arbitration for Sport. A three-member arbitration panel heard arguments from South Korean gymnast Yang Tae-young that a judge's error cost meant that he should have won the gold medal instead of Hamm.I have discussed before the problems with this, but it is worth going into again. Procedurally, the Koreans did not file their protest in the time permitted by the rules. If...

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Couch Not a Love Seat: Poor Tim Couch just can't catch a break. First, the Cleveland Browns wouldn't let him work out with the team this past spring, causing him to file a grievance with the union. He managed to force his way to Green Bay, but things did not get much better. Couch experienced arm trouble throughout training camp, causing him to miss a number of practices and see only limited action in preseason games. As a result, the Packers released the former number 1 draft pick. Now, Couch has filed another grievance, this time claiming that...

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Jackson to be Billed? Page 6 of the New York Post is reporting (scroll down) that CBS and its parents company Viacom is considering sending a bill to Janet Jackson for $550,000 -- the exact amount the network was fined by the FCC for the "wardrobe malfunction" during last year's Super Bowl. My question: why is Timberlake being let off the hook so easily? It took two to tango, so to speak, in this incident. There seems to be no way Jackson can be guilty without Timberlake also being on the hook. Either the entire thing was an accident, which no...

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When Players Should be Subject to Legal Liability: I have strongly opposed criminal penalties or civil liabilities for actions that occur on the field of play in sports, such as vicious hits in hockey. See this essay on the subject, as well as this follow-up. But my defense extends only to actions that are arguably within the game, even including overly vicious hockey hits. It does not extend to what happened in Oakland a few weeks back, where Texas Rangers reliever Frank Francisco threw a chair into the stands, striking a fan and breaking her...

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The Ridiculousness of the NCAA: I just want to take a moment to note that the NCAA once again has prove why it is the target of ridicule, reform, and possibly even revolt by its large member institutions. I have discussed this subject endlessly, but two recent decisions have proven once again how troubled this institution has become.First, there was the decision not to let Jeremy Bloom participate in college football this year because he has endorsement deals that allow him to train to be an Olympic skier. As I have noted here, there is no reason...

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NHL Lock-Out a Sign of Bigger Problems? The NHL is locked out. Regular season games have been cancelled, players have gone to Europe in droves to play and there seems to be no end in sight.So, what does this mean for the NHL? Only time will tell, but we could be witnessing the first complete revamping of a professional sports league. The owners finally decided that the economics of the sport did not work. The players salaries had exploded, but the league's revenues, including the important television contract, had not. So, rather than continue...

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Catching Up: Flying around the country the past week or so has left me behind in updating, so my apologies. I should be on a more consistent schedule starting now. So, what has been going on?The Bush administration has filed a brief supporting Roderick Jackson, a former high school basketball coach in Alabama. Jackson claims that he was fired in retaliation for his complaints that his women's basketball team did not receive the same funding as the men's team. He is seeking to bring a claim under Title IX, despite the fact that (1) he was not personally...

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Exciting New Speakers Series at Harvard: For those in the Boston area and interested in Sports Law, I invite you to check out an exciting new series of speakers coming to Harvard Law School this fall. The speeches are organized by Professor Paul Weiler and will be every Tuesday from 2:20-4:20, with a reception to follow.Below please find a schedule of events. I will also try to post reminders on this site.Sept. 28 - Roger Abrams, "The Shaping of Baseball, Football, and Other Sports by Antitrust and Labor Law, Including the Comparative Treatment...

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New Legislation Targets Agents: Congress has passed legislation that would curtail the tactics of many sports agents. The bill, which now goes to President Bush for signature, would bar agents from recruiting student athletes by giving false or misleading information or providing anything of value to the athlete or his family before entering into a contract. It is unclear what all would be included in "false or misleading" information. If an agent said, "You will be a first-round draft pick" and the player slips into round 2, can a case be made...

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The New 'Moneyball': I recently re-read Moneyball, the well-written account of Billy Beane and his revolutionary strategy of player selection and evaluation. Re-reading it reminded me why I like the book so much. For one, it is about baseball -- a subject sure to increase the enjoyment factor of a book by a factor of ten. But more importantly, the book is about re-examining history: not accepting a practice just because "that's how it's always been done." So often one encounters things in life that are explained with this faulty logic and it is...

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What's In a Name? Well, if your name is Mark Guthrie, it can mean $300K. Apparently, the Tribune Co., which owns both the Chicago Cubs and Hartford Courant, paid Mark Guthrie $301,000 last October. The only problem - it went to newspaper carrier Mark Guthrie, rather than relief pitcher Mark Guthrie. The team managed to get back most of the money, but now has had to sue for the final $26,000. The newspaper man is holding out on the rest, voicing a concern over potential tax implications.If the money, which was deposited in October, had carried over...

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More on the First Amendment and College Fans: Eric Felton of the Wall Street Journal has a story discussing the boorishness of collegiate sports fans and the legal hurdles (i.e., the 1st Amendment) in trying to curtail their behavior and preserve the university's image. The piece does not add much to the discussion, but is a good summa...

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Eminent Domain in Brooklyn: The Wall Street Journal has an editorial today sharply criticizing the stadium plans of Nets owner Bruce Ratner. The piece not only questions the idea of using public money to build the new stadium in Brooklyn, which is a common argument made today. It also derides the potential use of eminent domain to seize part of the land for the future development. It seems that Ratner faces a tough battle, both legally and politically, for his Brooklyn idea to become reality.You can read my analysis of eminent domain in this earlier...

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Tennis Players Causing a 'Racket'? Darren Rovell of ESPN.com has an interesting piece describing a common practice among star tennis players: using older, discontinued rackets but painting them to resemble the newer models the player endorses. Players do this for obvious reasons: they feel comfortable with the type of racket they have used for years and cannot change every time the technology does. But is there a possible claim for false advertising?Since the US Open is going on, let's look at New York law. New York General Business Law sec. 350...

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Bryant Trial: The criminal case against Kobe Bryant was dropped last week, not unexpectedly. All he had to do was go through the motions of an apology. The civil case will continue until the victim settles for an undisclosed amount of money and drops the suit. Does this mean the alleged victim was lying? Does it mean she is only interested in money? Or does it mean that the mistakes of the court proved too much for the prosecution's case to bear? No one knows for sure.Interesting articles about this:New York Times - legal failures?Houston Chronicle...

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Credits for Play?: Courtesy of John Stoner, an article from the Washington Post discussing the policy of giving players credit (up to 1 per year) for playing varsity athletics. Obviously, this has many people upset. Why should varsity athletes, on a full scholarship in sports like football, also be given class credit for playing a sport? My response: why not? Every college has Physical Education courses. Credits are given for playing tennis an hour a week, going bowling or taking a course in lifeguarding or first aid (for which the applicant receives...

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Did Brown Violate His Contract? Kevin Brown had surgery on his left (non-pitching) hand this weekend after breaking three bones with a punch to a clubhouse wall following an outing on Friday. Brown is expected to miss three weeks, a huge blow to a Yankees team already short on starting pitching. He has apologized to his teammates and the organization. But, did he violate his contract in committing this act of frustration?I do not know the exact language of Brown's contract, but most player contracts contain substantial language preventing dangerous...

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