Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Two Great Nights of Sports Law Related TV
1) Tonight at 9 p.m., PBS Frontline will air a feature on "Money and March Madness". It will primarily be about the O'Bannon v. NCAA lawsuit and will include interviews with Ed O'Bannon and Sonny Vaccaro, who last Friday delivered an outstanding keynote address at Harvard Law School's sports law symposium and who was recently the subject of a very interesting piece in the New York Times.
2) Tomorrow night at 10 p.m. HBO Real Sports will air a 1-hour feature on College Sports in America (Part I can be seen here; Part II here). Here is more info on the HBO feature:
2) Tomorrow night at 10 p.m. HBO Real Sports will air a 1-hour feature on College Sports in America (Part I can be seen here; Part II here). Here is more info on the HBO feature:
Two long-form segments anchor the program, setting the stage for an extended roundtable panel hosted by Bryant Gumbel and featuring former University of Michigan head football coach Rich Rodriguez, outspoken college basketball commentator Billy Packer and print journalist Jason Whitlock of FoxSports.com. The group will address a host of issues relating to the NCAA and the regulation of its 1,055 member schools.
Segments include:
*The Money Trail. Every year, thousands of talented young student-athletes sign letters of intent and obtain full-ride athletic scholarships (tuition and board) from the biggest, wealthiest programs in America, effectively giving up all rights to revenue generated by their participation, including TV rights fees, merchandising and ticket sales. But with a dramatic increase in revenue from top programs and athletes’ growing awareness of their contribution, many are starting to ask if there should be financial compensation. REAL SPORTS correspondent Bernard Goldberg examines the notion of student-athletes remaining untainted amateurs while generating pro-type revenue for their schools. Are they getting a fair shake?*Pay to Play. Should athletes at Division I programs be financially compensated? And would that curb the headline-grabbing stories of inappropriate payments and benefits? More and more standout athletes in top programs are seemingly putting their education on the back burner to focus on what’s really important – the money. Those destined for the NBA and NFL face the moral dilemma of dealing with “advisors” and “street agents” who can deliver the funds and material items they desire while in school in exchange for a promise of future reciprocation when they reach the pros. REAL SPORTS correspondent Andrea Kremer delves into the controversial and complex subject of premium college-bound athletes receiving benefits that are prohibited by the NCAA.
Pull day
Snatch 24kg: 5/5,20/20,10/10,10/10,20/20,10/10
High Pull 32kg: 2x 10/10reps
Outside swing 2x20kg: 3x 10reps
Sumo dead lift 2x40kg: 2x 20 reps (20 rpm)
A bad snatch day, hence the short sets to check technique.
Outside swings: tried with one foot in front of the other. It worked! Some balancing challenges sideaways.
High Pull 32kg: 2x 10/10reps
Outside swing 2x20kg: 3x 10reps
Sumo dead lift 2x40kg: 2x 20 reps (20 rpm)
A bad snatch day, hence the short sets to check technique.
Outside swings: tried with one foot in front of the other. It worked! Some balancing challenges sideaways.
Vegan Options for Classic Saddles
Though I am personally not against using animal products, some of my friends and readers are - which makes bicycle saddle purchases especially difficult for them. The problem is the basic construction of the saddles: There simply aren't any vegan options on the market today that are made in the same manner as suspended leather saddles, whereby a tough yet breathable material is stretched over metal railings like a hammock. So, what is the next best thing in terms of construction? Since saddle preferences are highly personal, I can only tell you what works for me, and hopefully it will be useful to some of you as well. If not suspended leather, then the next best thing for me is an ergonomically-shaped saddle that is a hard plastic shell, covered with a thin layer of synthetic material and very minimal padding in between. I prefer this construction by far over heavy padding or gel, which I find completely unridable. A number of experienced cyclists, such as Jon Forester, recommend these hard saddles over padded ones - the reasoning being, that the padding/gel bunches up under your sitbones and becomes uncomfortable over the course of a ride, whereas a hard plastic support with minimal padding holds up your weight equally.
For roadbikes, there are several vegan options available as far as these types of saddles go. Notably, SOMA has recently released the Okami series (above, and the previous image), which comes in black, white, and embossed floral "synthetic leather," with copper-plated rivets. I've heard good things about this saddle, though I personally have not tried it. And it certainly looks classic.
The Japanese manufacturer Kashimax has recently re-issued several colourful models in this tradition, many of which are vegan (just look for the models labeled "plastic" rather than "suede"). Though the Kashimax saddles look scary-long and uncushioned, I've tried one on a friend's bike and really liked it.
Another all-plastic option is the Cinelli Unicanitor re-issue - "the first saddle with a plastic shell in the history of cycling".
And a limited edition Barry McGee version, covered with a lightly padded synthetic leather.
Two Italian manufacturers have re-issued their original versions of these classic saddles as well. Selle Italia has released several versions of the classic "Turbo" model. I have ridden on several vintage Turbo saddles and loved them, so this would probably my vegan saddle of choice for a roadbike. There is something about the squarish back, the sloping sides and the down-turned nose that I find very comfortable.
The Concor release by Selle San Marco is a similar design to the Turbo, though I have not tried these personally. And SOMA's Ta-Bo is yet another version.
Now, as far as saddles for upright bicycles go, I am not really sure what to tell you. I have not found a good vegan alternative to a sprung leather saddle, so these are more like "the lesser evil" suggestions. The Ondina model by Selle Royal (above image) is a mattress-style saddle. It is more evenly padded than other models I've tried, and resists bunching up. I have ridden on this saddle and thought it was fine for a short urban ride.
I have also tried the mattress-style Lepper saddles (which come standard on many Dutch bikes), and those are similar to the Selle Royal, though with a more boxy profile. They are also usually quite heavy and the springs are enormous.
[image via electrabike.com]
Electra offers a number of vintage-inspired saddles that look the part, and aren't as horrendously over-padded as others I've seen - including these narrower styles that would work well on a mixte.
Electra also sells a lot of colourful models that could work well on a traditional bike. After all, a classic look does not necessarily need to imitate leather.
The cruiser manufacturer Nirve offers a number of traditional styles as well, including the riveted saddle pictured above and a number of floral-embossed models.
And another classic design by Nirve, with the "diamond" pattern popular on cruisers. If you are going for looks alone, there is a great deal to choose from between Nirve and Electra, but ride quality reports for these vary considerably.
If you have experience with any of the saddles listed here, please share your thoughts. And if you have other vegan alternatives to recommend for those who do not wish to buy leather saddles, your suggestions would be much appreciated.
Kohlekraft? Ja Danke
Conventional wisdom holds that the election's dramatic results were a consequence of the Japanese nuclear crisis and Chancellor Angela Merkel's clumsy efforts in announcing a moratorium on the nuclear plant extension that she had previously championed. I find this line of argument convincing, as well as the role played by Stuttgart-21, the controversial train station. However, not all agree.
One point is clear, with political leadership of Baden-Württemberg the Greens have inherited a difficult, so might say impossible, set of conflicting political realities. They promise a focus on continued economic growth and jobs (image above) and an shutdown of the state's nuclear power reactors.
The state is 45 percent owner of Energie Baden-Württemberg, or EnBW, which generates about half of its electricity from nuclear power plants. In its election platform, the Green party promised to shut down one plant immediately and the other in 2012. Both have been shut down temporarily because of a moratorium declared by Mrs. Merkel after the disaster in Japan.Financial markets and analysts have more certainty about where that replacement power will come from:
It is unclear where the replacement power will come from, said Georg Zachmann, an energy specialist at Bruegel, a research organization in Brussels.
“In Baden-Württemberg there will be some very tough choices to be made,” Mr. Zachmann said. “The Greens now own assets that they do not want. It’s kind of a poison pill.”
"Getting rid of old nuclear plants means plants will run more coal and gas. That means around 70 million tonnes of extra carbon dioxide will be emitted and carbon is up on this prospect for now. The question is how much is this worth in terms of additional carbon price?" said Emmanuel Fages, analyst at Societe Generale/orbeo.The policies and politics of Baden-Württemberg bear watching.
European Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger, who before his position in Brussels was Prime Minister of the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, also supported the view that coal will act as a substitute to nuclear in Germany.
Coming up on the Radio Cardiff Sports Show - 29th March 2011
We’re here from 7pm (BST) on 98.7FM in Cardiff and online at www.radiocardiff.org.uk with award winning sporting discussion and debate.
- We begin tonight with news of the Cardiff Devils booking their place in the play-off finals this weekend.
- The Cardiff Blues suffered a blow to their Magners League play-off hopes on Friday with defeat to Munster; we hear from coach David Young.
- Matthew Eves returns to the show to bring us all the latest boxing news.
- In today’s Cricket World Cup semi-final Sri Lanka defeated New Zealand by 5 wickets to set up an encounter with either co-hosts India or Pakistan.
- In football, we review last Saturday‘s Wales v England Euro 2012 Qualifier with the thoughts of special guest Paul Harper.
You can get involved with the show by sending us your thoughts about any sporting issue via text, email, Twitter or by phone.
Phone: 02920 235 664
Text: 07728 758 759
Email: sports@radiocardiff.org
Twitter: @RadCardiffSport
- Matthew Eves returns to the show to bring us all the latest boxing news.
- In today’s Cricket World Cup semi-final Sri Lanka defeated New Zealand by 5 wickets to set up an encounter with either co-hosts India or Pakistan.
- In football, we review last Saturday‘s Wales v England Euro 2012 Qualifier with the thoughts of special guest Paul Harper.
You can get involved with the show by sending us your thoughts about any sporting issue via text, email, Twitter or by phone.
Phone: 02920 235 664
Text: 07728 758 759
Email: sports@radiocardiff.org
Twitter: @RadCardiffSport
New sports law scholarship
Recently published scholarship includes:
Rachel Blumenfeld, Dog baiting abatement: using nuisance abatement to regulate dogfighting, 17 SPORTS LAWYERS JOURNAL 1 (2010)
Victor S. Broccoli, Williams v. NFL: the Eighth Circuit flags the NFL for interference with state drug testing laws, 17 SPORTS LAWYERS JOURNAL 283 (2010)
Bradley R. Bultman, Comment, Drafted player compensation: incorrectly hidden in the afternoon shadow of the nonstatutory labor exemption, 11 FLORDIA COASTAL LAW REVIEW 687 (2010)
Ashlee A. Cassman, Bring it on! Cheerleading vs. Title IX: could cheerleading ever be considered an athletic opportunity under Title IX, and if so, what implications would that have on university compliance?, 17 SPORTS LAWYERS JOURNAL 245 (2010)
Steve E. Cavezza, Can I see some ID? An Antitrust Analysis of NBA and NFL Draft Eligibility Rules, 9 UNIVERSITY OF DENVER SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT LJ 22 (2011)
Sonali Chitre, Technology and copyright law—illuminating the NFL’s ‘blackout’ rule in game broadcasting, 33 HASTINGS COMMUNICATION & ENTERTAINMENT LAW JOURNAL 97 (2010)
Reid Coploff, Exploring gender discrimination in coaching, 17 SPORTS LAWYERS JOURNAL 195 (2010)
Chris Deubert, What’s a ‘Clean’ Agent to Do? The Case for a Cause of Action Against a Players Association, 18 VILLANOVA SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT LAW JOURNAL 1 (2011)
Marielle Elisabet Dirkx, Comment, Calling an audible: the Equal Protection Clause, cross-over cases, and the need to change Title IX regulations, 80 MISSISSIPPI LAW JOURNAL 411 (2010)
Marc Edelman & David Rosenthal, A sobering conflict: the call for consistency in the message colleges send about alcohol, 20 FORDHAM INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT LAW JOURNAL 1389 (2010)
Adam Epstein, Teaching Torts with Sports, 28 JOURNAL OF LEGAL EDUCATION 117 (2011)
Adam Epstein, Religion and Sports in the Undergraduate Classroom: A Surefire Way to Spark Student Interest, 21 SOUTHERN LAW JOURNAL 133 (2011)
Lauren A. Fields, Comment, Who owns dat?, 13 TULANE JOURNAL OF TECHNOLOGY & INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY 251 (2010)
John A. Fortunato & Shannon E. Martin, American Needle v. NFL: Legal and Sponsorship Implications, 9 UNIVERSITY OF DENVER SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT LAW JOURNAL 73 (2011)
Nathaniel Grow, Defining the “business of baseball”: a proposed framework for determining the scope of professional baseball’s antitrust exemption, 44 UC DAVIS LAW REVIEW 557 (2010)
Benjamin B. Hanson, Comment, Defend the Williams Wall, leave professional sports drug testing policies in shambles: the decision and consequences of Williams v. NFL, 33 HAMLINE LAW REVIEW 327 (2010)
Casinova O. Henderson, How much discretion is too much for the NFL Commissioner to have over the players’ off-the-field conduct?, 17 SPORTS LAWYERS JOURNAL 167 (2010)
Robert S. Jeffrey, Note, Beyond the hype: the legal and practical consequences of American Needle, 11 FLORIDA COASTAL LAW REVIEW 667 (2010)
Brandon Johansson, Note, Pause the game: are video game producers punting away the publicity rights of retired athletes?, 10 NEVADA LAW JOURNAL 784 (2010)
Richard G. Johnson, Submarining due process: how the NCAA uses its restitution rule to deprive college athletes of their right of access to the courts...until Oliver v. NCAA, 11 FLORIDA COASTAL LAW REVIEW 459 (2010)
Michael Kim, Mixed martial arts: the evolution of a combat sport and its laws and regulations, 17 SPORTS LAWYERS JOURNAL 49 (2010)
Camalla M. Kimbrough, Comment, Upon further review: how the NFL’s exclusive licensing agreement with Reebok survives antitrust scrutiny despite the League’s flawed single-entity defense, 13 TULANE JOURNAL OF TECHNOLOGY & INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY 235 (2010)
Jeffrey F. Levine & Bram A. Maravent, Fumbling away the season: will the expiration of the NFL-NFLPA CBA result in the loss of the 2011 season?, 20 FORDHAM INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT LAW JOURNAL 1419 (2010)
Joseph A. Litman, Note, Tremendous upside potential: how a high-school basketball player might challenge the National Basketball Association’s eligibility requirements, 88 WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW 261 (2010)
Robert A. McCormick & Amy Christian McCormick, A trail of tears: the exploitation of the college athlete, 11 FLORIDA COASTAL LAW REVIEW 639 (2010)
Frank P. McQuillan, Minnesota’s miracle...on ice: the transfer-mation of student-athletes into free agents, 17 SPORTS LAWYERS JOURNAL 135 (2010)
Matthew J. Mitten & Hayden Opie, “Sports law”: implications for the development of international, comparative, and national law and global dispute resolution, 85 TULANE LAW REVIEW 269 (2010)
Brandon D. Morgan, Oliver v. NCAA: NCAA’s no agent rule called out, but remains safe, 17 SPORTS LAWYERS JOURNAL 303 (2010)
Anna Peterson, Comment, But she doesn’t run like a girl...: the ethic of fair play and the flexibility of the binary conception of sex, 19 TULANE JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE & INTERNATIONAL LAW 315 (2010)
Adam Primm, Salary arbitration induced settlement in Major League Baseball: the new trend, 17 SPORTS LAWYERS JOURNAL 73 (2010)
J. Chadwick Schnee, Wrestling with retaliation: pinning down the Burlington “dissuading” standard under Title IX, 17 SPORTS LAWYERS JOURNAL 223 (2010)
Aaron Shepard, Note, Football’s stormy future: forecasting the upcoming National Football League labor negotiations, 33 COLUMBIA JOURNAL OF LAW & ARTS 527 (2010)
Patrick Donohue Sheridan, An Olympic solution to ambush marketing: how the London Olympics show the way to more effective trademark law, 17 SPORTS LAWYERS JOURNAL 27 (2010)
Brett T. Smith, The tax-exempt status of the NCAA: has the IRS fumbled the ball?, 17 SPORTS LAWYERS JOURNAL 117 (2010)
Jeffrey J.R. Sundram, Comment, The downside of success: how increased commercialism could cost the NCAA its biggest antitrust defense, 85 TULANE LAW REVIEW 543 (2010)
Seagull Haiyan Song, How should China respond to online piracy of live sports telecasts? A comparative study of Chinese copyright legislation to US and European Legislation, 9 UNIVERSITY OF DENVER SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT LAW JOURNAL 1 (2011)
Robert J. Thorpe, Way out in left field: Crespin v. Albuquerque Baseball Club rejects nearly one hundred years of American jurisprudence by declining to adopt the baseball rule in New Mexico, 17 SPORTS LAWYERS JOURNAL 267 (2010)
Glenn M. Wong, Warren Zola and Chris Deubert, Going Pro in Sports: Improving Guidance to Student-Athletes in a Complicated Legal and Regulatory Environment, 28 CARDOZO ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT LAW JOURNAL 553 (2011)
Glenn M. Wong and Chris Deubert, National Basketball Association General Managers: An Analysis of the Responsibilities, Qualifications and Characteristics, 18 VILLANOVA SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT LAW JOURNAL 213 (2011)
