The 10 Things I Think I Plagiarize from Peter King



As reported by Bruce Allen of Boston Sports Media Watch, Patriots' beat writer Ken Powers of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette--the highest circulated daily in central Massachusetts--either thinks and writes remarkably like Peter King of SI.com, or "borrowed" most of Peter King's January 24th column for use in his own January 30th column. Powers' column has since been removed the Telegram & Gazette's website, but Bruce was able to track it down and compare the texts.



Here are some rather damming excerpts:



Peter King: The Patriots were in their Philadelphia hotel rooms -- kickoff wasn't until 4 p.m. ET -- when the first one was uttered. ESPN football analyst Tom Jackson looked straight into the camera and said the New England players hated coach Bill Belichick. Because Jackson is such a respected voice in football, and because ESPN is such a media power, the statement made the rounds among the Patriots by the time everyone got to the stadium that day. Whatever has been said in the intervening time about the New England players just shrugging their shoulders over Jackson's statement is a bunch of bunk. Many in the organization were stunned, and Belichick was really surprised. You have to remember that, at that time, Belichick was embattled after cutting Milloy. Whispers about a rerun of Belichick's Cleveland days were circulating around the media.

Ken Powers: The Patriots were in their Philadelphia hotel rooms - kickoff wasn't until 4 p.m. - when ESPN football analyst Tom Jackson looked straight into the TV camera and said the New England players hated coach Bill Belichick. Because Jackson is such a respected voice in football, and because ESPN is such a media power, the statement made the rounds among the Patriots by the time everyone arrived at the stadium that day. Whatever has been said since that day about Patriots players just shrugging their shoulders over Jackson's statement is a bunch of bull. Many in the organization were surprised, and Belichick was stunned. At that time, Belichick was under fire for cutting Milloy. Whispers about a rerun of Belichick's Cleveland days were circulating through the media.

Peter King: McNabb had a bad throwing thumb at the time of the 2003 meeting with the Pats, which was part of the reason he was stinking up the joint. All he's done since is have his best regular season ever, and take this star-crossed team to its first Super Bowl since the Dick Vermeil days.

Ken Powers: What those vocal Philly fans didn't know then was that McNabb had a bad throwing thumb, a large part of the reason he was stinking up the joint. All he's done since is have his best regular season ever, and take this star-crossed team to its first Super Bowl since the Dick Vermeil days.

Peter King: The Patriots will try to pound Corey Dillon. McNabb will move Brian Westbrook everywhere and try to get him to make plays in the open field. But the New England defense is as disciplined as a unit can be. Philly's defense is second in that category. I think it's going to be a great game, without many mistakes. The only bad thing is we have the silly two-week gap before the game.

Ken Powers: The Patriots will try to pound Corey Dillon. McNabb will move Brian Westbrook everywhere and try to get him to make plays in the open field. But the New England defense is as disciplined as a unit can be. Philly's defense is second in that category. It all seems to add up to being the perfect recipe for a great game without many mistakes. Don't you wish they were pulling on the shoulder pads and buckling up the chinstraps today instead of next Sunday?

I don't know what to say. In law school, I was taught to presume a person's innocence until proven guilty. But the evidence here seems beyond overwhelming. However, it is bizarre that Powers would so blatantly steal from such a widely-read column that is available on the Internet. Is it possible that he merely cut/paste it, thinking that he would use it as some kind of inspiration for his own piece, and then inadvertently sent it to his editor? No, I didn't come up the alibis for O.J. Simpson or Scott Peterson, but I do hope, for Powers' sake, that it is plausible (if extraordinarily unlikely) that he has some type of understandable excuse. I mean, how could he be so irresponsible and idiotic, and think he would get away with it?

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Tax Break for the Really, Really Rich



In his 4-year, $52 million contract with the Florida Marlins, Carlos Delgado received a rather generous provision: Should he be traded to a team in a locality that features a state and/or local income tax, the club acquiring him must make up any difference in those taxes. In practice, this provision could prove quite lucrative. For instance, if Delgado is traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers, he would be reimbursed by the team for falling in the highest state income tax bracket (9.3 percent + 1 percent surcharge on income in excess of $1 million).

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More on the Aramark Suit



Ted at Overlawyered has an excellent update on the Aramark beer vendor lawsuit I have talked about before (here and here), including some information on evidence that the judge excluded. The quoted New Jersey Law Journal article can be found here. Aramark is appealing the case.



Update: The post previously reprinted an assertion that the judge in this case excluded evidence that the fan went to a club after attending the game. Ted has informed me that it actually appears that the club was a defendant to the suit that the jury let off the hook. Thus, it is likely that the jury knew he had gone to the establishment.

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Guest-blogging This Week



I am honored to have been asked to guest-blog this week at Overlawyered, a site run by Walter Olson of the Manhattan Institute. The site's purpose:

Overlawyered.com explores an American legal system that too often turns litigation into a weapon against guilty and innocent alike, erodes individual responsibility, rewards sharp practice, enriches its participants at the public's expense, and resists even modest efforts at reform and accountability.

Posts will continue here, but please visit over there as well.

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Season Ticket, Inc. Sues TicketMaster



When will there be some meaningful competition for TicketMaster? Not as long as it misappropriates the trade secrets of its competition.

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Neuheisel Trial Begins in Washington



I discussed on this blog the legality of NCAA tournament pools back in March. As Rick Neuheisel discovered, everyone may do them but that does not make it permissible. The former University of Washington football coach was fired two years ago after he lied to NCAA investigators about participating in the basketball pools. Now, he is suing both the university and the NCAA, claiming wrongful termination.

Neuheisel was questioned at a downtown Seattle hotel June 4, 2003, by NCAA investigators who initially queried him about other minor violations at the UW. Neuheisel's lead attorney, Bob Sulkin, says the coach was ambushed by the gambling questions, leading to Neuheisel's evasiveness in his first two sessions.



After about a week, Hedges officially initiated proceedings to fire Neuheisel, citing a clause in his contract prohibiting acts of dishonesty. Neuheisel's side contends Hedges was disinclined to fire him, doing so only when key NCAA officials made it clear Washington would be treated more favorably if he were terminated.



"This has never been an issue about dishonesty," Sulkin argued at a hearing earlier this month. "Dishonesty is nothing but a subterfuge."

Complicating the issue even further are emails sent by the university's former compliance officer that mistakenly authorized such tournament pools.



In the opening statements of the trial, Neuheisel's attorney said that his client was ambushed by the gambling questions and was "playing dodgeball." The attorney for the university presented a far different scenario, stating that Neuheisel got caught in his own web of lies that triggered the termination clause in his contract.



The trial continues today. Experts say that the NCAA rarely loses in court, so it will be interesting to see the outcome of this case.

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Irate Parents Beware: Coaches are Fighting Back



Overzealous and downright mean parents have always been a problem in youth sports. In one game I umpired (the players were 12), a mother came onto the field and cursed me repeatedly before she could be subdued by the coach. (Note: I am a bad umpire, but not that bad).



But now coaches are fighting back. A jury in California has awarded a high school baseball coach $700,000 in damages after finding that one enraged parent acted with "oppression, malice, despicable conduct or fraud" in his dealings with the coach.



The parent, enraged because he felt the coach was damaging his son's arm by allowing him to throw too many pitches, pulled his son off of the team. No problem there. But then he repeatedly complained to the school, filed two lawsuits against the coach and repeatedly badmouthed the coach to local and national media outlets. The coach countersued for malicious prosecution and defamation.



The jury quickly found for the coach, dismissing the parent's claims. Said one juror, "I think this should send a message to parents."

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