Larry Brown is Grieving

Larry Brown has decided to file a grievance concerning whether he is owed any money by the Knicks in connection with his termination. It was not a surprise when the Knicks concocted an excuse to avoid paying Brown. As I pointed out here, MSG is (owned by) a publicly traded company and may have feared a lawsuit by shareholders if it paid Brown the full value of his contract.Brown...

Read More

Indiana Court Declines to Extend Co-Participant Sports Tort Standard to Jet-Skiing

An Indiana Appellate court declined Monday to extend the relaxed tort law standard for co-participants in organized sports, under which co-participants cannot be liable for mere negligence but only for reckless misconduct or intentional wrongdoing, to the activity of jet-skiing. In Davis v. Lecuyer, 2006 WL 1726636, the court distinguished jet-skiing from triathlon competitions,...

Read More

Big Logos at the Big W

Wimbledon began Monday in typical fashion: with rain delays and warnings that players must adhere to strict dress codes. Strict dress codes will probably disappoint you Maria Sharapova fans. For his part, World No. 1 Roger Federer has been taking the court in a Nike-designed cream blazer.Underneath it all, Nike and Adidas are waging a legal battle over permissible logos. Tennis'...

Read More

Players Sue NFLPA Over Failed Hedge Fund Investment

A group of NFL players has sued the players’ union, claiming the union improperly certified a hedge fund manager under its Financial Advisor Program. The LA Times has the story here. Kirk Wright, who has since been apprehended and charged by the SEC, was looting the fund.The players’ allege that the union should be blamed because it was aware that Mr. Wright’s partner had financial / tax trouble (and had liens against him) at the time the union certified Wright as a financial advisor. I can’t find the complaint itself, but what this argument...

Read More

Peter Gammons Suffers Brain Aneurysm

Here's hoping to a speedy recovery for ESPN's Peter Gammons, arguably baseball's premier journalist, as he is undergoing emergency surgery in a Boston-area hospital for a brain aneurysm. Gammons has written many stories that touch on the law, although his introduction speech into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2004 may be his greatest work. Here's an excerpt:I walked the streets...

Read More

The Role of Race and Culture in how Fans Regard the NBA Draft Age Limit and Dress Code

Rick Maese, a columnist for the Baltimore Sun, has an extensive piece today on the NBA Draft (which will be held tomorrow) and how the new elevated age floor may reflect dimminishing player autonomy and underlying issues of race and culture ("NBA Draft Doesn't Get Any Better with Age," Baltimore Sun, June 27, 2006). Maese interviews me for his column, and cites my law article,...

Read More

DC Power Lawyer Golf Handicaps

Wonkette links yesterday to Golf Digest’s October 2005 ranking (by handicap) of the top 200 politico-golfers in Washington, DC, a number of whom happen to be lawyers. Among the more notable (I’ve left out elected officials, many of whom have law degrees but are unlikely to ever practice again):7. Fred Eames, Partner, Hunton & Williams (2.0)17. Spencer...

Read More

School Recess is Becoming a Thing of the Past

I read an article in USA Today this morning that has me all fired up: 'Not it!' More schools ban games at recess. Elementary schools across the country are banning games during recess, such as tag, soccer and touch football, because educators say these games are dangerous. The principal at one such school said tag was banned because it "progresses easily into slapping and...

Read More

A Link in the Chain

I never served in the military, and I am glad I didn't. The reason is because I know that I cannot tolerate the madness that this insitution is known for. If I had served, I would undoubtedly be sitting in a stockade or a brig somewhere at this moment. That is because I like to speak my mind. This is not allowed in the military. You are supposed to do what you are told without question. This is all conveniently forgotten when something like Abu Ghraib becomes public. Then, you are guilty for not questioning your orders. Amazing, eh? I work with...

Read More

WSOP Begins Today

The World Series of Poker begins today. Most ESPN watchers have seen only the “Main Event”, which does not begin until July 28. Someone in Bristol must read the Sports Law Blog, because three weeks after I complained about the delay between the event and its appearance on ESPN, the network announced that it would offer the August 10 final table of the main event live on...

Read More

New Sports Law Scholarship this Week

New this week is the New England Law Review’s publication of its symposium, “From Grand Slams to Grand Juries: Performance-Enhancing Drug Use in Sports,” which was held in November, 2005. Some big wigs from sports law academia (e.g., Professors Mitten, Haagen, Weiler, Kurlantzick) and some folks with more practical backgrounds (e.g., Reggie Bush’s lawyer Wm. David Cornwell), are among the authors: Gordon A. Martin, Jr, How it all began: the move to drug testing, 40 NEW ENGLAND LAW REVIEW 705 (2005-2006).Will Carroll, The real story of baseball’s...

Read More

Random Thoughts on Various Subjects

1. Ann Coulter shoved her foot in her mouth all the way to the knee by claiming that some 9/11 widows had made out well from their husbands' deaths. What can I say? Coulter is a skank.2. A co-worker gave me a copy of Penthouse, but it was extremely disappointing. The July 2006 issue did not have the quality of smut that I have grown to expect from that mag. There was no lesbian spread. There was no hot nubile blonde taking it from some well hung stud. The centerfold lacked the gynecological eye view that is the staple of being a Penthouse Pet.What...

Read More

MLB Seeking Licensing Fees from Slingbox Maker

Eric Fisher of Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal (subscription only) reported last week that MLB Advanced Media is seeking licensing fees from Sling Media Inc., manufacturer of the popular Slingbox device (pictured to the right), for the distribution of televised baseball games. The Slingbox, which can be purchased by consumers for $200, is a device that geographically...

Read More

Gary Glitter Proof? The Law and Morality of NFL Game Day Music

The National Football League has asked its teams to refrain from playing Gary Glitter's popular anthem "Rock and Roll Part 2" (aka, the "Hey" song) on game day. In case you don't know what song I'm talking about, you can listen to it here. You will surely recognize it; it has to be one of the most regularly played songs during sporting events.So why has Glitter's song moved...

Read More

Eugene Volokh on Tony Twist Case

It must be the week for bloggers to post about the legal issues relating to athletes' and former athletes' names. Michael's last post on Dale Jr. and my post on Gnarls are joined by UCLA Law Professor and conspiracist Eugene Volokh, who discusses hockey player Tony Twist's case against the creator of the comic book Spawn. Greg had a post about the U.S. Supreme Court's denial...

Read More

Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Suffix, Sports, and the Law

ESPN's Darren Rovell has a very interesting piece on Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who hasn't owned his name, or the rights to his own signature, for the past three years. Instead, his stepmother Teresa controls those rights. This peculiar outcome results from assorted agreements, including mere handshakes, between the late Dale Sr. and Dale Jr., as well as between Dale Earnhardt...

Read More

The Demise of Dan Rather

Dan Rather has left CBS. Good riddance.It's time we got a few things straight about Dan Rather. He was not beloved at CBS. There were those who believed that Rather should never have succeeded Walter Cronkite at CBS, but the job should have gone to Bob Schieffer. I am in agreement with those people. Schieffer is a classy guy, and his improved ratings in Rather's absence indicate what could have been. Rather likes to think he is a newsman in the Edward R. Murrow mold. Well, Mr. Rather, you are no Ed Murrow, and you certainly aren't a Walter Cronkite....

Read More

Notre Dame Receiver Signs "Fat" Contract with Cubs

Those of you who follow college football and/or may have watched Notre Dame at all last season may recall the tall, lanky and athletic receiver with a unique last name and long hair protruding from the back of his helmet. Baseball America's John Manuel reported this week that Jeff Samardzija, a fifth-round pick two weeks ago by the Chicago Cubs, agreed in principle with the...

Read More

Northwestern Soccer Hazing Scandal Claims Coach

Northwestern Women's Soccer Coach Jenny Haigh fell victim to her teams' "hazing" antics, about which I blogged here, and resigned yesterday. Badjocks.com has yet to glo...

Read More

Gnarls, Charles, and Trademark Rights in Proper Names

In yesterday’s Philadelphia Daily News, Dan Gross says that former NBA player Charles Barkley “likes” the music group “Gnarls Barkley,” whose hit song Crazy is one of the unofficial anthems of the summer.Gross writes (HT to Ben Maller):CHARLES BARKLEY says he's “flattered and honored” to be the namesake of Gnarls Barkley, the hip-hop/rock duo comprising Danger Mouse and Cee-Lo.The...

Read More

South African Sports Law Conference

Readers in the area (or with particularly large conference budgets) may be interested in the first South African Sports Law Conference, scheduled for September 14-15 at Stellenbosch University. According to the conference flyer:South African sport is currently in a state of flux, experiencing significant upheavals and uncertainty due to a number of factors, e.g. the following:Continuing...

Read More

Tax Consequences of World Cup Parties

Cincy law professor and tax expert Paul Caron has an interesting post on the tax treatment of World Cup parties thrown by employers in the U.S. and U...

Read More

Bad Words & Sports

Foul language in sports appears to be on the rise this week, and, interestingly, it's not from a grizzled tobacco-chewing manager or an emotional player. Rather, hangers-on like the always-two-breaths-from-a-mental-breakdown Mark Cuban and the silly would-be Wrigley Field tenor Jeremy Piven are leading the way. For those interested in the legal issues raised by troublesome words, see Ohio State University law professor Chris Fairman's recent article he...

Read More

New Sports Law Articles Available on Westlaw and Lexis

My library provides a wonderful service of forwarding me on a digest of recently published law review articles by subject matter. Periodically, I’ll post a notice of newly published articles on the blog (unless a chorus of voices objects). As you will see, most of these pieces are student-written (which may reflect the much greater interest on the part of students in sports law than among professors). New in June:Gregory Matthew Jacobs, Comment, Curbing their enthusiasm: a proposal to regulate offensive speech at public university basketball...

Read More

World Cup Politics

My thanks again to Michael and everyone else for their allowance of my posts. I dedicate this also to my father, whose life with my mother began in the shadow of the Vietnam War and who always commended to me the nexus between sports and war.The World Cup has also brought this connection to the front. On the one hand, the proposed visit of the Iranian President to Germany, a nation that criminalizes the denial of the Holocaust, has caused its own controversy. That story has been marred largely by the poilitical triangulation of Neo-Nazi and Anti-Nazi...

Read More

Ambush Marketing and the De-Pantsing of the Dutch

An interesting development at the World Cup relating to "ambush marketing," a thorny problem in sports marketing that Greg discussed a while back. Ambush marketing generally "is where a rival company to an official sponsor buys ad space in and around key venues, hoping to receive exposure and association with major events." The practice is of questionable legal validity...

Read More

Bad Management

I'm 35, and I've been working since I was 13. In that time, I have had bad bosses, good bosses, and one great boss. I've also been a boss and read a lot about management, leadership, etc. Does this make me an expert on this? Nah. Yet, when I talk about what separates a bad boss from a good boss, everyone tells me I get it right. It must be my relentlessly analytical nature.So, what are the signs of a bad boss? Here's a list:1. Bad bosses lose good people on a regular basis.This is because bad bosses don't know how to manage. To make up for their...

Read More

Justice Alito's Pitching Arm?

Any readers in Philadelphia? I'd love to hear a report on Sunday's Phillies-Devil Rays game, at which Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito will throw the first pitch. Will Justice Alito practice before his pitching debut, like Justice Stevens did before throwing a high and wide pitch at Wrigley last September? Justice Stevens was believed to be the first Justice to throw...

Read More

The Legality of Clubhouse "Codes of Conduct"

In an effort to get some of the L'Affair du Grimsley egg off its face, the Arizona Diamondbacks may implement a "Code of Conduct" for its players that is more stringent than Major League Baseball rules, as reported here. The Arizona Republic's headline: "Rules May Block Kendrick's Code of Conduct." Who's cited in the article for the proposition that such a move would be...

Read More

North Dakota Fighting NCAA Over Use of "Fighting Sioux"

Last year, the NCAA announced a ban on member schools' use of nicknames, mascots and logos in postseason tournaments that it deemed ethnically or racially demeaning to American Indians. The NCAA determined that at least 18 schools, including the University of North Dakota, violated the policy. Since then, the NCAA has rejected two UND appeals saying the university may not...

Read More