Theo Epstein Quits as Red Sox General Manager

Stunning news out of Boston: a year after winning the World Series, 31-year old Red Sox GM Theo Epstein (on left) has rejected the Red Sox's 3-year, $4.5 million contract extension offer and he will leave the organization shortly, as his existing contract expires tomorrow. Earlier today, the Boston Globe had reported that Epstein accepted the 3-year, $4.5 million extension,...

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NBA Dress Code and Race: Discussion on BBC Radio

The BBC Radio discussion concerning the NBA Dress code and race has been posted on the BBC's website (after clicking on that link, you will see the phrase "LISTEN TO THE PROGRAMME" on the right-hand column -- below that is the audio link and just click on that for the audio file). The entire "World Have Your Say" program is on the audio file, so you may want to skip to the NBA portion -- our discussion occurs from minutes 38:27 to 47:54.It was a lively discussion, to say the least! The guests (in order of appearance):* Me (lawyer/law professor/Sports...

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DVD-Undead

As many of you know, I love zombie flicks esp. those of George Romero. I've been waiting for Land of the Dead to come out, but it hasn't. In the meantime, I watched another zombie flick called Undead . I should have saved my money.   Undead tries to be a comedy which I hate. A zombie flick is like an AC/DC song. It's just meat-and potatoes type entertainment. The basic plot of a zombie flick is that you have a group of people vs. a world gone mad. In addition, they have to follow these rules:   1. Zombies can't run.   2. To kill...

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Just Don't Do It: Reebok Terminates Endorsement Contract with DeAngelo Hall

Bill McCann alerts me to an interesting story in the Boston Herald concerning Reebok's decision to sever its endorsement contract with Atlanta Falcons cornerback DeAngelo Hall, after Hall played in last week's Monday Night Football game wearing Nike shoes. (Jennifer Heldt Powell, "Reebok Clips Falcon's Wings," Boston Herald, 10/27/2005).I can easily understand Reebok's disgust....

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Carolina Ink

SC passed legislation this year allowing tattooparlors to operate in the state. I see this as a goodthing and long overdue. But as with anything, theopponents simply moved their battle to the locallevel.In Kerhsaw County, one of the county councilmen, GeneMcCaskill, expressed his determination to see tattooparlors restricted in the county, and he was going touse the zoning regulations to pull this off. Well,this pissed off a lot of people including myself. Hispointed comments about "gang members" and "bikers"probably wasn't very politic. So, I...

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Male Golfer Seeks Spot at Women's British Open

Rick Karcher alerts me to an interesting story in USA Today regarding French golfer Jean Van de Velde's attempt to enter next year's Women's British Open. ("Van de Velde Wants to Play in Women's British Open," USA Today, 10/27/2005). Van de Velde is upset that women may qualify for the 2006 British Open, so he plans on submitting an application to the women's tournament. Earlier this year, the Ladies' Golf Union, which runs the Women's British Open, established a one-gender policy: "It shall be a condition of any competition organized by the Ladies'...

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Intro

My name is Charles Broadway, but I usually go by Charlie. I go by other names as well, but they aren't fit to print here.There isn't much to know about me. I read too much, start needless arguments, and only follow through on 20% of the projects I plan. But at least I don't drink or use drugs.I'm single, so if you're female and attractive, let's hook up. If you're rich, I will marry you. If not, I will use you until something better comes along.Politically, I'm a libertarian. Basically, this means I'm a Republican who believes in your right to...

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Rushing the Court (Field) Tragedy: Student Dies in Minnesota

I have written a great deal about the inherent dangers of fans rushing the court or field after a victory by the home team. While there is no greater rush as a fan, the practice is incredibly dangerous. As a post noted in March 2004, a number of students, members of the media and opposing players have been injured by the wave of students pouring out of the stands (3/10/04). And now, a student has been killed. Head trauma from a falling goalpost caused the death of a student at the University of Minnesota, Morris over the weekend, according to an...

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More Evidence of The Corruptive World of College Sports

Boston Celtics center and New York City native Mark Blount's name is being tossed around these days in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, as Maurizio Sanginti--the government's lead witness in a racketeering conspiracy case involving an Albanian-led gang accused of wrestling control of Bronx and Queens social clubs from Italian crime families and (to make the story more bizarre) Mark Blount's former legal guardian, after Blount apparently divorced his mom while in high school, ala Gary Coleman and Corey Feldman--claims...

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Pat Downs at Sports Arenas: Necessary Precaution or Unconstitutional Search?

A high school teacher (with the help of the ACLU) has decided to put his knowledge of constitutional law up against the NFL. The teacher, who has season tickets to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is suing the Tampa Sports Authority (which owns Raymond James Stadium), alleging that the policy of patting down all fans who enter the stadium violates the Fourth Amendment. (Varian, "Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan challenges patdowns at stadium in lawsuit," Sun Sentinel, 10/17/2005). You can read the complaint here.The NFL mandated the "pat down" policy at all of...

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I Feel Vindicated: McDonald's to Post Nutritional Data on Food Boxes

Over the last year, I have published two articles concerning the need for nutritional disclosure of fast food items aimed at young children (one was a law review article in the Wisconsin Law Review and the other was a feature article in the Food and Drug Law Institute's Update Magazine--the cover is depicted to the left). The articles feature a mix of food and drug law, behavioral...

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Sports Law Professionals: Granik to Step Down

The NBA has announced that Deputy Commissioner Russ Granik, the right-hand man to Commissioner David Stern, will resign his post after this season. (NBA Press Release, 10/25/05). Granik, a 1973 graduate of Harvard Law School, joined the NBA as a staff attorney in 1976. He moved up the ranks, becoming Assistant General Counsel in 1978, General Counsel in 1980 and Executive Vice President in 1984. He was elected to his current position in 1990. Before joining the NBA, he worked for three years in a New York law firm.Granik played a key role in the...

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NBA Dress Code: Has it Been Collectively Bargained?

Sports Law Blog contributor and Florida Coastal School of Law Sports Law Director Rick Karcher raises an excellent question about the NBA's new dress code: Is it invalid without union consent? For instance, is there a system in place for advice and consent of the National Basketball Players' Association Executive Committee, or a vote among all union members? Interestingly, the only consent we see from the NBPA is President Antonio Davis loosely consenting to the "concept" of a dress code, but as Rick astutely notes in an e-mail:[Davis] has not...

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UPDATE: Be an NFL Player - Only $300!

ESPN offers an update to this post (9/19) and this article (Latack, "To make its players safe the NFL is tackling schemers and scammers," Legal Affairs, Jan/Feb 2005). A man accused of pretending to be Pittsburgh Steelers quarterbacks was fined $300.Brian Jackson of Brentwood pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct charges yesterday. Authorities say Jackson pretended to be quarterbacks Ben Roethlisberger and Brian St. Pierre to two women so he could date them. Jackson gave one of the women a signed football and signed Roethlisberger's name on a Steelers...

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Racial Discrimination and African-American Quarterbacks in the NFL

Jason Chung, a student at McGill University, has posted an excellent piece on SSRN concerning racial discrimination and African-American Quarterbacks in the NFL. I read the piece yesterday afternoon and it is, hands-down, a must read (it is also only 18 pages, so you can read it pretty quickly). He examines the "myth of equitable integration" in the NFL, as well as the "black quarterback myth" (low on intelligence, high on athleticism) and, by examining the Wonderlic exam (which Rick Karcher recently discussed on Sports Law Blog) Jason does an...

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Harvard Law Bulletin on Peter Carfagna and Negotiation as a Professional Sport

Many thanks to Robb London, Editor of the Harvard Law Bulletin (and Harvard Law School class of 1986), for his mention of Sports Law Blog in his wonderful piece on Peter Carfagna, a 1979 graduate of Harvard Law School and former chief legal officer/general counsel of IMG. (London, "The Natural," Harvard Law Bulletin, Fall 2005). A leading expert on sports negotiation, Peter is now a partner at the Cleveland-based law firm Calfee, Halter & Griswold. The article also notes how Peter owns the Lake County Captains, the Cleveland Indians' single...

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Wie v. Lebron: Fans Just Want to Watch

Mike's post on the different responses to Michelle Wie and Lebron James turning pro (10/20) has produced a number of excellent comments, which I recommend to you. I have also written on this topic before and argue that it has less to do with Michelle versus Lebron and more to do with NBA versus LPGA (7/26).One possibility is that tennis and golf, the "country club" sports, are seen as more respectable than basketball. Fans may be more willing to tolerate younger players in these "dignified" sports that have well-established rules of etiquette (i.e.,...

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Tony Allen and the Whataburger Incident: The Carrot without the Stick

While playing for Oklahoma State University -- his third college atfer playing for Butler (Kansas) Community College and Wabash Valley (Illinois) Junior College -- Tony Allen was involved in a riot at a Whataburger restaurant in August 2003. The riot involved 300 people and was linked to rival groups from Oklahoma State University and Langston University. Allen and teammate Cheyne Gadson were arrested for obstruction, assault, and resisting an officer. (Mike Baldwin, "Tony Allen Has Turned His Troubled Life Around at OSU," Daily Oklahoman, Mar....

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Update: Tony Allen Charged with Aggravated Battery

Tony Allen, a second-player on the Boston Celtics, has been arrested and jailed by the Chicago Police Department for aggravated battery in connection to the August 28 melee in a Chicago restaurant. Accompanied by teammate Will Bynum and an entourage of about 15 people, Allen is said to have gotten into a heated verbal confrontation with Marktwain Johnson, a patron in a Chicago restaurant. At some point during the argument, Allen allegedly directed someone in his entourage to "F--- him up," and then shots were fired, with one hitting Johnson in...

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Michelle Wie and LeBron James: Why are They Any Different?

My brother Bill alerts me to a piece in the Wall Street Journal on 16-year-old golf prodigy Michelle Wie declaring pro earlier this month, and how she immediately secured a 4-year, $20 million endorsement deal with Nike. (Stephanie Kang, "Michelle Wie Wins a Deal Helping Nike," Wall Street Journal, Oct. 5, 2005, at B1).I thought it would be interesting to research the reactions...

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More on Umpires and Judges

While I was away, Robert Schwartz penned an excellent op-ed for the New York Times in which he evaluated the analogy between judges and umpires. As he correctly notes, the job of both an umpire is never just to blindly apply the rules or the law; there is a great deal of interpretation needed for both. The key, as he says, is the approach taken to interpretation. Umpires often have no choice but to use discretion. They cannot invoke the infield fly rule unless an infielder can catch the ball "with ordinary effort." And they must call a balk on...

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Kevin Garnett, 10 Years and 30,000 Minutes Later

Sam Smith of the Chicago Tribune makes an interesting observation in a piece that muses a Dirk Nowitzki for Kevin Garnett trade:Kevin Garnett has played almost 30,000 minutes in the NBA, which is the twilight for most great players. He's entering his 11th season.30,000 minutes is a rather striking figure. And Garnett--who in 1995 became the first high school senior since Bill Willoughy in 1976 to make himself eligible for the NBA Draft--has earned over $200 million in salary and endorsement income during those 30,000 minutes. Still just 29 years...

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Judge Dismisses Moore's Suit Against Bertuzzi

A Colorado state court judge has dismissed Steve Moore's lawsuit against Steve Bertuzzi, advising that the proper venue is likely in Canada. Moore sued Bertuzzi for damages stemming from an incident in a March 2004 game, where Bertuzzi punched Moore from behind and pushed him down into the ice. The hit, which violated the rules of hockey,** caused serious injuries to Moore and he has not played hockey since.The judge ruled that none of the alleged illegal conduct took place in Colorado. A state law passed in 2004 places fairly severe restrictions...

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Thanks to Rick Karcher

Many thanks to Rick Karcher for guest-blogging in my absence the past two weeks. It seems that there has been some good discussion on a wide range of topics. Hopefully we can all work together to get rid of the BCS and have a play-off for college football.We plan on having more guest-bloggers in the next few months. If you are interested in being one, email ...

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My Interview on Tonight's Sporting News Radio Sports Court

I will be a guest on tonight’s Sports Court, a radio program on Sporting News Radio 1510 The Zone AM Boston, and I'll be on from about 8:00 PM to 8:30 PM (EST). We will primarily discuss two topics: 1) My forthcoming article in the Brooklyn Law Review ("It's Not About the Money: The Role of Preferences, Cognitive Biases and Heuristics Among Professional Athletes," 71 Brooklyn Law Review __ (forthcoming, 2006)); and 2) the saga of Eddy Curry, the 22-year old NBA center who was recently traded from the Chicago Bulls to the New York Knicks...

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Brooklyn Law Review to Publish My Article

Yesterday I accepted an offer from the Brooklyn Law Review to publish It's Not About the Money: The Role of Preferences, Cognitive Biases and Heuristics Among Professional Athletes in Volume 71 (forthcoming, 2006). I am grateful to all of the law reviews that extended offers, and I am very excited to publish my article in the Brooklyn Law Review, which, over the last year,...

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The NFL's Wonderlic test proves to be a helpful scouting tool

Each year hundreds of college football players take the NFL's Wonderlic Personnel Test, a 12-minute standardized test with 50 questions designed to measure cognitive ability. The exam is given to college players during private interviews with teams, visits to college campuses or at the annual scouting combine in Indianapolis. The burghsportsguys blog published an interesting article written by Sam Walker of the Wall Street Journal that explains why the NFL gives the exam to prospects as part of its scouting process; the article also provides a...

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Darko Milicic Arrested: A Statistical Anomaly Among NBA Players?

Detroit Pistons forward Darko Milicic was arrested on Wednesday for driving with a suspended license in Michigan. (Stan Donaldson, "Pistons Darko Milicic Arrested for Driving with a Suspended License," Detroit Free Press, 10/13/2005). Milicic's license had been suspended earlier this year for two unpaid traffic tickets. Under Michigan law, a first offense for driving with a suspended license carries a maximum fine of $500 and a maximum sentence of 93 days in jail.Milicic's arrest initially proves surprising when compared to arrest trends among...

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