RICO and NCAA Bribes: Skip at the Sports Economist points out a unique case arising in a federal district court in Memphis. The case, explained in this article, involves a standout high school football player, his high school coach, the coach's assistant and a University of Alabama booster named Logan Young. The coach, Lynn Lang, claims that boosters from several top football schools, including Young from Alabama, offered him bribes if he would steer his star defensive lineman to that school. Lang accepted nearly $150,000 from Young and the player...

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Politics and Sports Collide in Japan: The LA Times featured a piece over the weekend on the North Korean soccer team. After a ten-year hiatus, the team will again compete for a spot in the upcoming World Cup. The team's road to the Cup leads through Japan, though, which is causing a great deal of conflict. The game comes at a moment when the two countries are locked in a rancorous political dispute over at least eight Japanese citizens who were kidnapped by agents of the Communist state during the Cold War and are said to be dead.Anti-North Korean...

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More on the Beer Judgment: This article has more on the $135M judgment against Aramark, which runs concessions at Giants Stadium, for injuries to a young girl stemming from an accident with a driver coming home drunk from a football game. Will stadiums change their policies because of this? It is hard to say, because the NFL prohibits beer sales in the final quarter (many teams stop sales at halftime) and fans can buy only two beers at a time. Chances are that these policies will remain in effect, but that stadium vendors will all be reminded,...

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Owens to Play Over Doctor's Advice: Terrell Owens has vowed to play in this weekend's Super Bowl. Reports out of Florida are that he is back practicing with the first team after missing over a month with an ankle injury. He may play, but he will do so against the advice of the his doctor. Dr. Mark Myerson has not cleared the injured receiver to play in this Sunday's game. "He's not medically fit to play . . . . However, he has done extremely well in his recovery and his rehab, and he feels he'll be able to play. That is going to be a team decision...

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Florida Wants Its Money Back: Phil, one of the excellent new contributors at The Sports Economist, links to an interesting article about the state of Florida and subsidies paid to former Marlins owner Wayne Huizenga. Apparently, Huizenga continues to receive millions in tax breaks as a pay-off for converting his stadium so that the Marlins could play there. Now, the team wants more money and Florida is tired of paying. This could be interesting, as Huizenga has promised to litigate any attempt to renege on the agreeme...

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One More Take on Mientkiewicz and the World Series BallAnd perhaps the funniest one yet . . .People act like the ball was the only piece of precious World Series history that might have gone missing. But what happened to Mientkeiwicz’s glove? What happened to the bases? What happened to Terry Francona’s score card? And if the Red Sox traded Mientkiewicz to a team where he would be a starter as a reward for agreeing to share the ball (Note: They didn’t, but let’s pretend) is it not possible, just possible, that they acquired Edgar Renteria in order...

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File Under: "You Can't Make This Stuff Up"Despite leading her Nashville Rhythm of the American Basketball Association to a 17-7 record, Ashley McElhiney, the first female coach of a men's pro basketball team, was fired Saturday for refusing to comply with coaching instructions yelled by co-owner and CEO Sally Anthony during a game with the Kansas City Knights. Specifically, Anthony thought former Vanderbilt star Matt Freije should have been benched. When Anthony's admonitions fell on deaf ears, she apparently ran onto the court and tried to fire...

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Last Ditch NHL-NHLPA Talks FailAs discussed by Eric McErlain on Off Wing Opinion, this week's meetings between representatives from the National Hockey League and the National Hockey League Players' Association produced no agreement on an abbreviated 2004-05 season--let alone a more comprehensive agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement--and no new meetings are scheduled. It appears that time has finally run out on NHL hockey this season, and there won't be any games played until at least the fall of 2005. In fact, if the two sides do...

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"Roid Rage" and Civil LiabilityInteresting civil case to watch in California, as former Raiders tight end Marcus Williams has sued former Raiders linebacker Bill Romanowski for career-ending brain injuries resulting from an attack Romanowski inflicted on Williams during the Raiders' 2003 training camp. According to Williams--then a second-year player and special teams backup--Romanowski became enraged with the young player, and then ripped off Williams' helmet and punched him the face, breaking his left orbital bone, damaging his nose, chipping...

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UPDATE: One Year Reprieve on Hidden Ball Trick?According to a report tonight on Boston Dirt Dogs, Doug Mientkiewicz has agreed to loan the World Series victory baseball to the Red Sox for one year. It is unclear whether Mientkiewicz is receiving compensation, or whether he is simply being charitable . . . for a year. However, he acknowledges that he and the team have "worked something out," which seems to imply that funds exchanged hands.Whether or not he is being paid for the loaner, Mientkiewicz is now downplaying the whole affair. In fact, the...

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Don't Mess with Theo (or Larry):Last night, the Boston Red Sox traded first baseman/baseball souvenir collector Doug Mientkiewicz to the New York Mets for first base prospect Ian Bladergroen, who Baseball America ranks as the 4th best prospect in the Mets organization. Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein was undoubtedly impressed by the 6-5, 210 pound Bladergroen, who projects as a power-hitting first baseman.The trade shouldn't come as a huge surprise. Despite playing excellent defense, Mientkiewicz hit only .215 for the Sox last year, and was...

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Monopolization of Sports Videogames ContinuesIt appears that innovation in new sports videogames might take a real hit in the near future. Last month, we discussed how Electronic Arts--the publisher of John Madden Football and NFL Street--secured 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. As a result, Sega's ESPN Football, Sony's NFL Gameday, and Midway's NFL Blitz will be discontinued or dramatically modified...

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Super Bowl XXXIX Awaits . . . As Do Its AdvertisersWith the Super Bowl match-up set between the defending champs, the New England Patriots, and the underdogs, the Philadelphia Eagles, we can either read endless (and often obscure) commentary about the game's match-ups, or we can turn to what many people not living in New England or Philadelphia will care most about: The Ads!This year, Fox, which is broadcasting the February 6 game, is commanding $2.4 million for each half-minute ad, up $100,000 from last year. The network has already sold 95 percent...

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Learn from the Professor: I will be traveling next week and will not be able to blog. In my place, though, will be the always-popular Mike McCann, who is soon-to-be Professor of Sports Law (among other subjects) at the Mississippi College of Law. Congrats to Mike and see everyone in a we...

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Do Children Still Have Childhoods? In the past few weeks, I have seen a number of articles in magazines and newspapers talking about the way of life for today's pre-teens and teens. This article, from the New York Times, details the intense world of youth hockey. The article describes how a team of 11-year olds practices year-round and plays in tournaments across the country, often playing multiple games in one day. I have seen other stories about select soccer, year-round swimming and other sports which force children to "specialize" when they...

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Judge Allows Angels to Change Name: A California state court judge issued a crushing blow to the city of Anaheim on Friday in its case against the Angels. The judge denied the motion for a preliminary injunction that would have prevented the team from changing its name to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, ruling that the city did not prove a "a reasonable probability" of winning at trial. The only step remaining for the city is to go to trial, but such a trial would likely not take place until after the team had played the entire 2005 season under...

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"Beerman" Too Generic For Trademark Protection: Robert Donchez, a beer vendor at Coors Field who created the character "Bob the Beerman" to entertain the crowds, lost his trademark suit against the Colorado Rockies in the 10th Circuit. Donchez registered "Bob the Beerman" as a service mark, which "is any word or words used to identify and distinguish the services of one person from the services of others." After the team ran a series of advertisements without Donchez, but using the terms "beerman" and "beerstud" in reference to beer vendors, he...

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E-Discovery in Coach's Case: Prosecutors in a case of alleged sexual assault by a coach against a player are determined to recover six months' worth of email messages believed to be related to the assault. This case will be worth following because of the indeterminate law of electronic discovery. As this law.com article states: Advances in computer technology have brought a sharp rise in discovery disputes over which electronic data must be disclosed and which are simply too expensive or burdensome for defendants to produce. A rising chorus urging...

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Stadium Beer Vendor Takes $105M Hit for . . . Selling Beer: A New Jersey jury has awarded a judgment of $105 million against Aramark, the company in charge of concessions at Giants Stadium and in favor of the plaintiff, a young girl whose family's car was struck by a drunk driver coming from the game, rendering her a quadriplegic. The plaintiff's theory, which the jury accepted, was that Aramark violated its own rules by selling beer to the man, who was obviously drunk, and by creating a "culture of intoxication" at football games.The judgment...

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Thoughts from the NFL Play-offs: In the six NFL play-off games that have taken place thusfar, I have found myself yelling at the television more than I would have liked. This is not because my team is playing -- the Cowboys erased all hope of that long ago. No, my frustration came with coaching strategies at the end of games and in overtime, especially when it came to setting up field goals.All season long, teams have one goal: score touchdowns. Field goals are seen as consolation prizes: if you get close, but can't quite score, you try for 3 points....

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Injured Pole Vaulter Sues University: A collegiate pole vaulter that suffered extreme head trauma after a fall during an attempt has sued her university. The suit claims that the university was negligent "in several ways relating to the mainteance and repair of the pole-vaulting pit and that the padding of the pit was inadequate given the hardness of the fieldhouse floor."I will be interested to see how this suit plays out. After all, pole vaulting is an inherently dangerous sport, and it is unclear (from the article) about whether she was wearing...

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Mientkiewicz, the Red Sox and the Ball: It has been a hectic week, so I completely missed the boat on blogging about the World Series ball fiasco. I commend to you the fine analysis that the SportsProf has, as well as some of what Prof. Volokh wrote this weekend. Off Wing Opinion also offers an interesting take. My opinion was summarized quite nicely by Paul Finkelman in his op-ed yesterday: Doug Mientkiewicz, the first baseman for the Boston Red Sox, caught the final out of the 2004 World Series. After celebrating with his teammates, Mientkiewicz...

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The Man Behind the Plan: The Washington Post profiles Allen Lew, the man in charge of the renovation of RFK Stadium for baseball and the construction of the city's new stadi...

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Angels Name Update: For at least two weeks, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are still a professional baseball team. A judge denied a temporary restraining order late last week that would have immediately blocked the name change. This is not a surprising development, as these type of orders are difficult to get. The judge ruled that the city would not be irreparably harmed if the team used its new name until the hearing in a fortnight.The next step, the injunction hearing, is key to the legal battle. A loss by the city of Anaheim at that level...

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The Yankees Get Johnson- So What? The big news on SportsCenter this morning was that the Yankees have signed Randy Johnson. The debate then became, how could the Yankees not win the World Series?I just don't understand this argument. Perhaps it is just the New York-focus of the media, but have we not learned anything from last year's LA Lakers? A slew of all-stars does not guarantee a championship by any means. Plus, the Yankees have three starting pitchers that are 37 years of age or older. They are one wrecked shipment of Ensure away from being...

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Not a Defamatory 'Evel': Famous daredevil Evel Knievel had his lawsuit against ESPN thrown out by a federal appeals court yesterday. Knievel and his wife had sued ESPN for defamation stemming from a caption to a picture posted on its website (which has since been taken down). The picture, of Knievel and his wife, had a caption that read: "Evel Knievel proves that you're never too old to be a pimp."Knievel took offense to this, claiming it damaged their reputations because it implied the couple was involved in illegal prostitution. The appeals court...

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Injured Georgia Player Suing University Over Insurance: In the better late than never department, this item from around Christmas. Former University of Georgia defensive back Decory Bryant said Tuesday that he is suing the school's Athletic Association and fired assistant athletics director Hoke Wilder . . .Now a senior at Georgia, Bryant, according to the lawsuit, filed a complaint in the Superior Court of Clarke County on Friday, claiming the defendants were negligent for not securing an insurance policy for him in case of a career-threatening...

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Even More Skiing and the Law: I guess you could say I have skiing on the brain. Perhaps it is because I am going skiing for the first time ever in a few weeks (Can you blog with a broken leg?) But, there have been a number of interesting articles about the constant intersection between skiing and the law.The Aspen Times explores the legal liability of a resort stemming from a skier's death in December. Under the Colorado Ski Safety Act, each skier assumes the risks inherent in the sport, but this skier collided with a snowmobile racing up the slope....

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Clarett is Not Done: Even though Maurice Clarett is eligible for the NFL draft in April, he is still asking the Supreme Court to hear his appeal. Standing probably will not be an issue, because although declaratory relief (i.e., an injunction mandating that the NFL make him draft-eligible) will be moot, Clarett could still get monetary damages for not being able to pursue his career.Although I disagree with his legal position, it is good to see that he still believes in the merits of the debate (or at least, his lawyers do). I see no chance that...

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More on the L.A(naheim). Angels: The LA Times asks an interesting question that could form the basis of the legal argument: just where in Anaheim is Los Angeles? If Anaheim is to be the name of the team, then how does LA fit in?Richard at the Pearly Gates (an excellent Angels blog) has more on this controversy.Could the New York Giants of East Rutherford be far behind? Let's hope not.The press is having a field day with this decision. Here is but one example.And there is more to come on the legal front, I am certa...

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More on Skiing: As I discussed in this earlier post, injuries for ski collisions can result in legal liability for the individual skiers, including even possible criminal sanctions. But another very real issue in the ski community is the liability of resorts and the owners of the slopes themselves. And as skiers increasingly demand more difficult runs in "out-of-bounds" areas, rather than on the traditional runs, does the potential for legal liability increase? Not necessarily.First, ski resorts are acting proactively to limit their liability....

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Adventure Sports News: Admittedly, I do not know a great deal about the world of adventure sports. In fact, I will be going skiing for the first time in a few weeks. But, this news seems to be generating some excitement in the sports world: Quiksilver Inc. said Monday that it has been in talks with Skis Rossignol about an acquisition that would make the Huntington Beach company a major player in winter sports equipment, fully extending its range from surf to powder. The possibility of a union between the biggest name in surf wear and the world's...

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Why not the O.C. Angels? The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Are you kidding me? This is possibly the worst sports name since Oriole Park at Camden Yards or Toronto Rock. One, it is too long. Two, it is two cities. How can a team be in two cities? The team did it because it wanted to reach out to the greater Los Angeles area and increase its marketing: after all, where is Anaheim? But then again, where is Green Bay? Simply said, this is quite possibly the worst "compromise" the Angels could have reached.It certainly has not made the city of Anaheim...

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