Finally. . .

I am now gainfully employed in a job that actually pays good money. I'd tell you folks what the job is, but I've learned that it is never a good idea to talk about your job on the internet because you could get fired. My job is one of those jobs.

 

My next goal is to find a new place to live. That should be a lot easier to do.

 

Also, in SC news, it is now law in our state that motorists can be pulled over solely to ticket people for not wearing their seatbelts. The cost of the ticket is $25, but the cost to freedom is immense. I will definitely be writing a letter to the editor on this topic.

 

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Doubles Players Take To Court

Men’s tennis is at war with itself. In July, the ATP Tour -- the organization established by tennis players to protect their own that has developed into the de facto “league” of men’s professional tennis (including event managers), announced drastic changes to men’s doubles competition.

The Tour proposed and then passed changes both to the entry qualifications for doubles competitions and to the scoring system. Entry into doubles competitions would be based not on a player’s doubles ranking, but on his combined singles and doubles ranking, clearly favoring top singles players. Sets would be played to five games (rather than six) with no-ad scoring rather than playing each game out. The Tour cited a need to make doubles competition at its events more marketable, television friendly and therefore profitable. The ATP claimed its changes would entice better known singles players like Roger Federer or Andy Roddick to compete in doubles events.

As men’s professional tennis has evolved, players have specialized. For some time, top doubles players have specialized in doubles. Top singles players don’t play doubles. Some say top singles players don’t have the time, energy, or financial incentive to play doubles. Others argue that the top singles players wouldn’t make the cut in word-class doubles. There is truth in both arguments. No one disputes that the rules changes, principally through the entry guidelines, will eliminate top-tier doubles players from doubles events in favor of top-tier singles players (regardless of their doubles performance.)

That point, raises some interesting antitrust issues. After the rules changes were announced, the top doubles players joined together and sued the ATP and its board of directors in the United States District Court in Houston. They allege that the ATP, through the rules change, has violated antitrust law and breached its fiduciary duty to its member players. The suit identifies the relevant market as men’s professional tennis, made up of two submarkets – singles and doubles. By creating rules designed to exclude the world’s top doubles players from doubles competitions, the new rules illegally restrain and thwart competition to enter doubles events.

The rules themselves triggered an avalanche of negative publicity from the tennis community. While there is debate as to how to properly market doubles, no one seems to agree that a changed scoring format or altered entry qualifications are the answer. Perhaps in response to the reaction, the ATP this month announced that it has backed off certain of the proposed changes, has created a fund to market doubles and named a doubles commissioner. The ATP has even created a doubles themed ad. Wayne Bryan, the players’ passionate and eloquent spokesman, hasn’t relented. Most tennis fans hope that Bryan will prevail. After all, those who enjoy doubles enjoy it for what it is. Its not the product that needs changing, its the presentation.

Stay tuned.

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Steroid Arrests and Plea Bargains: Where's the Juice?

Jeff Eckhoff of the Des Moines Register has a unique and engaging piece on steroids in pro sports, and specifically how plea bargains with steroid users/dealers may undercut the hoopla (and resulting deterrence) surrounding the initial high-profile arrest. (Jeff Eckhoff, "Plea Deal to Finish D.M. Steroid Probe," Des Moines Register, Dec. 5, 2005). He namely looks at a recent crack-down on world class body-builders in Iowa.

He interviews me for the story, and here are some excerpts:

A wide-ranging federal steroid investigation that centered on Des Moines and targeted several world-class bodybuilders will wrap up next week without anyone going to prison, legal sources say.

A professor who studies steroid cases said the flurry of plea bargains that will result in probation and fines undercuts the high-profile national crackdown on performance-enhancing drugs pushed by President Bush in his State of the Union address last year . . .

Admir "Dado" Kantarevic, a Des Moines personal trainer, is scheduled to plead guilty Dec. 13 to misdemeanor possession charges. That will follow similar pleas from Milos Sarcev , a former Mr. Yugoslavia and Mr. Universe, and Dennis James, an eighth-place finisher in the 2004 Mr. Universe competition. The three had each faced up to five years in prison for allegedly being involved in a conspiracy to import anabolic steroids to Des Moines. Sarcev and James were fined and put on probation last week on reduced charges.

"The government's got their convictions, and we got a deal that we could live with that will allow Dennis to go on with his life and his career," said Paul Scott, James' attorney. Rick Collins, Sarcev's attorney, declined to comment about the case, which took shape not long after Bush, in his 2004 State of the Union address, said: "Get rid of steroids now."

Michael McCann, a professor at Mississippi College School of Law, said the outcomes send a mixed message to teenage athletes. "Certainly, we're doing more about that than we used to. But it seems as if the initial press conference and the arrest are dwarfed by the subsequent reaction," McCann said. "I still think there's value to doing the initial splash, but it undercuts the message. If we're going to arrest people, then you think it would be worth prosecuting them and sending them to prison."

But a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office in Des Moines balked at a suggestion that the probe, which drew attention from sports journalists intrigued by an alleged connection to the BALCO drug scandal in California, is letting offenders off lightly. "I don't think we ever said this case was the biggest case ever prosecuted in the Southern District of Iowa," spokesman Al Overbaugh said. "Maybe people built up a higher expectation than they had a right to."

In my law review article Dietary Supplement Labeling: Cognitive Biases, Market Manipulation & Consumer Choice, I discuss anabolic steroids and how children's usage patterns are influenced by role-modeling. I also discuss how policy-makers and law enforcement officials should carefully consider their messages to consumers, and how high-profile steroid arrests followed by far less enthusastic prosecutions may cause one to reconsider why the defendant was arrested in the first place. The article appeared earlier in Volume 31 of Boston University School of Law's American Journal of Law and Medicine (summer, 2005).

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Congressional Hearings on BCS System

Timothy Epstein notes that the House Committee on Energy and Commerce--charged with regulating America's sports industry--will be conducting a hearing today at 10 AM Eastern Standard time on the Bowl Championship Series ("BCS") system. Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-TX) calls the system "deeply flawed" and asserts that "college football is not just an exhilarating sport, but a billion-dollar business that Congress cannot ignore." Along those lines, Congress claims an interest in this topic because, along with the acclaim of a national champion, the BCS provides a financial windfall with tens of millions of dollars at stake for teams and conferences who participate.

Though Rep. Barton states that no specific legislation is being threatened, the Committee wants a "comprehensive review" of the BCS system.

Here is the witness list (and a webcast link can be found at this link at 9:50 AM EST):

Mr. Jim Delaney Commissioner Big Ten Conference Park Ridge, IL,	Mr. Derrick S. Fox President, Football Bowl Association President and Chief Executive Officer, Alamo Bowl San Antonio, TX,
Mr. William Johnstone Chairman Rose Bowl Game Management Committee Pasadena, CA,	Mr. John Junker President Fiesta Bowl Tempe, AZ,
Dr. Robert Khayat Chancellor The University of Mississippi University, MS,	Mr. Kevin Weiberg Coordinator, Bowl Championship Series Commissioner, Big XII Conference Dallas, TX,

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Protecting the Injured Reserve

This weekend's Wall Street Journal contains a thought-provoking look at the NFL's disability program for its players. (subscription required) Ellen E. Schultz tells the story of Victor Washington, now 59, who made it to the Pro Bowl all the way from an orphanage in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Since 1986 he has fought a losing battle against the NFL in attempt to collect disability benefits for physical injuries and depression.

To obtain full disability benefits, a former player must demonstrate that he has "a football related injury." In Washington's case and in many others, this has proven extremely difficult. Washington, who suffers from debilitating shoulder, back, elbow and knee injuries lost because he did not have a single injury. In the case of Darryl Stingley, paralyzed in a preseason game, the single/multiple injury is not an issue. Another murky aspect to these fights is whether or not the injury can be causally related to playing football rather than to pre-existing congenital conditions or the degenerating effect of aging.

The article describes the time and money spent by players fighting appeal after appeal in the morass of ERISA procedure. The NFL, for its part, fights claims in an effort to protect the plan itself and to ward off what it deems to be fraudulent claims. According to filings, the NFL paid its lawyers $3.1 million in 2003 to fight claims of former players. The plan itself is valued at $784 million. Last year, the league paid $1.2 million a month ($14.5 for the year) to 135 players (of a possible 7,561 players covered by the plan.)

Ms. Schultz suggests that an employer as wealthy as the NFL might do more for its employees who, although they might not always have specific, identifiable injuries, certainly can point to their playing days as a strong contributor to their degenerative, arthritic conditions.

Note: Graph is from University of Wisconsin's The Why Files.

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Profiles in Sports Law: Wyc Grousbeck Esq., Boston Celtics Owner

David Frank of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly has a terrific feature article on Wyc Grousbeck, managing partner, CEO, and principal owner of the Boston Celtics. (David E. Frank, "Team Player," Dec. 5, 2005). Grousbeck is a securities lawyer who, along with a group of other investors, purchased the Boston Celtics in 2002. He was just 41 at the time. A graduate of Princeton University, Stanford Business School, and the University of Michigan Law School, Grousbeck had been general partner of Highland Capital Partners and an associate at Brobeck, Phelger & Harrison in Silicon Valley.

The article provides excellent detail on the Celtics' purchase, and how Grousbeck's background as a transactional attorney provided crucial expertise in getting the deal done:

Game Plan Chairman Robert L. Caporale, a Boston lawyer who founded the company with former New England Patriot football star Randel E. Vataha, recalls one of the first conversations he had with Grousbeck about the transaction.

"A lot of people are willing to talk about doing something like this, but Wyc stood out in that he clearly had done his homework, had the background to understand what a deal like this would entail, and came into the process as focused on making this happen as anyone I've ever worked with," he describes.

A short time later, Grousbeck boarded a plane to New York and had a discussion with then-Celtics owner Donald Gaston about making the buy.

Grousbeck left the meeting, assembled a group of highly successful investors and formalized a deal with Gaston.

"It didn't take too long," Grousbeck says. "I had been part of so many transactions and seen so many negotiations that I realized that when it's time to strike a deal, both parties know it and you just go out and make the best deal you can."

Grousbeck's legal training has also enhanced his decision-making as Celtics' owner, a fact noticed by other sports executives:

Red Sox CEO Larry Lucchino, a fellow Princeton graduate who like Grousbeck is a lawyer, adds: "A lot of what Wyc and I do has a legal dimension to it, and the mindset a lawyer brings to the table is certainly transferable."

For example, Grousbeck's legal skills came in handy when he and other members of the team had to address the situation of Vin Baker, a highly paid player whose alcohol problems ultimately led the team to terminate his contract.

Although Grousbeck's first approach was to try to work with Baker, team counsel Neil Jacobs remembers that it eventually became clear that his problems were insurmountable.

"We had a real brainstorming session about what was the best approach to take," Jacobs recalls. "With Wyc, we were able to talk things lawyer to lawyer and work out a favorable resolution from a legal perspective that accounted for our rights and responsibilities under the various player and collective bargaining agreements."

This is an excellent piece on how a legal training can enhance one's career in professional sports management. I actually had the good fortune of meeting Wyc Grousbeck last year (and proceeded to besiege him with questions about my beloved Celtics, which he answered in detail), and I can attest to the general tone of the article: he's a really nice guy who does very well in his profession. And that's the same reason why he answers fan questions on Celtics Blog and partakes in website interviews, like one with NBA Draft Net -- he simply "gets it."

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Bowl Teams Fail in the Classroom

Exhibit 3,293 as to why we should view NCAA basketball and football as cost-free minor league systems for pro leagues, and not as academic experiences for their participants:

This year's bowl-bound college football teams are struggling to meet the NCAA's new academic standards, with 41 percent falling below minimum requirements and almost half lacking a 50 percent graduation rate, according to a survey released Monday.

Developed last year, the NCAA's new academic standard awards APR points based on how many scholarship student-athletes meet academic eligibility standards. A cutoff score of 925 means an estimated 50 percent of those student-athletes are on track graduate.

Starting this year, NCAA schools that regularly fall below the 925 score can lose scholarships, face recruiting restrictions and miss postseason play.

In a dry run of the system last year, more than 90 percent of Division I teams across all sports had passing scores. According to Richard Lapchick's report, only 33 of the 56 bowl-bound teams -- 59 percent -- got above the 925 cutoff.

Dr. Richard Lapchick of the University of Central Florida conducted this analysis. As we discussed in March, he conducted a similar study of DI basketball teams (and 43 of the 65 teams in the 2005 NCAA Tournament failed to graduate even half of their players). Lapchick now notes that schools are simply taking in football players who cannot do the work (see: University High School). They likely do so because those students will make a lot of money for those schools (which explains why DI basketball and football players spend between 40 and 50 hours a week playing games, traveling, attending team meetings, working-out, and practicing, all the while their classmates are often precluded from working more than 20 hours a week: those players don't generate revenue for their schools when they are in the classroom, so they are encouraged to be out on the field instead).

No wonder why some premiere athletes want to skip college and go to the pros: instead of being unpaid pros in college, they can be well-paid ones in the pros!

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