Despite Several Triple Axels, 15-Year-Old Mao Asada Barred From the 2006 Olympics

Within hours of posting on the age eligibility "summit" held a couple of weeks ago (see below), I came across another germane news story that broke yesterday. Japanese figure skater Mao Asada has been barred from competing in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy because of her young age. The International Skating Union, the relevant governing body, requires that all...

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Reggie Bush Sweepstakes

Oh those NFL schedule makers. How do they do it? The final week in the NFL pits Houston against San Francisco with so much at stake one can barely watch the game. The loser, of course, wins the Reggie Bush sweepstakes, a prize more valuable than any division crown. In this season of watching fans root for their team to lose, it’s time to challenge the bedrock assumption of...

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Age Eligibility Rules in Pro Sports - Conference #2

A few weeks after Sports Law Blog contributor Mike McCann spoke at a conference at Case Western Reserve School of law pertaining to eligibility rules in pro sports, leaders of several sport governing bodies convened in at the W Hotel in New York City for the same reason. The title of the forum was "Professional Athlete Forum of Phenoms to Professions: Successful Transitions."...

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Matters of Coverage

Head athletic trainers (AT) and athletic directors (AD) at universities and high schools face several challenges when it comes to ensuring the safety of their athletes. Facility safety, emergency care responses, and pre-participation physicals are all examples of administrative responsibilities that can impact player safety.One additional administrative challenge that is especially...

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Woody

I'm originally from Ohio, and all Ohio natives, by law, must root for Ohio State or risk deportation to that state up north.We also have an unending (and many would say unhealthy) love affair with Woody Hayes. So, although today's a happy day for me personally (it's my birthday), it's also the anniversary of the infamous Woody Hayes punch, which lead to his immediate dismissal...

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Alan Milstein's History of Sports and the Human Condition

Alan Milstein, an attorney at Sherman, Silverstein, Kohl, Rose & Podolsky who has litigated on behalf of a number of athletes, including Maurice Clarett, as well as medical patients, has published Out of the Park: A History of Sports and the Human Condition. Co-authored by Attorney Michael Dube, Out of the Park canvasses the history of sports dating back from 777 BC (with...

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Busy busy busy

I've been busy the last couple of days that I haven't been able to do my weekly post here. I probably should face facts and admit that I don't have the time to do this blog.  ...

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iPod oblivion?

Dan Lothian of CNN documents the problem of "iPod oblivion" - the self-induced spaceout experienced by iPod wearers and how it's making them easy targets of petty crimes. There must be legal ramifications for Apple, no? So, I'm just wondering how long it will take for the first lawsuit to be filed. Surely, someone will claim that the iPod is a new kind of "attractive nuisance"...

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Dreamcatcher: University High School to Abruptly Close on Dec. 31

This field, this game, is a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good, and that could be again. Oh people will come, Ray. People will most definitely come.Well, at least they came to University High School for a while. As we discussed last month, University High School in Miami has served as an academic field of dreams for many high school football players...

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Local drug testing news

In a previous post to this blog, Greg Skidmore shared some important legal information concerning mandatory randomized drug testing of high school athletes. The legal cases he cites are the same cases I share with my athletic training students to establish the legal foundation for testing activities. Athletic trainers will often be included in the creation of these testing policies, are usully in the "need to know" loop on positive tests, and at some levels (college, olympic), athletic trainers are often intimately involved with many aspects of...

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Blown Save(ings): Former All-Star Closer Jeff Reardon Charged with Armed Robbery

Jeff Reardon, a former All-Star closer who pitched in the big leagues from 1979 to 1994, was arrested yesterday on armed robbery charges in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. According to the police, the 50-year-old entered a jewelry store and "handed a clerk a note demanding money. The clerk, believing Reardon had a gun, filled a bag with an undisclosed amount of cash." With his...

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What We Do

Happy Holidays everyone! I'd like to thank Michael for the generous invitation to guest blog for this week. He and I struck up a conversation a few months back about one of his blog post, and now, here I am. Because I'm one of the few non-lawyers in the guest-blogger stable, I thought I'd open the week with a little information about my profession, athletic training, and try...

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It's a Wonderful Life: Kobe Bryant and the Prison Life He Avoided

Dave Zirin of Counter Punch Magazine has an interesting piece on the life Kobe Bryant could have led had he been convicted on sexual assault charges two years ago. (Zirin, "Rotten at the Core: Kobe Bryant and the Price of Freedom," Counter Punch, 9/6/2006). As you may all remeber, those charges were dropped less than a week before Bryant's trial was set to begin. Zarin's piece...

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Happy Holidays

We hope you all are enjoying the holidays. We'll be back on Monday, December 26, with two guest bloggers (Professor John Parsons of the Arizona School of Health Sciences and Attorney Ryan Rodenberg of Octagon), so be sure to check in. I look forward to posting on Johnny Damon signing with the Yankees and whether his decision "disproves" my upcoming law article, It's Not About...

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Ball Hog? Harlem Ambassadors File FTC Complaint Against Harlem Globetrotters for Unfair Business Practices

The Harlem Ambassadors, a barnstorming exhibition basketball team that was founded in 1998, have filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission concerning the business practices of the Harlem Globetrotters, also a barnstorming exhibition basketball team, yet one that was founded in 1926 and enjoys far-better name recognition. (Don Walker, "Ambassadors' Beef with Globetrotters...

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60 Wins and Counting: Go Lee High

And now for a nice feel-good sports story to kick off your holiday weekend. Tired of whiny professional athletes and college stars whose infractions are quickly swept under the rug lest they impact The Season? How about a return to high school hoops?On Wednesday night, the Fighting Leemen of Robert E. Lee High School, in Staunton, Virginia, extended their winning streak to...

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Random Steroid Testing for New Jersey High School Stars

New Jersey has become the first state in the country to mandate steroid testing for high school athletes. Acting Governor Richard Codey signed an Executive Order requiring random steroid testing for members of all high school athletic teams that qualify for post-season play. The Order is the culmination of the Governor's Task Force on Steroid Use and Prevention, which issued...

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Sports Law Blog Nominated for Best General Sports Blog of 2005

We are excited to announce that Sports Law Blog has been nominated for the Best General Sports Blog of 2005 in the Red Reporter Awards. We are honored, and we greatly appreciate all of the guest bloggers, readers, and commentators who have contributed so much to the Blog. If you would like to vote on the award, please click here.-- Michael McCann and Greg Skidm...

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Professor Gregory Bowman's Law Career Blog

Many Sports Law Blog readers are law students or recent law school graduates. If they represent a typical sample of those two groups, then many of them 1) find law school life to be somewhat peculiar and 2) aren't sure what they want to do with their law degrees. Granted, they are well aware of the kinds of jobs they are supposed to aspire to (for example, see left), but for...

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U.S. Rep. Marty Meehan on Steve Belichick

In what has been a long year for both our country and professional sports, it's nice to those who represent our country bring out the positives in professional sports. U.S. Rep. Marty Meehan of Massachusetts has done just that with his moving words for Steve Belichick (1919-2005), the father of Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. A Patriots' season-ticket holder since long...

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Manners, The Chiefs, and "One Little Finger"

Manners. Manners are what distinguish a place you'd like to live from a place where you have to live. Since moving to the Midwest about six months ago, I have learned to really appreciate how thoughtful, how polite, and how generally nice Midwesterners are.So I was shocked -- really shocked! -- to read about the behavior of the Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator at the...

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The Politics of Sport: Congressional Oversight of Teams, Players, and Leagues

Chris Graham of the Augusta Free Press has a provocative story on the increasing attention Congress appears to be investing in the oversight of sports. (Graham, "The Politics of Sport," August Free Press, 12/19/2005). We have seen that trend with steroids/baseball, the BCS hearings, and the prospect of a Congressional inquiry into the antitrust implications of the Eagles suspending...

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Reverse Stigma? The Precipitous Rise of Young, Highly-Educated General Mangers in Major League Baseball

Alan Siegel of the Lawrence Eagle-Tribune has an excellent biographical piece on the two new co-general managers of the Boston Red Sox: Ben Cherrington (31-years old, Amherst College '96, University of Massachusetts Sports Management Program '97) and Jed Hoyer (31-years old, Wesleyan University '96). His story brings to mind the seemingly growing number of young guys with...

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A New Job and Ratty Jeans

My blog here has definitely been neglected lately. I have so much going on that I never really get to write like I want to. Plus, I write a lot of other things, so the CB gets shoved to the bottom of my "To Do" list. I intend to remedy this. This will be a once a week blog with a new post published each weekend. I'll cram everything into it on that one day.   I've started a new job but because of the nature of the business and the many incidents where employees were fired for posting company business on the internet, this will be the last...

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Axis of Evil Baskets: Americans Playing Pro Hoops in Iran

Scott Peterson of the Christian Science Monitor has an engaging piece on Iran's first attempt to create a national basketball association. (Peterson, "On the Parquet, 'Great Satan' plays for 'Axis of Evil,'" 12/15/2005). In an effort to bolster quality of play, teams are paying up to $15,000 a month to lure players from the United States, which Iranians sometimes call "The...

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More on the World Baseball Classic - Cuba Shut Out

Following up on Mike's story from earlier this morning regarding the World Baseball Classic, the U.S. Treasury Department has shut out Cuba more effectively than even Roger Clemens could. According to an Associated Press story, the Treasury Department yesterday told Major League Baseball that Cuba would not be allowed to play in the World Baseball Classic, to be held largely...

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A-Rod May Play for the Dominican Republic: Un-American or Quintessential American?

Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez will probably play for the Dominican Republic, rather than the United States, in next March's inaugural World Baseball Classic. Born in New York City, Rodriguez would live there until the age of four. At that time, his family moved to the Dominican Republic. The family would return to the United States when Rodriguez was eight-years old.Certainly,...

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New York Court Lets Them Play

First, thanks to Mike and the first of the guest bloggers for picking up my slack as I took a short break. I echo Mike in saying that we are thrilled to have such an impressive line-up of guests over this two-month period.I am also pleased with the news from New York, as a Supreme Court (trial court) judge has refused to interfere with the outcome of a high school wrestling match. From the law.com story: The dispute centers on a championship wrestling match in Albany. On March 5, Frank C. Rodriguez and Paul Florio were competing for the state title...

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Situation Matters: Race and Larry Bird Comparisons

Interesting and doubtlessly controversial piece by Josh Levin of Slate on why star young basketball players who happen to be white are often compared to Larry Bird (Levin, "Follow that Bird," Slate, Dec. 12, 2005). It's a good example of how situation--like the color of another's skin--influences our thinking, perhaps in ways that we don't appreciate or intend:Want proof that...

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BCS Hearings and Antitrust Implications

The Voluntary Trade Council's web site ran an interesting story last week on a theoretical antitrust challenge to the Bowl Championship Series. As a longtime college football playoff proponent, I'm always devising scenarios by which we can destroy the BCS and institute an eight- or even sixteen-team playoff as a replacement (if Chad Henne from Michigan doesn't complete that...

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Welcome Back, Theo: Theo Epstein to Return to Red Sox

A month after Theo Epstein unexpectedly refused to sign a 3-year, $4.5 million contract with the Red Sox (and thus effectively quit as general manger) Rob Bradford of the Lawrence Eagle-Tribune reports that Epstein will return to the team as Senior Advisor (Rob Bradford, "Sox Owner Henry Clears Way for Epstein's Return," 12/11/2005). He will provide advice to his two former...

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7th Floor Crew: More "Life Experience" for the Student-Athlete

Martin Edwards of the Chuck and Doug Show on 620 AM The Score Jackson Mississippi alerts me to a recent ESPN column on the "7th Floor Crew," a student band at the University of Miami. (Pat Forde, "Rap recording could threaten Miami's Progress," ESPN.com, 11/18/05). The band features a number of Hurricanes' football players, and its music is described as, "spectacularly profane...

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