Acie Law is Awesome

I know Texas A&M wound up losing by 2 to Texas, but wow, what a show put on by Acie Law. The 3 ball with 1.4 seconds left in regulation to tie the game, and then the 3 with about 25 seconds left in OT to tie the game, and then the perfect missed free throw at the end of the second OT, though they couldn't convert on that.

The man has ice in his veins. 6 points in the first half, and he wound up with 33. Awesome.

Kevin Durant wound up with 30 and 16, but he hardly got the ball in either OT. Not sure what the deal was with that. Still, with the talent of Durant and DJ Augustin, Texas is going to be a real tough out in the Big Dance.

----------------------------------------------

One other comment on the games... Jay Wright and Rick Barnes both need to give Kelvin Sampson a thank you call. If you'll remember, when Sampson left Oklahoma to go to Indiana, it let all of his recruits out of their scholarships.

One of those recruits was Scottie Reynolds, who dropped 40 for Villanova in a win tonight. Another of them was Dameon James, who scored 22 points and had 9 rebounds for the Longhorns. And now Sampson has Eric Gordon coming to play for the Hoosiers next year. The man can recruit (even if it's not always within NCAA rules).

Fantasy Baseball Rankings: Middle Infield

It's probably very likely that I'm going to be writing a lot about college basketball in the near future, so I thought it'd be good to combine a couple of position for these fantasy baseball rankings, to get through them a little quicker. Also, I'm doing this at work so I have some more time (library jobs are cool). I'll give my top 10 at each position, 2B and SS.

Second Base
1) Chase Utley (PHI) Utley has firmly entrenched himself as the top 2B with a couple of 30 HR, 100 RBI seasons. He also scored 131 runs last year, which was fantastic, though I'm not sure you'll be able to quite count on that many again. He also stole 15 bases for good measure.

2) Robinson Cano (NYY) Cano is like his counterpart Jeter because he is a good average hitter and is in a great lineup. Other pluses for Cano is that he hit 41 2Bs last year in only 122 G, and he knocked in 78 runs in 2/4 of a season. His pro-rated stats are real good, and at his age he should only be getting better.

3) Chone Figgins (LAA) - Figgins does not hit for a great average or with really any power, but his value comes from the stolen bases (52 of them last year) and the fact that he can play 2B, 3B, LF, and CF. I've got him at 2B because that is probably the weakest position overall of the 4, but his flexibility makes him a very nice guy to have.

4) Rickie Weeks (MIL) - I really like Weeks, and I think he's going to be one of the best 2B in the MLB sooner rather than later. As long as he can stay healthy all season, he's definitely a 20-20 threat, and could even be a .300-30-30 threat if he can get stronger. He's got a great minor league track record which suggests great things are in store for him as long as he can stay healthy.

5) Brian Roberts (BAL) - Roberts came out of nowhere to have a great year in 2005, but tailed off some in 2006 (though he was fighting some injuries). Still, if things go well he's capable of batting .300+, hitting 15 HR, 50 2B, 40 SB, and scoring 100 runs.

6) Dan Uggla (FLA) - It would have been difficult to predict the type of success Uggla had as a rookie based on his Minors numbers, and that does make me a little wary that he might not be able to repeat the success he had. But even if he drops just a little, the 27 HR and 90 RBI look pretty enticing.

7) Brandon Phillips (CIN) - Phillips has been a good prospect for a long time, but finally was able to sort of put things together last year. He hit .276 with so-so power (17 HR, 28), and also stole 25 bases, which helps his value. He also gets the nice boost from playing half his games in the GABP.

8) Jeff Kent (LAD) - Kent doesn't have the upside that a lot of these other guys have, but he's still a solid hitter. The power has dropped, but he's still capable of batting .290, hitting 25 HR and knocking in 100 runs, which are very good numbers for a 2B.

9) Howie Kendrick (LAA) - The minor league nubmers are great, and enough to put him at #10 for me even with a small MLB track record. At every level he's been at he's hit for a great average and hit a ton of doubles. He definitely showed signs of this late last year for the Angels, where in 72 games he hit .285 and had 21 2Bs.

10) Tad Iguchi (CHW) - Iguchi is a very consistent player, which you like to see. Through his first 2 years in the U.S. he's batted around .280, hit about 15 HR and had 70 RBI, and last year he scored nearly 100 runs. Like Kent he may not have the upside of these other guys, but you know what you're getting with him.

Apologies to: Freddy Sanchez, Ryan Freel

Shortstop
1) Jose Reyes (NYM) - There's a lot to like here. Last year he hit for .300 and scored 122 runs, and that wasn't even the best part about his game. He also stole 64 bases, hit 19 HR, 30 2B, 17 3B, and knocked in 81 runs just for good measure. Just a complete fantasy player and will probably be off the board at pick #2 in most drafts.

2) Derek Jeter (NYY) - Jeter was absolutely fantastic last year, batting .343 with 118 runs scored. He also hit for some power (14 HR, 39 2B) and stole 34 bases. To top it all of he hits near the top of a very good and balanced lineup.

3) Hanley Ramirez (FLA) - Ramirez had a great rookie season in which he was sort of Jose Reyes Lite. The average of .292 is certainly respectable at the top of the lineup. He also stole 51 bases, hit for good power for a SS (46 2B, 11 3B, 17 HR) and scored 118 runs. He basically does everything Jose Reyes does, just not quite as good. But that's not really anything to be ashamed of.

4) Jimmy Rollins (PHI) - Rollins continues with the theme of SS who hit for a good average, steal a lot of bases, and have deceptively good power. Did you realize Jimmy Rollins hit 25 HR last year to go with 45 2B? The HR might be a bit flukey (he's never been close to that before), but he always hits a lot of doubles, steals 30-40 bases, and scores 115+ runs. Great quality here.

5) Miguel Tejada (BAL) - Tejada did hit .330 last year, but the power numbers seem to be slipping a bit, as the 24 HR and 37 2B would suggest. Still, he's a 100-RBI guy, and if you have speed at other positions, it's definitely viable to take him ahead of a guy like Jimmy Rollins. Still a very good hitter.

6) Michael Young (TEX) - It's possible 2005 was a career year for Young, but he does a lot of things well. Namely, he was a double machine last year, hitting 52 of them. He's also a consistent .310+ hitter that'll get you 210 hits and knock in around 100 runs. You could definitely do a lot worse at the SS position.

7) Carlos Guillen (DET) - In real life, I think Guillen is one of the most underrated players in the game. In fantasy terms, he's sort of a jack-of-all-trades, master of none. He's been pretty consistent at around .320 AVG, 20 HR, 20 SB, 100 R, 90 RBI. Very good numbers across the board, but he ranks at #7 because this seems to be a very solid SS class.

8) Bill Hall (MIL) - He his 35 HR last year. 35 HOMERUNS!

9) Rafael Furcal (LAD) He's in the same style of Reyes, Rollins, and Ramirez because of his speed, but his power is not as good as theirs, and playing in Dodger Stadium doesn't help. Still, he's a .300 hitter that'll steal around 40 bases and score around 100 runs.

10) Tory Glaus (TOR) - I didn't even know Glaus has SS eligibility before I looked, but apparently he does. And with 38 HR and 104 RBI last year, that makes him a very good value pick.

Apologies to: Stephen Drew, Egar Renteria, Bobby Crosby

What changes would you make to this?

Cedric Maxwell's Sexist Comments about NBA Referee Violet Palmer

Cedric Maxwell--the MVP of the 1981 NBA finals and whose number #31 the Boston Celtics recently retired--has been the color analyst for radio broadcasts of Celtics games since 1995. His thoughtfulness and humor have made him popular among Celtics fans, particularly in recent years as his performance has excelled.

But as reported by Dave Adams of Universal Hub, Maxwell has found himself in controversy due to recent on-air comments about NBA referee Violet Palmer (hat tip to Jeff Clark of Celtics Blog):

During the first quarter of tonight's radio broadcast of the Celtics game against the Houston Rockets,one of the Celtics players managed to fake out the referee to get a call to go his way. The referee who made this call was Violet Palmer, who happens to be a woman. Cedric Maxwell, the analyst / sidekick on the Celtics broadcast team, proclaimed "Get back in the kitchen!" when she made the call. Max's partner, Sean Grande, tried to throw him a lifeline by pointing out that they had both been previously impressed by Palmer's officiating, but Max continued "Get back in the kitchen and fix me some bacon and eggs!"

Somewhat surprisingly, at least from my vantage point, neither the Celtics nor WEEI, which broadcasts Celtics games, will take any disciplinary action against Maxwell. Instead, he has agreed to apologize on-air. Just compare that "sanction" with the firing of former Fox baseball announcer Steve Lyons for, at worst, ambiguously negative comments about Latinos. I recognize that Lyons' had a bigger and national audience, that he had made other curious remarks in the past, and that Fox may have employed a stricter on-air policy than WEEI, but I still find the outcomes odd. Maxwell made an unquestionably sexist remark--should it really be tolerated without sanction? Is no suspension or even reprimand in order?

Along those lines, think about what Violet Palmer must feel whenever she makes a controversial call. As the only female referee in the NBA (and there are no female refs/umps in the NFL, NHL, or MLB), her gender--which obviously has no bearing on her talent--probably enters the minds of many of those who don't like the call, and some of those persons, apparently like Cedric Maxwell and his "fix me some bacon and eggs" line, occasionally might let that bias slip. God only knows what fans yell at her when they don't like her.

And no doubt, Violet Palmer's gender makes her job harder than it would otherwise be. A favorite target of Bill Simmons and other basketball writers, Palmer is routinely criticized for not being very good at her job. For instance, Simmons has written of Palmer:

Nobody has ever been worse at their job, in any vocation – not even the people who work at Home Depot selling Christmas trees. When Violet started officiating a few years ago, she was so incompetent, players and coaches actually avoided arguing with her – whenever she screwed up, they would always glance around helplessly, the same way you would if your puppy dropped a deuce on the living room carpet.

I'm not sure if that criticism is true, but assuming for a moment that it is, might Stanford social psychologist Claude Steele's research on stereotype threat be relevant? Stereotype threat reflects the behavioral effects that result from an individual's belief and fear that his or her actions will confirm a negative stereotype of a group to which he or she belongs. As I discuss in a work-in-progress on the Wonderlic Test, stereotype threat typically manifests in anxiety, which can impair performance and trigger a self-fulfilling prophecy: because of stress related to one's group membership, one underperforms, thereby unintentionally corroborating the underlying group stereotype. Thus, the situational presence of stereotype threat, rather than the person's aptitude, skill, or talent, may generate the behavior that confirms the underlying stereotype. As I write:

[M]inority undergraduates tend to perform less well academically when they believe there are achievement gaps relative to race. In a recent study of undergraduates, African-American students performed worse than their white classmates when told that they are taking an exam that measures “their intelligence.” However, they performed equal to white students on the same exam when told that they are taking an “experimental” exam.

Whether or not stereotype threat exists with Violet Palmer, it's clear that she has an unusually tough job. Granted, I know that no one forced her to take this job; she undertook it knowing, at least on some level, what she would be getting into (although that doesn't justify those problems). Moreover, I genuinely applaud the NBA--and, yes, Commissioner David Stern, who I often criticize--for being the first and still only major pro sports league to employ a female referee. But I hope that the league and its teams do all they can to ensure that her gender not be used to marginalize her or to interfere with her work, otherwise it would seem that she is being set up to fail. With that in mind, should there really be no sanction for a radio announcer who, on-air, says of Violet Palmer that she should "get back in the kitchen"? Are we in the year 2007 or 1947?

Update: see Jeffrey Standen's vigorous and thoughtful defense of Maxwell.

Jay Bilas like my questions

OK, this is about the worst thing in the world to be proud about, but I just wanted to brag about my chat-asking skills. From Jay Bilas' chat today:

Jon (ND): What do you think Winthrop might be looking at in terms of seeding if they win the Big South? How far can they go in the Tourney?

Jay Bilas: (3:47 PM ET ) If the Eagles got a 13, they can win. a 15 or 14 would be much tougher. Seeding is a big deal for a Big South team.

Jon (ND): Lay it all on the line Jay... if you had to choose today, who's your pick for national champion?

Jay Bilas: (3:48 PM ET ) Kansas and UCLA would be my final. But who knows? I have not seen any brackets yet.

Jay Bilas: (3:50 PM ET ) Thanks everybody!! I have to go! See you next week.

I should also mention that I've had questions answered by Mel Kiper (multiple times!), Billy Beane, Rob Neyer (multiple times!), and others. If that doesn't qualify me to write a sport blog, I'm not sure what does!

American University Soccer Player's $10 Million Tort Case Against Former DC United Star

Yesterday, the Washington Post covered an interesting lawsuit filed by a former soccer player from American University against the MLS franchise D.C. United, its owners, and a former player, Bulgarian superstar Hristo Stoitchkov.

In 2003, the AU college team played the United in a scrimmage. According to the Post story:

The incident occured about 10 minutes into a scrimmage . . . during the [American University] Eagles' offseason and a few weeks before United's season opener. [The AU player] was preparing to take possession of the ball when Stoitchkov approached on the run and, in an apparent attempt to disrupt play, slammed his left foot into [the student's] right leg, which, according to the lawsuit, was planted on the field. Stoichkov, who according to the lawsuit, was angry that game officials did not disallow an AU goal moments before the tackle . . . -- was assessed a red card. Both coaches agreed to suspend the game. [The AU player] was removed by ambulance and, later that day, had a four-inch metal plate inserted in his leg.

Plaintiff now seeks $5 million in compensatory and $5 million in punitive damages. Stoichkov, now the Bulgarian national coach, was quoted by the Post's Soccer Insider blog:

"I'll leave that to my lawyers but as far as I know this case is closed. I don't care what the press say. I am concentrating on my work in Bulgaria and the national football team."

Duke Sports Law expert Paul Haagen was interviewed for the story, and offered this observation. He offered this on-point observation:

"What this will turn on is expectations -- the expectations of the participants, what the game was about and whether it went beyond those level of expectations . . . . Did the incident go beyond the normal course of the game?"

One wonders what expectations typically are for a scrimmage, as opposed to a competitive game. A player might expect and therefore assume risks in a competitive game that would not be a part of scrimmage play. I'll also be interested to see whether a court treats the AU player according to the less-plaintiff-friendly standard typically applied to professionals (in that he was playing against a pro team), or the more plaintiff-friendly standard that typically applies in amateur or recreational sports injury cases.

In any event, this seems like an odd case to expect punitive damages, since on the part of team and its investors there is certainly no "wanton and wilful" misconduct. As to Stoitchkov, it will depend on how aggravated his conduct is found to be.

HT to UT Law 3L Justin Stone for pointing me to the story.

REAL MADRID. ALEXIS OF GETAFE TO SIGN NEXT SEASON

It was the worst kept secret in Football. Getafe´s 21 yrold central defender ALEXIS will sign for REAL MADRIDnext season. According to local papers, Real will pay the 8M€ clausein his contract to have him over to the "Bernabeu".Alexis is one of the upcoming young stars of SpanishFootball. An excellent defender with an attacking style& with goal.Who knows he may well find that is current coach

DECO. ON THE MANCHESTER UNITED & CHELSEA AGENDA?

According to UK press, MANCHESTER UNITED &CHELSEA have 29 year old Portugues International& FC BARCELONA midfielder DECO on their agendas.The strategy is to lure the player over to thePremier League with 2 arguements: 1. Money& 2. the attraction of a new adventure.Its no secret that current Chelsea coach Mourinhois a big fan of Deco & to have him over would makehim happy. However, its rumoured

CAA and MVC Tournament Predictions

In the past, I admittedly have not paid close attention to the smaller conference tournaments. Maybe I'd watch a minute or two of the conference tournament game, but that was about it. This year, I'm planning on watching some more of them and following them along more closely, and that starts up in the next few days with the CAA and MVC Tournaments. Both teams have a shot at getting multiple bids, so competition will be strong because there are a few teams in each conference needing to boost its resume.

Another perk here is that since I'm an Accounting student, I work with Excel a lot, so I'll even try to make some sweet-looking brackets for my prediction, sort of as a test run for the bigger conference tournies next week. Well, the brackets probably won't be cool to you, but they'll be cool to me, and that's what really matters.


Comments: More good CAA reading can be found at this blog (and the writer is also the author of the new book I just bought, which is nice). Right now there are probably 4 teams with a shot at making the Tourney as an at-large, but no one is really guaranteed a bid. Drexel and ODU have some nice wins, but they might have to at least make it to the Finals to get an at-large bid. Hofstra is probably out of luck again unless they win the Tourney, and VCU probably needs to at least win their opener to be safe. In the end, I'll go with Drexel, the team with non-conference road wins against Villanova and Syracuse, to remove all at-large doubts and clinch the auto bid.


Comments: The at-large picture here is a little clearer than the one in the CAA, but not by much. Southern Illinois is in. Creighton is probably in, but needs at least 1 more win to make sure. Missouri St. might be in, but they better beat Wichita St. in their tourney opener, and another win in the semis would assure them. If Bradley can get to the Tourney Finals, they'll have a shot. Everyone else is playing for their lives. The upset I see is a mini one, with Missouri St. punching their ticket to the Dance with a win over Creighton. In the finals, Southern Illinois is just too strong offensively and defensively. I like them to win it.

What are your predictions?

Is Potato Sack Racing a "Contact Sport"?

As long-time readers of this blog know, one of my enduring sports law interests in the tort liability of participants in athletic events to one another (see posts on the subject here, here, and here). In many states, a "contact sports exception" applies to personal injury cases between co-participants in sports deemed to "inherently" involve contact. Co-participants can only recover from one another where the offender committed a "reckless" act, since the risk of negligence is viewed as an assumed risk of contact sports.

A key question that arises in cases implicating this legal rule is the line between contact and non-contact sports.

Now, an Ohio appellate court has sent a case back down involving an injury to a participant in a potato-sack race, ruling that such racing is not a contact sports. According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer story on the case:

"Intentional tackling is not a customary part of the sport or activity of sack racing," said the appellate decision. "Sack racing is not a contact sport."

A new trial will decide if Martin LaMalfa, 43, of Concord Township, was negligent when he tackled cousin Anthony Aquila, 53, of Wickiffe, during the sack race Aug. 17, 2003, at a LaMalfa family reunion at the Outdoor YMCA in Perry Township.

"It is clear from the record that roughhousing between two grown men was done in a spirit of childlike competition between cousins which unfortunately due to their respective ages and physical limitations may negligently have caused some serious damage," the appellate court said in its opinion.

Having participated in just a few such races over the years, I'm not qualified to render an opinion on the level of contact typically expected in this activity. At least according to e-how, however, contact isn't a part of the rules of potato-sack racing.

Politics, Expression, and Basketball Arenas

True Hoop (which, having asked Mike to guest-post, must be regarded as the official non-law basketball blog of the sports-law world) reports on a story from The Stranger (which I gather is Seattle's weekly independent newspaper):

The campaign finance records I’ve reviewed show that Sonics/Storm co-owner Tom Ward has contributed $475,000 to Gary L. Bauer’s Americans United to Preserve Marriage

And another Sonics/Storm co-owner, Aubrey McClendon, contributed $625,000.

During the last two election cycles, Americans United distributed $ 1.3 million, of which Ward and McClendon contributed $ 1.1 million. The group opposes same-sex marriage, which it insists "cheapens" the institution.

Neither Ward nor McClendon is the managing partner within the ownership group; that is Clayton Bennett, who apparently has not made such contributions. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer picked up the story here.

This new controversy raises a number of interesting issues.

First, there is the connection to Tim Hardaway's comments and the NBA's reaction to them. Should the league take similar action against these Sonics owners? As a private entity, the league could sanction anyone involved with it, without running afoul of the First Amendment. But I would be uncomfortable if the league began controlling what groups and ideas players, owners, and other league members can promote outside of their basketball roles. And Hardaway was dismissed from performing an official function in which he was speaking and acting on the NBA's behalf. Certainly the league has greater control over that than over what an active player says apart from his basketball functions.

But this leads to a second issue. If leagues are going to police what players, owners, and others say, do they need to be consistent? Is what Hardaway said that much worse than what Ward and McClendon are (through their financial support) advocating, such that you can punish Hardaway but not Ward and McClendon? Substantively, there is no difference between saying "I hate gay people" and "I want the law to deny gay people the same basic rights that I (and others like me) have." The former reflects an angrier, more emotional idea than the former. But both are anti-gay-rights points of view. In my view, both are fully protected expression and neither should be the basis for league-imposed punishment. But we too often get caught up in the way things are said, punishing an offensive way of saying something, while ignoring statements that express ideas that are just as troubling when they are stated in a softer way. I am not sure you can justify punishing one and not the other (although again, my preference is that you punish neither).

Third is the issue of how the controversy will affect the Sonics' efforts to secure $ 300 million in state and local funding for a new arena. Can legislators take into account the politics of some of the owners in deciding whether to approve this funding? On one hand, an instinctive notion is that government should not decide whether to award benefits on how a recipient exercises his First Amendment rights. Although doing so in this context would not, strictly speaking, violate any one's First Amendment rights, there is something troubling about public officials voting some way because of the recipient's unrelated political viewpoints.

On the other hand, they may not be so unrelated. The Sonics are asking for (nee, demanding) a substantial amount of public funds towards an arena that the team insists is essential for the team to survive and thrive financially. It also argues that building the arena (and thus keeping the team in Seattle, rather than relocating to Oklahoma City) brings economic, social, and cultural benefits to the community (putting to one side the overwhelming consensus among economists that no economic benefits exist). But the arena also benefits the Sonics owners, Ward and McClendon among them--they have to spend $ 300 million less of their own money to gain this necessary asset; plus the arena almost certainly comes with a highly favorable lease that allows the team (i.e., the owners) to keep much of the arena-derived revenue (naming rights, seat licenses, parking, concessions, etc.).

Now, could a conscientious state or local legislator decide not to vote for a project that puts more money in the hands of two individuals who likely will use some of that money to advocate public policy positions that are anathema to the great majority of her constituents? I think the answer is yes.

CRISTIANO RONALDO PREFERS REAL MADRID?

According to Sp. daily "AS"Portugues International &Manchester Utd star forwardCRISTIANO RONALDO hascommunicated to his rep.Jorge Mendes that he wishesto go to REAL MADRID nextseason.The young star has rejectedoffers from FC BARCELONA& INTER MILAN.Its said that the player willforce his exit from ManchesterUnited were his relationshipwith coach Ferguson is cold;& even colder after he wasrecently

Book Review: A March to Madness

A few months back I talked about a great book I read called The Last Amateurs by John Feinstein, in which he followed around teams from the Patriot League.

This time, I got around to reading A March to Madness, in which he followed around the ACC teams for a season and talks about what happened, what they did, how they did it, etc.

It was a very interesting book that I really recommend reading, especially in conjunction with The Last Amateurs. The differences and similarities really showcase the difference between low-major college basketball and perhaps the most powerful conference in the NCAA.

One obvious difference and part that I loved was seeing the differences in the conference tournaments. In the Patriot League Tournament he detailed, it was do-or-die every game, because there were no at-large bids. In the ACC Tournament, there were probably 2 teams that were really playing in games that they saw as "must-win." Quite a difference, obviously.

Another difference was a lot of the players themselves. In The Last Amateurs, the academic lives of the players were frequently discussed. In this book, there were far less references to any type of academics, and more to attitude problems of a lot of the players. Not say that Feinstein cast them into a bad light, because he didn't, but the differences between big-time and small-time college basketball were evident.

Overall, one of the most interesting books I've read, and definitely one of the best college basketball books I've read. If you get a chance, I definitely recommend you take a gander at it.

New Sports Law Scholarship

New this week:

Michael J. Jurek, Note, Janitor or savior: the role of Congress in professional boxing reform, 67 OHIO STATE LAW JOURNAL 1187 (2006)

Shane Mecham, The house that consensus built: consensus building in stadium construction, 38 URBAN LAWYER 1087 (2006)

SPANISH FOOTBALL. VIDEO OF BARÇA WIN & CELTA/RACING DRAWS

SFS has picked 2 games from yesterdays Round 24 games thathad more goals. Most matches ended in 0-0 draws & others 1-1as with the local Madrid derby which has the video on the belowpost. So here is the FC BARCELONA 3-0 win over ATHLETICDE BILBAO & CELTA DE VIGO 2-2 draw with RACING DESANTANDER. Enjoy!Liga Jornada 24 : FC Barcelona-AthleticCELTA 2-2 RACING Read all the details , images & results

College Basketball Weekend Roundup

Lots and lots of great stuff from the weekend in college basketball... I'll just hit the highlights and anything else I saw as important.

- Ohio St. beat Wisconsin 49-48. As you can tell from the final score, defense was most prevalent in this game, as the Buckeyes shot 42% and the Badgers shot 35%. Still, a very good and competitive basketball game, as expected. Some thoughts just from this game:

• I know it's been mentioned before, but I love how when Greg Oden blocks a shot, he keeps the ball in play and taps it to his teammates. Of his 4 blocked shots, at least 2 of them that I can remember basically directly led to layups. In a game where Oden wasn't a huge impact offensively, he was superb defensively.
• I've mentioned often about how much I enjoy watching Mike Conley play, but what a game for him. There was of course the game-winner with 3.9 secods left, but he was superb throughout. 11 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and he appeared to be everywhere out there. Great performance.
• Hate to see something like what happened to Brian Butch... ugly looking play, and I doubt we'll be seeing him anytime soon on the court.
• I saw a discussion on Saturday about which possible #1 seed was going to lose first... Tom Brennan said Ohio St. because of their youth, Doug Gottlieb said Wisconsin because their offense tends to stagnant when Alando Tucker isn't doing anything. Just Call Me Juice may be skeptical of the Buckeyes, but I tend to agree with Doug Gottlieb.

- Best defenses I have seen so far this year, in no particular order: Southern Illinois, UCLA, Michigan St.

- I love love Michigan St. right now. First of all, Tom Izzo's coaches tend to do very well in the Tourney (last year notwithstanding). Also, the Spartans are a fantastic defensive team and a great rebounding team, and that will keep you in a lot of ballgames. Finally, Drew Neitzel is second only to Acie Law in terms of 2nd half heroics this year. It's uncanny.

- My pet team to follow this year has been San Diego St., and while they have been maddeningly inconsistent, they showed another flash of their talent with a convining win over #22 BYU. They're going to have to win the MWC Tournament to make it to the Big Dance, but that is entirely possible.

- Lost in the shuffle of all of the other great freshmen this year is Chase Budinger. He's averaging almost 16 PPG, but he does it all in the flow of the game. He's a good shooter, he's very athletic, and he makes an impact in lots of different ways. Just a fun player to watch.

- The SEC West mediocrity continues. With Ronald Steele still not 100%, the Tide lost to Auburn to drop them to 6-8 in conference (same as Auburn). Mississippi and Mississippi St. are tied at 7-7 to lead the SEC West, but it doesn't look like either of those teams will be in the Tourney. Arkansas is down to 5-9. LSU beat Florida... to bring them to 4-10. 0 bids from the West and 5 from the East? Certainly looks very possible.

What jumped out to you over the weekend?

SPANISH FOOTBALL - "LA LIGA" - ROUND 24 RESULTS

Round 24 is characterized by plenty of drawn matches & aMadrid derby which was emotional & controversial at thesametime.Yesterday the long awaited derby between ATLETICO DEMADRID & REAL MADRID finished as traditionally derby´sdo, with a draw , a 1-1 draw.FERNANDO TORRES got his 1º ever goal in against Real &set his team on the road of a seemimg victory.It was a whitewash after the 1º goal &

SPANISH FOOTBALL. LUCAS PORCAR A YOUNG TREASURE AT R.C.D.ESPANYOL

SFS would like to introduce to you a youngman that iscatching the eye of many. LUCAS PORCAR current playerin the junior team of R.C.D ESPANYOL who is leadinghis team in scoring & assisting in fighting for top spot ofthe ladder (which includes Fc Barcelona).(Lucas Porcar is on the right)Curriculum:Name: Lucas PorcarPlace of Birth: Barcelona , SPAINDate of Birth : 18.02.1990Height : 1,83Weight : 70

Fantasy Baseball Ranking: First Basemen

After starting off with the catchers, now it's time for the first basemen. One note before I get started, there were some guys - like Lance Berkman, Victor Martinez, Gary Sheffield, and Jeff Kent - that may have made this list, because they are 1B eligible, but I decided not to include them, because typically 1B is a deep position, and those players would probably be better utilized somewhere else. Other guys - like Travis Hafner and Jim Thome - would have made the list, but unlike David Ortiz they don't have 1B eligibility, just DH. So now that that's out of the way, my top 10:

1. Albert Pujols (STL) - Pujols is simply the best hitter in the world right now. The high average, lots of RBI, lots of run, lots of HR, lots of XBH. He is a complete hitter, and the best player in the MLB.

2. Ryan Howard (PHI) - Obviously Howard has remarkable power, hitting 58 HR last year. However, I have him below Pujols because the average is a little lower, he doesn't hit as many doubles, and he's not as good of a baserunner (and doesn't score as many runs). Still, it doesn't get much better than last year for Howard, as he hit .313 even with all of the HR.

3. David Ortiz (BOS) - Ortiz mostly DHs, but he does have 1B eligibility. The 54 HR are obviously great, but he's below the top 2 guys because the average was only at .287. .287 is still very solid, but its a full 40 points behind Pujols, and 25 points behind Howard last year, dropping Ortiz to the 3 spot.

4. Justin Morneau (MIN) - Morneau probably didn't deserve the AL MVP last year, but he was one of the most pleasant surprises for fantasy owners. Like Pujols and Howard, he hits for a very high average to along with the power, which is because he finally learned to lay off the curveball some and the take pitches he couldn't drive and go the other way with him. This was huge in his development as a complete hitter, and makes him the #4 ranked fantasy 1B heading into the year.

5. Mark Teixeira (TEX) - Texieira had an off year in 2006 (in which he hit 33 HR and drove in over 100), but he is still in his prime, and plays in a great ballpark in Texas. If he can get back to 2005 form (where he batted .300 with 43 HR and 144 RBI), he's one of the top 3 1B. I'm guessing he'll fall somewhere in the middle and that gets him the 5th spot.

6. Derrek Lee (CHIC) - Derrek Lee played only 50 games last season due to a wrist injury that hampered him even when he got back, but he's a great talent with huge potential. In 2005 he hit 46 HR and 50 2B, which is excellent. This year, with the addition of Alfonso Soriano, the Cubs lineup should be a little better, which will help Lee to get back to 2005 form, and make him once again a top fantasy 1B.

7. Paul Konerko (CHIA) - No one talks about Paul Konerko that much, but you can always count on him to hit for 35-40 HR, and hit somewhere around 110 RBI, all while hitting .280+ (or in 2006's case, .313). And once again, the Sox middle of the order with Thome and Dye around him is extremely potent, which will help with the RBI and R opportunities.

8. Todd Helton (COL) - Helton had a down year in 2006, but still batted .300 with 40 2B. The HR numbers were not what you'd like to see and have been declining some, but he's a guy that hits for a high average and gets lots of XBH. I think we'll see a mini-rebound from Helton this year.

9. Carlos Delgado (NYM) - Delgado's batting average isn't quite what you'd like it to be, but the HR and RBI totals go a long way towards making up for that. Over the past 3 years he has averaged about 35 HR and 110 RBI. That makes him the #9 fantasy 1B.

10. Prince Fielder (MIL) - Fielder is still only 23 years old and had a very good year in his first full year, which makes him a nice value here. He's a guy with the type of skills and power to be a top 5 fantasy 1B by the end of 2007. He's patient at the plate and waits for his pitches, which is a common trait in good power hitters. The average was only .271, but again he has the talent to improve on that. He finished with 28 HR and 35 2B, which is pretty darn good for a 2 year-old.

What would your rankings look like?

Chad Cordero: Wins Arbitration But Losses Autonomy?

Attorney Bryan Stroh (a former law school classmate whose practice includes sports law and who was also a pretty darn good baseball player at Princeton), passes along this link from MLB.com on Washington Nationals' closer Chad Cordero being pressured by his agent and the MLBPA into turning down a two-year guaranteed deal (said to be worth between $7 million and $8 million) from the Nationals. According to Cordero, both the MLBPA and his agent, Larry Reynolds, thought he would win his arbitration case, and that he would be making a big mistake by signing the two-year offer. They appear correct, as Cordero won his case, securing a $4.15 million contract for 2007; if the 24-year-old Cordero--one of the best young closers in baseball--has another terrific season, he would be poised to make even more in 2008.

But even though he won his arbitration case, Cordero doesn't feel good about being pressured into not signing the two-year contract offer:

"I don't know why I didn't sign [the two-year deal]," Cordero said. "I wanted to. The Players Association thought I had a good case and they wanted see how it turned out. Even if I lost my arbitration case, I wasn't going to lose. It's still a lot of money. It's still more money than I ever would have thought [I'd make]."

Assuming this media report of Cordero's feelings is accurate, what does it say about the role of the agent and the players' association? I understand that the players' association has a collective interest in trying to maximize salary averages for each position, and that Cordero's contract affects future contracts of other closers, but who is looking out for Cordero? He is, after-all, a member of the MLBPA; should he be dissuaded from his instinct, or was the MLBPA correct in taking a more guiding approach?

And what about his agent? On one hand, he probably gave his client advice that will enable him to make more money--perhaps a lot more money--but on the other hand, his client doesn't seem to feel too good about what happened. Rick has written extensively on this topic (e.g., his post Players Union Needs to Fix the Agent Business and law review article Solving Problems in the Player Representation Business: Unions Should be the Exclusive Representatives of the Players), and I would be interested in hearing his thoughts.

This topic also brings to mind that many players perceive significant value in non-monetary terms, such as getting to play in a particular part of the country or with a certain group of teammates. Sometimes players are moved by those non-monetary terms in ways that they don't fully appreciate (a subject which I examine in my article: It's Not About the Money: The Role of Preferences, Cognitive Biases, and Heuristics Among Professional Athletes, 71 Brooklyn Law Review 1459 (2006)), but sometimes they genuinely prefer to not go through a contentious salary arbitration process. Along those lines, even though we live in an American culture of "every last dollar" mattering, clearly not every American embraces that creed. And maybe Chad Cordero is one such dissenter.

Could a Gay NBA Player Sue for Hostile Work Environment?

A couple of days ago, Henry Abbot of True Hoop asked me to assume, for the sake of argument, that a handful of NBA players were gay and that many NBA players were anti-gay, and then examine whether the NBA, its teams, and/or executives could be vulnerable to a hostile work environment lawsuit. I opined that such a claim would be hard to prove based on what we know, and I explain why on True Hoop.

Also be sure to check out Howard's related posts on Sports Law Blog from earlier this week (2/21; 2/17).

Update on The Relevance of Title VII and Personal Jurisdiction: My good friend Paul Secunda, who blogs on Workplace Prof Blog and who is a labor and employment law professor at the University of Mississippi School of Law, e-mails me an important point that makes this type of claim even less likely: since sexual orientation is not a prohibited classification under Title VII, a gay NBA player bringing such a claim would very likely have to be employed by a team that plays its home games in one of the states or municipalities where sexual orientation discrimination is recognized--and since most states and municipalities do not recognize it, many NBA players could not bring a claim. But I asked Paul whether a player who does not play for such a team could make a personal jurisdiction argument based on the premise that all NBA teams--which are all part of joint venture called the NBA--avail themselves of the forums they travel to by playing games there, meaning a team traveling to the state of Washington (where sexual orientation is recognized) to play the Supersonics avails itself of that forum, but he does not believe that such an argument would work:

I think the answer would be the same as when you have a business traveler who spend much of the time on the road. You can engage in harassment or discrimination on the road, but the law that would apply to such situations is where the employer is located.

Thanks to Paul for this comment.

Equal Pay at Wimbledon: But Should Women Make More Than Men?

Paul Secunda over at Workplace Prof Blog discusses the world's most prestigious tennis tournament, Wimbledon, bowing to public pressure and agreeing to pay women players as much as the men. Wimbledon had been the last of the four Grand Slam Tournaments to pay men and women players unequally. Last year, the men's winner pocketed $1,170,000 while the women's winner received $1,127,000.

Gary Clark over at Sports Frog goes a step further and writes that women's tennis should have more lucrative prizes than men's since women's tennis--which still has volleys and long rallies--has become much more enjoyable to watch than men's. Many tennis observers agree that the men's game has become boring to watch with too many serves impossible to return; to some, the days of John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Mats Wilander, Stefan Edberg, and many others gracefully battling it out seem like a completely different sport than today's extreme power game.

ATLETICO DE MADRID - REAL MADRID. THE DERBY.

Its the local Madrid classic, the Derby between ATLETICODE MADRID & rival REAL MADRID. The last encounterlast year finished in a 1-1 draw with goals from RAUL &MISTA. Real Madrid is currently 4º on the ladder with42 pts, only just 3 ahead of 5º placed At.Madrid. Importantmatch for both sides that will no doubt spill with passion.Here are the possible line-ups:AT.MADRID: Franco, Seitaridis,

SPANISH FOOTBALL - "LA LIGA" - ROUND 24 FIXTURE

Round 24 of "La Liga" this weekendhas the big local Madrid derby in play.ATLETICO DE MADRID plays REALMADRID in what promises to be apassionate match.But there are many others to look forward to; heres thefixture:R. Sociedad - Deportivo (Sat.)At.Madrid - Real Madrid (Sat.)Villareal - MallorcaLevante - ZaragozaBetis - RecreativoGetafe - Seville FCCelta - RacingOsasuna - EspanyolNastic - Valencia

This is why I thought Dwyane Wade was the MVP

With Dwyane Wade getting injured, possibly for the year, I think it will showcase why Dwyane Wade was my first-half MVP.

As of now, the Heat are 25-20 with Wade (and largely without Shaq), 1-8 without him. Wade created absolutely everything for Miami. He scored 28.8 PPG, dished out 7.9 APG, and drew the defense to him. Without him, they won't be able to score. Sure, they scored 100 against the Mavs on Thursday, but the Mavs had that game wrapped up by half.

Who will create shots for the Heat? Jason Williams? Shaq? It's going to get ugly, because this is a bad team without Wade.

Bet the house, if Wade misses the rest of the season, the Heat will not win more than 35 or 36 games this year, and they will miss the playoffs, even in the weak Eastern Conference. To win 36 games they'd have to finish 10-19, and I really don't think they'll even be able to do that. You heard it here first.

Coors Field

I've always been a little fascinated by Coors Field because it's so different from anything we have in most sports. Here's a stadium that just completely changes the game and the style of play of the teams, as well as the way the team is set up. I mean, think about it... in basketball, football, etc. every court of field is exactly the same. Not so in the MLB, and Coors is the prime example of that because of the thin air. It's really quite interesting. Also, I've been there once, so that was cool.

So got to thinking about the best way for the Rockies to utilize the field, as has no doubt been thought up by them. But in case it hasn't, I give you full permission to use my advice Colorado Rockies (also, I am looking for a job)!

The Rockies can definitely take advantage of the high altitude in Denver, but not in the way everyone thinks. Most people think HRs when they think of Coors Field, but that's a little short-sighted.

To combat the high altitude, the walls are deep at Coors Field. Consequently, the outfielders are usually playing very deep. So what does that do? It leaves the gaps wide open, and allows for lots of extra base hits.

So what's the best way for the Rockies to take advantage of the high altitude? Get doubles hitters, because they should just be able to go nuts in Coors. And this is basically what is happening. Garrett Atkins hit 48 doubles last year, Matt Holliday had 45, and Todd Helton had 40. Good doubles hitters thrive in Coors.

Pitching-wise, you have to find groundball pitchers, because anything hit in the air will sail. But, you can't hit homeruns off a groundball.

So this is how the Rockies can take advantage of Coors Field... doubles hitters and groundball pitchers. It's a tough ballpark to play in, but if you can effectively utilize, you can make yourselves tough to beat there.

Agree? Disagree?

UEFA CUP. GOODNIGHT FOR SPANISH TEAMS

Four Spanish teams played tonight the 2º leg matches of theUEFA CUP & all 4 qualified. The most dramatic match wasthe Osasuna vs Girondins game that went into extra time &Osasuna scored in the very last minute!SEVILLE FC qualified with a 1-0 over STEAUA BUCHARESTwith a goal by KERZHAKOV - pictured below - in the 45m.CELTA DE VIGO also qualified winning SPARTAK MOSCOW2-1 with goals from NENE (

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE. VIDEO OF DAVID VILLA´s GOAL, REAL MADRID vs BAYERN MUNICH & BARÇA vs LIVERPOOL

SFS has had requests from its readers to see the greatDAVID VILLA free kick scored last night againstINTER MILAN. Added SFS includes the Video of theREAL MADRID 3-2 victory over BAYERN. Enjoy!C1 Inter-Valence :1-1 Villa 21/02/07

One Step Forward - Two Steps Back

In a blog post three weeks ago, I asked the question whether progress on the minority NFL head coach hiring front had been realized. Now three weeks later, the answer to that question appears to be “probably not.” With the hiring of Norv Turner a few days ago by the San Diego Chargers, and the recent hiring of Wade Phillips by the Dallas Cowboys, we have two white coach retreads, who are both two time losers. Both Phillips and Turner have been hired as head coaches again after literally failing in previous stints as head coaches. Turner has posted a career won-loss record of 58 wins and 82 losses in head coaching stints with the Washington D.C. professional football club and the Oakland Raiders (overseeing winning seasons in only three of nine seasons as head coach). Phillips has posted a pedestrian career won-loss record of 48 wins and 39 losses in head coaching stints with the Buffalo Bills and the Denver Broncos (as well as an interim stretch with the Atlanta Falcons). That each man has been hired as a head coach once again, for a third time, is truly confounding.

Both the San Diego Chargers and the Dallas Cowboys followed the Rooney Rule, described in this space several weeks ago. Dallas interviewed at least three minority candidates, while the Chargers interviewed at least two. Mike Singletary and Ron Rivera, in fact, have been interviewed by a number of NFL franchises in the past two years, but have yet to land a top job. Why are twice fired, often times losing white coaches being recycled into virtual “winning” situations while prolific minority assistant coaches are being passed over (many would agree that the San Diego job is the best one in the NFL, while the Dallas job has the look of a sure winner)?

The hiring of Mike Tomlin by the Pittsburgh Steelers, with the Steelers one year removed from a Super Bowl title, appears to be one of the only times an African American head coach has been hired to coach a team poised to win, rather than being hired to resurrect a moribund franchise (see Tony Dungy in Tampa Bay, Marvin Lewis in Cincinnati, Romeo Crennel in Cleveland, Dennis Green in Arizona, Lovie Smith in Chicago, etc.). While Dennis Green, Ray Rhodes and Tony Dungy have been recycled (hired a second time) after being fired previously, both Green and Dungy had winning and exemplary records with the teams by which they were fired (Rhodes was 29-34-1 with the Eagles). It strains reality to imagine that an African American head coach with a 58-82 won loss record (exactly the same as Norv Turner) would ever be hired again as a head coach in the National Football League.

Still, the NFL clubs are owned by wealthy white males. They will continue to hire retread candidates and pray that one will turn into the “recycled” Bill Belichick who was run out of town after mostly failing for several seasons with the Cleveland Browns. Will the Rooney Rule be enough to break this outdated reality?

Links and stuff

Since it's been a long day and I don't really feel like, well, writing anything, I thought I'd do the next best thing... link to good stuff. Subjectively speaking.

First off, I put some cool stuff (I think it's cool at least) up at Sports Videos, specifically I have started up a Gus Johnson section. The man is good.

Is it really only 21 more days to March Madness? The best time of the year!

Here's something I know Josh over the Double-A Zone was really excited about: The 3-Minute Drill. Check it out if you get a chance. And just check out the Double-A Zone in general. It's not easy to cover all divisions and all sports of the NCAA, but Josh does a great job on touching on a lot of different, interesting topics.

You may as well go check out Deadspin... I guarantee you'll find something interesting over there, or I'll refund your money.

Just Call Me Juice is already calling an early round Ohio St. exit from the Big Dance... and there's definitely some merit there. Let me also take the time to announce that Just Call Me Juice is becoming one of my favorite blogs for quality college basketball action.

I know you've always wondered what the wackiest baseball injuries of the 90s were... well, now you know.

This is a little older, but The Big Picture's interview with Dan Shanoff (former Daily Quickie writer now with his own blog) was one of the most fascinating things I've read in a while. I implore you to read it, because it's excellent.

Norv Turner... luckiest coach on Earth.

Enjoy these links... I'll try to do better the next time.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - MIXED RESULTS FOR SPANIARDS

Mixed night for the two Spanish teams that played tonightin the Champions League.FC BARCELONA lost at home 1-2 to LIVERPOOL FC& puts the qualification for the Q/F totally uphill for Barça,as the return game gives all the advantage to Liverpool.Barça went out attacking & looked like they were on their waywhen in the 13m DECO scored.However , the English side played 3 cards: team work, pressure&

Sport and the Meaning of Homosexuality

A commenter with the handle ChapelHeel makes an interesting point to the post about the reactions to John Amechi coming out. ChapelHeel tries to distinguish Tim Hardaway's anti-homosexual comments from Shavlik Randolph's statement that he was OK as long as Amechi (or anyone else) does not "bring your gayness of me."

ChapelHeel says, in part, as follows:

There are lots of people in America who are fine with gay people living a gay lifestyle, but do not want to be personally involved. Call it a middle ground of acceptance.

Let's assume Randolph is Jewish (based on his first name), and let's also assume he is heterosexual. Now suppose he said he was fine with Christians "as long as you don't bring you Christianity on me." Would we be upset? I doubt it.

So why do we get upset if we substitute "gayness" for Christianity when Randolph is heterosexual? Because it is the hot topic of the day.

I don't find his comment unenlightened. It is not as accepting as it could be, but it isn't non-acceptance. It is non-participation; and that's different.


This raises important issues about sexual orientation and the significance of having gay and straight professional athletes co-exist. And it also gets into some issues about the role of religion and sports, something I have been thinking about a great deal.

In the original post, I criticized Randolph's comment as incoherent because I really do not know what he meant by "bring your gayness on me." What is he talking about? As for suggesting it was unenlightened: I used that word not because Randolph's comment was antipathetic towards homosexuals; I was not using it in the political sense of intolerant towards gay people. In fact, if more people took the attitude of "gay people can do what they want and it does not affect me," we would all be better off.

But I think Randolph's statement is unenlightened in a different sense: Any meaning we can ascribe to it reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of sexuality and sexual orientation. As I see it, he could have meant any of three things.

Possibility # 1: Do not make me gay by being around me--as if it were catching. I think most of us can agree that sexual orientation is not akin to a communicable disease that can be passed around the locker room--that being around someone who is gay can "make you gay."


Possibility # 2: Do not try to make me gay by converting me to your homosexual lifestyle. This one gets a bit closer to ChapelHeel's religion comparison. The problem is that sexual orientation is not a choice; it is a genetically hardwired predisposition as to who or what one is sexually attracted. So the idea that Amechi might "convert" Randolph misunderstands this fact about sexual orientation. True, this point is subject to some scientific, social, and religious controversy about the ability to "cure" homosexuality. And the anti-rights movement speaks of a homosexual agenda involving "recruiting" of new members, especially children. But I think the weight of science is on my side on this one.

Possibility # 3: Do not hit on me; I am not gay and am not interested in having sex with you so don't approach me. I call this the "Get Over Yourself" Problem: Do not assume that, just because the man standing next to you is gay, he wants to have sex with you; you aren't that good-looking. Just like we would not (or at least should not) assume that the heterosexual woman standing next to us wants to have sex. (Although the rules of sexual attraction are quite different with professional athletes, but that was the subject of Michael's post). If this is what Randolph meant, it is a bit presumptuous--and again reflects a misunderstanding of sexual orientation and what it means to be attracted to particular people.

Any of these three meanings is troubling in my view, for what it shows about Randolph's misunderstanding of homosexuality and sexual orientation.

But I do find this part of the issue interesting. While all the controversy has surrounded Hardaway's openly antipathetic comments, little attention has been paid to Randolph. But in many ways the worldview reflected in Randolph's comments is more troubling than the worldview reflected in Hardaway's. Randolph presents ideas that are fundamentally wrong about sexuality and sexual orientation, ideas that, if widely accepted, hold back the ability of openly gay athletes to exist and function in professional sport. But the ideas are presented in such benign, quasi-tolerant terms ("As long as I don't have to be involved, I'm OK with you doing what you want") that the danger of the underlying ideas gets buried. He is seen as being "accepting," as opposed to troublingly uninformed. At some level, rabid bigotry ("I hate gays") is easier to confront and less harmful.

Also, I take issue with ChapelHeel's suggestion that if a Jewish athlete (and my quick check says Randolph is not Jewish. And trust me: We are so starved for Jewish sports stars that we keep a very close watch on these things) requested that a Christian teammate "not bring his Christianity on me" we would not be upset. Actually, there would be an uproar from the Christian Right and the people on Fox News like you would not believe. The controversy over prayer at football games is precisely because non-Christian athletes and fans seek to avoid the bringing of Christianity on them--how is that working out? This is a separate and intriguing subject that I would like to discuss more in the future.

Finally, a personal note to ChapelHeel. Judging by the handle, I am guessing you are a UNC fan. I commend the fact that you declined to trash, and in fact defended well, a Dukie. That is enlightened.

Fantasy Baseball Ranking: Catchers

There's a good chance that eventually I will group some positions together, but for now let's just look exclusively at the Catchers. For brevity's sake, I'll just give my top 15 with a short comment for each. Feel free to interject at any time (by leaving a comment, or even an email, if I offend you too much).

1. Joe Mauer (MIN) - Quite simply, Mauer is the best catcher in the MLB. He was the MLB batting champ last season, and should just be coming into his own as far as power is concerned. He had 36 2B and 13 HR, and both of those should go up as he gets closer to his prime. He's also the #3 hitter in the order, meaning plenty of chances to get RBI or get knocked in by Justin Morneau and Mike Cuddyer. And if all of that is not enough, Ron Gardenhire frequently makes Mauer the DH on the days he's not catching. That's really good for fantasy purposes.
2. Victor Martinez (CLE) - I feel Mauer is the #1 fantasy catcher, but if you like Martinez more, I can't argue too much. At this point he doesn't get on base as much as Mauer, but maybe has a slight, slight power edge. Another thing you have to like with Martinez is that he sucks defensively... meaning the Indians will play him more at 1B, which helps to stop wear and tear.
3. Brian McCann (ATL) - McCann was pretty awesome last year, batting .333 while hitting for very good power (24 HR). He's like 1C for fantasy catching purposes... you can't go wrong with Mauer, Martinez, or McCann, because both are excellent and are young enough that they could be even better this year.
4. Kenji Johjima (SEA) - Johjima quietly put together a nice rookie campaign last season, batting .291 with 44 XBH and 76 RBI. Now that he's more acclimated to the MLB, he should be even better in year 2.
5. Mike Piazza (OAK) - Piazza is obviously not the hitter he used to be, but that's ok. He should be doing a lot of DHing in Oak-town, which will be great since he still has catcher eligibility. He hit .283 with 22 HR last year in 400 ABs in an extreme pitcher's park in a pitcher's league. People are overlooking him some because of his age, but I think he'll be excellent this year.
6. Ivan Rodriguez (DET) - He's another guy that's getting older, but he did hit .300 once again last season. Also, with guys like Magglio Ordonez and the extremely underrated Carlos Guillen near him in the lineup, he should be able to provide another solid season of production.
7. Ramon Hernandez (BAL) - Hernandez adapted very well to Baltimore last season, with 23 HR, 91 RBI, and a solid .275 AVG. With the lineup around him and the fact the hitter's ballpark in Baltimore, good things should again be in store.
8. Michael Barrett (CHIN) - Barrett hit over .300 last year with 16 HR, a respectable amount. With some improvements to the Cubs offense (overrated as Soriano may be), it's not inconceivable to see a little boost for Barrett, which puts him definitely in the top 10.
9. Jorge Posada (NYY) - Posada has been around seemingly forever, but he's still productive for now. He hit 23 HR last year and racked up 93 RBI. He was much better in 2006 than 2005, so we'll see if that's just a one-year final gasp, or if he's still a top 5 catcher. I'm betting somewhere in between.
10. AJ Pierzynski (CHIA) - I feel like I'm repeating myself here... near .300 average for Pierzynski, mid-teens in HR, and mid twenties for doubles. He should also get solid RBI opportunities because there are some superb hitters in front of him in the Sox lineup.
11. Russell Martin (LAD) - Martin had a very nice rookie year for the Dodgers, with 26 2B, 65 R, and 65 RBI in only 121 games. Barring a sophomore slump, he could be a nice sleeper here.
12. Paul Lo Duca (NYM) - I still think Lo Duca is a little overrated, but he hit for a high average, had a good amount of doubles, and scored a lot of runs due to batting 2nd in a good lineup. I suspect that .318 average will drop some, but he sure does have a lot of protection in that lineup.
13. Jason Varitek (BOS) - Varitek may be a great gamecaller, but he was really bad at the plate last season. He only batted .238 and his power numbers were down. He was battling some injuries, so I'm sure that contributed, but he needs to bounce back offensively.
14. Johnny Estrada (MIL) - Estrada's always been a guy to hit for a pretty good average and get in the mid-20s in doubles. We pretty much know what to expect from him.
15. Javy Lopez (COL) - I know his numbers from last year aren't all that inspiring, but playing half your games in Coors Field tends to be a big help to offensive stats.

What changes would you make to these rankings?

REAL MADRID DEFEAT BAYERN MUNICH WITH A SENSE THAT IT WAS ALL AN ILLUSION

REAL MADRID won 3-2 against BAYERN MUNICH in a matchthat left you wondering which of the two was worst. The 1º halfwas dominanted by Real with nice play & gave the impressionthat the good old days were rolling back.RAUL GONZALEZ - pictured below - added to the all time bestEuropean Cup goal scorer tally , with two goals in the 09m & the27m.LUCIO, 5mins earlier, sent a shiver through the crowdwith

Tuesday Sports Law Panel at Western Michigan University

On Tuesday, February 27 (next Tuesday), Rick, Bob McCormick (MSU Law) and I will be doing a panel on Sports Law for the undergraduate pre-law society at Western Michigan University. The event will be from 6:30-7:30 in Bernhard Center, Room 209 (PLEASE NOTE: UPDATED LOCATION), and we are planning to address the general topic of amateruism, pay, and unionization in college sports. Anyone in the Kalamazoo neighborhood, please feel free to attend since the event is open to the public.

Dice-K, Beer, and the Feds

A follow-up to Michael's post about Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka taking a sip of beer in a Japanese-language television ad running only in Japan. Michael focused more on the ethics of the ad and of the close ties between professional sports and alcohol. He suggests (as I believe to be the case) the the prohibition on depicting someone drinking alcohol on television is a voluntary network regulation, not a requirement from the FCC or the FTC or other federal regulatory agency.

Well, maybe not . . .

Ilya Somin of the Volokh Conspiracy discusses here the fact that the Alcohol Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau ("ATTB") might be contemplating future punitive action against Dice-K because the ad violates its regulations prohibiting ads depicting athletes consuming (or about to consume) alcohol prior to or during competition or suggesting that drinking alcohol enhances health or athletic prowess.

Ilya quite rightly slams this as "inane overregulation." Putting to one side any First Amendment concerns (either under current doctrine or what the doctrine ought to be): The ad is not running in the United States or in a language that most people in the United States speak or understand. The federal government, not content with telling U.S. citizens what images they can see, now want to tell the people of Japan what images they can see.

Prediction: Any penalty imposed (and it remains a Big IF whether the ATTB will actually do anything) will be reversed because such extra-territorial application of U.S. law is disfavored.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE. PREVIEWS OF FC BARCELONA & VALENCIA CF MATCHES.

SFS has already given a preview to tonights big clashbetween Real Madrid & Bayern Munich on the below post.But TOMORROW, we have 2 great matches, just as intense& exciting to look forward to & should have millions ofpeople glued to their TV sets.Current European Cup Champions, FC BARCELONA, meetprevious Champions LIVERPOOL at "Camp Nou" & in frontof 100,000 spectatorsThe possible line ups are

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE. REAL MADRID vs BAYERN MUNICH A DO OR DIE GAME

It is one of European Football most attractive games, aclassic that secures action, goals, nail bitting & passion.Tonight´s REAL MADRID vs BAYERN MUNICH matchcomes at a moment when both clubs are going through avery "rough" patch at home. There is nothing like thesestype of games to pull a team out of the "hole" & regeneratefor them the whole season.(Raul training yesterday, possible starter

NBA Power Rankings

With the All-Star break and all of its festivities (including Charles Barkley vs. Dick Bavetta) behind us, I figured now would be as good a time as any for my Top 10 NBA Power Rankings.

(1) Dallas Mavericks (44-9) - The thing I like about Dallas is that they have the personnel to beat you in a multitude of ways. During their 9 game winning streak they have scored over 105 points on 4 separate occasions. They've also won a game 80-77. Oh yeah... after their first 21 games, they were 14-7. Since, they're 30-2. Just think about that for a second. Wow.

(2) Phoenix Suns (39-13) - The Suns would have a shot to be #1, but then Steve Nash got hurt and they lost 3 straight heading into the break. Still, their top 6 (Nash, Bell, Diaw, Stoudemire, Marion, Barbosa) is better than anyone else's top 6, and their style of play is the most unique in the NBA. Honestly, the only thing I think that can derail them from a rematch against Dallas in the Conference Finals is injury. Barring that, they're too talented and too well-coaches to fall to anyone else.

(3) San Antonio Spurs (35-18) - Ho hum, the Spurs keep plugging along. Duncan has been fantastic, Parker has been very solid, and Ginobili should be well-rested for the playoffs (only playing 28 MPG). This is a team that will always be in it at the end.

(4) Houston Rockets (33-19) - Got to love what the Rockets are doing, especially without Yao. I know I've said this before but the Rockets remind me of last year's Heat team, with Yao being a better Shaq and T-Mac not quite being as good as Wade. One problem... while the Heat were able to win in one series against the West, I don't think they'd have made it to the Finals if they had been a 4 or 5 seed in the West, which is what Houston will ultimately be.

(5) Utah Jazz (35-17) - The big men, Boozer and Okur, are both excellent... but seriously, how good is Deron Williams? Good shooter (who showed during the Rookie/Sophomore game that he has great range), great passer, above average defender. Look at the numbers... 17.4 PPG, 9.2 APG, 3.5 RPG... I'm not saying I'd rather have him over Chris Paul (I'm not sure who I'd take), but the pick to take Williams looks a lot better now than it did last year.

(6) Detroit Pistons (32-19) - Hey, finally a team from the East! Cant' complain too much about C-Webb, but think for a second... in one season the Pistons went from having Ben Wallace as their starting center to Chris Webber. That defensive dropoff is like going from Jason Kidd (a bad defensive PG) to me as the starter. That's never good.

(7) Cleveland Cavaliers (31-22) - I can't really figure these guys out. With LeBron, I can see them going all the way to the NBA Finals. Then I see the rest of the backcourt... Larry Hughes, Damon Jones, Eric Snow, Daniel Gibson, and Sasha Pavlovic. Yikes.

(8) Chicago Bulls (29-25) - The record is not as good as some others, but their point differential is solid, and I really think the Bulls will be one of the teams to beat in the playoffs this year. Now, if they could only find a way to trade for KG, we'd all be happy.

(9) Los Angeles Lakers (30-24) - The Lakers have been struggling lately, but they should be helped by the soon return of Luke Walton (no, really). Walton's great passing and unselfishness really help to keep the triangle flowing... in some ways I think he is actually the 2nd most important player on the team.

(10) Washington Wizards (29-21) - They score on average 0.1 PPG more than their opponents and they don't win all that much on the road... I didn't really want to put them on this list, but no one else really jumped out at me. I think this year will win up a lot like last year for the Wiz... the explosive and exciting offense to make things very interesting and give them a chance to win in Round 1 of the playoffs, but ultimately they'll be undone by the fact that they can't stop anybody.

What would you change here?

Sports and the Rule of Law

At DorfOnLaw, there is an interesting post-and-comment exchange, started by Neil Buchanan, on how rules are applied in various sports. Neil's focus is the way the NBA openly and even proudly applies rules differently for superstar players. No other sport does this, at least not as openly. For example, I feel pretty certain that the strike zone is different for certain batters or certain pitchers, but MLB strongly denies this.

Interesting stuff. And it suggests that Chief Justice Roberts's argument that a judge should be nothing more than an umpire, perfectly clear and objective, applying clear rules precisely as written, is unworkable. Because, in reality, that is not what an umpire does.

Sports Law Prof to be New Baltimore Law Dean

Following on the news that Tulane's Gary Roberts will be assuming the deanship at IUPUI this summer, I pass on the bittersweet news that my colleague, and former UT Law dean Phil Closius, has been appointed the next dean at the University of Baltimore Law School. Phil was a great dean (after all, he hired me), and a great colleague, and Baltimore is lucky to get him. Baltimore is a school with a strong sports law history: former professor William Weston (former associate dean at Florida Coastal and now associate dean of Concord) founded the Association for Representatives of Athletes and Professor Dionne Koller teaches sports law there now. Phil is a former registered NFL player agent, officer of the AALS Section on Law and Sports, and has written a number of significant scholarly works on sports law (among other topics), including:

Hell Hath No Fury Like a Fan Scorned: State Regulation of Sports Agents, 31 UNIVERSITY OF TOLEDO LAW REVIEW 511 (1999)

Involuntary Nonservitude: The Current Judicial Enforcement of Employee Covenants Not to Compete--A Proposal for Reform, 57 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA LAW REVIEW 531 (1984) (with Henry M. Schaffer)

Not at the Behest of Nonlabor Groups: A Revised Prognosis for a Maturing Sports Industry, 24 BOSTON COLLEGE LAW REVIEW 341 (1983)

Congrats to Phil & to Baltimore!

I Want to Be Like Mike, Except in Bankruptcy Court

Last week, the U.S. Bankruptcy court overseeing the bankruptcy of Worldcom, Inc., dealt a blow to Michael Jordan in his effort to collect on unpaid endorsement fees, concluding that Jordan had failed to take mitigation efforts after Worldcom went under. See In re Worldcom, Inc., 2007 WL 446735 (Bkrtcy. S.D.N.Y., Feb 13, 2007).

Jordan had signed on as spokesman for MCI, then Worldcom, endorsing products like the pictured 10-minute phone card:

In addition to a $5 million signing bonus, the Agreement provided an annual base compensation of $2 million for Jordan. . . . The Agreement provided that Jordan was to make himself available for four days, not to exceed four hours per day, during each contract year to produce television commercials and print advertising and for promotional appearances. The parties agreed that the advertising and promotional materials would be submitted to Jordan for his approval, which could not be unreasonably withheld, fourteen days prior to their release to the general public. From 1995 to 2000, Jordan appeared in several television commercials and a large number of print ads for MCI.

After Worldcom filed for bankruptcy in 2002, Jordan eventually sought payments of "$8 million--seeking $2 million for each of the payments that were due in June of 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005."

The case itself turns on a number of bankruptcy law issues, such as whether Jordan was an employee or an independent contractor (the court ruled the latter) or whether Jordan had no obligation to mitigate his damages as a "lost volume seller."

The interesting part of the opinion is the court's discussion of Jordan's failure to mitigate his damages by seeking additional endorsements to cover the period after Worldcom went under. According to the court,

Jordan's agent, David Falk . . . , testified that "there might have been twenty more companies that in theory might have wanted to sign him" but that Jordan and his representatives wanted to avoid diluting his image.

Jordan's financial and business manager, Curtis Polk, admitted that

Jordan did not return to the endorsement marketplace to try and replace the revenue he was to be paid under the Agreement. . . . Polk explained that Jordan did not wish to expand his "pitchman efforts with new relationships" because of his primary goal of becoming the owner of an NBA team.

Jordan argued that his pursuit of NBA ownership relieved him of an obligation to mitigate damages by seeking other endorsement opportunities. The court didn't buy it:

In short, the argument that Jordan acted reasonably by focusing solely on his efforts to become an NBA team owner is a red herring. It may have been reasonable for Jordan to focus on becoming an NBA team owner in the scope of Jordan's overall future desires but that does not mean it can support a determination that he was relieved of his obligation to mitigate damages in response to MCI's rejection of the Agreement.

Furthermore, Jordan did not have to pursue any endorsement, such as one that would be beneath a celebrity of Jordan's stature, e .g., endorsing a product likely to be distasteful to Jordan or his fans. Jordan had the duty to take reasonable efforts to mitigate, such as by seeking another endorsement for an established, reputable company for compensation near to what he received from MCI. MCI has established that there is no genuine issue as to whether Jordan made reasonable efforts to do so. The Court finds that as a matter of law Jordan has failed to mitigate damages.

VIDEO OF VALENCIA CF - BARCELONA CLASH & LEADING GOAL SCORER TABLE

The Spanish League "hots" up with Barça & SevilleFc sharing points up top & 5 points separating upto 6th place. SFS received requests for the VIDEO ofyesterdays goals in Valencia´s victory over Barça.Enjoy!Valencia 2 - 1 BarcelonaMeanwhile the "PICHICHI" , or more commonly knownthe leading goal scorer looks like this after Round 23:1. Kanoute ( Seville FC) 18 goals2. Ronaldinho (Fc Barcelona) 16

Tom Brady to Father Child Out-Of-Wedlock: What Does It Mean?

Before I discuss today's news about New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, I thought it would be helpful to first examine legal and sociological trends relating to the subject du jour: out-of-wedlock children.

Since the 1970s, out-of-wedlock births in the United States have soared, as about 37% of all American children are now born without married parents, in contrast to less than 10% in the 1960s and less 5% in the 1950s. There are many possible explanations for this increase, such as change in attitudes toward sexual behavior, less social pressure to get married, fewer legal constraints to divorce, and other theories carefully studied in George A. Akerlof & Janet L. Yellen's "An Analysis of Out-Of-Wedlock Births in the United States" (Brookings Institution) and more ideologically, though nonetheless thoughtfully studied in Patrick F. Fagan's "Where is the Love?" (National Review).

Thankfully, every state has passed laws to ensure that these children enjoy the same legal protections as other children. For instance, Chapter 209c of the Massachusetts General Laws commands that "Children born to parents who are not married to each other shall be entitled to the same rights and protections of the law as all other children." Moreover, the social stigma attached to a child born out-of-wedlock has dissipated considerably in modern times.

Celebrities and entertainers--perhaps only because we notice their lives--seem to display a particular penchant for having children out-of-wedlock. We all followed the birth of Suri Cruise to her (at the time) unwed parents, Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise. Less famously, but still notably, award-winning actress Patricia Arquette of the show Medium has two children out-of-wedlock, as does actor/musician/freerider Kevin Federline. And of course, the nation is closely following the legal battles over which of three men could be the father to the late Anna Nicole Smith's baby girl, Danielynn.

Professional athletes and their out-of-wedlock children have also received public notice. Indeed, reports persist that many NBA players have fathered children out-of-wedlock. Consider, for instance, former NBA player Shawn Kemp, who is said to have fathered at least seven kids out-of-wedlock. Or consider Larry Bird, who was otherwise adored by Bostonians but received some critique for not having a relationship with a daughter he fathered out-of-wedlock. Similar stories have been said of MLB, NFL, and NHL players, some of whom have been sued for failing to pay child support.

So it probably shouldn't come as a surprise to learn that another pro athlete, this time Tom Brady, is going to father a child out-of-wedlock. The mother of his child is actress Bridget Moynahan, whom Brady broke up with two months ago, right before Christmas. Brady is now said to be dating supermodel Gisele Bundchen. He will certainly have the financial wherewithal to pay child-support, and unless there is question as to whether he is the father (and there is no indication of that), then this story will not attract legal attention.

But still, one might say that there is a glaring--if entirely predictable--disconnect between how the New England Patriots, and in particular their "brilliant" head coach Bill Belichick and "All-American" quarterback Tom Brady, are revered for their on-field exploits and how their personal lives do not seem nearly as laudable. We've talked about Belichick's alleged extra-marital affair with a New York Giants secretary, and now we see Brady set to father a child with a woman he recently dumped. That only brings to mind Charles Barkley's famous line, "I am not a role model." And it's a powerful reminder that no matter how graceful and inspiring they appear on-the-field, pro sports personalities are just regular folks, with the same vices, flaws, and other defects that all people have, expect, possibly, greater capacity and temptation to act on them.