Legal Strategies for NHL Players to Obtain Free Agency

As reported in the Ottawa Sun, if there is no new NHL collective bargaining agreement in place by July 1 -- the date players whose contracts expire must receive qualifying offers -- a group of NHL players are prepared to sue to be declared unrestricted free agents. (Garrioch, "Free Agent Frenzy," 4/27/05)Although still hypothetical, this is certainly an interesting issue. I imagine that an American court may be reluctant to jump into this type of dispute, unless there was evidence that the NHLPA had lost its bargaining power. A similar, though...

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"Judge orders Tennessee officials to reconsider Bowe application"

A Tennessee judge has ruled that state officials must reconsider the boxing license application of Riddick Bowe, former heavyweight champion. Bowe was denied a license based on medical reports issued in 2000 that claim Bowe has brain damage and should not be able to fight. The judge, though, ruled that officials must study new medical records submitted last year or have their own doctor re-examine Bowe before ruling on his application. Full story from FindL...

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Should Congress Regulate Drug Testing in Sports?

Perhaps Congress has discovered that professional sports is a major untapped source of campaign contributions. You certainly can expect some campaign money to be flowing in to the Capital in the next few months, as certain legislators have floated the idea of taking the testing for performance-enhancing drugs out of the hands of the leagues and placing it into their own.For the most part, Congress seemed satisfied with the testimony given yesterday by Paul Tagliabue and other NFL representatives, but some lawmakers still believe a uniform policy...

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Gary Roberts on Impact of Clarett v. NFL on NBA Draft Issues

I exchanged e-mails today with Gary Roberts, Deputy Dean and Director of the Sports Law Program at Tulane Law School, and he has kindly allowed me to post his thoughts pertaining to Greg's post below and my coments in today's story by Mark Alesia in the Indianapolis Star:Michael -- It is interesting, but I still disagree with you and Matt Mitten completely, as I did in Clarett. This 20 year old rule is being discussed in collective bargaining. Regardless of whether the union agrees to include it in the CBA or not, it will qualify for the labor...

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More on Age Limits in Professional Sports

The Indianapolis Star asks, "Is it fair for NBA to keep youth out?" (04/27/05). The article discusses both the quality of play in the NBA, as well as the potential success of any legal challenge a new age restriction. Legal experts say new restrictions could be vulnerable to a challenge in court, despite the failed effort by Maurice Clarett to overturn the NFL's limits on entering that league's draft. That's because, unlike in football, there is plenty of evidence that basketball players straight from high school can succeed in the pros.Any change...

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More on Performance Enhancing Technology -- Contact Lenses

In response to last week's post on performance-enhancing surgery (4/21), reader James Meier pointed out an excellent article in the Sporting News about the newest in contact lenses. The article highlights Orioles' player Brian Roberts, who is off to a monster start and is the only known player in the major leagues wearing the new lenses. What do the lenses do?Known as performance-enhancing contact lenses, they were designed to help hitters pick up the seams on the ball better and to protect the eyes from the sun."They're almost like wearing sunglasses...

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"Jockeys' Guild, Churchill Downs Reach Deal"

From FindLaw, Churchill Downs and the Jockeys' Guild reached an agreement last week that will keep riders from boycotting races in protest of medical insurance and safety issues. According to the "joint stipulation and consent order," the Jockeys' Guild has agreed to instruct its members - including more than 1,200 riders - not to stage any activities that would disrupt racing at any of the seven tracks owned by Churchill Downs Inc., including the Churchill track.In exchange, the racetrack company has agreed to withdraw the motion for a preliminary...

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New Book by Stefan Szymanski and Andrew Zimbalist

Next month, I will be reviewing on Sports Law Blog a new book by Stefan Szymanski and Andrew Zimbalist: National Pastime: How Americans Play Baseball and the Rest of the World Plays Soccer. In the book, Professors Szymanski and Zimbalist explore why baseball is so popular in the United States, while soccer is so popular everywhere else. In doing so, they evaluate the contrasting organizational structures that run the two sports. They then conclude with recommendations on how both sports can learn from each other.I'm looking forward to reviewing...

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Don't Like Sports? Too Bad, Say Cable Companies

The L.A. Times has a few interesting editorials today. One calls for the end of the filibuster entirely in the Senate ("Nuke the Filibuster," 04/26/05) and another decries the increasing costs of cable television, driven mostly by sports. As the piece correctly points out, with the new NFL deals signed by ESPN and NBC, cable costs are certain to rise ("Players and Payers," 04/26/05). Fueled largely by programming fee hikes demanded by sports networks, monthly cable bills have risen steadily in recent years, a trend likely to worsen. ESPN says it...

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Tales of Woe, Gore and Age Limits

Mike tells an excellent story below about Frank Gore, a Miami running back who suffered a damaging knee injury in college and had his draft status suffer as a result (full story). Mike asks: What purpose did the age floor serve Frank Gore? What good did it do him or his family?I agree with this statement completely: the age limit did Frank Gore no good; in fact, it did him incredible harm. But the age limit is not in place to protect Frank Gore and players like Frank Gore. The age limit is in place to protect the NFL as a business and to protect...

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Damaging Goods: The NFL Age Floor and Frank Gore

In response to Greg’s post below about the age debate, I found neither the drafting of Maurice Clarett nor that of Mike Williams most telling. Rather, I was most struck by the drafting of Frank Gore, who was selected in the third round by the San Francisco 49ers. As many of you know, Gore was one of the most heralded high school players in the country in 2000. He attended the University of Miami and had one of the best freshman seasons of any running back in college history. At the time, had he been eligible to enter the NFL Draft, he likely...

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More on Aluminum Bats: An Overreaction?

John at Only Baseball Matters has posted an excellent critique of my earlier post (4/25) on the dangers of aluminum bats. He points to the study I cite that says baseball is one of the safest sports to play and echoes my statement that there may not be a problem at all. One person or two people getting seriously injured, or even killed, while a tragedy for the families and friends of the individuals; do not give us a reason to create even more "risk-preventative" laws. Or put another way, you cannot legislate risk, although we continue to try and...

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Clarett and Williams Drafted- Legal Case Revisited

Mike Williams and Maurice Clarett ended their long legal battle over the weekend, when both were taken in the NFL draft. Williams was taken by the Lions with the 10th overall pick and Clarett was selected by the Broncos with the last pick of the third round (which was surprisingly high for him). Both players were drafted significantly lower than they would have been if they had been selected when they wanted to enter the draft, but this does not change my view of the legal argument. Mike will have a different view (and I hope he shares it).For...

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Aluminum Bats: Creating an Unreasonable Risk of Harm?

Anyone who has been around youth or college baseball recognizes the definitive 'ping' of an aluminum bat as it squarely strikes a pitched ball. Unlike professional baseball, which uses the traditional wooden bats, all other levels of organized baseball have switched to aluminum bats. The change is due mostly to cost: wooden bats break, and thus, have to be replaced. Aluminum bats, on the other hand, will last for years, if not decades. I have used the same aluminum bat at the batting cages for over twelve years.There is a growing dark side to aluminum...

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Bobby Orr: Gary Bettman & Bob Goodenow are "Strangling" Pro Hockey

In an op-ed in the Lawrence Eagle-Tribune, former Boston Bruins great Bobby Orr lambasts NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and NHLPA Executive Director Bob Goodenow for "strangling" pro hockey. He believes that neither was interested in getting a deal done this past February, and that both have "squandered" any remaining goodwill. He encourages the NHL and NHLPA to either immediately agree to a new deal, or anoint new leadership teams. He also cautions, "Our sport is in danger of becoming irrelevant." ("Get Deal Done or Get Out of Way," Lawrence Eagle-Tribune...

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Making Players Accountable for their Actions

When asked about his run-in with a fan after the April 14th Yankees-Red Sox game, Gary Sheffield's had this to say: It all happened so quickly -- I don't really remember what happened. It seemed like the fan was taking a shot at me and so I reacted without thinking, and I apologize for that. The fan was wrong to have reached into the field of play, but I was wrong to react as I did in confronting that idiot fan.Of course, Sheffield didn't say this. He offered a self-congratulatory statement instead, "It could have been worse if I didn't hold my...

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Papa Don't Preach . . . Even if I Can't Hear You

In what seems like a curious assessment of behavior, Major League Baseball has decided to fine and suspend Boston Red Sox hitting coach Ron Jackson (AKA "Papa Jack") for one game due to his actions (or mouthed expressions) in the now infamous Red Sox - Yankees game from April 14. In that game, a fan interfered with Gary Sheffield, who after completing the play, ran back to confront the fan (but, unlike Jackson, Sheffield will not be punished by Major League Baseball). Bob Watson, MLB's vice president for discipline, cited Jackson's "excessive arguing"...

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Performance-Enhancing Surgery and Sports

Last month, I wrote about what could possibly be the "next generation" of cheating in sports: medical and biological enhancements through surgery (3/28). William Saletan has also explored this, wondering why LASIK, the laser surgical procedure that improves eyesight, is not also considered cheating ("The Beam in Your Eye," Slate, 04/17/05).You don't need bad vision to get the surgery. Wavefront, if you've got the bucks for it, reliably gives you 20/16 or better. If your vision ends up corrected but not enhanced, you can go back for a second pass....

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"Italy Approves New Soccer Anti-Violence Measures"

In the wake of the Fan-Gary Sheffield incident (listed in the order of blame, from my point of view), I sincerely hope that American sports leagues never have to resort to measures such as these. The Italian government backed a series of new "zero tolerance" measures Thursday designed to curb fan violence at soccer matches.Effective immediately, matches will be abandoned if objects are thrown from the stands. The team whose fans threw the objects will be penalized with an automatic 3-0 loss. The new rules come in the wake of several violent incidents...

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Please Take a Survey for My Study on Nutritional Labeling and Related Issues

I am conducting a study on nutritional labeling and related issues, and would very much appreciate your assistance in completing this survey. It is anonymous and should take you around seven or eight minutes to complete. If you are inclined, please forward or share the survey link with others, as I would like to obtain a sufficiently large and diverse sample class. The results will be used only to develop legal scholarship. Thank you, I really appreciate it.Update: Special thanks to Todd Zywicki at the Volokh Conspiracy for posting a link to...

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Bart Giamatti on Law and Baseball

Terrific post by Professor Rick Duncan on Only Baseball Matters regarding the late A. Bartlett Giamatti and his belief that baseball and the law have much in common. Giamatti served briefly as MLB Commissioner in 1989, but died shortly after being named to the post. He also served as president of the National League from 1986 to 1989, and president of Yale University from 1977 to 1986. Amazingly, he was named president of Yale at the age of 39. Quite a life indeed. It's just too bad that he wasn't alive to have seen his son, Paul, become such a...

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Olympic Bombing Trial Update

In the "better late than never" category, I thought I would post some limited thoughts and links on the trial of Eric Rudolph, who has plead guilty to planting the bomb that exploded at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, killing 1 person and injuring over 100 others. Rudolph entered his guilty pleas, for the Olympic bombings as well as others, on Wednesday (Barry and Jarvie, "Rudolph Admits Bombing '96 Olympic Park, Clinics," LA Times, 04/14/05). The pleas will mean that he will spend the rest of his life in prison, but he avoids the possibility...

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Update on NIT v. NCAA

The Indianapolis Star had an article last week on the upcoming trial between the Metropolitan Intercollegiate Basketball Association (MIBA), which runs the National Invitation Tournament, and the NCAA. You read read a summary of the case in this earlier post (4/5/04) -- basically, the MIBA claims that the NCAA engages in anticompetitive practices by forbidding men's college basketball teams from entering the NIT if they have been extended an invitation to the NCAA. This prevents a team from turning down the NCAA in order to attempt a long run in...

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What Will Happen to Youppi?

Baseball returned to Washington, DC this past week, as the Nationals played their first home game in front of a crowd of political bigwigs and, hopefully, some diehard baseball fans that will keep the team going for many years. But the dismantling of the "Montreal Expos" is not yet complete. One of the lingering issues is what will become of Youppi, the giant orange mascot that kept fans at Olympic Stadium entertained for the past twenty-five years. Right now, the mascot sits stuffed into a duffel bag in Montreal, awaiting a buyer (Carpenter, "Alas,...

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Group Files Suit over Stanley Cup

A group of hockey players in Canada is not happy that the Stanley Cup is not being awarded this year, so they are taking a lesson from their neighbors to the south and going to court. The group has filed suit in an Ontario court against the NHL and the Cup's trustees, seeking clarification of the terms under which Lord Stanley provided the Cup and how it is to be awarded today ("Group goes to court over Stanley Cup," CBC Sports, 04/13/05). The lawsuit coincided with the day in which the NHL play-offs would have begun. Fans across the US have reacted...

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ABC Not Fined for Monday Night Football Opening

The FCC has ruled that it will not fine ABC for a Monday Night Football introduction that featured Terrell Owens and actress Nicollette Sheridan of "Desperate Housewives" (FCC News Release, 3/14/05). The skit featured Owens ready to go out and play the game until Sheridan drops her towel (presumably the only thing she is wearing) to the ground. Viewers, of course, saw nothing more than the back of the actress on the telecast. From the Opinion and Order: We conclude that the material in question is not patently offensive, and thus, not indecent....

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Jermaine O'Neal: Racism Motivating Efforts to Ban Teenagers from NBA

Indiana Pacers' All-Star forward Jermaine O'Neal, who was drafted out of high school in 1996, raises an important social point when considering the desirability of banning teenagers from the NBA:"As a black guy, you kind of think [race is] the reason why it's coming up. You don't hear about it in baseball or hockey. To say you have to be 20, 21 to get in the league, it's unconstitutional. If I can go to the U.S. Army and fight the war at 18 why can't you play basketball for 48 minutes?" In addition to O'Neal's concerns about a ban, you might also...

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When Drugs Are Good for Baseball Players

St. Louis Cardinals' reliever Bill Pulsipher, the one-time New York Mets phenom who was out of the big leagues from 2001-2004, talks to Alan Schwartz of Baseball America about how medications have helped him overcome clilnical depression and bring him back to the big leagues. Maybe it's me, but Pulsipher's comments remind me a little bit of what Billy Beane said in Moneyball, particularly when talking about his own playing days (I know Beane wasn't depressed, but like Pulsipher, he too was an extraordinarily successful young person who didn't...

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NBA, Players to Negotiate New Steroids Policy

Once the current collective bargaining agreement between the NBA and the NBPA expires on July 1, 2005, the parties expect to negotiate a new steroids testing policy. The existing policy, which was instituted in 1998, calls for a five-game suspension for the first positive steroid test, 10 games for the second, and 25 for any subsequent positive results. Veteran players are tested only once a year--and only during training camp--unless there is "probable cause" for additional screens. In contrast, first-year players may be tested as many as three...

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Baseball and the Silver Screen

There are few things better than baseball movies. America's Pastime and the Silver Screen are two of my favorite things, so it is only natural that the marriage of the two makes me quite happy. Prof. Rick Duncan at Red State Lawblog agrees and discusses some of his favorite baseball movies.For me, it does not get any better than Field of Dreams: The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. Its been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But, baseball has marked...

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Bo Knows Lawsuits?

It appears that at least one former major league player will test the legal waters over an allegation of steroid use, but it is not who most would expect. Bo Jackson, the famed two-sport star of the late 80s and early 90s, has filed suit against a group of newspapers in southern California after the papers insinuated that his career-ending hip injury stemmed from "anabolic use" (Foltman, "Jackson sues paper over steroids story," Chi. Trib., 4/7/05).As I have discussed (2/28), professional athletes accused of steroid use will have a tough time making...

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Clarett Case Comes to an End

On Monday, the Supreme Court declined to hear the case of Clarett v. NFL, the case in which former Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett challenged the NFL's age limit. There was little chance of the Court taking the case, since the legal issue remains relatively new. In addition, despite Clarett's legal team asserting that the case would have an impact on a number of other players, Clarett is eligible for this month's draft, meaning the case most likely would have been ruled moot (not affecting the legal rights of the parties).For now, this...

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Injured Phillies Fan Strikes Out Again

As expected (2/6), the Philadelphia fan who was injured while attempting to catch a foul ball will not be allowed to pursue his lawsuit against the city and the Phillies. A state appellate court has upheld the grant of summary judgment and thus the case will be dismissed. The court first ruled that "[o]ne who attends a baseball game as a spectator can properly be charged with anticipating as inherent to baseball the risk of being struck by a foulball while sitting in the stands during the course of a game." Next, the court held that the team and...

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History of Baseball's Antitrust Exemption

Skip over at the Sports Economist points to a great article detailing the history of baseball's antitrust exemption (Ratner, "Orioles run-ins with law historic," Baltimore Sun, 4/3/05). Skip also helpfully points out one error the author makes, relating to franchise location. I have done some analysis of the decision in Federal League Baseball Club of Baltimore v. National League, which created the exemption, in this earlier post (12/8/0...

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Opening Day in Baseball

I love opening day. The first game might have been last night, but the baseball season starts today. Opening day is great, not only because it signals the beginning of a new baseball season, where anything can happen, but because it officially marks the beginning of spring and summer. Warm weather, green grass and swimming pools await, while snow shovels, ice and heavy winter coats can be put away until next year. For more on Opening Day, see this post from last year.Hopefully, too, Opening Day can take some of the spotlight off of baseball's legal...

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Steroids in NASCAR?

Charles E. Yesalis, a health professor at Penn State and a former trainer, wonders whether NASCAR, which does not have a mandatory drug testing policy, should investigate whether its pit crew members are using illegal substances in order to improve their strength, speed, and agility. Under current NASCAR rules, testing may only be imposed upon "reasonable suspicion of abuse of an illegal substance," a standard which Professor Yesalis deems insufficient. NASCAR dismisses this suggestion, with a spokesman noting, "there's not even a suspicion of...

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North Dakota Seeks To Restore Roger Maris' Home Run Record

In light of apparent steroids use by Mark McGwire et al., the North Dakota Senate yesterday approved a resolution urging MLB commissioner Bud Selig to reinstate Roger Maris' 61 home runs in 1961 as the official major league record. The vote was 45-0. And in case you are wondering, yes, Roger Maris was from North Dakota. The Home Run Record Resolution now moves to the North Dakota House for additional review.The sponsor of the resolution, Sen. Joel Heitkamp (D), believes that although this matter may appear neither deserving of a state legislature's...

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Alabama Sues Artist Who Created Football Paintings

Daniel Moore is a proud graduate of the University of Alabama. He loves his alma mater and likes to express his feelings through paintings that depict great moments in the history of Alabama football. Unfortunately, Alabama does not much care for his artistic desires, and it has filed a lawsuit against him, claiming the paintings contain Alabama trademarks for which Moore has not obtained a proper license. The Alabama press has jumped all over this, vilifying the University for taking a beloved artist, and one of the school's biggest fans, to court...

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