Kobé

Stevc Dilbeck writes in the L.A. Daily News that Kobe Bryant may decide to leave the NBA and sign with a European club. Our good friend Sonny Vaccaro agrees this is a distinct possibility. Sonny said on a local LA sports talk radio show: "I think there is a great possibility, if for no other reason than he will make his value worth much more than anyone can imagine. For the first time, they'll actually be in competition.” Sonny added that money might not be the problem most Americans might think it is, adding, “Some of the owners in Europe have more money than the majority of owners in the NBA. It's a small number, but it's a fact. They're billionaires. The trouble with America is we think they're penny-ante. They're not. These individuals are very wealthy. They can do this."

If Kobe does decide to make the move across two ponds, it will shake the NBA to its foundation. What’s more, it will surely be the death knell to the one and done rule which forces capable and ready 18 year olds from signing with a professional club until they serve one year down on the NCAA farm.

The current NBA eligibility rules seem to discriminate against ready and able American players. If a European high schooler, or the equivalent, signs with a professional club on the continent, he then becomes eligible for the NBA draft. On the other hand, an American who leaves high school and plays professionally in Europe for a year still is not eligible for the NBA until he turns 19. The NBA offers no reason for the distinction, but I suspect it is to encourage the signing of European players so as to make the league more attractive to the global market.

If the flow of star players starts to go the other way across the Atlantic, however, the NBA may have to rethink the plan to keep the future Kobes and Lebrons from deferring their dreams for a year just to satisfy the moguls over at the NCAA.

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Aine - Day Five

It was an absolutely stunning spring day today and a busy day too. First up we had some visitors from Wellington who came out to meet the horses and assess Reilly as a prospective date for mares. Reilly was his usual affable self and gained a couple of new fans. So mare number three has been booked and there is just the one space left for him now. I am still hoping that someone will lease Maude off me and choose to breed her to Reilly. Aine is an absolute smasher and I can't imagine any sport horse breeder being disappointed with a foal of her quality. Finger's crossed.

The afternoon was spent shifting the main mob of horses into a new paddock, harrowing their eaten out paddock, shifting the ponies and donkey into a new paddock and harrowing their eaten out paddock and the races and shifting Reilly, Maude and Aine into new paddocks. Always a nice feeling to have the horses on fresh grass and I am sure that they are all very happy about it too.

Tomorrow we are going to fertilise and harrow in preparation for over sowing some of the more beaten up paddocks next week.

Today's photos are of Aine in her new paddock. I love the first one in particular - I think it shows her, er, athleticism, haha!

Red bull gives you wiiiiiiiiings!

Hoon
Irresistably kissable
Girl with a purpose
G'day!

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America's Greatest Ever Perfomer

He really needs to come out of retirement, here is the opening two songs of his concert in Kansas in 2007 to raise money for charity. This video was originally posted on youtube please go there and thank "9arth" for posting it. The poster at youtube has added another video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgcuYgOFqRE

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TF Bridie's baby girl - Stevie

Another email in my in box this morning from Dave, Bridie's 'dad'. Here's 'Stevie', Bridie's baby. Lovely baby - feeling a very proud grandmother! I can't wait to go and see her! Cluck, cluck!

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Clompeties

Was out with the heavies today with my camera. Debi is due to foal in around three weeks and certainly has a good sized belly!

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We're Number 119! More on Duke Football

It’s time for the latest update on Duke football. Back in June, Mark wrote about Duke’s victory in court over Louisville. Here’s a quick recap: Duke and Louisville agreed to play each other in 2002, 2007, 2008, and 2009. Louisville won the 2002 game by a score of 40-3 (though the final score could very well have been 40-6 if not for a questionable call by the ref), and Duke decided not to play the final three games agreed upon in the contract. The contract calls for a $150,000 payment for each game a team fails to play, unless the non-breaching team is able to replace the breaching team with a “team of similar stature.” Here’s the contract.

Duke won the case on a Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings, with the court accepting Duke’s argument that “that any and all college varsity teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) are teams of a 'similar stature' to Duke [and] that any and all college varsity football teams in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) that would be considered as good or better than Duke in football. . . are teams of a 'similar stature' to Duke.”

Thanks to the North Carolina Business and Litigation Report, we can now watch Duke’s lawyer in action. Here is a video excerpt of some of the highlights from the hearing. My personal favorite (as a proud Duke alum): "I think the Court can absolutely positively take judicial notice that Duke is probably the worst football team in Division I football. Everybody knows that. That’s no secret.”

I won’t rehash the discussion about the wisdom of the judge’s decision here, but I do wonder if arguing that Duke is the “worst” team was the best strategy. Mark noted in his post that it would be difficult to replace Duke football if it were (like, say, Duke basketball) consistently one of the best teams in the country. Well, doesn’t that argument also work the other way? Isn’t it just as difficult to replace the worst team in the country? Only a few teams can claim to be the “best” or the “worst,” so it would seem to be more difficult to replace teams on either end of the spectrum. Granted, the provision only requires a team of “similar” (not the same) stature, but it seems to me that the better argument would have been that Duke is a very mediocre football team, easily replaced by many of the other mediocre teams in the country.

In any event, the “worst football team in Division I football” is 2-1 to start the season (narrowly losing to Northwestern). We’ll see if Duke can keep it up, but for now I can still dream about a Duke-Louisville grudge match in the Meineke Car Care Bowl.

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Chicago Sports Law CLE

Illinois readers might be interested in the "Sports Law Pairing" CLE event, scheduled for November 6 in Chicago. The agenda features a number of interesting topics. Sports lawyer Eldon Ham, who has taught Chicago-Kent's sports law class for years, will be speaking at the event.

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