Silas on Day 13

A call to the vet this morning outlining our concerns and Silas' progress/lack thereof saw us heading in to town to grab a bag of Milligans milk powder (we've been using Anlamb) and some ketoprofen (anti-inflammatory) injections. He's now had two feeds of the Milligans, including a nice 1.5 litre feast at 2.30pm. Hopefully things will start moving through a little more smoothly soon! We're going to start stretching his feeds out a little more so that he has longer between feeds for digestion and we have more time for, well, for living! His hock and stifle are still very swollen and he is still leaking urine from his umblical stump, *sigh*.

Rosie the last of the outside mares to foal has waxed up - the wind here is near gale force and, quite frankly, the weather right now sux! Fingers and toes crossed for a successful and uneventful foaling in GOOD weather!!!!

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Silas on day 12 pt II

So the stump has not closed over, his temperature has gone up to 39.4 today but is at 39.3 at present, he requires a LOT of encouragement to rise to his feet and is obviously in not inconsiderable discomfort. Let me think, what else? Oh yes, we just had our pet sheep shorn and he has a massive tumour on his belly and the shearer recommended euthanasia. What a great day!

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Silas on day 12

Back by popular demand, photos of Silas! It looks like the hole in his umbilical stump MAY have closed back over so HOPEFULLY we can avoid surgery. He's OK today. Has mooched about in the paddock for a bit and has been drinking well. He's very sore, poor baby, and currently resembles a pin cushion as he is getting five shots a day! His temperature has dropped to between 38.3 and 39.1, which is a lot better than the 39.8 he spiked at yesterday - Does this mean we are on the way up? I sure hope so! I hope you like the photos, I loved taking them.

Pretty boy

Luf me Da
My little coo friend
On a missh

Chillin'

and relaxin'

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Silas Update

It's been six days and I have not provided an update on Silas' condition. To be honest, I am scared to write about him because, as soon as I say something positive, something negative seems to happen. I am sure I am some sort of a jinx as, he will be going great guns and then I go to feed him and there is something wrong. Whether it is an increase in temperature, a marked decrease in appetite or a sinister swelling or lameness, it seems that these bumps in the road raise themselves when I am at the steering wheel.

The good news first. Silas' feeding has increased well and the worst of the constipation seems to be over (thank God we got the milk dilution sorted!). Yesterday he drank 13.5 litres, his biggest day yet. But, there is bad news ... Silas has pain in both hocks and considerable swelling in one. His temperature has been over 39 for three days and, aside from the few hours immediately after he gets his anti inflammatory injection, he is very lethargic and dull. This morning he is lame on his 'good' hock and I am depressed and upset. Blood tests indicated infection, although my vet, who has told me to call any time of the day or night on his home number, is confident it is not joint ill and believes that it is more likely irritated bowel due to the constipation with the hocks being secondary. I just wish he would be all better and start behaving like the enormous, obnoxious draftie he is supposed to be!

I made the chick at the checkout cry yesterday. Fortunately I know her but it all started with an innocent, "how are things going?". My reply was to dissolve into tears and splutter a brief explanation. I think the folk in the queue behind us decided we were both quite mad but thankfully no-one said anything.

Nick is off to the vet this morning to update him on the hock lameness and I am sitting here waiting for a test to come through as the first stage of a job interview. My head is all over the place so I don't hold out much hope for this job!

No photos yet today, perhaps I will bring myself to take some a little later but, to be honest, I am too scared to take pix of our dear little boy. I want to wait until he is strong and happy so I can show him off to the world. Right now he is kinda all pathetic with his sad little face and bandaged hocks. I just want to scoop him up and tuck him up under my duvet at my feet here in the living room. Don't be surprised if that is what I end up doing ...

We've just today seen him urinating through his navel stump so he has developed patent urachus due to straining with the constipation. This means he could require surgery and intensive care. He's right off his feed now and a very poorly little chap. God I really hope he is going to be ok.

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You cant outsource fitness.

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Murderer

This piece of shit killed someone, and got Home detention, he had bought a new car and decided to be a big man, by smashing the speed limit and driving like a jackass at 120khm in a 50 zone, and he hit and killed someone. The victims family pleaded with the Judge to set an example to all young drivers, but the Judge was a gutless donkey and game him Home detention.

So for the next ten months this loser is going to stay at home and play on his xbox, download music to his ipod, go online, have his friends over for one big booze party, and Elizabeth Hart is still dead.

Disgraceful.

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Congratulations Mindy Girl & Robbie - It's a girl

Born at 3.30am this morning, a delightful brown filly. Slightly eventful foaling in that the mare decided to roll over and over and over and over and over again in a very agitated fashion immediately post foaling, scaring the heck out of all of us. I zoomed inside to grab the phone and call my vet and came back out to find Millie cleaning her baby and quite happy. Phew! Her owner was there to see her first few steps and she found the milk bar and has fed, pooped and peed and slept and fed, pooped and peed and slept some more.

Isn't she a beauty!

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Recent Sports Law Scholarship

Recent scholarship includes:

Walter T. Champion, Jr., The O. J. trial as a metaphor for racism in sports, 33 THURGOOD MARSHALL LAW REVIEW 157 (2007)

andré douglas pond cummings, Pushing weight, 33 THURGOOD MARSHALL LAW REVIEW 95 (2007)

Timothy Davis, Tort liability of coaches for injuries to professional athletes: overcoming policy and doctrinal barriers, 76 UMKC LAW REVIEW 571 (2008)
A. Jerome Dees, Access or interest: why Brown has benefited African-American women more than Title IX, 76 UMKC LAW REVIEW 625 (2008)

N. Jeremi Duru, Exploring Jethroe’s injustice: the impact of an ex-ballplayer’s legal quest for a pension on the movement for restorative racial justice, 76 UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI LAW REVIEW 793 (2008)

Kenneth D. Ferguson, Blurring the boundary lines between amateur and professional sports, 76 UMKC LAW REVIEW 643 (2008)

Linda Sheryl Greene, Football coach contracts: what does the student-athlete have to do with it?, 76 UMKC LAW REVIEW 665 (2008)

Brandon Gutshall, Note, A new uniform: NCAA policy and student-athlete misconduct, 76 UMKC LAW REVIEW 727 (2008)

Jonathan Little, Running against the wind: sex discrimination in high school girl’s cross country, 76 UMKC LAW REVIEW 711 (2008)

Adam B. Marks, Note, Personnel foul on the National Football League Players Association: how union executive director Gene Upshaw failed the union’s members by not fighting the enactment of the personal conduct policy, 40 CONNECTICUT LAW REVIEW 1581 (2008)

Alfred Dennis Mathewson, By education or commerce: the legal basis for the federal regulation of the economic structure of intercollegiate athletics, 76 UMKC LAW REVIEW 597 (2008)

Shane C. Mecham and Kevin M. Guskiewicz, Head case: an agent’s guide to protecting their NFL clients from concussions and associated risks, 76 UMKC LAW REVIEW 699 (2008)

Aaron Mensh, Note, “Upon further review”: why a sports stadium can justify an eminent domain taking, 40 CONNECTICUT LAW REVIEW 1623 (2008)

Lara Krigel Pabst, Note, Embodying the Olympic spirit: why Paralympic athletes should be entitled to proportionate benefits under the Americans With Disabilities Act, 76 UMKC LAW REVIEW 751 (2008)

Deborah L. Rhode and Christopher J. Walker, Gender equity in college athletics: women coaches as a case study, 4 STANFORD JOURNAL OF CIVIL RIGHTS & CIVIL LIBERTIES 1 (2008)

Benjamin C. Thompson, Note, Personal foul…15 years in jail: sports’ problem with excessive violence and the severe punishment solution, 76 UMKC LAW REVIEW 769 (2008)

Patrick K. Thornton, The legacy of Johnnie Cochran, Jr.: the National Football League’s Rooney Rule, 33 THURGOOD MARSHALL LAW REVIEW 77 (2007)

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More Discussion on Sports Journalism Ethics

NCAA Champion Magazine's Gary Brown wrote an interesting feature article titled, Truth Be Told?, which highlights the sports journalism ethics problem that I have been writing about extensively over the past several months. Here are some excerpts:

At no time in history have information, analysis and interpretation been so plentiful in sports journalism. In the last 30 years alone, USA Today has printed it, ESPN has televised it, the Web has synthesized it and talk radio has amplified it. While that feeds fans’ frenzy, the information arms race has turned sports reporters into personalities, columnists into entertainers and editors into marketing directors.
....

Greg Bowers, an assistant professor at the Missouri School of Journalism and sports editor of the Columbia Missourian, said sportswriters realized with ESPN’s emergence in the 1980s and the rise of the Internet in the 1990s that merely reviewing what happened on the field of play wasn’t as important since most of the audience already knew the outcome. “The old reason for buying the paper is gone,” he said. “What journalists are trying to do is create a new reason for buying the paper.” That has meant giving readers something unique, and that change has resulted in a bent toward writers offering more inflammatory commentary and becoming more visibly a part of the story – perhaps even crossing a line from reporting to entertaining. “The traditional game story died years ago,” Bowers said. “Offering depth and analysis and telling the behind-the-scenes stories is where sports journalism has gone. Whether it’s the right direction has yet to be determined.”
.....

Does the media environment naturally provoke reaction or is provocation itself the real aim? For some, [Penn State journalism professor Malcolm] Moran said, it’s the latter. “As the environment has become shrill, the only way some people think they can be heard above the din is to be even more shrill,” he said. “Many executives measure a columnist by the number of responses he or she gets. Some columnists are outraged by that premise, but others market themselves as contrarians.”
....

Whereas at one time sportswriter Dick Young was setting the agenda, now the brash, outrageous talk show host is. “And it’s risky,” Moran said, “because it’s not always journalism, but ratings-driven. The potential for manipulation and exploiting subject matter is a lot greater when you’re looking for ratings points.”

The rapidly changing delivery model of journalism in the 21st Century, the increasing competition among news sources, and the economic pressures and incentives (including the quest for ratings) is killing journalism ethics. As Brown mentions in his article, the essentials of journalism -- fairness, toughness and accuracy -- "are under duress in a time-to-fill environment." However, the First Amendment shield afforded the press in defamation, false light and privacy actions, and developed in an entirely different journalism environment over 40 years ago, provides today's profit-making press with little incentive to be concerned about journalism ethics principles. But arguably, the justification for the constitutional shield is getting weaker in this century as the press increasingly becomes less trustworthy.

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God speed Jack

Jack was my good friend Karen's best friend. They were together for 20 years and on Saturday their partnership in this life was over when Jack took a tumble in the paddock and suffered a catastrophic injury. Jack was three days shy of his 25th birthday. The one biggest gift we can give our animal friends is to free them from pain when they are suffering. Karen was able to do this for Jack and was there when he most needed her just like he had been there for her for all those years. I don't know what to say to Karen. The loss of a lifetime companion like Jack is devastating and the gap that their parting leaves is vaste. We love you Karen and we're so very sorry for your loss. Jack was ever such a lucky pony to have his little girl for nearly his entire life.

RIP Jack

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Wassup 2008

Eight years ago these men became famous for the catch cry, "Wassup" in a beer commercial. Eight years later they are back which has to be not only the best political ad this year, but one of the best ads ever. It has gone viral on the internet, but to my knowledge has yet to air on TV.

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Wanted for Rape

Mind Rape.

I believe the authorities need to arrest Sean Hannity for Mind Rape. His show that he presents on the GOP ran Fox news. Obama and friends, not only trys to Link Obama to terrorists, fraudsters, communists and murderers but basically suggests that Obama is all of the above.

This is surly a case of Mind Rape. He is violating his viewers mind's, with this trash, night after night and its getting uglier as the election draws in.

This hate that he spews is repulsive, and worst off he trys to comes off as being a Christian to hide his hate, no Christian would ever stoop to this level though.

So it may sound extreme but I think this is Mind Rape, he is deliberately trying to Rape your Mind with his lies and should be arrested for it.

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Biden Is All Class

This is how you should handle a Journalist that is bias. Well done to Joe Biden.

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Random Thoughts on Various Subjects

1. SC LIBERTY BLOG

I am partnering with my friend Dean Smith on this project. I'd like to get more contributors on board, but I realize that most people won't jump on a bandwagon until it is a roaring success.

2. MADONNA

Madonna and Guy are splitting up. I wonder if A-Rod's dick played a role in all of this.

3. FEAR OF A BLACK PRESIDENT

I will tell you like it is. I've talked to a lot of white folks here in SC, and they have candidly told me that they don't want a "nigger in the White House." On the flip side, I don't think any of the black people I talk to believe me when I say the reason I'm not voting for Obama is strictly on policy grounds. A pox on both of them.

I'm not anymore afraid of Obama being president than I am of McCain being president. I just know it will get us out of Iraq which is an unqualified good thing in my book. But I also know that Obama is committed to "humanitarian interventions" which means we will be moving troops from Iraq to Darfur. Not a good thing.

I think it will be an interesting four years.

4. AC/DC

I haven't listened to Black Ice yet, but I will. I just like the way AC/DC has stuck to their roots and their principles. They are selling a CD, telling iTunes to piss off, and churning out straight ahead rock and roll. Metallica could learn something from Angus and the crew.

5. QUANTUM OF SOLACE

On the flip side, I'm glad that the producers of the James Bond series threw out the playbook and rebooted this franchise. The lesson? Bad ass always wins.

6. CLEMSON

CU alumni hated Bowden, and I think they will pay anything or do anything to get a winning coach. They expect nothing less than the ACC crown and a bowl game. Meanwhile, Spurrier basks in the lowered expectations at USC.

7. JIMMIE JOHNSON

What can you say? The guy and the team have it together. Kyle Busch's crew let it slip away. As for me, I am letting my support of Tony Stewart fade as I see him sliding into semi-retirement and his dreams of ownership. I will probably hop on the Earnhardt bandwagon now.

8. SARKOZY

I thought the French were getting it together when they elected Sarkozy, but Sarko is turning out to be another turncoat statist shithead. As always, fuck the French.

9. PALIN

She loaded up on pricey clothes and appeared on SNL. She knows McCain is going to lose. She also knows she is a winner. You will see more of her in the future.

10. BAILOUTS

I expect more bailouts. GM, Ford, and Chrysler are next. Sad.

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This Election is Getting Ugly

How sick in the head do you have to be to make up something like Ashley Todd did? For those that don't know, Ashley Todd, went to the police and told them she was mugged by a Black man, and then the man noticed she had a John McCain bumper sticker, so the man attacked her, and got a knife and carved B in her face, telling her he is a Barack supporter and she is now a Barack supporter.

The police become wary, because she wouldn't go the hospital and the her injuries looked like makeup, when they questioned her, she changed her story and said he also fondled her and kicked her in the head when she layed unconscious, the police also thought the letter B was carved too neatly.

This didn't stop Fox News reporters from telling the story, and having looks on their faces of disgust and wanting this Black man to be bought to justice. It didn't stop the Republican party from releasing statement after statement for attacking Obama, McCain even called her up.

Well, she is now admitted it was a lie,despite showing no remorse at all for her lie, she doesnt think she should go to jail.

I think, she must go to jail, what say the police believed her? What say a innocent man got arrested? This is repulsive what she did, and a disgrace, its just a pity this is the way this election has been going, with Fox News feeding the hate.

One can hope, with two weeks left, the election will become cleaner, but I doubt it.

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DVD-House

I've been watching House on DVD for the past few weeks, and I must admit that it is one of the best shows on TV. I'm beginning Season 3 this weekend, but this is a review of the whole series.

Dr. House is Sherlock Holmes as an M.D. I suspect his name is derived from the famous detective (Holmes=Homes=House), and you have characters like Wilson (Watson) and his disciples who do House's bidding in Baker Street irregular fashion. The number on House's pad is 221 just like Sherlock. Both characters are peculiar and obsessed with solving their respective mysteries. They both play musical instruments, and they both have drug addictions. House is Sherlock Holmes.

There is a difference between the two characters. House has a bum leg. He is a wounded healer, and that leg creates a deal of plot for House and the rest of the characters to deal with. Basically, the show is a medical procedural, but somewhere, someone fucked up and gave us this fascinating character. As a result, the show absolutely delivers. Between the medical cases, the drama with House, and his wickedly funny lines, you are utterly entertained.

You have to like House, and you start to agree with his methods even if they seem questionable. The guy is an asshole, but his honesty wins the day. He isn't always right, but he manages to figure it all out by the end. Then there are the breaking and entering points in the show that strain belief. What doctor would risk his career on a felony conviction? But clearly, they all have House's disease. They are fixated on solving the puzzle.

There is one constant theme running through the show. People lie. More than anything else, the reason these people get sick is because they simply can't tell the truth. Often the causes and cures of their ills are ready at hand, but their lack of honesty puts the patients in dire straits. The show is about coming to grips with reality.

Needless to say, I highly recommend these DVD's. They are quite addictive.

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Todays Silas update & new baby pix

Silas is doing really well. We have started feeding him hourly during the day as we want to build up his strength and little and often is the best for weight gain. You watch a foal feeding from its mum and it feeds very regularly, multiple times an hour. It is not really possible to sit with him 24/7 but we figure if we can at least get him started well and build up his strength, we should be able to put him on the bucket and really get him going quite quickly. Picked up his foal meal today too so will start introducing that as well.

Do you like my racing stripe?

My lovely Aunty Jan sent this snuggly warm cover for me to wear

And here's Silas' new little bro, born yesterday morning. Mum Aldie Phillipa, dad Kintyre Lodge Robbie. Name: Amos.

Got the hang of me pegs

Aren't I cute!

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Rory is definitely wicked!

So Rory is one of those naughty boys. You know the type, into everything, answers back, gives plenty of attitude - that's our Rory! His poor mum has first mother's syndrome and is far too soft on him!! Grabbed these pix earlier. He makes me smile.

With Christina

Innocence?
C'mon MUM!
But I can't eat!
Perhaps this will work?

Poor Hooty had only just lain down but he was so insistent that she was back on her feet feeding him within about two minutes. Get tough Hooty!!

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Me

I got this comment from Mister Agenda over on the SCLB:

You sound smarter on your blog than you do in person.

It made me laugh a bit. I find it funny because I get comments like this all the time. There should be a term for these paradoxical statements. I admit that I have a very conflicted reputation. I'm not sure why that is. Here are some examples:

1. OPTIMIST/PESSIMIST

I get the whole negative/positive thing all the time. I'm either too optimistic or too cynical. It really depends on the issue for me. I will piss on fantasies, but I also like to reassure people that things are almost never as bad as they imagine.

2. SMART/STUPID

I get this a lot as well. People are surprised to discover that I went to college, and I sometimes slip up and use big words. But I also like NASCAR and scatological humor.

3. EGOTISTICAL/HUMBLE

People tell me I am full of myself. They also tell me I hate myself. I don't go around worrying about what other people think about me, and they interpret this one way or the other. I have a blog, a logo, and a self-deprecating wit. Plus, I write blog posts titled "Me." Hmmmm. . . .

4. WORKAHOLIC/SLACKER

This is probably the most troubling for me. I admit to not getting things done, but I do love to work. I find the reason something doesn't get done is because I am maxed out on obligations. I fear being without activity. But I will watch House episodes all afternoon if the mood strikes me, and my schedule permits it.

There are other paradoxes about me that filter back to me along the grapevine. I am either an asshole or a nice guy. I am a troublemaker or an asskisser. It goes on and on and on. I am simply clueless on this stuff. But I think the reason why I have this conflicted reputation is because most people think in categories of two while I think in categories of three. For instance, I think I am neither an optimist nor a pessimist but a realist. Reality can be positive or negative depending on the situation. I also make no distinction between highbrow and lowbrow pursuits. I can read Camus and watch ultimate fighting.

People spend way too much time trying to craft an identity, and I don't do that. I am an individualist, and whatever I like is what I am. I just don't care what people are thinking about me. Combined with being a cultural omnivore, I have a very unusual reputation. I admit to being eclectic and offbeat at times. But what troubles people is when I say or write something or do something that is just right. I do take a certain conceited pleasure in that.

In conclusion, I don't know what to conclude. I am mystified when people hate me, but I am also mystified when they like me. As I tell my brother all the time, I have a strange life. I just know that I wake up each day and have a blast. I think life is amazing. That is because I see identity as a self-imposed limitation. Fuck the limits.

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Silas on day five - video and photos plus NEWS!

Well somehow we have made it through to day five and today is the first day I have felt really happy about Silas' progress. He's drinking really well and his strength has really picked up, not to mention the fact that he is pooping in a much more acceptable fashion (constipation improvement). Today he had his first taste of freedom too, as captured on this brief video.

We continue to be very humbled by the wonderful support we are receiving from people who are, in many cases, essentially complete strangers to us. We have received flowers, chocolate, coffee, biscuits (the biggest box I have ever seen!!!) and many, many emails and messages and hugs. In today's mail were two envelopes, both holding enough money to pay for Silas' milk powder for a number of weeks plus our friend and neighbour John has just turned up with a pile of Farmlands gift vouchers and bottle of Lindauer from the wonderful folk of the NZHorses community. We do not even know who sent the first envelope of Farmlands vouchers but, we intend to find out! People are incredible and this week I have cried as many tears because of the kindness of people as I have over the loss of our much loved friend.

It would seem that Debi had many many admirers, all over the country and indeed the world and her passing has affected a huge number of people. Debi really was a personality and I think that shone through in her photos. She was a wonderful mother, a professional 'eater' and a real 'talker' and head tosser. Whenever you would approach her in the paddock she would acknowledge your approach with gentle whickers and a shake of her shaggy mane. Sure, if you had no food, she rapidly lost interest but I don't think I ever saw her pin her ears back and she certainly treated everyone who came across her path with the same food oriented interest, bless her heart.

Video

And finally, today's news! I had a lovely phone call this morning from a local woman who brought her Clydesdale mare to Robbie last season. Her lovely mare, Pippa, foaled a beautiful, big strong black foal at the very civilised hour of 8am this morning. She was unsure of sex at that stage but the vet was coming out to give baby a once over and post natal jabs and I have been promised photos which I will, of course, be blogging as soon as they arrive in my inbox! The breeder is local as well so we can look forward to taking a wee trip at some time to meet the new babe. So good to have such a happy start to today.

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In a nudist camp, men and women freely air their differences.

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Aristotle and caffeine will change your life.

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Go Devil Rays.

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Sports Law Symposium at Villanova University School of Law This Saturday

I look forward to joining Howard, Marc, Jeffrey Standen, and others at Villanova University School of Law this Saturday (Oct. 25) for the 2008 Villanova Sports and Entertainment Law Journal's sympsoium on "The House that Taxpayers Built: Stadiums, Speech, and Public Funding."

Here is information on the sympisium's two panels:

Panel 1: Public Financing and Potential Government Entanglement in Private Sport Stadiums (1:00 to 2:30 p.m.)

Panelists

• Marc Edelman, Visiting Assistant Professor Rutgers University School of Law, Camden
• Everett M. Johnson, Attorney, Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer P.A.
• Victor A. Matheson, Professor of Economics, College of the Holy Cross
• Nick E. Sakiewicz, CEO & Operating Partner, Keystone Sports and Entertainment, LLC
• Robert T. Miller (moderator), Associate Professor of Law, Villanova University School of Law
  

Panel 2: Stadiums as Public Spaces and the Application of the Public Forum Doctrine (2:45 to 4:15 p.m.)

Panelists

• Michael McCann, Visiting Associate Professor of Law, Boston College Law School/Associate Professor of Law, Vermont Law School
  
• Jeffrey Standen, Professor of Law, Willamette University College of Law
• Howard M.Wasserman, Associate Professor of Law, Florida International College of Law
• Catherine J. Lanctot (Moderator), Professor of Law Villanova University School of Law

For more information, click here.

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The Greatest Since Hadlee

Daniel Vettori is surly our greatest cricketer since the greatest cricketer ever, Sir Richard Hadlee.

In Vettori we have a player who always plays a captain's innings, he always fields like a captain should, and he also bowls like one of the best spinners in the world should, he has always done this, even when he wasn't captain and even when all others around him with would fall flat on their face, shrug their shoulders and say their catch phrase "We have to be more consistent"

Last night, the Blackcaps playing away from home, was facing defeat against a very poor Bangladesh side, our best bowler decided to become our best batsmen, he grafted away, he play for hour after after hour while all around him fell, he was a true test player.

What makes him so good? His attitude, their is no fake smile after the match saying he will do better next time, there is no blaming the other players, and more specifically not only does he set himself the highest standards, he lives up to them, and thats the key.

The other Blackcaps need to learn from this great man, they need to be with him early in the morning, warming up, or late at night watching match video, cricket tour these days aren't suppose to be a booze up, these players are professional and get paid a lot of money, they need to earn their keep.

So once again thanks to Daniel Vettori, for being our best player since Hadlee, thanks for showing us what a captain is all about.

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Encouraging idiots to vote is never a good idea.

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MLBPA Claims to Have Evidence Baseball Teams Colluded Against Barry Bonds

ESPN recently reported that the Major League Baseball Players Association ("MLBPA") claims to have uncovered evidence that certain Major League Baseball teams colluded against Barry Bonds in violation of Article XX(E) of the Major League Baseball Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). Although the MLBPA has not made the alleged evidence public, this news is hardly surprising given that Bonds's agent Jeff Borris claimed earlier this year that he offered Bonds's services to "numerous" clubs for the major league-minimum salary of $390,000, but there were no takers.

Article XX(E)(1) of the CBA states as follows:

The utilization or non-utilization of rights [under Baseball's reserve system] is an individual matter to be determined solely by each Player and each Club for his or her own benefit. Players shall not act in concert with other Players and Clubs shall not act in concert with other Clubs.

Article XX(E)(2) then awards any player harmed by collusion the right to recover treble damages, including lost salary and lost contract years. This means that if but-for collusion Barry Bonds would have been able to sign a two-year, $10 million contract, Bonds would be able to recover up to $60 million (2 years * $10 million * 3) from the teams that colluded against his interests (presuming, of course, an arbitator finds collusion).

This is not the first time that the Major League Baseball clubs have allegedly violated the game's collusion clause. In the late 1980s, arbitrators on three separate occasions found MLB club owners liable for colluding against player interests. The clubs eventually settled those grievances by paying $280 million to the players union. Thereafter, in 2006, MLB club owners agreed to pay an additional $12 million to the union to settle collusion grievances from the 2002-03 off-season.

For those of you interested in a more detailed history of Baseball collusion, here is a law review article that I wrote on that topic several years ago for the Loyola of L.A. Entertainment Law Journal. In addition, I am putting the finishing touches on a new article entitled "Moving Past Collusion in Major League Baseball: Healing Old Wounds and Preventing New Ones." That article will appear in the Fall 2008 Wayne Law Review, and includes a brief section on the Bonds allegations.

(An abridged version of this entry was cross-posted on Sports Judge Blog)

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Some happy stuff

Miss long-legs is doing so well. She has learned how to step into pressure now so well on the way to knowing how to lead and tie up. Not had much time lately to really put much into her but she's smart and she learns fast so I am not too worried. She picks up all her feet nicely too. Such a good girl.

Here she comes again

Under her father's watchful eye
With new friend Christina
Good girl on the lead
Striking yet another pose

Day five and Rory or 'Ratbag' is doing really well. He seems very small and I am not sure if that is because Aine and Silas are so huge or because he really IS quite small. Mum was a maiden and from experience I know that maidens often have smaller foals. He's not lacking attitude or substance though and I am thrilled with him.

With Christina Little face
Profile shot

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Silas on day three - brief video

It was a long hard night. We slept with Silas and will continue to do so until he is feeding better and less frequently - it is easier to allow him to wake us to tell us that he is hungry than for us to set our alarm and come up and hope he is hungry. Here is a brief video of him first thing this morning.

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2008 MLB Salary Report Card

Since 2005, I have been posting my Annual MLB Salary Report Card, which tends to prove each year a relatively weak correlation between a team's success and its total payroll. [Here are my past reports for 2005, 2006 and 2007.] This year's report leads to the same conclusion (based upon the USA Today salary database and rounded to the nearest million).

I've always thought that there is some threshold level of payroll by which a team is pretty much guaranteed to at least make the playoffs, but I was even proven wrong about that this year. The three teams with the highest payrolls in all of baseball -- Yankees ($209M), Mets ($138M) and Tigers ($138M) -- didn't even make the playoffs this year. [Note that these amounts do not reflect any luxury tax payments.] Last year, the Yankees spent about $20M less than they did this year but made the playoffs. Indeed, the Tigers keep spending more each year and keep doing worse. In 2006 they made the playoffs with an $83M payroll; in 2007 they failed to make the playoffs with a $95M payroll; and this year they finished last in the AL Central with a $138M payroll.

The team with the 4th highest payroll -- the Red Sox at $133M -- just got knocked out of the playoffs by the Devil Rays who advance to the World Series with the 2nd lowest payroll of $44M. And the Phillies advance to the World Series this year and are spending less than $100M with the 12th highest payroll. The Marlins had a very respectable year with the lowest payroll of $22M, finishing third in the NL East with an 84-77 record. But the Mariners really overpaid again this year -- they lost 101 games with a $118M payroll. And then of course there are the Twins who (once again) had a successful year with their low $57M payroll, finishing just one game behind the White Sox who spent more than twice as much ($121M) this year.

It's a shame to see the Indians spend more money this year than usual. Last year, with the 8th lowest payroll in all of baseball ($62M), Cleveland breezed through the AL Central by an 8-game margin and tied Boston for the best record in all of baseball. And in 2005 they had a 93-69 record with only a $42M payroll. This year they spend $80M and have a mediocre .500 season. Perhaps they'll go back to doing what works and lower their payroll next year.

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A very difficult entry

Today's blog entry is incredibly painful to write but I am hoping that it may be cathartic to do so...

At 3am on Sunday morning our beautiful clydesdale mare Debi (Kennybrook Maude) gave birth to a fabulously all blinged out colt. At 3.30am Debi drew her final breath, whilst cradled in my arms after succumbing to a uterine haemorrhage. I won't share the full details as it was a horrifying thing to experience and no-one really needs to know any more than Deb had all of our love and devotion focussed upon her as she shuffled off this mortal coil and departed to the next life. The very last thing I whispered to her was that she was not to worry about Silas as he would have all the love and care that we could possibly heap upon him and he would do her absolutely proud.

We are of course devastated beyond anything I could hope to express in writing. Debi was not just a beautiful looking animal but she had a character and soul that was without equal. A special friend who we will never replace. We are just so fortunate to have shared our lives with her for the years that we did.

So now we have another orphan to raise - What's with that?! Silas is doing OK. He's very big and pretty strong but taking a while to get himself organised into the routine of it all. The vet has been and taken bloods to run an Iga levels test, listened to his hear and lungs, checked his slack tendons and pronounced him perfectly fine, just big! All that said, he has not been drinking as he should be and had a temperature earlier this afternoon and then went off his food so his input is down markedly. He is drinking something and I guess something is better than nothing but it is all such a worry.

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Seton Hall Sports Law Symposium

On November 7, the Seton Hall University School of Law Journal of Sports & Entertainment Law is hosting The 2008 Seton Hall Sports & Entertainment Law Symposium: From the Arena to the Streets - The Pressures Placed on Athletes, Entertainers, and Management. The event is being co-sponsored by the Entertainment, Arts & Sports Law Sections of the New Jersey State Bar Association and the New York State Bar Association, and attendees can earn up to five New York CLE credits.

Keynote Speaker:

Scheduled time: 1:15-2:15 P.M. with a short break following.

Jeff Vanderbeek, Chairman and Managing Partner, New Jersey Devils

Panel 1: Constructing and Operating Sport and Entertainment Facilities, presented by Lowenstein Sandler, PC

Scheduled time: 9:30-11:00 A.M.

Description: This panel will explore the legal and business issues related to constructing and operating public and private facilities.

Moderator: Mark Conrad, Assoc. Prof. of Business Law, Fordham University

Panelists:
Mark Stefanacci, Chief Operating Officer and Legal Counsel, New Jersey Sports & Exhibition Authority
Andrew Lee, General Counsel, New York Jets
Philip Weinberg, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Comcast-Spectacor, LP
Michael Rowe, President and CEO, Positive Impact, Inc.
P. Jason Hadley, Counsel, Lowenstein Sandler PC

Panel 2: Health of Professional Athletes and Obligations to Perform

Scheduled time: 11:00-12:20 P.M., with lunch to follow from 12:20-1:15 P.M.

Description: This panel will explore legal issues related to the tension between athletes' obligations to play the game and to tend to serious injuries such as concussions.

Moderator: John R. Kettle III, Professor of Entertainment Law, Copyright & Trademark, & Intellectual Property, Rutgers-Newark Law School

Panelists:
Leonard Marshall, Retired New York Giants football player
Roger Abrams, Professor of Law, Northeastern University School of Law
Michael Weiner, General Counsel, Major League Baseball Players Association
Andrew Bondarowicz, Esq., Owner and President, The Aregatta Group, Inc.

Panel 3: Entertainers' and Athletes' Conduct Unrelated to Their Employment, presented by Norris, McLaughlin & Marcus, PA

Scheduled time: 2:15 - 3:45 P.M.

Description: This panel will explore legal issues related to how socially unacceptable conduct that occurs outside talent's business obligations impacts his/her contractual duties and success.

Moderator: Scott Shagin, Entertainment Lawyer, Music Manager, Adjunct Professor at Seton Hall University School of Law

Panelists:
Fernando M. Pinguelo, Esq., Partner and Chair of the Entertainment Law Group, Norris, McLaughlin & Marcus, PA
Rick Karcher, Assoc. Prof. of Law and Dir., Center for Law and Sports, Florida Coastal School of Law
Anthony Caruso, Esq., Partner and Chair of Sports & Entertainment Practice Group, Archer & Greiner, PC
Marc Edelman, Attorney and Visiting Professor, Rutgers-Camden Law School

Information on how to register for the event is here.

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Obama Draws in Record Crowd

The crowd you see is not for a Garth Brooks concert, its not to welcome the superbowl champs, it's a crowd to see, Obama give a speech, this is historical, folks are excited about this man, it's history changing, as someone from the forum DU said, "Imagine being able to tell your kids/grandkids that you voted for the first African American President.

What is more amazing to me, is that Fox News attacks haven't worked, they have tried every angle to discredit this man, that he use to smoke, that he sat on a board with a terrorist, that he went to a school in Kenya, that he is not for the common folk and the most strangest tactic of all, Joe the Plumber doesn't like him.

Well I'm sorry Fox News, it hasn't worked and be prepared to watch your ratings plummet if Obama ends up winning, you wont be hand in hand with this administration like you were with the last one.

I for one am looking forward to watching election day, to see History get created and to see a bunch of propagandists have to read out the winner, knowing that their whoring didn't work this time, it will be a site to see.

But back to Obama, if he indeed does end up winning it will be amazing to see the leader of the free world being an honest and intelligent man, it will be amazing to see a whole sector of society having someone they can look up to and respect, in just over two weeks, the world might change and it will be for the better and those hundreds of thousands of people that turned up for the rally, will have something to tell their kids about, life is good.

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Does anti-discrimination law require ESPN to suspend Lou Holtz over "Hitler" comments?

As I was trying to set up my TiVo to record last night's Hawai`i-Boise State game, I was, as most ESPN viewers at the time likely were, shocked to hear Lou Holtz observe, "Hitler was a great leader too." Holtz was commenting on Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez; his comments clearly upset co-hosts Rece Davis and Mark May. Davis immediately tried to explain away the comments--"by which you mean, of course..."--or something of that nature; and Mark May's sideways glance was a bit more wide-eyed than usual.

Pat at Fan IQ writes that there "HAD to be a better analogy." Deadspin covers the slip here, and suggests that Holtz may be "taking some time off." Holtz has already had to issue one on-air apology this week for his anti-Colt McCoy tirade, and another mea culpa is surely in the works.

A few months back, ESPN.com columnist Jemele Hill was suspended after comparing the Boston Celtics to the evil Nazi leader. If the network treats Holtz any differently, Hill should definitely contact an employment discrimination lawyer.

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FCC as Race Car Sponsor?

Today's issue of Multichannel News reported that the Federal Communications Commission has decided to follow the lead of the U.S. Postal Service and become a sponsor of a team, in this case NASCAR driver David Gilliland, who agreed to use his No. 38 to display an advertisement trumpeting the conversion of the television signal from the sixty plus year old analog standard to digital. Gilliland, ranked 27th in the standings, recorded one top-5 and two top-10 finishes, with no speedway victories in 2008. He will receive $350,000 for the commission.

While I'm not criticizing the need the inform the public on the DTV conversion, one wonders about the implications of such a sponsorship. Since NASCAR Sprint Cup events are televised, their content, if you will, comes under the FCC's jurisdiction. Imagine the (admittedly) unlikely but interesting scenarios: Say that Gilliland's car gets bumped by another car, is forced off the track and the driver storms out screaming and cursing at the other driver. The words are picked up and violate the FCC's indecency policies. Wouldn't that be embarrassing for the FCC to impose fines on broadcasters because of actions by a driver which it sponsored? Or, what if Gilliland or one of his investors wishes to purchase a broadcast property and obtain a license from that same commission? Would they include the FCC as a reference?

Yes, this is potential tempest in a teapot. But I do get a bit antsy when administrative agencies get involved in commercial activities. Imagine the potential. How about naming rights such as the SEC Golf Cup or the EPA Clay Court Championship? Maybe it would be better if the National Association of Broadcasters or some other trade association sponsor the ad?

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