My MLB Awards - National League

Time to unveil my awards for the 2007 MLB season, starting with the National League. If you disagree, please voice your opinions in the comments, because a lot of these could get some good discussion (especially concerning the MVP, which is a wide open race). Anyway, my picks for Cy Young, ROY, and MVP.

Cy Young: Jake Peavy (San Diego)
Simply been the best in the NL. The ERA and wins are there (which is what the voters look for), but the secondary numbers are great as well. He's got about a 4:1 K:BB ratio, and leads the NL in Strikeouts and WHIP. This is a really easy choice.

2. Brandon Webb (Arizona)
I think Webb is the best of the rest, though there are a lot of guys close together. Webb struck out a solid 194 batters, but the fact that he pitched a League-high 236 innings gives him the edge at #2 in my proverbial book.
3. John Smoltz (Atlanta)
Smoltz just quietly goes out and delivered another outstanding season. Seriously, people don't talk about this guy enough. All he did was have a 4:1 K:BB ratio while pitching over 200 innings. Still one of the best pitchers in the game.
4. Roy Oswalt (Houston)
Mr. Consistency. You know what you're getting with Oswalt. His BB totals were a little higher than you might like, but he still had over 200 productive innings.
5. Brad Penny (Los Angeles)
Penny was excellent, though I think the 16-4 record is a little gaudy. His K:BB rate was less than 2:1, though he did a great job of keeping the ball in the ballpark.


Rookie of the Year: Ryan Braun (Milwaukee)
This seemed like such an obvious choice a month or two ago, but not so much anymore. At this point, Troy Tulowitzki is not really a bad choice. That said, I'm sticking with Braun, who was just a bit too good at the plate.

2. Troy Tulowitzki (Colorado)
Tulowitzki shoots up because he has over 600 ABs (most among these rookies), and has hit solidly while playing SS. A solid 24 HR.
3. Hunter Pence (Houston)
If he hadn't gotten hurt, he would definitely be challenging for the Rookie of the Year crown. As it is, he has to settle for 3rd in my book. Even without really taking a lot of walks, he was still really productive at the plate. He has a solid 56 XBH.
4. Tim Lincecum (San Francisco)
Lincecum had a 4.00 ERA, which was made more impressive by some nice splits. He had a great K rate. He was about equal with Gallardo, but he had about 25 more IP than him, which puts Lincecum at 4th and Gallardo at 6th.
5. James Loney (Los Angeles)
Loney was really good. He got on base at a .384 clip, and slugged nearly .550. In a hitter's ballpark. If he had more than about 370 PAs he would be higher on this list.
Also Considered: Yovani Gallardo (Milwaukee), Peter Moylan (Atlanta)


MVP: Hanley Ramirez (Florida)
I suspect this is a choice a lot of people might disagree with. First let me say that this was a wide open race in the NL (more than I can ever really remember one being), and I think you could definitely make arguments for 5 or 6 different guys. But I am a big Hanley Ramirez guy. A few notes:
A) I place absolutely no significance in how good a player's team or teammates are. This is an individual award. I don't punish Hanley Ramirez (or any other player on a poor team) simply because the owners want a $20 million payroll.
B) A lot of Ramirez's value is derived from the fact that he is playing SS.
C) He's in the top 10 in OPS, leads the NL in VORP, gets on base, hits for power, and steals bases at a productive rate. And he plays SS. This is why he is my MVP.

2. David Wright (New York)
OK, his team choked down the stretch. But Wright had a great year. He was 4th in the NL in OBP, hit for power, and plays a decent 3B. Like Hanley, he gets a bump because of the position that he plays.
3. Albert Pujols (St. Louis)
He was not as good as he has been, and his team was not good, but he was still extremely productive. He had a poor April, but rebounded to finish in the top 2 in the NL in OBP, and slug over .570. The man OPS'ed 1.101 after the AS Break.
4. Prince Fielder (Milwaukee)
He was extremely productive, but he's just a step below these top 3 in my book. He plays QB which drops him a little lower than guys like Hanley and David Wright, and he doesn't get on base as much as Pujols. The counting stats are nice, but I think the other guys were a little more valuable.
5. Chase Utley (Philadelphia)
If he had played all season, he might very well be my MVP. He was really, really good. OBP of over .410, and he slugged over .560. All as a 2nd basemen.
6. Matt Holliday (Colorado)
I have a hard time ranking him. Someone whose baseball opinion I respect (you know who you are) said he was his NL MVP, but I have him 6th. That speaks to the wildness of this MVP race. For me, I just have a hard time getting over those home/road splits. But Holliday was quite good this year.
7. Jimmy Rollins (Philadelphia)
Jimmy Rollins is a 30 HR hitter! Seriously. He doesn't get on base at the rate that a lot of the other guys do, but he hit for good power this year (87 XBH), played solid D at SS, and stole bases at a great rate.
8. Miguel Cabrera (Florida)
I've kinda always had it in my mind that Cabrera was the best 3B in the NL but was unjustly overshadowed by David Wright, but I do think Wright was a little better this year. Still, at only age 24, Cabrera should be in quite a few more MVP races in his career.
9. Chipper Jones (Atlanta)
Chipper was actually pretty awesome this year, he just couldn't stay on the field enough, amassing only about 590 PAs. But he actually led the NL in OPS. Bet you didn't know that if you hadn't already looked it up. Just a fine, fine hitter.
10. Jake Peavy (San Diego)
I'm not necessarily opposed to giving a pitcher an MVP award... but it would have to be a really extreme example. This doesn't qualify.

What are your thoughts? Who are your award winners?

Also, by popular demand, look for a Thursday Debate on the NL MVP race later in the week.

Did Eric Mangini Break an Unwritten Covenant Not to Compete?

Over on Madisonian.net, Boston College Law School professor Alfred Yen has an engaging examination on whether New York Jets head coach and former New England Patriots defensive coordinator Eric Mangini (who can't be too happy after his now 1-3 Jets lost to the 1-3 Buffalo Bills earlier today) breached an unwritten covenant among NFL assistant coaches that includes not divulging certain information about their employers should they later become head coaches in other organizations.

Fred's piece relates to Sports Illustrated's Peter King recent column entitled "The NFL's Mob Mentality," which raises a number of provocative contextual points about Mangini's decision to tell on Bill Belichick.

Here is an excerpt from Fred's piece:

* * *

King’s column identifies two code violations by Mangini. First, he lured away a Patriots free agent whom the Patriots were trying to retain. Second, he exposed his former boss breaking the rules. This demonstrated his lack of loyalty, loyalty that head coaches (and by implication teams and the league) understandably and properly require. Indeed, the argument might go, without such loyalty, why would a coach invest in his assistants, sharing his knowledge and the team’s secrets, if he knew that his methods and knowledge might be used against him in the future? Thus, in a sense, the coaches’ code forms an unwritten covenant not to compete that all assistants must honor.

Characterizing the coaches’ code as a covenant not to compete creates an interesting perspective from which to evaluate Mangini’s behavior. As an initial matter, covenants not to compete are not uniformly enforced. Courts evaluate them for reasonableness. Indeed, courts often regard promises not to hire a former employer’s key staff reasonable on the theory that employers have legitimate interests in retaining staff crucial to the operation of their businesses. This interest gets balanced against the right of employees to find new employment. In the context of the NFL, clubs have always wanted to restrict the movement of key players, but players have limited that impulse through free agency obtained through collective bargaining and litigation. Coaches have fewer protections.

The same probably cannot be said for whistleblowing. Convenants not to divulge trade secrets are, of course, generally enforceable. However, the Patriots’ taping of signals in direct violation of league rules is not the kind of confidential information courts will allow a company to suppress. Thus, from a covenant not to compete perspective, Mangini did nothing wrong in informing the league of the Patriots’ infraction.

For the rest of the piece, click here.

SPANISH FOOTBALL. LA LIGA - ROUND 6/2007 SUNDAY GAMES RESULT

The Spanish Football 1 º Division - La Liga - continued today with the restof the Round 6 games which have given some interesting results & someabsolute "beauties" goals. Look forward to the videos tomorrow on SFS.Meanwhile....VILLAREAL continue notching up wins & conviencing many withgood play & its gritty style. They defeated by a solitary goal ATLETICDE BILBAO thanks to FUENTES in the 48th

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS OF THE LEVANTE vs FC BARCELONA & ZARAGOZA vs SEVILLA FC GAMES 2007

Highlights of the games & goals of the two matches played yesterdayin Round 6. Here is the Levante vs Fc Barcelona clash with the ThierryHenry "Hat-Trick" & superb Messi goal:Levante 1-4 FC Barcelona Here is the Zaragoza vs Sevilla FC clash with two great goals:Zaragoza 2- Sevilla 0: 29/9/07

FORMULA 1. ALONSO SPINS OUT IN THE WET & IN THE TITLE RACE

The JAPAN Formula 1 GP was characterized by wet weather &the loss of control by Spanish driver FERNANDO ALONSO(pictured below) who abandoned the race in the 41st lap.The winner of the race was his teammate & World title rival LEWISHAMILTON, followed by Heikki Kovalainan (FIN) & 3rd place toKimi Raikkonen.Hamilton now leads Alonso by 12 points for the title & makes it difficultfor the Spanish

Recap of Sonny Vaccaro's talk at the University of Maryland

Earlier this week, Sonny Vaccaro spoke at the Robert H. Smith School of Business on the University of Maryland’s College Park campus. Tim Lemke of the Washington Times has all of the details on his excellent blog, Tim Lemke's $ports Biz Blog.

Here is an excerpt:

* * *

Vaccaro spoke for about 75 minutes before about 200 students of the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. Many of the students are enrolled in a new sports management program tied to the school's Undergraduate Fellows Program.

Vaccaro's speech basically had two parts: a summation of his professional life and a harsh criticism of the NCAA and NBA.

Some highlights:

- Vaccaro reiterated his arguments against the NBA's new age limit, calling it "arbitrary and unlawful. ... It's pathetic that we would deprive an individual from earning a living."

- Vaccaro called the NCAA "the most fraudulent organization that ever lived." He got particularly animated when speaking about the NCAA's broadcasting of old game footage without compensating players for using their likeness. "What gives them the to use my image forever?" he asked.

- He says that when working for Nike in 1984, he convinced company executives to throw all of their money at Michael Jordan, rather than spread it around to three or more players who were turning pro. (The 1984 draft also featured Hakeem Olajuwon and Charles Barkley, among others.) "I said, 'you're missing it. You're supposed to give it all to Jordan."

- Early on in his Nike career, Vaccaro came up with the idea of outfitting coaches and teams. Nike executives told him to give it a try, but to "try it out with someone he trusted." He quickly signed a deal with Jerry Tarkanian.

- Vaccaro called Kobe Bryant "the most dedicated, most gifted athlete I've ever seen" and "the most driven sucker I've ever seen."

- Vaccaro was with Adidas when LeBron James turned pro, and knew that Nike would offer an enormous amount to the much-hyped star. Adidas, he said, didn't believe James was worth that much. "Adidas didn't want to push the envelope," he said. Vaccaro quit Adidas after James signed with Nike for $90 million.

I had the chance to meet Vaccaro briefly after his speech and conducted this Q&A:

Q: So how come you're here in this lecture hall instead of over at Comcast Center talking to Gary Williams and his team? I imagine you wouldn't be here if you were still working for Nike.

A: No, I wouldn't. That's why I quit. Because I wanted to be in this position. I went to Harvard and I went to Yale before this, and I'm going to other business schools and law schools. And I did that because I wanted to do this. Because I wanted to tell the students and the public that this is the world, and these kids have to know about it. Because they are the ones that will be making the decisions. I wanted to show them the big business of sports, college sports. Athletes, they just participate in it. It wouldn't mean anything and they couldn't make change anyway. These kids (pointing to the students in the room) are going to have a different perspective. If I'm going to get after the league on the age thing, or get after the NCAA and their right to keep selling these game forever and ever. These kids can best get my message out. You wouldn't have come if I was talking to the basketball team, and I knew that.

Q: There are two high-profile guys drafted this year that spent one year in college last year though they probably could have been drafted out of high school, Kevin Durant and Greg Oden. They've been drafted and got big money. Some might ask, what was the harm in them going to school, since everything worked out okay for them?

A: Only because you can say everything worked out okay for them. What if it hadn't worked out ok for them? Now, I'm not saying that isn't true, but I'm saying no one else had the right to make that decision.

Q: Is it tough to argue against the age limit when the union actually agreed to it?

A: Sure, they did. I can't fight it, so what I'm trying to get done is that at the next collective bargaining agreement they give second though to it. I'm talking about the future, I'm talking about the kid that doesn't even know we're talking about it.

Q: You talked a lot about how much money these schools are pulling in from athletics while the athletes aren't seeing any of it. What would you advocate..some sort of compensation program for these players? Would you eliminate the concept of amateur athletics altogether?

A: My basic premise is that at the top level, it's not amateurism. Take the BCS...it's basically a lottery for playing for $14 million in the National Championship game. When they made it a lottery, I said to them "it's nothing more than a business." Why don't they have 50 schools playing and give them all $25? And the very fact that they spread it out over 14 games, and then saying 'we can't have a tournament because of the academic schedule,' that's bull****. And it's fraudulent, because six people from six schools basically control the BCS. Morgan State can't make it. Appalachian State, even they went undefeated, would have been precluded from even having a chance to win the lottery. And that's not fair."

For the rest of Tim's piece (which includes some more great questions/answers), click here. For Sports Law Blog coverage of Sonny's other talks, see our posts on his Harvard Law School and Yale Law School talks.

SPANISH FOOTBALL. LA LIGA - ROUND 6 /2007 SATURDAY GAMES RESULTS

Two matches played tonight in Round 6 of "La Liga" with lots ofgoals & a surprise result.REAL ZARAGOZA played SEVILLA FC & won 2-0 a Sevilla sidethat has slummed in a losing spiral. Zaragoza opened the scoringthanks to a superb free kick by Argentine D´ALESSANDRO(pictured below) in the 52nd min, & SERGIO GARCIA scored the 2º goal for Zaragoza in the 86th min.Red lights & sirens are sounding at

Reversing Field

The West Virginia University College of Law is proud to present "Reversing Field: Examining Commercialization, Labor and Race in 21st Century Sports Law." The two day symposium is next week, October 4-5, 2007. WVU Law has assembled a dynamic and diverse group of academics, practitioners and thinkers to debate the hard issues in sports law, including the commercialization of the college athlete, racism in collegiate athletics, "The Rooney Rule" in the NFL, gender equity and Title IX, the utility of drug testing and economic weapons.

www.law.wvu.edu/reversingfield

Keynote and Featured speakers include:

Len Elmore, former NCAA and NBA basketball player and current college basketball analyst for ESPN, CBS, and ABC. Elmore is also senior counsel at the law firm of Leboeuf, Lamb, Greene and MacRae, LLP.

Sherri Burr, law professor at the University of New Mexico School of Law and dynamic author, producer and entertainment lawyer. Burr will be speaking about the "modern athlete as a television celebrity."

William B. Gould IV, Professor Emeritus at Stanford Law School and leading labor law expert. Gould has been a member of the National Academy of Arbitrators since 1970 and has arbitrated and mediated more than 200 labor disputes, including the 1992 and 1993 salary disputes between the Major League Baseball Players Association and the Major League Baseball Player Relations Committee.

Kenneth Shropshire, Professor at the Wharton School at Penn. and author of numerous books, including "Being Sugar Ray: America's Greatest Boxer and First Celebrity Athlete." Shropshire will keynote the October 4, 2007 dinner banquet where he will discuss Sugar Ray Robinson and sign books following the address.

For a full conference schedule and to register, please log on to:
www.law.wvu.edu/reversingfield/program.html

Reversing Field promises to be an exciting and cutting edge event. Many contributors and guests of the Sports Law Blog will participate as panelists, including Michael McCann and Andre Smith. Attendance is free.

Banks v. NCAA Cert Pool Memo: Seventh Circuit "Dead Wrong"

Thanks to Northwestern Law Professor Lee Epstein's marvelous digital database of Cert Pool Memos from the Blackmun papers (covering the years 1986-1993), we can now explore a bit of what the Supreme Court was thinking when it denied cert in some famous sports law cases. (HT to Orin Kerr).

One case that appears in many sports law casebooks is Banks v. NCAA, 977 F.2d 1081 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 508 U.S. 908 (1992), in which Notre Dame fullback Braxston Banks challenged the NCAA's "no agent" and "no draft" eligibility rules as a violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act. The case contained the majority's assertion that it would be "absurd" to characterize college athletics as a labor "market". More memorable, certainly, is Judge Flaum's dissent, which the majority dubbed "cynical". Judge Flaum characterized the player-school relationship as a labor market, and suggested that the NCAA

continues to purvey, even in this case, an outmoded image of intercollegiate sports that no longer jibes with reality. The times have changed. College football is a terrific American institution that generates abundant nonpecuniary benefits for players and fans, but it is also a vast commercial venture that yields substantial profits for colleges.

The Supreme Court denied cert in the case. Now, you can take a look at the memo written by a clerk of the Court analyzing whether or not the Court should take the case. The clerk's recommendation comes at the end of the case. The clerk describes the majority's opinion as "rather muddled." The majority "seems to have erred." However, the petitioner conceded the issue was "splitless."

The clerk notes that the "case would be well briefed."

At the bottom of the memo, Justice Blackmun has written (by hand) "I think CA7 got this one dead wrong." Neat!

Can anyone think of any other interesting sports cases as to which the Court denied cert during that period?

THE ARGENTINA NATIONAL TEAM LIST WITH A "SPANISH FLAVOUR"

Alfio Basile, the Argentine National Team coach, has given his listof players that will defend the nation in the two upcoming WorldCup 2010 qualifying matches. Argentina meets Chile on the 13thof October & then play Venezuela on the 16th of October, &willagain look to Villareal midfielder RIQUELME to lead the way.It was a "surprise" to see Riquelme on the list after not having playeda single game

My name is Stepney. Nigel Stepney.

The last months in the World of Formula 1 could have been taken out of a Bond flick. The "Circus" has been hit by what is arguably the greatest scandal in the world of motorsports, caused by the antics of two long-time servants of the sport, which in a way relate to Geoffrey's recent post on Sign-stealing, Trade Secrets, and Corporate Espionage. To cut a long story short (for a complete review of facts and opinions see here) Nigel Stepney, Ferrari's Director of Performance up until the start of what is now dubbed the "StepneyGate", was apparently aggravated at being snubbed for a promotion within the legendary racing team. He then thought the best course of action would be to firstly tell McLaren about potential irregularities in Ferrari's cars and subsequently make Ferrari's intellectual property (namely designs) available to McLaren, an outfit who had struggled to put out a competitive car the previous season. Mike Coughlan, designer at the Woking-based team and allegedly an old friend of Stepney was the recipient of the information and was handed extensive documentation containing some of Ferrari's most prized trade secrets.

At the beginning of the season, in the Australian GP, McLaren were astonishingly effective (much more than the FIA in fact) in detecting certain irregularities in Ferrari's cars, namely the controversial floor attachment mechanism. We now know that Stepney's "whistleblowing" was decisive in this. The whole scandal began with an apparent blunder by Coughlan, who had the documents copied at a store. The store's employee - all the more commendable because he was actually paying attention to what he was doing - eventually informed Ferrari and so the StepneyGate came to light.

In reaction, McLaren maintained this was a rogue action by Coughlan of which they had no knowledge of, in an attempt to stay clear of sporting sanctions and criminal action. But they forgot Fernando Alonso, reigning World-Champion and a man deeply dissatisfied with the equal treatment given to him and rookie Lewis Hamilton, who tops the points table at the moment. It seems Alonso has a vengeful side to him and all facts indicate that he leaked inside information to the FIA. The latest developments were a series of e-mails and text messages swapped between Alonso, Pedro de la Rosa (test driver) and team-members, in which Ferrari's set-up and weight distribution, for instance, appear to be common knowledge amongst McLaren staff.

In the end and after a first decision which basically amounted to a slap in the wrist, the FIA decided to take away McLaren's points in the Championship, to preclude the team from registering any further points in GP's still to come this season, to allow their racers to compete for the Driver's championship and to impose a $100m fine. The decision has come in for a lot of criticism, most of it probably deserved. The FIA excludes the team but not the drivers. The seemingly akward decision is justified since it has not been proven that McLaren used Ferrari's intellectual property in its cars. On the other hand it is fairly obvious that McLaren used Ferrari information to obtain a competitive advantage, in breach of Article 151 c) of the FIA's International Sporting Code and hence the exclusion and the fine. But one has to wonder: if the cars do not employ any of Ferrari's intellectual property, the only information used in competitive conditions was the one relating to set-ups and other data resulting from experience, which ultimately was beneficial to McLaren's drivers.

Should Alonso and Lewis have been excluded from the Championship? Probably yes, but this would have destroyed the thrill of one of the most competitive championships in the past two decades. As for the fine, touted to be equal to one fifth of McLaren's yearly budget, it's hard to imagine the Mercedes powered team suffering any setbacks due to lack of funding... as for the exclusion from the Constructors Championship, no one outside the paddock pays any attention to that. I'd say McLaren are very, very lucky to have escaped with the punishment eventually handed down by the FIA. Coughlan and Stepney however, shall not be as lucky. The criminal courts in England and Italy (where Ferrari lodged criminal charges against both) will not take into account any sporting considerations. They will probably face Industrial Espionage (so called in the Continental jurisdictions, very similar to the American Economic Espionage) charges and the prospect of time in jail. Which just serves to underline that McLaren seem to have been dealt fairly leniently by the FIA.

SPANISH FOOTBALL. REAL MADRID - BETIS GOAL HIGHLIGHTS - ROUND 5/2007

Here is the VIDEO of the two goals scored yesterday in the RealMadrid - Real Betis game which finished 2-0 in Real´s favour withRAUL & BAPTISTA scoring. Check out the second goal by BAPTISTAwith a acrobatic overhead kick!Real Madrid 2-0 Betis, goals highlightSpecial mention to ROBBEN who got onto the field in the 58th min asa substitute & showed his magic. He connected brilliantly with Raul(

NFL Picks Against the Spread 2007: Week 4

I'm back for more embarrassment... my picks. Thoughts for all games hopefully will follow sometime Friday... no time right now! That's what school does to you, I suppose. My drive for .500 continues.

Ravens (-4) over Browns

Bucs (+3) over Panthers

Bears (-3) over Lions
A competent QB does wonders.

Rams (+13) over Cowboys
At this point in the NFL season, I'm not picking anyone except the Patriots with a spread this large.

Vikings (+1.5) over Packers
Got to stick with my boys. Kelly Holcomb looks like he will start again, and he should be more comfortable in the offense in his 2nd week.

Falcons (+3) over Texans

Broncos (+9.5) over Colts

Raiders (+4) over Dolphins

Jets (-3.5) over Bills

Eagles (-3) over Giants

Cardinals (+6) over Steelers

Chiefs (+11.5) over Chargers
See: not about the Cowboys/Rams game.

Seahawks (-2) over 49ers

Patriots (-7) over Bengals
The Pats seem to be just too good for everyone else right now.

Last Week: 5-8-3
Season: 20-23-5

SPANISH FOOTBALL. REAL MADRID 2 - BETIS 0 ENDS ROUND 5 OF LA LIGA

The REAL MADRID vs REAL BETIS reminded me of the unwrittenFootball law: if you dont take your chances you´ll end up in defeat.Real Madrid has won Betis 2-0 to end the mid-week round 5 fixture & remain league leadersThe 1º half saw a determined Betis dominante a "sleepy" RealMadrid . So laid back was Real Madrid that Betis enjoyed plenty of goalscoring chances that were not effective. That lack of

The Structure of Sports Government

Closely related to all things "legal relating to the sports world" is the political and governmental structures of the sports world. How do sports and leagues organize and structure themselves and what are the consequences of those structural decisions--on the field, in the clubhouse, and in the balance sheets? Obviously, the governmental and social structure affects the resulting political society; every choice reflects certain values and incentivizes certain behavior while de-emphasizing other values and behavior. That is true in sports.

One example of this is Major League Baseball's choice to have a play-off wild card team. I disagreed with this decision when it happened in 1995 and I continue to disagree with it (putting me in yet another minority, although this time a minority of two--Bob Costas and me). MLB's choice reflects structural values and emphasizes some concerns and goals over others. But I continue to argue that it is focusing on the wrong goals.

ESPN.com has published an essay by Robert Weintraub called The Last Real Race, a chronicle of the 1993 National League West race between the Atlanta Braves and the San Francisco Giants. In the last year of the two-division/no-wild-card format, the Braves overcame a 9-game defecit on July 20, won 104 games, and won the division by one game on the final day. Put differently, the Giants (in Barry Bonds' MVP-winning first year in San Francisco) won 103 games--and stayed home.

The title of the article is appropriate because, with MLB's structural choice to add a wild-card, a race such as the 1993 NL West will not occur again. And that is a value-lade decision. As Weintraub correctly puts it:

The drama of late-season baseball has been transferred from occasional but memorable all-or-nothing contests between great teams, to annual lower-stakes games between the good-to-mediocre. Could be an apt metaphor for the culture at large.

Today, neither the Giants nor the Braves would have any strong, do-or-die incentive to catch the other and win the division. Both were so far ahead of the Montreal Expos (yes, you read that right), the second-place team in the NL East, that the loser of the division still was guaranteed a playoff spot. So the wise strategy entering the final weekend would be to relax, keep people healthy, and set up the starting rotation for the Division Series. And we see that with the Yankees this year--they trail the Red Sox by 3 in the AL East with four to play, but already have clinced the AL Wild Card. There is no real play-off pressure this weekend for two of the teams with the best records in baseball.

On the other hand, the play-off race is among five NL teams vying for two division titles and one wild card. But all five teams will finish with anywhere from 86 to 92 wins. And there is a do-or-die race for the NL Central title between two teams (including my Cubs) that will win, at most, 87 games (and that assumes the Cubs win their final four games, an unlikely proposition since, well, they are the Cubs).

A wild-card system values having lot of teams in the play-off hunt and more times with post-season hopes later in the season, with a lot of win-or-else games. But it achieves that at the expense of having the best teams playing those win-or-else games. This is sound as a business decision--more fans in more cities will come out or watch in that final weekend, knowing their teams still are alive. But as a baseball matter, I would prefer to watch the Red Sox be forced to win 98 games in order to make the post-season by a desperate Yankees team trying to make-up three games in the standings.

The wild card also de-values division races. Looking at Thursday morning's standings: The Padres (87 wins) trail the Diamonbacks (88 wins) in the NL West, but lead the Phillies (86 wins) for the Wild Card. So the Padres spend the final four games not really caring what the Diamondbacks do, so long as the Pads stay ahead of the Phillies.

The argument that there still is an incentive to win the division is that the wild-card gets a less-favorable NLDS match-up and gets fewer home games in NLDS and NLCS. The problem is that neither of those is a really meaningful incentive, since baseball is unique among all sports in the unpredictability of short series (as opposed to 162-game marathon seasons). The 1993 Braves that came all that way to win the division lost in the LCS to the Phillies. And in the twelve years since the Wild Card was established, a wild card team has made the World Series six of those years, including at least one in each of the last four years. Being the Wild Card simply is not a meaningful hurdle to overcome. Again, the goal simply is to make the play-offs. The "pennant race"--the race to win the division--truly is secondary for the best teams and an issue for the next tier of teams.

It is all about values--quality of baseball and quality of the teams in the competition or simply more money from more teams being involved. MLB made its choice. I believe it made the wrong one.

FC BARCELONA NEWS - PUYOL IS READY FOR ACTION

FC BARCELONA Captain & defender CARLES PUYOL was giventoday the medical OK & is available to be called up for Barça in futuregames if his coach sees fit or feels the need to do so.Puyol has been sidelined 3 months with a knee injury & could makehis appearence for this season against Levante, as Italian defenderZambrotta was injuryed yesterday in the match against Zaragoza.

The Language of the Isiah Thomas Trial

David Segal of the Washington Post has an excellent piece today on the Isiah Thomas sexual harassment trial ("Knicks Coach Isiah Thomas Takes Center Stage," Sept. 27, 2007; Page C01).

I was interviewed by Segal for the story, which examines the nature and styles of language found in the trial.

Here is an excerpt from Segal's piece:

With Zen-like serenity and a choirboy's smile, former basketball star and current New York Knicks coach and President Isiah Thomas took the stand Wednesday in a sexual harassment suit filed by a former employee, giving him the chance to share a few thoughts on some choice words. For instance: "I don't think it's appropriate for any man -- black, white, green or purple -- to call a woman a bitch."

As for the blunt four-letter verb often used for sexual congress, by all means, that's in his vocabulary, he testified. But the 46-year-old Thomas said he never swears at employees, and he certainly never swore at Anucha Browne Sanders, the Knicks' onetime senior vice president for marketing, who filed a $9.6 million suit against Thomas and was fired last year by the team's owner. She has alleged that, in addition to hurling these vulgarities her way, Thomas made unwanted advances, including a profession of love and an invitation to "go off-site." She seeks reinstatement to her job, which paid as much as $260,000 annually.

This is the third week of the civil trial, which has been so bleeping full of bleep words, not to mention tawdry behavior -- including that tired old chestnut of corporate misdeeds, sex with an intern -- that the transcript ought to come with a parental warning sticker. For the NBA, which is still coping with the scandal of a referee who bet on games, the timing is lousy. Commissioner David Stern has diplomatically refused to comment, but with the case producing tabloid headlines such as "Oh, Those Slithery Snakes in the Garden," it's surely adding to his agita.

Segal asked me what I thought David Stern's reaction would be to Thomas being found civilly liable:

Stern will "be outraged if we end up with a finding of sexual harassment," says Michael McCann, a sports law professor at Mississippi College School of Law. "He's been trying in recent years to regulate the maturity level of the league -- with a dress code, with an age eligibility requirement for the draft -- and maybe that maturity level will have to extend beyond the locker room."

For the rest of the story, click here.

SPANISH FOOTBALL ROUND 5 VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS: FC BARCELONA - ZARAGOZA & AT.BILBAO - AT.MADRID

SFS has chosen two VIDEO´s to highlight the goals of yesterdaysFC Barcelona - Zaragoza & At.Bilbao - At.Madrid matches whichwere part of the mid - week Round 5 fixture. Barcelona 4-1 ZaragozaAthletic Bilbao 0 - 2 Atlético Madrid>

College Football Picks: Week 5

Looking at the schedule, looks like we have 2 really good games this week (one of them on Friday), and a lot of solid games. But enough with the intro... let's get to the picks!

(22) Alabama @ Florida St.
Bama is no longer undefeated, but Nick Saban still has them playing good football. However, they'll head into a tough environment in Tallahassee, though it looks to be another down year for the Seminoles. They may have changed the coaching staff, but the offense is still mediocre right now for FSU. Bobby Bowden would have never stood for this! (er, wait) Anyway, I'll take ALABAMA to add to FSU's misery in a close game.

Michigan St. @ (9) Wisconsin
Wisconsin has easily been the least impressive top 10 team this year, as they have struggled often with a schedule that has not exactly been the most daunting in the country. On the other side of the coin, the Spartans come in at 4-0 and riding a confidence high after dominating at Notre Dame (I don't care how bad they are, that's still got to be an exhilarating win for the players). I know Wisconsin plays well at home, and they're riding a 13 game winning streak, but I'm just not impressed with how they're playing. I'll take MICHIGAN ST. in an upset.

Kansas St. @ (7) Texas
Don't look now, but Kansas St. can cause some problems for Texas. They're solid defensively, and Josh Freeman is a pretty athletic QB. They also have a pretty solid rushing game. If they can control the clock and keep the Longhorn offense off the field, they'll have a great shot. I'm still taking TEXAS in this game, but it might be closer than you think.

(5) West Virginia @ (18) South Florida
Could this be the toughest game of the season for West Virginia? They've got road games against Rutgers and Cincy, as well as a home date with Louisville remaining, but USF could be the best team of that bunch. They went to Auburn and won a couple weeks ago, and stomped Butch Davis' North Carolina team a week ago. But West Virginia won't be taking South Florida lightly. Not only are the Bulls ranked, but they actually beat West Virginia in Morgantown last year, which adds another dynamic to this game. However, unlike last year, I don't think South Florida will be able to contain the West Virginia offense. I'll take WEST VIRGINIA in a high-scoring, very entertaining game.

(6) California @ (11) Oregon
The game of the week, between 2 very good teams and very good offenses out on the West Coast. Last year Cal dominated Oregon, but things might be a little different this time around. For one, I'm not sure anyone in the country is playing better than Dennis Dixon right now. He's been fantastic as a dual-threat QB. But you can't focus too much on him, because Jonathan Stewart is one of the 5 best RBs in the country. I think OREGON will be just a little too explosive for Cal to handle. Add in that Cal has looked a little sloppy lately, and I like Oregon in a shootout.

What are your picks?

Last Week: 4-1
Season: 12-3

SI.com Column on Michael Vick's Failed Drug Test and New Criminal Charges Against Him

I have a new Sports Illustrated.com piece up: Michael Vick's Woes: Failed Drug Test, Indictment Lead to New Questions.

Hope you have a chance to check it out.

SPANISH FOOTBALL:ROUND 5 WEDNESDAY MID-WEEK MATCHES

Eight games of Round 5 mid-week played with lots of goals & some excellent football to lift the spirits of all football fans.VALENCIA CF needed to win at home & regain the confidenceof its fan base after heavy criticism in the early rounds, & theymanaged it with a 2-1 win over GETAFE.Valencia got of to a good start via SILVA in the 15 min, & finallyDAVID VILLA scored in the 31st min to give his

FOOTBALL HUMOUR: RONALDINHO "FLIRTTING" WITH CHELSEA FC

As speculations continue about Ronaldinho´s flirtting with Englishclub Chelsea, & a rumoured offer of 16M€ / year salary, that isa 5 year contract x 16 = 80M€ offer, here is a piece of light heartedhumour from "Santi Orúe" from Spanish daily "Publico"Ronaldinho es recieving some English & Sterling lessons..." Nowrepeat after me..............."

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS OF SEVILLA FC 2 - ESPANYOL 3: ROUND 5 -2007

Surprise loss for Sevilla FC yesterday in the opening game ofmid -week Round 5 clashes against a tenacious Espanyol.Surf into SFS late tonight for the results & images of the 8 gamesto be played today of Round 5.

Marquette Sports Law Scholarship and Teaching Colloquium

I am pleased to be joining Rick Karcher and several current or former guests on our blog, including dre cummings, Gabe Feldman, Jeffrey Standen, and Tim Epstein in Milwaukee on Thursday at the 2007 Sports Law Scholarship and Teaching Colloquium, hosted by the National Sports Law Institute and Marquette University Law School.

Matt Mitten and Paul Anderson, director and associate director, respectively, of the National Sports Law Institute, have done an excellent job putting this event together. For information on attending, please contact Paul.

Here is the roster of speakers and their topics:

Sports Law Scholarship and Teaching Colloquium
Marquette University Law School, Eisenberg Hall
Thursday, September 27th, 10am-6pm

10:00am Welcome (Matthew Mitten)

10:05 - 11:20 am Scholarship Presentations (each 25 minutes including Q &A)

Paul Rogers (SMU)—“The Quest for Number One in College Football: Should the Antitrust Laws Sack the Bowl Championship Series?”

James McCurdy (Gonzaga)—Economic Principles That Underlie a League’s Choice of Devices to Ensure All Costs and Benefits Are Taken Into Account in League Decision-Making and Other Matters

Jeffrey Standen (Willamette)—"Market Failures in Professional Sports"

11:20 - 11:25 am Break

11:25 am - 12:15 pm Scholarship Presentations (each 25 minutes including Q &A)

Gabriel Feldman (Tulane)—“The Misuse of the Less Restrictive Alternative in Sports Antitrust Litigation”

Josephine Potuto (Nebraska)—1st Amendment Issues in Athletics (crowd control rules at games and/or the Brentwood Academy case)

12:15 - 1 pm Buffet Lunch

1:00 - 2:15 pm Scholarship Presentations (each 25 minutes including Q &A)

Christo Lassiter (Cincinnati)—“Lex Sportiva: Thoughts Toward Developing a Criminal Law Jurisprudence for Competitive Contact Sports”

Rick Karcher (Florida Coastal)—"Fundamental Fairness in Union Regulation of Sports Agents"

Ed Edmonds (Notre Dame)—“Baseball Salary Arbitration – A Twenty Year Analysis.”

2:15 - 2:20 pm Break

2:20 - 3:10 pm Scholarship Presentations (each 25 minutes including Q &A)

Michael McCann (Mississippi College)—“Connecting Social Psychology to Sports Law”

Maureen Weston (Pepperdine)—Legal Issues Arising Out of Floyd Landis Arbitration

3:10 - 3:15 pm Break

3:15 - 4:35 pm Teaching Panel (15 minutes per panelist)

Robert Berry (Boston College emeritus)—Simulated negotiations, brief writing, oral arguments, and drafting

andre douglas pound cummings (West Virginia)—American Indian mascot debate

Alfred Mathewson (New Mexico)—Free agent market exercise

John Sahl (Akron)—Incorporating professional responsibility and guest speakers

Paul Anderson (Marquette)—Developing an advanced, practical sports law course (e.g., Amateur Sports Law Workshop); using sports law as a means of teaching legal research

4:35 - 4:40 pm Break

4:40 - 6 pm Teaching Panel (15 minutes per panelist)

Allan Erbsen (Minnesota)—Seminar about the arbitration of international and domestic sports disputes

Richard McLaren (Western Ontario)—The use of live arbitration proceedings (e.g., Floyd Landis CAS arbitration) to teach a sports law or ADR course

James Nafziger (Willamette)—Developing an interdisciplinary sports law course

Michael Straubel (Valparaiso)—Sports Law Clinic

Matthew Mitten (Marquette)—Incorporating an international and/or comparative law component into a sports law course; LL.M. in Sports Law for foreign lawyers

7:00 pm Reception and Dinner at Hilton Hotel

On Friday, the National Sports Law Institute and Marquette University Law School will host a conference on "The Increasing Globalization of Sports: Olympic, International and Comparative Law & Business Issues." Rick blogged about the conference in August and its official website is available at this link.

It should be a great next couple of days in Milwaukee.

Update on Sonny Vaccaro's East Coast Speaking Tour

A couple of notes on Sonny Vaccaro:

At 6:30 p.m tonight, Sonny will deliver a lecture at the Robert H. Smith School of Business on the University of Maryland’s College Park campus. The event is open to the public. Here are some additional details:

Sonny Vaccaro to Speak at University of Maryland Business School

Sports marketing legend Sonny Vaccaro will speak at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business on Sept. 26 at 6:30 p.m. Vaccaro — who is to be portrayed by Emmy-winner James Gandolfini of “Sopranos” fame in the upcoming HBO original movie, “ABCD Camp,” — will speak to students about his years negotiating lucrative shoe deals and multimillion-dollar promotional partnerships for top athletes, including signing Michael Jordon to his first major endorsement package. Vaccaro also created top basketball camps and tournaments for amateur players. His Roundball Classic, founded 43 years ago, is the original high-school all-star game for the top 22 high school players in the country with many being drafted to the NBA or recruited by leading colleges. The event is part of the Smith School’s Undergraduate Fellows Program, which offers students participation in one of several small-scale specialized academic concentrations that provide hands-on experiences and close interaction with faculty, alumni, peers and industry professionals. Smith will launch a Sport Management Fellows program next spring.

WHO: Sports marketing legend Sonny Vaccaro addresses Robert H. Smith School of Business students. More information about Vaccaro and his basketball camps and tournaments is available at this link and on his Web site, Next Factors.

WHAT: Vaccaro will share his marketing insights from more than four decades in the sports business. He’ll talk about controversial celebrity endorsements, how endorsements have impacted the industry, his views and what the critics say, and he’ll forecast what’s next in sports marketing.

WHEN: Wednesday, September 26, 2007
6:30-7:30 p.m. – Vaccaro’s presentation to students
7:30-8:30 p.m. – Reception

WHERE:
Robert H. Smith School of Business
Frank Auditorium, Room 1524
Van Munching Hall
University of Maryland, College Park 20742

*Vaccaro will be available for media interviews following his presentation to students. To attend the event and request an interview, please contact:
Carrie Handwerker, 301-405-5833, chand@rhsmith.umd.edu

I attended Sonny's talk at Yale Law School last week. Great work by Ashlee Lynn and Michael Bloom, president and vice-president, respectively, of the Yale Sports and Entertainment Law Association, in putting the event together. Whether you agree or disagree with him, Sonny knows how to deliver a mesmerizing talk. Just great stuff and I hope those of you near the University Maryland get over to see him tomorrow night.

Nick Infante, who runs the excellent College Athletics Clips, also attended the event at Yale Law and offers a thoughtful perspective on Sonny's talk. Here are a couple of excerpts from Nick's great article:

Some of the events that Sonny was describing occurred before many in the predominantly under-25 audience were born – or they were just kids – but he skillfully made that history relevant to today’s challenges. He kept coming back to the validation of actions based on what’s right, what’s good for the kids, what the norm is in any situation (i.e.-What’re the other guys doing?), etc.

This was not a guy describing an absolute black and white delineation of right and wrong. This was a seasoned business pro describing real-world relativism. After all, what might be considered a kickback nowadays was probably considered a finder’s fee a few years ago. Similarly, what was once considered a gift might now be considered a bribe.

* * *

After about an hour and a quarter of nostalgic narrative, Sonny up-shifted into the advocacy part of his monologue. He lit into the NBA (over the 19–plus–1 rule) and the NCAA (for seemingly everything else under the sun).

This is where Sonny pulled out all the stops. As if we hadn’t already been exposed to an engaging, passionate speaker, now there was an even more supercharged dynamo in front of us.

Sonny was especially agitated over the NBA’s 19–plus-1 rule, remarking that “white America was not ready for these black kids.” He then mocked the end result of the rule, that there were eight players who jumped to the NBA after an “and-1.” Said Sonny, “They weren’t student-athletes. They were rent-a-players.”

NFL: The more I know the more I know that I know nothing

OK, confusing title aside, it has come to my attention that the NFL is pretty confusing. I mean, that's obvious to readers by looking at my picks each week, but it's hard to get a grasp on this League from week to week. Not that that's a bad thing. I was going to do some Power Rankings, but it seems just wholly unnecessary at this point in the year. So instead I'll just write the things that have surprised me most from each division.

AFC East - OK, bad example. This is the one division that has pretty much gone according to plan. The Patriots are really good (though probably even better than everyone thought), and the rest of the division is bad. The Patriots are 3-0, the other 3 teams are a combined 1-8. And the win was an inter-division win.

AFC North - I thought Pittsburgh would be good, but maybe not quite this dominating, as they have outscored their opponents 97-26. The other surprising thing is how atrocious the defenses of Cincinnati and Cleveland are. I mean, they've given up a combined 200 points so far. Of course, 96 of them came in one game, but still, it could be a long season for those clubs.

AFC South - Could this be the best division in football? At this point, it looks like it. Obviously, they are strong at the top with Indianapolis. But the rest of the division has looked very solid. Jacksonville is coming off of a win against Denver, Tennessee looked very impressive Monday night, and the Texans are 2-1. Not a bad start to the year for these teams.

AFC West - What has happened to this division? I thought Denver and San Diego would be 2 of the best teams in the AFC... both have looked very mediocre. What in the world has happened to those 2 teams? Denver has struggled for 2 wins against mediocre teams, and then got beat by Jacksonville. The San Diego offense has not picked up where it left off last year. Elsewhere, dormants Kansas City and Oakland have done what we've expected.

NFC East - How can the Eagles (and more specifically Donovan McNabb), look so bad over the first 2 weeks, and then score 56 in week 3? This is what I don't understand about the NFL. On a positive note for this division, the Cowboys appear to be the best team in the NFC. Of course, that could change next week... it's not really that hard to envision 0-3 St. Louis beating Dallas next week.
NFC North - The Bears have finally decided (according to reports) to go with Brian Griese as starter. I'm glad it only took them a little over a year to see that Grossman wasn't that good. Green Bay is playing great at 3-0, though I'm not sure how long an offense that consists of no running game and Brett Favre throwing 45 passes per game is going to last. But you have to give credit where it's due... this is working so far.

NFC South - Ladies and gentlemen, the worst division in the NFL! Seriously, what happened to the Saints? They look like the worst team in the NFL at this point... and they were my preseason NFC Super Bowl pick! Elsewhere, the Panthers are talented but inconsistent. Meaning the Bucs look like they may be the best team in the division. The defense is back.

NFC West - I don't really know what to make of this division, other than the fact that the Rams are a lot, lot, lot worse than I thought they would be. Everyone is else is so maddeningly inconsistent. I don't know what to think.

What has surprised you most about the NFL season so far?

SPANISH FOOTBALL. ROUND 5 TUESDAY MID -WEEK CLASH: SEVILLA FC 2 - RCD ESPANYOL 3

This week Round 5 of "La Liga" is played mid-week with theSEVILLA FC vs RCD ESPANYOL tonight, 8 games tomorrow& the Real Madrid - Real Betis game on Thursday.But what a game tonight folks ! Plenty of goals - total of 5 - & thesurprise loss of Sevilla FC 2-3 at home to R.C.D Espanyol.The game was full of emotion from the start with end to end play.The 1º half was an Espanyol affair with ANGEL

New Sports Law Scholarship

New over the past few weeks:

Roger I. Abrams, Blackmun’s list, 6 VIRGINIA SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT LAW JOURNAL 181 (2007)

Hannah Gordon, In the replay booth: looking at appeals of arbitration decisions in sports through Miami Dolphins v. Williams, 12 HARVARD NEGOTIATION LAW REVIEW 503 (2007)

Robert Forbes, Note, Call on the field reversed: how the NFL Players Association won big on salary forfeiture at the bargaining table, 6 VIRGINIA SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT LAW JOURNAL 333 (2007)

S. Christopher Szczerban, Tackling instant replay: a proposal to protect the competitive judgments of sports officials, 6 VIRGINIA SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT LAW JOURNAL 277 (2007)

SPANISH FOOTBALL. LA LIGA BURSTING WITH YOUNG TALENT

Apart from the already "World famous" young players currentlyplaying in the 1º Division of the Spanish League ( "La Liga") likeMessi, Aguero, Giovanni, Navas, Raul Garcia, Chapel, Drenthe...etc & etc, Spanish daily "Marca" give a few more names to keepan eye out for in today´s edition. Seven players that have alreadycaught the attention of many with only 4 rounds played of "LaLiga"ROSSI -

Athletics Directors are Demanding an Answer to New York's Fishing Investigation of Illegal Kickbacks

Two months ago, it was splashed all over the front page headlines that the New York Attorney General's office had issued subpoenas and records requests to 41 Division I college athletic programs, questioning whether athletics personnel got kickbacks or promises of cash or other perks for steering students to a particular lender. Earlier this year, Florida-based student loan provider University Financial Services (UFS) was found to have offered kickbacks to the athletics director at Division II Dowling in New York. This prompted the NY AG's office to investigate all of the larger athletics programs across the country that have an advertising/sponsorship relationship with UFS.

USA Today's Steve Wieberg reported yesterday that the targets of the investigation have not heard anything from the AG's office. The athletics directors are demanding answers (and rightfully so):

"There was a big media splash. It was a big push by the attorney general. And then, you get nothing else," says Central Florida athletics director Keith Tribble, who insists his department has done nothing wrong and wants public confirmation of that. "We would like to have some closure to it, to (have them) say basically there's nothing to this."

At Louisville, "There's no doubt we're sitting on an island," AD Tom Jurich says. "… I'm not speaking for 41 schools, but I would imagine everyone would like some clarification on this."

It's not surprising that nothing showed up from this investigation. It was highly questionable right from the start. First, the basis for investigating all of these programs across the country is simply that the athletics director at Dowling in New York was receiving illegal kickbacks from a student loan provider that also served as a sponsor for the Dowling athletics program. That one instance does not provide any reasonable basis whatsoever to believe that the athletics director at any of these programs is or has been receiving unlawful kickbacks. Second, even if a correlation did exist, what legitimate purpose is served by issuing these subpoenas? If the athletics director of one of these programs was in fact receiving unlawful kickbacks, is it reasonable to think that he would actually produce a "smoking gun" document evidencing an unlawful kickback arrangement?

College Football Power Rankings - 9/25

Not a whole lot of surprises at the top this week... for the most part, just about everything we expected to happen did. The only team from my top 13 from last week that lost was Penn St., and that wasn't entirely unexpected. Anyway, the rankings.

1. USC (1) - They once again were dominant offensively, beating Washington St. 47-14. OK, so Washington St. isn't really good, but a dominant win is always nice.

2. LSU (2) - They weren't dominant, but they were were good enough to beat a pesky South Carolina team. I know it was raining, but there has to be a little bit of concern about the passing game... Matt Flynn was just 8/19 for 70 yards. Though the solid trio of RBs made sure that wasn't going to cause any problems.

3. West Virginia (3) - Most polls that I have seen are putting the Mountaineers at 5, but I'm still big fans. They had a dominating effort against an OK East Carolina team. My boy Noel Devine finally got slowed down, but they had plenty of other options offensively to pick up the slack.

4. Oklahoma (5) - Another week, another beating. This time Tulsa was the opponent in a 62-21 romp. Also, after Miami beat Texas A&M on Thursday, it looks like Oklahoma's thorough beating of Miami may be a little more impressive than I thought.

5. Florida (4) - One week after looking so good in dismantling Tennessee, they squeak by Ole Miss. Thank goodness for Tim Tebow... 261 yards passing, 166 yards rushing, and 4 total TDs.

6. Texas (7) - Finally a dominant performance from this talented Texas offense.

7. California (6) - An impressive win over Arizona, just taking care of business. This week comes their biggest test so far of the season (yes, bigger than Tennessee), as they head to Oregon (who we might see a little later) in what should be a fantastic game.

8. Rutgers (8) - They had the week off.

9. Ohio St. (9) - In a year when the other Big 10 teams have been very inconsistent, the Buckeyes keep plugging along, this time notching a 58-7 win over Northwestern. Chris Wells needed only 12 carries to reach 100 yards in that game. The Buckeyes should have another cakewalk this week as they head to Minnesota.

10. Oregon (NR) - The offense continues to be extremely explosive, scoring 55 points on Stanford. There might not be a more entertaining duo to watch than Dennis Dixon and Jonathan Stewart for the Ducks.


JUST MISSED:

Wisconsin (10) - After another mediocre performance by the Badgers, they fall out of my top 10. They had a battle with Iowa at home, winning just 17-13. On the bright side, PJ Hill is picking up right where he left off, with 500+ yards and 7 TD after 4 games.

Boston College - Not exactly an inspiring performance against Army, but they got the job done.

Clemson - Nice win for Clemson against NC State, coached by Tom O'Brien. They were again led by Davis and Spiller, who each had over 100 yards and scored a TD.

What changes would you make to my rankings?

SI.com column on Isiah Thomas Sexual Harassment Lawsuit

I have a new Sports Illustrated.com column up: Breaking Down the Isiah Thomas Trial.

In it, I examine issues relating to the parties settling and also possible sanctions of Thomas by the NBA, among other topics related to this litigation.

I also interview Alan Milstein, who has litigated on behalf of
Allen Iverson, Maurice Clarett, and Eddy Curry, among other professional athletes, for the piece.

Hope you have a chance to check it out.

Update: Henry Abbott of ESPN's TrueHoop writes about my column. I appreciate Henry's thoughtful analysis.

FC BARCELONA NEWS: RONALDINHO - SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO?

Its become a mayor issue & a subject that could well rip apart "CampBarça"; an earthquake waiting to happen.According to English press , "The Sun" ...etc, which has been pickedup by all the local media, RONALDINHO has given orders to hisbrother/representative to begin negotiatons with English PremiereLeague club CHELSEA FC. The 27 year old Brazilian star, is angryabout being accused of being in

REAL MADRID MAKING MOVES ON DROGBA?

When the smell of rotting material hoovers in the air, the vulturescome in to fly around & see what can be picked up. Excuse the"Alfred Hitchcock" images, it is normal behaviour in this fasinatingworld of Football.CHELSEA FC is in turmoil after its coach Mourinho has left, its2-0 loss to Manchester Utd & the comment that owner Abramovichwill manage the side. This will & has made certain "star"

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS OF ATLETICO DE MADRID - RACING & VALLADOLID - REAL MADRID: ROUND 4 _ 2007

Atletico 4-0 RacingReal Valladolid 1-1 Real MadridRead results & see images below of all the Round 4 matches on thebelow post.

Dear Chicago Bears,

Rex Grossman is going to be fine. Yes, I know that with an average QB the team would again be Super Bowl contenders, because the defense is superb, but really, Rex Grossman is a young guy that's still learning the ropes. I'm sure he's going to be just fine. Just keep giving him starts.

Signed,
the rest of the NFL

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA - ROUND 4_2007 RESULTS

Great weekend of Spanish Football with Round 4 of "La Liga" givingus plenty of action & lots of goals. Teams questioned recently by theirfans (At. Madrid, Barça & Valencia) answered by winning & winningwell, thus halting the criticisms for the moment & "saving" the headsof their respective coaches.Two games played yesterday ( Saturday):The 1º was the RECREATIVO - ESPANYOL clash were the

Sealed Records in "Fighting Sioux" Case

At last, an issue in which all my varied interests converge over one sports-related controversy--a little bit of free speech, a little bit of civil procedure and civil litigation theory, and a little bit of political controversy.

The court presiding over the University of North Dakota's lawsuit against the NCAA over UND's "Fighting Sioux" nickname has issued an order sealing all future documents filed in the case. The court explained the move as a way to encourage and facilitate settlement discussions. The court promised to rescind the order if and when settlement talks break down and the case resumes moving towards trial. UND sued the NCAA last year when the NCAA refused to grant UND a waiver to continue using the nickname at NCAA championship events (as it had done with most larger schools, including University of Utah and Florida State). The suit alleges breach of contract and state-law restraint of trade.

News stories have not gone into detail about the court's reasoning or about the arguments the NCAA made in support of its motion to seal. Some thoughts and questions:

1) I am trying to figure out what sort of sensitive or confidential information might be contained in future filings in a case such as this one such that the NCAA would want this. Maybe information about NCAA internal deliberations or processes or practices? I cannot imagine what personal privacy or business interests would be implicated in documents filed in this type of case.

2) In any event, note the unusual breadth of the court's order--all future filings, without the requirement that the NCAA show, and the court find, a specific need for confidentiality as to specific documents. But there may be some countervailing public interest in knowing how the NCAA, a uniquely powerful private entity, operates.

3) There is an ongoing controversy about how "open" pretrial records and processes should be. We discussed a similar case here. But our discussion there was about an effort to unseal a preliminary search warrant that potentially implicated the privacy rights of specific, potentially innocent individuals. The order at issue here is much broader and the privacy concerns (at least from what I am surmising from stories) are not as obvious.

4) The court's specific justification for the sealing--enabling further settlement talks--implicates a further controversy about the purpose of civil litigation. Is the purpose simply to resolve civil disputes by the most efficient means? Or is it a broader purpose to explicate public legal values? If the latter, an order sealing all documents becomes even more troubling.

5) The story included a quotation from the attorney for the state newspaper association expressing concern about the order, although not indicating whether the association would take any action on the matter. Ironically, it is the state (representing UND) that is arguing for open courts and the private entity trying to keep matters closed--a switch on the usual position, at least in civil litigation.

SFS BACK LATE SUNDAY NIGHT & THE RAUL DEBATE

SFS is going this weekend with the family to the countryside freeof Wifi, Adsl & digital connection. SFS will be back late Sunday nightto give a full round up of Round 4 of "La Liga".Until then, SFS wishes to know readers thoughts on the ongoing &back again debate: Should Real Madrid Captain RAUL be calledup again to the Spanish National Team?This is todays front page of "Marca":"...even Maradona

UEFA CUP: VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS OF ATLETICO DE MADRID - ERCIYESSOR & VILLAREAL - BATE BORISOV

NFL Picks Against the Spread 2007: Week 3

I'm hovering around the .500 mark... that's my goal for this year, but I wouldn't mind at least getting some type of cushion. Anyway, week 3 picks.

Cardinals (+8) over Ravens
I just don't trust the Ravens offense enough to cover an 8-point spread right now. I mean, they only scored 20 against the Bengals, and they tried to give the game to the Jets last week. I like them to win, but probably not cover.

Panthers (-3.5) over Falcons
I have a really hard time picking Panthers games... they're just so inconsistent from week to week. So this reflects more on my feelings about the Falcons rather than the Panthers.

Redskins (-3.5) over Giants
The Giants suck. That's about all that there is to it. Their defense has been terrible, Eli isn't quite 100%, and their starting RB is hurt. Other than that, they've had a great start to the year.

Rams (+3.5) over Bucs
I came into the season really thinking the Rams were going to be a solid team, and they've obviously been very disappointing. Things might be even tougher without Orlando Pace, but I'll put my faith in them for one more week.

Bengals (+3.5) over Seahawks
We all know about the defensive problems the Bengals had this week, but the Seahawks haven't exactly been tearing it up offensively thus far. I mean, the Cardinals held them to 20 points. I just think the Bengals offensive will be a little too explosive.

Chargers (-5) over Packers
Brett Favre has played well so far, but let's see how he does against a good defense. I'm still a bit skeptical about the Packers offense. Things won't get too much easier for LDT going against a good Packer defense, but he shouldn't be bottled up quite as much as in the past 2 weeks.

49ers (+9) over Steelers
I've been as big of a fan as anyone of the Steelers so far, but 9 points is a large spread against a solid 49ers team is a lot. I like the Steelers to win this game, but I think the Niners are solid enough on both sides of the ball to keep things interesting.

Lions (+6) over Eagles
I like the Eagles in this one, but they are banged up a bit defensively, and McNabb has been pretty atrocious thus far. The Lions played atrociously last week, but a lot of that had to do with JT O'Sullivan playing almost a full half, and he was awful. If Kitna is healthy, I'll take the Lions to cover.

Raiders (-3) Browns
A rejuvenated LaMont Jordan should have a big game against the hapless Browns defense. I just hope that I don't have to watch this game.

Jets (-3) over Dolphins
I have absolutely no idea what to think of this game. So I'll take the home team.

Patriots (-16.5) over Bills
The spread is a little large, but with the performance of the Patriots over the past couple of weeks, it's hard to argue. And it's hard to argue picking against them, especially with how poorly JP Losman has played thus far.

Vikings (+3) over Chiefs
Kelly Holcomb looks like he'll be the starter this week for the Vikings... that is probably good news, short term. Larry Johnson won't find many holes to run against in this Vikings defense.

Colts (-6) over Texans
The Texans have been very impressive so far, but they will be without Andre Johnson this week. That should cause some problems for Matt Schaub.

Broncos (-3) over Jaguars
The Jaguars are the other team that I hate picking their games... I just don't know what is going to happen with them week-to-week. I assume we'll see a heavy dose of MJD and Fred Taylor (especially against the Broncos real good pair of corners), but who knows. Not me. I'll take the Broncos and hope they don't burn me for the 3rd straight week.

Cowboys (+3) over Bears
Not real confident about this one, especially since it is in the Windy City. But the Bears have 1 offensive TD in 2 games, and that came on a pass to a backup O-Lineman. Hope the Bears D/ST can score enough to keep up with the Cowboys.

Saints (-4) over Titans
If Drew Brees, Reggie Bush, and the rest of the Saints offense struggles for the 3rd straight week, it might officially be time for fantasy owners everywhere to worry.

Last Week: 7-9
Season: 15-15-2

Ohio State Loses O'Brien Appeal

The 10th District Court of Appeals in Ohio today affirmed a decision of the Ohio Court of Claims back in February, 2006 in favor of former Ohio State men's basketball coach Jim O'Brien. In the months following the Court of Claims ruling, a jury awarded O'Brien $2.2 million plus interest, which I discussed back in August of 2006 here. As a result of the Court of Appeals decision today, OSU must now pay O'Brien more than $2.4 million for his wrongful firing back in 2004. OSU has 45 days to appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court, which can elect not to hear the appeal.

Reactions to Sonny Vaccaro's Talk at Harvard Law School

Just passing along some great news coverage and on-site observations from Sonny Vaccaro's speech at Harvard Law School last night.

First off, Rob Roberts, a first-year law student at Harvard Law School and perhaps our first Sports Law Blog reporter, checks in with a great piece of reporting:

Sonny Vaccaro gave an excellent talk last night. Some highlights from the evening:

- Watching him interact with people before his talk, I could absolutely see why so many kids in the basketball world looked up to and trusted him. Sonny seemed genuinely interested in meeting everyone in the room. I actually tried to sneak past him to not interrupt his conversation at one point, only to be stopped with a friendly, "Hello young man, Sonny Vaccaro. Whats your name?"

- He is an amazing storyteller. Hearing him weave his way from growing up in post-WWII Pittsburgh, to the beginning of his all-star games and camps, representing George Gervin, and finally his experiences in the shoe business was engaging from start to finish. He managed to go for a full 90 minutes without referring to the notes his lovely wife Pam had prepared for him.

- My favorite part of his talk was definitely his candor and honesty. The man is certainly not afraid to speak his mind, especially on subjects he is passionate about. Good or bad, Sonny told the crowd exactly how he felt on every subject he addressed -- especially the NCAA. His big 'hot button' issues: the fairness of the NBA and NFL draft processes, the profits schools make from (and do not share with) their football and basketball players, and the apparent hypocrisy of the standards "student athletes" are held to compared to the institutions they attend.

Anyone who can get to one of his upcoming talks should definitely take the opportunity to do so. It's a worthwhile experience for anyone who has cared about basketball at any level over the past 30 years.

Thanks to Rob for that excellent report. Some other great coverage comes from Pete Thamel of the New York Times and Eric Prisbell of the Washington Post, who interviews Harvard Law 2L Jihad Beauchman and 3L Mike Menitove (who is also president of the Committee on Sports and Entertainment Law):

Jihad Beauchman, a second-year law student, said: "Sonny and I don't necessary agree on the issues, but I like that he is so passionate about it. It's amazing that he has accomplished so much, but he still sees that his greatest goal is forthcoming."

Michael Menitove, a third-year law student, is the president of Harvard's Committee on Sports and Entertainment Law, which invited Vaccaro to speak. Menitove said: "We wanted someone who was controversial. We wanted someone who was opinionated. Agree or disagree, the NCAA is an issue that has certainly been at the forefront of conversation."

Also, Sonny spoke at Duke Law School earlier this year, an event organized by Duke 3L Michael Sopko. Sonny's speech can be viewed at this link.

Last but not least, be sure to check out Money Player's Marc Isenberg's excellent post entitled Sonny Vaccaro goes Ivy League. Marc, as many of you know, is the author of The Student-Athlete Survival Guide and The Truth about Gambling, and will soon be publishing Money Players: A Guide to Success in Sports, Business & Life for Current and Future Pro Athletes.

I look forward to attending Sonny's speech tomorrow at Yale Law School.

UEFA CUP: ATLETICO DE MADRID, VILLAREAL & GETAFE WIN, BUT ZARAGOZA GO LOSE

Spanish teams managed 3 out of 4 tonight as they began the longroad towards UEFA CUP glory in the 1º round games.ATLETICO DE MADRID had a fantastic night & gave their long"suffering fans" joy after defeating Turkish side KAYSERIERCIYESSPOR 4-0 at home.This virtually assures the leg victory &gives them a place in the Groups phase.MISTA ( pictured) openned the scoring.DIEGO FORLAN got back in

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS OF FC BARCELONA - OLYMPIQUE LYON & ARSENAL - SEVILLA FC

Leo Messi is all over the local sports papers after last night´sperformance.

REAL MADRID HAS ITS EYES ON DIEGO

According to Sp. paper "As", REAL MADRID has set its eyes on22 year old Brazilian International & WERDER BREMEN midfielderDIEGO.The paper adds that Real see the player as a valuable asset for nextseason & consider his market price of 20-25M€ as reachable &economical. Obviously, after this announcement of intention Diego´sprice will rise to 35-40M€, great commercial & strategic skills byReal

College Football Picks: Week 4

Another week, another edition!

Iowa @ (9) Wisconsin
I don't even really feel good about predicting this game, but there aren't that many really good games this weekend. So I'll stick this in there, and not surprisingly, WISCONSIN is the pick. Dropping down to #10 in my power rankings should be motivation for them!

(21) Kentucky @ Arkansas
This is an interesting matchup as Kentucky has one of the best QBs in the country (in Andre Woodson), and Arkansas has perhaps the best RB combo in the country (with Darren McFadden and Felix Jones). Kentucky is the ranked team and coming off of a huge win, but I like ARKANSAS, especially at home. McFadden has some skills.

(10) Penn St. @ Michigan
This is one of the most intriguing games of the weekend. Michigan looked 100x better last week than they did in the first couple of weeks (granted, it was against Notre Dame), while Penn St. has breezed through so far. Which Michigan team will show up? I'll go with the mini-upset and say the good Michigan team... MICHIGAN rides Michael Hart to a nice start in the Big 10.

(22) Georgia @ (16) Alabama
What Nick Saban has done in his short time has been very impressive. I was a bit surprised to see them jump all the way to 16 in this poll, but it was a nice win over Arkansas. Still, I'm a big fan of Matthew Stafford and Mark Richt... I'll go out on a limb and take GEORGIA on the road.

(12) South Carolina @ (2) LSU
The game of the week as far as rankings are concerned, but I'm not sure South Carolina is in LSU's class just yet. I expect LSU to be much too fast defensively, and good enough offensively to win fairly easily. If Steve Spurrier can pull a rabbit out of his hat, well, I'll have even more respect for him as a coach. But I don't see it.

Last Week: 3-2
Season: 8-2