much ado about . . . ?

Perpetuating stereotypes is nasty business. One of the more prevalent and damaging stereotypes in collegiate and professional sports in that of the criminalized African-American athlete. According to Kinesiology Professor Damion Thomas at the University of Maryland, “Images of black male athletes as aggressive and threatening ‘reinforce the criminalization of black men.’” Almost weekly now, stories of athletes being arrested for criminal mischief dominate the news cycles. Cue the latest stereotyping controversy:

The April 2008 cover of Vogue Magazine features LeBron James and Brasilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen. Editors of Vogue hailed the cover as an historic moment as James became the first African American male to ever grace its cover. Unfortunately for Vogue, this historic moment has come under fire as commentators and pundits decry the photo as perpetuating racial stereotypes. According to some, the cover conjures an image of “King Kong” and Fay Wray, perpetuating the idea of a criminalized black man.

Magazine analyst and critic Samir Husni believes that the Vogue cover was intentionally provocative, deliberately attempting to perpetuate the stereotype: “It screams King Kong. . . . [W]hen you have a cover that reminds people of King Kong and brings those stereotypes to the front . . . it is not innocent.” Husni continues that magazine covers, particularly for publications as influential and prominent as Vogue, are not rushed into without careful deliberation.

For his part, James is pleased with the cover claiming that he was just trying to show “a little emotion.”

Still, critics claim that this type of stereotyping, criminalizing the black athlete, is nothing new. Memorable magazine covers in the past have portrayed black athletes in unflattering ways. To wit:

No one would or could reasonably argue that black athletes are more inclined to break the law than are white athletes. Still, troubling images only lend themselves to perpetuating unfounded stereotypes.

DIEGO FORLAN SEEN AS SUBSTITUTE FOR BERBATOV AT TOTTENHAM

English Premier League club TOTTENHAM HOTSPURS wishes &sees ATLETICO DE MADRID Uruguayian forward DIEGOFORLAN as the substitute for its current striker BERBATOV. TheEnglish club will make an offer of 15M€ for Forlan, which is wayshort of what Atletico paid to Villareal to get him to Madrid, whichwas 21M€.Forlan has contract with Atletico until 2011 & a release clauseof 36M€, which makes it all

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA - ROUND 30/ 2008 SUNDAY GAMES RESULTS

The Spanish League is hotting up & coming to its natural climax forthe season with the top half super competitive for the top spots &European positions, along with the bottom half with teams fighting to avoid the relegation. Tonight Racing de Santander becomes anotherEuropean candidate with its win & they are tied with Atletico deMadrid on points , now both are pushing for the 4ºth place

MOTO GP. JEREZ 2008 BRINGS THE PASSION

The spectacle of Moto GP has finished today at JEREZ ( Spain) withmore than 132.000 spectators & fabulous bike races in all catagories.Mixed day for Spanish riders, with lots of spills & trills that kept theemotion high.The 125 cc catagory was full of passion as always , as seen above withWebb & Olivé going down. The winner was the Italian CORSI who dida great race followed by Spaniard TEROL &

REAL BETIS 3 - FC BARCELONA 2 2008 VIDEO: LESSON OF HOW TO LOSE A GAME

Lesson One of Football. How to lose a game & possibly the SpanishLeague title. Class given against Real Betis in Round 30 of "La Liga".From Barcelona humour ( & anger) from daily "Sport" via itscartoon section "Futbolitis"Comment rom someone in the toilet: "...Need to keep fighting,its mathematically possible"Title: "Please will someone pull the chain to start again from zero"

VILLAREAL 3 - ATLETICO DE MADRID 0 - 2008 VIDEO : LESSONS TO AVOID IN DEFENCE

Second Lesson of Football. How not to defend by Atletico de Madrid.Class given at Villareal in Round 30 of "La Liga"

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA - ROUND 30/ 2008 SATURDAY GAMES RESULTS

Two games played tonight of Round 30 & the race for the Leaguetitle takes another colour - yellow - as FC Barcelona lost & Villarealwon to take the latter ahead of Barça on the classification table.Oh Dear! FC BARCELONA played away to REAL BETIS & lostthe match 3-2, & the 2º place on the classification table. Rijkaard´smen went in at half time 0-2 ahead & saw all that effort destroyedat the end

Ballpark construction, public culture, and public resources

In the current Sports Illustrated, S.L. Price, an SI writer and resident of DC, offers some thoughts on the soon-to-open Nationals Park. The park cost almost $675 million, 97 % of which (an absurdly high percentage compared with other ballpark deals) is public money. And the deal hands almost total control over the park, and all proceeds from tickets, parkings, concessions, and advertising signs, to the team. Everyone in DC government recognizes this was a terrible deal, particularly in the face of the district's underfunded and crumbling schools and libraries. Ironically, Price reports that the city has increased funding for both libraries and schools out of an apparent guilt over the stadium deal. Price calls the park a "deal so bad it might do some good."

As a baseball fan (indeed, one of those fans with a fetish for old-style ballparks) I always have been of two minds with respect to public funding of stadiums. And I speak as my hometown of Miami prepares to pay more than half of a $ 515 million price tag for a new park for the Florida (soon-to-be Miami) Marlins.

On one hand, the economic reality is that if my city does not build this park, some other city will and the team will be leave town, a psychic loss for the community as a "major city." And we want and need public support for the arts, science, and culture--so why not also for sports, which are, in a real sense, an important part of our public culture?

On the other hand, the competing economic reality is that the city's goals in building the park--revitalize the neighborhood and bring money, people, commerce, and services to the neighborhood--are not going to come to pass, at least not fully, because, all economists agree, the numbers do not add up. And one reason to publicly fund culture is that the arts, often operated through not-for-profit enterprises, cannot exist without that public support. That is a far cry from a deal to make an already profitable private individual and entity even more profitable. And when we factor in everything else that necessarily falls by the wayside--schools, libraries, parks, and social services (stuff that ordinary people actually need)--the deal looks even worse, and even more unsupportable, as a public investment.

One of things driving my arguments on fan speech in publicly funded/privately operated ballparks is kind of a quid-pro-quo notion: If the private teams are going to demand large amounts of public financial support for their toys (which the team easily could pay for itself), teams must deal with unpopular or distasteful expression by the fans who are given access to the ballpark--who, after all, help pay for that ballpark. If a team is to receive this unique benefit of exclusive control over publicly owned and (largely) publicly financed property built expressly for that team, it ought to be subject to the limitations of the First Amendment in ways that private entities ordinarily are not bound.

Second Circuit Affirms Denial of Preliminary Injunction in MSG v. NHL Antitrust Lawsuit

Last fall on the blog, Marc Edelman discussed (here and here) the pending antitrust lawsuit brought by Madison Square Garden, L.P. (MSG), the parent company of the N.Y. Rangers, against the NHL. On November 2, 2007, the district court denied MSG's request for a preliminary injunction against the NHL’s effort to ban the Rangers from operating an independent website, holding that MSG had failed to demonstrate a likelihood of success or a sufficiently serious question going to the merits. Last week, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, in a summary order, affirmed the district court's ruling and stated: "While there will certainly be substantive issues for the district court to address on the merits - for example, how the antitrust laws apply to the NHL as a sports league, and what the relevant market is in this case - the district court’s conclusion that preliminary injunctive relief was unwarranted falls well within the range of permissible decisions, and did not constitute an abuse of discretion." (emphasis added)

In Marc's previous posts, single entity has been raised as a possible defense for the NHL. I'm not an advocate of applying the single entity defense to professional sports leagues, at least not in the context of claims brought by league members. Of all the cases addressing the application of the single entity defense to professional sports leagues, the case of Chicago Bulls v. NBA, 95 F.3d 593 (7th Cir. 1996) provides, by far, the most comprehensive discussion and analysis of the single entity defense. In the concurring opinion in that case, Judge Cudahy makes some very compelling arguments for rejecting the defense (and I would argue especially in the context of claims brought by league members). Here are some excerpts:

[T]he fact that the venturers remain competitors in other arenas might either distort the way the joint product is managed or allow the venturers to use the joint product as a smoke-screen behind which to cut deals to reduce competition in the other arenas.

....

It is perhaps true, as argued by the NBA and many commentators, that sports are different from many joint ventures because the individual teams cannot, even in principle, produce the product -- league sports. However, the fact that cooperation is necessary to produce league basketball does not imply that the league will necessarily produce its product in the most efficient fashion. There is potential for inefficient decisionmaking regarding the joint product of "league basketball" even when the individual teams engage in no economic activity outside of the league. This potential arises because the structure of the league is such that all "owners" of the league must be "owners" of individual teams and decisions are made by a vote of the teams. This means that the league will not necessarily make efficient decisions about the number of teams fielded or, more generally, the competitive balance among teams. Thus, the the fact that several teams are required to make a league does not necessarily imply that the current makeup of the league is the most desirable or "efficient" one.

And Judge Cudahy probably summed it up best by stating:

In any event, sports leagues argue that they must maintain independent ownership of the teams because separate ownership enhances the appearance of competitiveness demanded by fans. But the leagues cannot really expect the courts to aid them in convincing consumers that competition exists if it really does not. If consumers want economic competition between sports teams, then independent ownership and preservation of independent economic interests is likely an efficient choice for a sports league. But that choice, as with other joint ventures, brings with it the attendant antitrust risks. The NBA cannot have it both ways. (emphasis added)

The single entity defense shouldn't be used as a "shield" for independently-owned league members with independent economic interests to make decisions that may have minimal pro-competitive effects when compared with alleged anti-competitive effects. In the context of antitrust claims brought by league members, the rule of reason essentially constitutes a "checks and balances" on the decisions of entities with independent economic interests acting in concert. The league could avoid all of the risks inherent in a rule of reason analysis through collective ownership interest, thus eliminating any economic competition among members. But unless and until they implement that model, I agree with Judge Cudahy -- the league cannot have it both ways.

ATLETICO MADRID TRANSFER SWAP FOR 2008-09?

According to Italian media & picked up locally by "Mundo Deportivo",the Italians are speculating of a possible swap of players between ACROMA 23 year old AQUILINA ( below) & ATLETICO DE MADRIDplayer JOSE ANTONIO REYES.Jose Antonio Reyes has not been effective at all at Atletico & has notjustified the high investment. Atletico directives are disappointed & may wish to find a way out for the player.

FC BARCELONA NEWS 2008: RONALDINHO THREATENS TO LEAVE & XAVI ON THE CHELSEA AGENDA

RONALDINHO´s time at FC BARCELONA is over. The playerhas been complaining the last 5 weeks of muscle problems that amedical exam diagnose show are false & non-existent. The club is sick& tired of the Brazilians "late night activities" that does not allowhim to turn up to training, this they claim is the reason for hispoor form. Add to this comments by Luis Fernandez , ex coach atParis St-Germain,

REAL TRANSFER RUMOURS 2008-09: THE LIST OF SCHUSTER

Spanish daily "Marca" have put on their cover today the playersthat currently (repeat current) REAL MADRID coach Bernd Schuster has on his list of wished players for next season.They are, according to "Marca" & total speculations:Karem Benzema (Olympique Lyon)Klauss-Jan Huntelaar (Ajax of Amsterdam)Christian Poulsen (Sevilla FC)Ricardo Quaresma (Oporto)Mario Gomez (Sttugart)Dani Alves (Sevilla FC

FANTASTIC GOALS FROM DAVID VILLA & BOJAN KRKIC FOR SPAIN 2008 (See Videos)

Due to popular request. Here is the DAVID VILLA´s goal againstItaly yesterday night to give Spain the 1-0 victory in the Internationalfriendly game:Here is BOJAN KRKIC fantastic overhead goal ( the teams 3ºrd) inSPAIN´s 5-0 win against KAZAJISTAN in the U/21 Europeanqualifier:Great goals, young talent , the future of Spanish Football.

REAL MADRID TRANSFER RUMOURS 2008: DE LA RED, XAVI ALONSO & LUIS FABIANO

The English daily "The Sun" has announced that LIVERPOOLcoach Rafael Benitez is interested in Getafe & new SpanishInternational player RUBEN DE LA RED. The news has beenpicked up locally by "AS", & add that Liverpool offer REALMADRID its Spanish palyer XAVI ALONSO in a swap deal , asReal has a buying option over De La Red.Here is the deal, Real Madrid sold De La Red to Getafe for 3M€ witha buying

INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY 2008: SPAIN 1 - ITALY 0

SPAIN has defeated the current World Champions ITALY 1- 0,thanks to a 78th min goal by Valencia CF forward DAVID VILLA.The game was an International friendly encounter were both teams used the occasion to test out new line-ups & players for the upcomingEuro 2008 competition.Italy as always are a tough nut to crack, as the 1º half showedwith Spain dominating & Italy using its experience & "

U/21 EURO 2009 CLASSIFICATION: SPAIN REMAIN TOP OF THEIR GROUP

The Spanish U/21 National team defeated yesterday KAZAJISTAN5-0 in its Group qualification game for next years EURO finalsin Sweden. The Spanish squad maintains its 5 straight wins & leadswith 3ºpoints ahead of Russia its Group.Apart from the great game & the 5º goals, the highlight was a spectacular overhead bicycle goal from Fc Barcelona star BOJAN( pictured below)Next game will be against

Congress and Sports

Daniel Libit of the Politico has an informative piece today that provides some highlights of Congress’ historic interest in sports (Timeline: Politicizing America's Pastimes, 3/25/08). Although Congress has recently focused its attention on issues that affect the "integrity of the game" such as steroids and videotaping of team signals, the bulk of its attention through the years (and where it has arguably had the most impact) has been in the antitrust arena. But did you know that, in 1912, Congress banned the interstate transfer of boxing films?

Sweet 16 Predictions

With my bracket sort of in shambles (thanks Pac-10!), it's time to move on and give some new predictions for the Sweet 16. The 8 games look to provide some very interesting matchups and contrasting styles, making it a pretty nice slate of games.

North Carolina over Washington - You couldn't ask for a game with more diverse playing styles. North Carolina likes to run all day, as they have averaged 110.5 PPG in the Tourney. Washington St. likes to slow things down and grind it out, giving up an averge of 40.5 PPG in the first 2 games. As they say, something has to give. Only allowing 41 points to Notre Dame is seriously impressive, and leads me to believe that the Cougars are going to make this game a lot closer than the talent would suggest that it could. Washington St. will be able to slow things down and make North Carolina shoot a lot of jumpshots, but in the end, I don't see them having any way of shutting down Tyler Hansbrough in the post.

Louisville over Tennessee - I picked Tennessee to win this game before the Tournament, but I am changing my vote. Louisville has been a lot more impressive than the Volunteers have so far. Both teams like to play full-court games, and it seems like Tennessee is having some trouble holding onto the ball with some questions at the PG spot (let's just say we probably won't be saying JP Prince start again this game). This should be an extremely entertaining game between two very good, well-coached teams, but I think Louisville is playing better basketball right now.

Kansas over Villanova - The Wildcats have been impressive thus far, but it's hard to see them matching up with Kansas. The Jayhawks guards are good enough defensively to stop Scottie Reynolds, and it seems as if they just have too much depth for Villanova to contend with.

Wisconsin over Davidson - Davidson is the Cinderella team of the Tournament so far (even more so than lower-seeded Western Kentucky), which makes them a bit of a trendy pick here. But I like the Badgers and their stout defense to move on. They have the athletes to throw at Stephen Curry to be able to slow down his open looks (granted, he doesn't need much space for it to be an open look), and they might be the best help defense team in the country, meaning that Curry won't find a lot of space when he drives the ball. Not that Georgetown or Gonzaga were poor defensive teams, but I just think Curry is going to have a much tougher go of it against the Badgers, propelling Bo Ryan's team to the Elite Eight.

Memphis over Michigan St. - Michigan St. will try to slow things down and grind it out, but I don't see them having enough offense to keep up with Memphis all game. The Tigers are a solid defensive team, and I don't see the Spartans having enough playmakers to keep a consistent flow going in the halfcourt offense for Michigan St. I like Memphis here.

Texas over Stanford - A fascinating matchup between two teams that do completely different things (and do them well), I like the Longhorns by a smidgen. The Lopez Twins will be very difficult for Texas to contain, and they will also slow down the penetration of DJ Augustin, but I think the versatility of Damion James will make the difference. He will make the Stanford bigs come out and defend him, drawing them away from the basket. This should be a great matchup.

UCLA over Western Kentucky - Courtney Lee will give the Bruins some problems, but not enough for WKU to overcome UCLA. The Bruins suffered a scare against A&M, but I have a hard time seeing them so unfocused (at least for the first 30 minutes) for 2 straight games under Ben Howland. Kevin Love looked like he was on a mission at the end of last game, and Darren Collison is playing the best basketball of his career.

Xavier over West Virginia - Xavier is a more complete team than the ones that WVU has beaten so far. They can go inside or outside, and the Mountaineers will have some trouble matching up with Josh Duncan for the Musketeers. Meanwhile, I think that Xavier's athletic wing players will be able to slow down Joe Alexander and Alex Ruoff, allowing Xavier to move on.

Not a lot of upsets, but that is the beauty of March... sometimes they're really hard to see before they happen. What do you think will happen this weekend?

SKY SPORT ASKS ENGLAND TO SUPPORT THE SPANISH NATIONAL TEAM IN EURO 2008 (SEE VIDEO)

SFS has a large readership from England ...Hi mates! From that land& from its TV Channel "Sky Sports" comes this funny TV adthat calls for English men & women to support the Spanish NationalTeam for the upcoming Euro 2008 Competition. Why?The main reason is that the England Squad will not be part of thisyears European Nations Cup competition, as they did not pass thegroup stage. To dampen the

JOHN HEITINGA HAS AGREEMENT WITH ATLETICO DE MADRID FOR 5 YEARS

Big news from Dutch paper "Del Telegraaf" & picked up here by"AS", that Dutch International & AJAX OF AMSTERDAM 24year old defender JOHN HEITINGA ( pictured below) has cometo an agreement with ATLETICO DE MADRID as of next season,for the next 5 years.With the players OK, Atletico needs to iron out the details & economic issues with Ajax, although it looks a done deal. Theplayers release clause

SPANISH FOOTBALL VIOLENCE AGAIN AT SEVILLA. A DISEASE TO BE ERRADICTED

More mindless violence in Spanish Football. The video shows howSevilla FC "fans" bash & beat an Atletico de Madrid follower in theoutskirts of the "Sanchez Pizjuan" Stadium at last Saturday´s gamebetween both clubs.The only reason ( although SFS admits it doesnot know the full story) is that the victim belongs to the other team.As you can see these animals attacked in a group like dogs & in

BEST GOALKEEPER: CASILLAS OR BUFFON?

Taking advantage of the fact that SPAIN plays ITALY next Wednesdaynight at Elche (Spain) in a friendly International game, Spanish Sportsmedia (eg. "Marca"), ask the question:Who is the best goalkeeper in the World at the moment, Real Madridplayer CASILLAS or Juventus player BUFFON?This is obviously a media hype exercise, but what´s your thoughts?Others that need to be considered as well?

YOUNGSTERS DEMAND THEIR PLACE

The "Bojan Generation" that´s the term being used by local sportsmedia to describe the young Spanish Football players coming outof the junior levels & getting their chance & a spot in their señiorteams.We all know about young Bojan Krkic & his success at Fc Barcelona,but his U/17 Spanish European Champions & U/17 Sub-WorldChampion teammates IGNACIO CAMACHO ( left) & DANIAQUINO ( right) have also

DE LA RED: FROM A REAL MADRID "REJECT" TO SPANISH INTERNATIONAL

RUBEN DE LA RED, 22 year old Spanish midfielder who plays inGETAFE, was called up last Saturday to form part of the list ofSpanish players to represent his country in the upcoming Internationalfriendly game against ITALY next Wednesday night in Elche (Spain).Grand achievement, as he was "rejected" this season by his long timeclub REAL MADRID were he was a junior & a B -side player. De LaRed

New Article on Recklessness

The tort standard of "recklessness" is essential in sports injury cases. At least until the Illinois Supreme Court's decision last month in Karas, the universal rule was that participants in contact sports could not recover for personal injuries from other participants for mere negligence. Instead, "recklessness" or "wanton and willful" misconduct was required. In some states, this limitation on liability is extended to all sports, not just contact sports (although, at least here in Ohio, not to potato-sack racing)

One problem that has plagued both courts evaluating particular cases and law students studying the doctrine is the point at which conduct becomes more than "mere" negligence and crosses into "recklessness" territory. Similarly, at some point conduct crosses a line from "recklessness" to "intentional." Cumbersome descriptions of recklessness in the Restatement of Torts have not helped clarify the meaning of this concept in tort law.

I've posted a rough draft of my new paper on the subject, tentatively entitled "The Wreckage of Recklessness." In the piece, I discuss a number of sports torts cases and lines of cases, including golf injury lawsuits, the recent Illinois line of cases culminating in Karas, and the seminal (and odd) case of Hackbart (which Greg discussed in this post). I'd welcome feedback on my piece, which will be coming out later this year in the Washington University Law Review, via e-mail. You can download the piece free of charge from SSRN. Here's an abstract:

"Recklessness" is one of the oldest concepts in Anglo-American tort law, but also one of the most poorly understood. Often identified as a tort falling somewhere between negligence and intentional misconduct, recklessness has evaded precise judicial interpretation for two hundred years. The Restatement of Torts defines recklessness as conscious disregard of a substantial risk of serious harm, but courts have been unable to interpret consistently the key elements of this definition. This Article suggests that judicial confusion is not simply the product of linguistic imprecision on the part of the ALI. Rather, the Restatement version of recklessness is inconsistent with the actual behavioral and cognitive processes humans employ in the face of risk and uncertainty. Recent work in behavioral economics and neuroeconomics indicates that individuals fail to process risk in the way the black-letter-law definition of recklessness presumes, and calls into question the degree to which decisions can easily be classified as conscious or unconscious. Rather than continue to struggle to add clarity to an already convoluted articulation of doctrine, law reformers should reconceptualize the tort concept of recklessness not in terms of what it is, but in terms of what it does: allow a particular plaintiff to recover for a defendant's carelessness where ordinary negligence doctrine would bar relief.

New Sports Law Scholarship

Recently published scholarship:

Derek Marks, Casenote, One for twenty-five: the federal courts reverse a decision of the NFL’s disability board for the first time since 1993 in Jani v. Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan, 15 VILLANOVA SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT LAW JOURNAL 1 (2008)

Jonathan M. Etkowicz, Comment, Professional athletes playing video games--the next prohibited “other activity?”, 15 VILLANOVA SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT LAW JOURNAL 65 (2008)

William C. Martin, Comment, The graduate transfer rule: is the NCAA unnecessarily hindering student-athletes from traversing the educational paths they desire?, 15 VILLANOVA SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT LAW JOURNAL 103 (2008)

John O'Brien, Comment, Political balk: opening the door for U.S.-Cuba policy reform via diplomatic blunder at the World Baseball Classic, 15 VILLANOVA SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT LAW JOURNAL 135 (2008)

Elizabeth Rocco, Casenote, “Inequality in the game” vs. “inequality in the legal system”: the constitutionality of searches and seizures in United States v. Comprehensive Drug Testing, 15 VILLANOVA SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT LAW JOURNAL 33 (2008)

Whitman, Joshua H. Whitman, Note, Winning at all costs: using law & economics to determine the proper role of government in regulating the use of performance-enhancing drugs in professional sports, 2008 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LAW REVIEW 459

NBA to Raise Minimum Age Limit to 20?

Over on ESPN's TrueHoop, Henry Abbott discusses my law review article Illegal Defense: The Irrational Economics of Banning High School Players from the NBA Draft. I also respond to Commissioner David Stern's recent comment that he hopes to raise the age floor for entry into the NBA to age 20, and to do so through the next round of collective bargaining with the Players' Association. Hope you have a chance to check out Henry's comments and my comments on these topics.

Also, we know that our posts have been few and far between the last couple of weeks. We're all up against deadlines for scholarly projects or have other work commitments, but we'll soon return to more regular content. We appreciate your readership.

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS: REAL MADRID 2 - VALENCIA 3 & FC BARCELONA 4 - VALLADOLID 1

Here are the VIDEO highlights of the Real Madrid 2 - Valencia 3 &FC Barcelona 4 - Valladolid 1 matches played Saturday & yesterdayin Round 29/ 2008.Real Madrid 2 - Valencia 3 Barcelona 4 Valladolid 1

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA - ROUND 29/ 2008 RESULTS

SFS has just arrived from a few days in the countryside & has overcomethe sufferring long traffic jams, multiple luggage & the screamingkids. Now that I am free from family obligations, here is a summaryof Round 29 "liga" results :-)The Spanish 1º Division is "red hot" again after REAL MADRID let go a possible victory with a penalty & "bad" defending,that gave the victory to VALENCIA CF 2-3. This

SPANISH CUP 2008: VALENCIA CF INTO THE FINAL

Short , sharp & sweet. VALENCIA FC defeated tonight FC BARCELONA 3-2 to go into the final against Getafe in theSPANISH CUPBARAJA scored in the 17th min followed by MATA (below) in the44th & 65th min.Fc Barcelona reacted late with goals from THIERRY HENNRY &SAMUEL ETO´O in the latter part of the game, but too late. Aggegrate score in Valencia´s favour 4-3

REAL MADRID NEWS 2008: LOOKS FOR A FORWARD.

REAL MADRID are Van Nistelrooy reliant upfront, & the Dutchmanwas yesterday operated in Holland for his injuried ankle. Theplayer will be out for about 6 weeks & Real will be without theirmain goalscorer for the important upcoming League games asit fights to keep out Fc Barcelona & Villareal for the top spot.Add to this that Van Nistelrooy & Raul are 32 years old & gettingon a bit, & that Robinho

THE FERNANDO TORRES CHANT ("THE ARMBAND SONG") - BY THE KOP - A HIT!

Spanish International & LIVERPOOL FC forward FERNANDOTORRES is a hit in more ways than one. He currently has 27 goals( 20 in the Premier League) & his a sensation, some are sayingcausing "Torres-mania" in a city famous for the "mania phenomenon"Now Liverpools fans have craeted a song for Torres that is sang atmatches.Using the fact that while at Atletico de Madridhis Captains Armband have written

FC BARCELONA NEWS & HUMOUR 2008

The daily "Sport" publish that Argentine International &DEPORTIVO DE A CORUÑA central defender FABRICIOCOLOCCINI is "flirting" with FC BARCELONA to be theirnew defender for next season.The players representative is conversing with Barça directives& the price being talked about is around 10M€Staying at "Camp Barça", the Catalan humour is well known inSpain & the dialy "El Mundo Deportivo" has put

NCAA Bracket Predictions: Final Four

Time for the Final Four Picks!

EAST REGION PREDICTIONS
MIDWEST REGION PREDICTIONS
SOUTH REGION PREDICTIONS
WEST REGION PREDICTIONS

East Winner: Tennessee VS.
Midwest Winner: Kansas

This would be an exciting matchup between two teams with very potent offenses. Tennessee would come out and press all day, but Kansas has the guard play and ballhandling to handle the pressure. Tennessee would have to make contested shots, as Kansas is very good defensively. At the end of the day, Kansas is just a little better, more balanced team.


South Winner: Texas VS.
West Winner: UCLA

Texas won the first matchup between these teams at Pauley Pavilion, but this is a different UCLA team. Darren Collison is fully healthy and playing the best basketball of his life. Kevin Love is fully ingrained within the UCLA offense. They are clicking and playing a lot better. I think they do a better job with team defense on DJ Augustin, and this leads UCLA to victory.


Championship Game: UCLA vs. Kansas

A rematch of last year's regional final, and what a load of talent would be on display for this game. Both teams are excellent defensively and efficient offensively. Kansas is a little better shooting the basketball, but UCLA is better scoring down low with Kevin Love. In the end, I think the Bruins balance wins out... as if there was any doubt about who I'd pick to win it all.

CHAMPION: UCLA BRUINS

NCAA Bracket Predictions: West

The final region!

ROUND ONE

(1) UCLA over (16) Miss. Valley St. - I think the Bruins should be able to take this one.

(9) Texas A&M over (8) BYU - I like the Cougars, but the Aggies are playing well right now and are just a little more talented.

(5) Drake over (12) Western Kentucky - I'm really excited for this game. But I think Drake's team-oriented style will be able to overcome Courtney Lee, the most talented player in this game.

(4) Connecticut over (13) San Diego - The Toreros are playing well, and Brandon Johnson and Geno Pomare are really good players, but UConn is really good. AJ Price is playing at a pretty high level right now.

(11) Baylor over (6) Purdue - I like the guard play for Baylor. Plus, they're more experienced than Purdue (not necessarily tournament experience, but game experience). Plus, going what they've been through the past couple years, they might be a little hungrier.

(3) Xavier over (14) Georgia - It was a nice storybook run for the Dawgs, but it ends at the hands of the Musketeers.

(10) Arizona over (7) West Virginia - Arizona is really good and really talented when they're healthy... well, they're healthy.

(2) Duke vs. (15) Belmont - Thanks for playing Belmont.


ROUND TWO

(1) UCLA over (9) Texas A&M - UCLA has the interior defense to deal with Jones and Jordan, and A&M can't match the Bruins guard play.

(4) Connecticut over (5) Drake - I love Drake, but they haven't faced a defense like UConn yet this year. They'll still get their shots (they won't be as affected by Thabeet in the middle), but UConn's quickness will be just a little too disruptive.

(11) Baylor over (3) Xavier - With question marks about whether Drew Lavendar is 100%, Baylor's guards will pose problems for the Musketeers. They become the highest seed to make the Sweet 16 by eeking out a win.

(10) Arizona over (2) Duke - Duke can be beat by quick guards, and that could mean a big game for Jerryd Bayless. The Wildcats shock Duke and advance to the Sweet 16, showing the strength of the Pac 10.


SWEET 16

(1) UCLA over (4) Connecticut - The disciplined defense of the Bruins is the difference in this game. They win a low-scoring game against the Huskies to keep their run going.

(10) Arizona over (11) Baylor - The Wildcats just have more all-around talent in this game, and that propels them into the Elite Eight. Chase Budinger should have a huge day.


ELITE EIGHT

(1) UCLA over (10) Arizona - They meet for the third time, and once again, UCLA comes out on top. Too much defense, too much Kevin Love.

Regional Champion: UCLA

NCAA Bracket Predictions: South

Moving on to the South region...

ROUND ONE

(1) Memphis over (16) Texas-Arlington - Memphis wins a squeaker.

(8) Mississippi St. over (9) Oregon - JaMont Gordon is the best player in this game, and he leads an underrated Mississippi St. club to a win over Oregon.

(5) Michigan St. over (12) Temple - The Owls are becoming a popular upset pick, but I like Tom Izzo coached teams a lot. I like the Nietzel and Izzo combo to lead the Spartans to round 2.

(4) Pittsburgh over (13) Oral Roberts - I like ORU, but Pittsburgh is playing pretty solid basketball right now. Their toughness wins out.

(6) Marquette over (11) Kentucky - I don't see the Kentucky guards being able to stop the Marquette guards, and the Wildcats don't have the size to exploit Marquette down low.

(3) Stanford over (14) Cornell - Cornell might keep it close for a while because of their shooting ability, but they can't handle Stanford down low all day.

(10) St. Mary's over (7) Miami - Like everyone else, I'm taking the combo of Patrick Mills and Diamon Simpson to lead the Gaels into round 2.

(2) Texas over (15) Austin Peay - Texas wins this going away. Obviously.


ROUND TWO

(1) Memphis over (8) Mississippi St. - Too many athletes and too much depth for Memphis in this game.

(4) Pittsburgh over (5) Michigan St. - This would be a low-scoring battle, but I like the experience that Pittsburgh has to lead them into the Sweet 16.

(3) Stanford over (6) Marquette - The Marquette guards could have a tough time scoring once they get it into the paint and run into the Lopez Twins. This is a fascinating potential matchup, but I think the Stanford guards are better than Marquette's big men.

(2) Texas over (10) St. Mary's - The Gaels will keep it interesting if they hit their outside shots, but Texas can hurt you in too many ways.


SWEET 16

(1) Memphis over (4) Pittsburgh - Pitt is becoming a popular upset pick here, but I don't see it. I don't think they'll be able to match up with the speed of Memphis. Memphis puts up a little too many points for Pittsburgh to match.

(2) Texas vs. (3) Stanford - In a game I would absolutely love to see. The contrast of styles would be fantastic. I like the Longhorns to prevail in a really tight game, because they can make more plays down the stretch than Stanford. But how would Texas guard the Lopez Twins? How would Stanford guards the Longhorn guards? Intriguing.


ELITE EIGHT

(2) Texas over (1) Memphis - I like Texas' versatility a little more. I like Joey Dorsey a lot, but I don't think he matches up really well with the Texas big men. Derrick Rose vs. DJ Augustin would be an awesome matchup, and I think Augustin is just a little more refined at this point in his career.

Regional Champion: TEXAS

SPANISH CUP 2008: GETAFE REPEAT FINAL

GETAFE won RACING DE SANTANDER 3-1 in the 1º leg of theSPANISH CUP semi-final & Racing needed to do a great game to inthe 2º leg, their fans came out in force to cheer their team on asthe below image shows.However its was not enough as the 2º leg finished in a 1-1 draw, thusgiving an aggregate score of 2-4 in Getafe´s favor & taking them intotheir second Spanish Cup final in a row. They will meet

Supreme Court Grants Cert in 'Fleeting Expletive' Case

In a case that has application to sports broadcasters, the Supreme Court will hear an appeal involving the validity of the FCC's "fleeting expletive" standard for determining broadcast indecency. As I wrote in prior blogs (and in Sports Business Journal), the new standard -- which treats the accident airing of a single profanity as within the definition of indecency -- may be especially risky for live sports broadcasts. As noted, it can force broadcasters to take costly steps to avoid the unintended airing of four-letter words from fans, coaches and players and heap fines of up to $325,000 per incident on television and radio networks, as well as individual licensees.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit invalidated the rules and remanded the matter back to the FCC because the agency failed to give an adequate justification for applying indecency to fleeting expletives. It did not address the First Amendment claim head-on, but a majority, in dicta, noted doubts about the constitutional viability of those rules.

The cert petition filed by the Department of Justice discusses administrative law issues (the amount of deference given to an administrative agency's policies) and substantive ones (involving whether the appeals court, by its actions, contradicted the import of the Supreme Court's Pacifica ruling).

I get the feeling that the Supreme Court will decide the First Amendment implications of the proposed indecency standard head-on. The reasons: (1) since the matter was remanded to the FCC for further justification, why wouldn't the court simply wait until the next round of likely litigation; (2) although this may surprise some, the present court is sympathetic to free speech issues; (3) the time is overdue since the court dealt with the issue of indecency in broadcasting as Pacifica was decided three decades ago.

Arguments will be scheduled for next fall.

REAL MADRID ARE IN THE 2008 MARKET: HUNTELAAR & COUTINHO

REAL MADRID is like an Elephant in a glass store, lots of noise& possible damage where it moves, the club generates rumours, speculations & attracts its competitors in every movement. Said inanother way, they stick out like "dogs balls" in everything theydo.According to "AS", the Spanish giant is again focusing its sight onthe 24 year old Dutch League current leading goalscorer & AJAXOF AMSTERDAM

TOTTENHAM HOPSPURS PUTS PRESSURE ON KAMENI

English club TOTTENHAM HOTSPURS has given RCD ESPANYOLgoalkeeper & Camaroon International a few more days to make up his mind & accept their offer.Tottenham is beginning to plan for the new 2008-09 season & wishto count on Kameni to guard the goal, however Kameni is holding offas the economic negotiations are in a "delicate" situation. The Englishclub offers 6 M € to Espanyol & an "interesting"

NCAA Bracket Predictions: Midwest Region

Moving on to the Midwest.

ROUND ONE

(1) Kansas over (16) Portland St. - The Jayhawks should dispatch of them pretty easily.

(8) UNLV over (9) Kent St. - Kent St. is certainly a really good team, but I like UNLV. They're very well-coached by Lon Kruger, they have Tourney experience (at least, the few holdovers from last year), and they're fresh off winning the Mountain West.

(5) Clemson over (12) Villanova - Clemson is really good. Villanova is really inconsistent. I have a hard time seeing Nova putting up enough points in this game.

(4) Vanderbilt over (13) Siena - Siena is becoming the trendy upset pick, but hold on a minute. I know they have talent, but they don't have anyone like Shan Foster or AJ Ogilvy. And Kevin Stallings is a pretty darn good coach. I'll take Vandy to win this game.

(6) USC vs. (11) Kansas St. - All about coaching, and USC has a huge edge there. I'm excited to see what Tim Floyd, the man who beat Kevin Durant in last year's Tourney, comes up this year to try and slow down Michael Beasley.

(3) Wisconsin over (14) CF Fullerton - Badgers are too tough defensively here.

(10) Davidson over (7) Gonzaga - The Zags have talent all over, but Davidson is playing too well right now. They obviously have Stephen Curry, but don't discount Jason Richards at the PG spot. He's real good.

(2) Georgetown over (15) UMBC - Uh, yeah. I think the Hoyas will have enough in this one.


ROUND TWO

(1) Kansas over (8) UNLV - UNLV is a tough team, but they don't have the talent or depth to match up with the Jayhawks

(5) Clemson over (4) Vanderbilt - The Tigers are playing very good basketball right now. They have the big men to slow down Ogilvy down low, and that makes the Commodores one-dimensional.

(6) USC over (3) Wisconsin - I just like USC's superior athleticism and talent in this game. It might not be pretty, but I think they'll be able to score just a little more easily than the Badgers.

(10) Davidson over (2) Georgetown - Just a feeling. The Hoyas haven't been overly impressive all season long. They need Hibbert to step up, and I just see Davidson being a little better in this one. At the very least, they won't be intimidated.


SWEET 16

(1) Kansas over (5) Clemson - I think Clemson would have a very legitimate chance in this one, but the Jayhawks are playing very good basketball right now. They're just a little too talented for Clemson.

(6) USC over (10) Davidson - USC's a little too talented. Tim Floyd can devise some type of game plan to help slow down Stephen Curry, and USC's athletes can get to the rim against Davidson.


ELITE EIGHT

(1) Kansas over (6) USC - The Trojans run out of gas. Kansas is much deeper in this game, allowing them to run USC off the floor.

Regional Champion: KANSAS

NCAA Bracket Predictions: East Region

First up, all of my picks for the East region!

ROUND ONE

(1) North Carolina over (16) Play-In - Obviously.

(9) Arkansas over (8) Indiana - Oh, how the Hoosiers have fallen. They have the talent to win this game and give UNC a scare, but not the heart. Razorbacks have the big men to contend with DJ White.

(5) Notre Dame over (12) George Mason - Not a good matchup for the Patriots. They can't run with the Irish, and I don't think they'll be able to slow the game down.

(4) Washington St. over (13) Winthrop - Tempting to pick Winthrop to win an NCAA game for the 2nd straight year, but I don't think they have the firepower.

(11) St. Joseph's over (6) Oklahoma - Not crazy about this pick, but the Sooners don't have a ton of offensive explosiveness. This will be a low-scoring, ugly game.

(3) Louisville over (14) Boise St. - Boise is a real dangerous 14 seed, but Louisville is just too good. But I think this game will be closer than people expect.

(7) Butler over (10) South Alabama - I really like South Alabama, but Butler is too good. They're a 4 or 5 seed masquerading as a 7 seed.

(2) Tennessee over (15) American - Tennessee will have a much easier go of it than the last time they were a 2 seed.


ROUND TWO

(1) North Carolina over (9) Arkansas - Arkansas does not have the firepower or athleticism to hang with the top-seeded Heels for 40 minutes.

(5) Notre Dame over (4) Washington St. - The Cougars are a great defensive team, but you can beat them by shooting over them. The Irish have the shooters to do it. Kyle McAlarney is a huge key in this game.

(3) Louisville over (11) St. Joseph's - The Cardinal are too deep and versatile for Phil Martelli's team.

(2) Tennessee over (7) Butler - Fascinating potential matchup. I've written many times about how much I love Butler, but it's a tough draw for them. They'll score points against a fairly undisciplined UT defense, but I'm not sure they'll be able to stop the Volunteers.


SWEET 16

(1) North Carolina over (5) Notre Dame - This would be a really high-scoring battle, but too much depth for the Heels. Harangody vs. Hansbrough would be an awesome matchup down low.

(2) Tennessee vs. (3) Louisville - Two teams that I think could give the Heels a scare in the Elite Eight. I like Tennessee a little more in this game... Louisville has a lot of ballhandlers, but not really a true PG to handle the pressure.


ELITE EIGHT

(2) Tennessee over (1) North Carolina - I think the Volunteers have the talent to get to the Fina Four. As they have shown this year, they have the talent to beat anyone, and they won't be intimidated by North Carolina. I like the Vols to edge out North Carolina in a highly entertaining game.

Regional Champion: TENNESSEE

THE FUTURE OF DAVID VILLA 2008-2009?

DAVID VILLA commented this weekend ( translated more or lessfrom Spanish), "...I´m open to every offer, I need to think about my future, always with the clubs constent as I have contract..."The horrible year that his club VALENCIA CF is having is not goodfor a player of his qualities, & the 26 year old Spanish Internationalstriker knows it. He is in the right age were he needs to triumphor

SPANISH FOOTBALL HUMOUR 2008

A funny cartoon from "Mundo Deportivo" by "KAP" showing bothReal Madrid & FC Barcelona coaches, Schuster & Rijkaard on thefine line & hanging on. Schuster in 1º st & higher position in referenceto the league ladder. The rumours are that their heads are on the line& that other coaches are sounding for their positions.Whats not seen is that Villareal is 2º points behind Barça in 3ºposition on the

FC BARCELONA & REAL MADRID GOSSIP 2008

News from England & dailys "People & Sunday Star", publish thatMANCHESTER CITY is seriously thinking in attempting to lure overFrench International & FC BARCELONA striker THIERRY HENRY.The English club estimates that a fair price maybe 13M€, given the factthat the Frenchman has not lived up to expectations & his personal lifedifficulties may convience him back to English Football.SFS thinks

Are Steroids Ethically Good for Athletes?

Really interesting piece in Science Progress by Dr. Arthur Caplan, Chair of the Department of Medical Ethics and the Director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania, on the ethics of steroids. In short, he argues that the commonly-endorsed logic of "steroids are evil" is at least partly misguided, if not altogether wrong. Here are some excerpts from his piece:

* * *

John Harris, a British bioethicist, is a useful example of someone who is not at all sure that a bit of the “juice” is such a bad thing in athletic competition. In his Enhancing Evolution (2007), he argues that performance enhancement is not only ethically acceptable, but that sometimes it may be morally obligatory.

Harris sees a legitimate role for the use of drugs and genetic engineering to improve performance in sport. But sports are not his main target. He sees a future in which parents happily and willingly use genetic and reproductive technologies to design their children with more capacities and abilities than they otherwise would have had. His main argument in the book is that there are no convincing arguments against performance enhancement and plenty that support it.

* * *

Well, Harris is right that you don’t need to make a great effort to accomplish great things. Every once in a while someone wins the lottery or finds an old heirloom worth a lot of money in the attic and no one seems to mind that they have advanced themselves through luck, not exertion. But that is not true in sport. A lucky bounce or a gust of wind can determine the outcome, but athletes get praise for performance linked to effort, not luck. The whole point of sport is to try and reward effort even if luck plays a crucial role in the outcome. Harris’ point that small efforts can produce big rewards does not moot the point that big efforts that produce big rewards get the praise, not just the notice.

* * *

The idea that we value a performance because we admire the random luck of the lottery of life that gives some of us genes for singing, others for strength and still others for superb vision seems implausible. Why is randomness to be admired? Looking for value in the natural distribution of talents and skills is like looking for the source of free will and autonomy in the random nature of evolution or the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. Estimable value does not lurk in random luck. We can accept that luck can bring us fortune and enjoy it, but it is hard to see what role the luck of the draw in genetics has in esteeming sports performances.

The battle over performance enhancement is often fought out as if one size fits all—what makes performance enhancement acceptable in one domain, sports, will make it acceptable in all aspects of life. What the fight between Harris and [Harvard University's Michael Sandel] reveals is that this is not so. There are reasons to believe that steroids don’t belong in sports, even putting safety concerns aside. But this does not mean that performance-enhancing drugs have no appropriate role in any areas of life and achievement. The decision about what role pharmacology and genetics ought to play depends on whether you are trying to travel to another planet, solve a difficult math problem, learn a new language, or hit a home run.

* * *

For the rest of Dr. Caplan's piece, click here.

What Happens When a Video Game Gets a Player's Race Wrong?

Sports Law Blog reader Scott Timmerick checks in with an interesting question (between the asterisks):

* * *

I just started playing MLB 2K8 on PlayStation 2. Facing off against the great Tampa Bay Rays and their ace Scott Kazmir, seven innings later I found myself taking pitches from Gary Glover, a (understandably) unknown relief pitcher whose 5.00 career ERA has earned him the rights to be a major league journeyman.

Anyway, since I spent some time as part of the Rays' organization, I know Gary Glover. Which is why I was surprised to find that, in MLB 2K8, he is a black man...when in real life, he is indeed quite white.

My question then, is this: Could Mr. Glover sue 2KSports for misrepresentation of any sort? Putting aside the sheer absurdity of such a lawsuit, is there any kind of precdent for this sort of thing (wrongful use of image in a video game), and would Gary have any argument?

Many thanks for your time,
Scott Timmreck

* * *

I am unaware of litigation arising from this type of issue, and I suspect Glover would not succeed in a defamation suit, for multiple reasons, including that he probably isn't harmed by the game's mistake, which was undoubtedly innocent in nature (though a reflection of not very good game development).

Also, it's possible that Glover and other big league players may have contractually waived away any right to bring such a claim in the deal between 2K Sports and both Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players' Association, which together licensed the players and their respective images to 2K Sports. In fact, 2K Sports has an exclusive deal with baseball to make official Major League Baseball games, though that exclusivity does not apply to first-party publishers, such as games published by Microsoft for the X-Box 360, by Sony for the Playstations 2 and 3, and by Nintendo for the Wii. But that deal does mean that 2K Sports has no competition from Electronic Arts, arguably the most prominent third-party publisher of sports video games and which, until 2K's deal, had published a very popular baseball game called MVP Baseball.

Especially considering the lukewarm reviews for MLB 2K8, perhaps baseball should think twice about exclusive deals, particularly when a company like Microsoft does not offer its own baseball game for the X-Box 360 (unlike Sony, which offers the hit MLB: The Show for both the PS2 and PS3). Of course, baseball isn't alone in negotiating an exclusive third-party publisher deal, as the NFL and NFLPA have one with Electronic Arts, publisher of John Madden Football, NFL Tour, and NFL Head Coach. That deal with EA, however, knocked off the gaming market 2K's popular football game ESPN NFL 2K.

In fact, one might say that the comparative advantages for 2K Sports and Electronics Arts have been voided by these exclusive deals: 2K Sports can't make its excellent football game and Electronic Arts can't make its excellent baseball game, while both have exclusive rights to publish games--2K Sports with MLB 2K and EA with Madden--that some would consider inferior to those that had been published by each other prior to the exclusive third-party publisher deals.

I suppose what goes around comes around with exclusive third-party publisher deals, though probably never in the consumer's best interests.

REAL MADRID PUTS SAVIOLA ON SALE

News from Sp. daily "Marca" announce that REAL MADRIDhas put on the market its Argentine forward JAVIER SAVIOLA.Saviola has had an unfortunate run with his teams since leavingRiver Plate. Did´nt get into the groove with Fc Barcelona, Sevilla,Monaco & now Real Madrid. He has only played 6 games this season& has not been as effective as wished or hoped.Real Madrid has decided to give Saviola a

GEMMA MENGAL FINALLY IN THE GOLD

SFS promotes Spanish Sport, & it would like to congratulateSpanish "Sincronized Swimming " star GEMMA MENGAL whofinally got her reward with two GOLD MEDALS ( individual &team). She has been coming up second for years & her hard worktook her to the Top of the European Championships being held inHolland.Gemma has taken this "minority" sport to the spotlight & is apioneer in attracting future

DIEGO HAS AGREEMENT WITH REAL MADRID?

The German paper "Welt An Sonntag" in its Sunday edition & viaits Sports section has informed that WERDER BREMEN BrazilianInternational midfielder DIEGO has an agreement with REALMADRID for next season. The paper adds that Werder Bremen areOK with a transfer for a price of around 30M€. There are various reasons that the door has opened up forDiego. Firstly, the player is not adapting well to

Bracket First Impressions!

Here are my quick first thoughts on the 2008 NCAA Men's Basketball Bracket, with more to come this week... this is the best time of the sports year!

- Butler a 7 seed? Huh? I absolutely do not understand this seeding in the East region:
6 Oklahoma
7 Butler
8 Indiana

That makes no sense to me.

- Here are the top 4 first round games I am most looking forward to:

5 Drake vs. 12 Western Kentucky - 2 very good Mid-Majors... WKU has the best player (Courtney Lee), but Drake is the better team.
7 Butler vs. 10 South Alabama - Awesome matchup between 2 teams that could give Tennessee fits in round 2. Once again, USA might have the best player (Demetric Bennett), but Butler has the better team.
6 USC vs. 11 Kansas St. - For obvious reasons. Loads and loads of talent on display.
7 Gonzaga vs. 10 Davidson - Again, another great matchup between 2 really good Mids. I have no idea who to pick for this game.

- My top 3 potential 2nd Round matchups:

4 Connecticut vs. 5 Drake - Two different styles. Would be very interesting.
2 Tennessee vs. 7 Butler - There would be lots and lots of 3s fired in this game. This would be so much fun to watch.
4 Vanderbilt vs. 5 Clemson - Two really good teams... Kevin Stallings is an underrated coach.

- And finally, top 3 potential Sweet 16 matchups:

2 Tennessee vs. 3 Louisville - This would be an amazing game between 2 very talented, well-coached teams. I get giddy just thinking about this potential matchup.
2 Duke vs. 3 Xavier - Two efficient, talented clubs.
2 Texas vs. 3 Stanford - I also get giddy thinking about this potential matchup. Two opposite clubs. How would Texas stop Brook Lopez? How would Stanford stop DJ Augustin? Awesome. Please happen!

- On my first time through picking (which is definitely subject to change), I have no 12 seeds winning... hmmm...

- Is it Thursday yet?

- What most caught your eye?

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA - ROUND 28/ 2008 SUNDAY GAMES RESULTS

The rest of tonights Round 28 "Liga" games highlight that it is veryunpredictable to know how things will turn out. Fc Barcelona had the opportunity to close the gap after Real Madrid lost yesterday &messed up in the endevour. Villareal won & now are only 2ºpoints behind Barcelona, with the rest of the clubs either fighting to avoidrelegation or trying to get into the Euro positions. Heres the

SPANISH FOOTBALL 2008: THROWING BOTTLE INCIDENT AGAINST ARMANDO IN BETIS - ATHLETIC DE BILBAO GAME

The Real Betis - Athletic de Bilbao game was suspended last nightin the 70th min with Bilbao ahead 1-2 after a sub-life form similiarto a one celled bacteria threw a plastic bottle at Bilbao goalkeeperArmando, as the below VIDEO shows to the World.Check the fuckwit behind the post aim & throw, luckly the crowd grabbed the piece of shit & security took him away to flush downthe toilet.(NEED TO

FORMULA 1 2008. FERNANDO ALONSO 4TH IN AUSTRALIAN GP

The new FORMULA 1 GP season kicked off in Melbourne Australiawith victory going to Lewis Hamilton, followed by Heildfeld & 3ºrdplace to Rosberg. It was an accidental race with plenty of crashes &motor breaks that left it all down to 7 cars, with both Ferrari´s goingout & not finishing.The great news was the 4th place for Spanish two time WorldChampion FERNANDO ALONSO (above), that must have

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA - ROUND 28/ 2008 SATURDAY GAMES RESULTS

Four games played tonight in Round 28 of "La Liga" with Real Madridgoing down & giving Barça tomorrow the chance to close the gap, &stupid violence showed its ugly head again in the Athletic - Betis game.Here´s is the full round up.The above picture is REAL MADRID defender PEPE after scoringan own goal & giving DEPORTIVO the 1-0 victory. The Deportivoground is "nightmare ground" for Real who have

SPANISH FOOTBALL NEWS & TRANSFER RUMOURS 2008 - MESSI, EBOUE & POULSEN

Surfed through the Spanish Sports dailys & have selected three transferrumours, or better said, way out speculations that have grabbed SFSattention.First news comes from Italy, from INTER MILAN & its PresidentMorrati. The Inter President wishes to build for next season apowerful new side with the cornor-stone being - according to press ("Sport" for example) speculation - coach Mourinho who will

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE & UEFA CUP DRAW - FC BARCELONA & GETAFE KNOW THEIR Q/FINAL OPPONENTS

The Q/Final draw for the CHAMPIONS LEAGUE & the UEFA CUP have been celebrated in Nylon Switzerland, with mixed resultsfor the two Spanish representatives still left in European competition.FC BARCELONA was matched against the relatively "weaker" sidein the draw, FC SCHALKE 04, although to get to this stage is fullof merit for any team & worth not sinning of over confidence. Thematch dates for the

FC BARCELONA ALREADY PLANNING FOR 2008 -2009

The Barcelona based Sports daily "Sport" has published an articlewere they give a glimpse into the new look FC BARCELONA projectfor 2008 - 2009. According to them, Barça is well advanced in its planswith many players on their agenda & with pre-agreements. Here is therun down of who will go & who will replace in each blocks. Remember these are the media speculations however attractive they wish to

ATLETICO DE MADRID JOIN THE DIEGO BANDWAGON

DIEGO RIBAS, Brazilian International & WERDER BREMENmidfielder, is the player that ATLETICO DE MADRID will goafter & make their most serious offer, if they can guaranteethemselves a place in next years CHAMPIONS LEAGUEThe news comes from Sp. daily "AS", who also make mention of thefact that Atletico will not be alone in this endevour. The Brazilianis on many agendas, from Real Madrid, Fc

AC MILAN LOOK TO REAL MADRID YOUNG STARS FOR THEIR FUTURE PLANS

The insinuations made by AC MILAN that players like SERGIO RAMOS, PEPE & ROBINHO could enter into their plans for thenext season has set alarm bells sounding at REAL MADRID.With the transfer market laws so "fluid" at the moment, an example,the "Webster Case" were it can apply to 21 year old Sergio Ramos,Real Madrid does not wish to risk & lose any of its young stars.Therefore according to daily "

UEFA CUP 2008: GETAFE MAKE HISTORY

GETAFE has made club history by defeating 1-0 tonight BENFICAin their 2º leg UEFA CUP game, & passing into the Q/Finals.This working class & humble outer city of Madrid club is having a dreamrun under coach Michael Laudrup, which is attracting the EuropeanFootball community attention.Getafe went into this game with a 1-2 advantage & dominanted the game, with the reward for Getafe coming in the

SPAIN STAYS 4TH IN FIFA WORLD RANKING

The World governing Football body FIFA has just made public itsmonthly list of top ranked nations. SPAIN repeats in 4th placeafter defeating France 1-0 in its last International friendly game.Here is the list of nations as handed in by FIFA, as you can seeArgentina , Brazil & Italy still dominante the elite positions:Classification:.1. Argentina 1.556 pts.2. Brazil 1.514.3. Italy 1.505.4. Spain

REAL MADRID FOLLOW YOUNG FRENCHMAN GABRIEL OBERTAN

REAL MADRID have scouts around the globe looking at new &upcoming talents. The latests to grab their attention is young 19year old French foward & GIRONDINS player GABRIELOBERTANAccording to Spanish daily "Marca" Real Madrid is following the youngman thanks to his fantastic season in the French 1º Division. The playerhas speed & attacks directly the defender causing havoc,with many seeinga young

Conference Tournament Preview: Wednesday

Back from Spring Break!

This is the best time of the college basketball season. Conference tournaments are getting in full swing, and then that is obviously followed by the awesomeness of the NCAA Tournament. Some of the major conference tournaments begin Wednesday, so here is just a breakdown of some of the key games that will be taking place.

Atlantic-10 Tournament
(8) Dayton vs. (9) St. Louis - With some of Dayton's non-conference wins (Louisville, Pitt), you have to figure they might still have a slim shot at an at-large if they can beat Xavier in the Quarterfinals of the A-10 Tournament. But the way that they've been playing lately, they can't afford to overlook St. Louis in round 1.

(6) Charlotte vs. (11) Rhode Island - Both of these teams have talent, and they can make a run in the A-10 Tourney if they get hot. Rhode Island has been in a freefall since their hot start. Meanwhile, Charlotte is led by streaky scorer Leemire Goldwire.

Big East Tournament
(8) Syracuse vs. (9) Villanova - The loser is essentially eliminated from at-large consideration, while the winner might even still need to beat Georgetown in the Quarterfinals to feel safe. Do-or-die game, and a great way to start off the Big East Tourney.

(5) West Virginia vs. (12) Providence - The Mountaineers have a good conference record, but they haven't really beaten a lot of quality opponents. A loss here might make them sweat a little, though they're probably safe either way.

Pac-10 Tournament
(7) Arizona vs. (10) Oregon St. - This is a must-win game for Arizona, though it shouldn't be a problem against 0-18 Oregon St. The Wildcats might need to win this game and a quarterfinal matchup with Stanford to be safe. If things are clicking, they have the potential to win 4 games in 4 days.

These are the games with the biggest bubble implications... on Thursday, the rest of the big tournaments start up, making that one of the best basketball days of the year! Which game are you most looking forward to seeing?

ATLETICO DE MADRID NEWS 2008: YOUNG DAVID DE GEA SIGNS UNTIL 2011

He is seen as another example of the youth explosion of talent inSpanish Football, another promising star with a big future, but thistime guarding the goal. Young 17 year old ATLETICO DE MADRIDjunior team goalkeeper DAVID DE GEA has signned his firstprofessional contract with Atletico until 2011.The youngster is already a U/17 Spanish International helping with the European title & was Sub-World

CRUYFF SAYS FC BARCELONA HAS GIVEN REAL MADRID THE 8 POINT LEAD & ITS PLAYERS LACK PRIDE

Johan Cruyff is an outspoken person, he has no hairs on his tongue.His words & media comments have a lot of impact within Camp Barça,so much so that many consider him the power behind the scene. SFSposted a recent article comparing Cruyff with Darth Vader & theEmperor being President Laporta, simply illustrative & beyond anygood or evil interpretations. After leaving Ajax of Amsterdam as

Harvard's Women-Only Gym Hours

Last week, my undergraduate alma mater made the Fox News hitlist for announcing that it had decided to make a campus gym, the Quadrangle Recreational Athletic Center (QRAC) closed to men for a few hours a week. As the Harvard Crimson's former editorial chair Andrew Fine wrote, this story wouldn't have been news (or all that controversial) were it not for the source of and justification for the request: a group of female Muslim students requested women-only hours because they must otherwise be fully clothed when working out alongside men.

Much ado about something? The QRAC is not the centrally located gym on campus -- in fact, it is a 20-30 minute walk from the main classroom area and the bulk of the university's undergraduate population (a far closer gym, the Malkin Athletic Center, has its own problems). The hours selected for the gender limitation are "off" hours, during which very few students would likely trek from their classrooms to the QRAC. Still, the confluence of religious and gender concerns has made the story on subject to much commentary in the press and blogsophere, including some good discussion of the legal issues involved:

My colleague Howard Friedman's Religion Clause

Volokh Conspiracy, "Women Only Exercise"

Title IX Blog

Harvard Crimson, "No Boys Allowed: Women-only hours at the QRAC constitute a pareto inefficient policy"

Harvard Crimson, "The All New Girls' Club QRAC Turns Single Sex"

Chicago Marathon Study

During the recent Sports and Recreation Law Association conference, I presented a paper on the legal and risk management issues involving last year's LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon. The race, run under unusually warm weather in Chicago, resulted in the cancellation of the race after one entrant died and hundreds were taken to hospitals. [To read my prior blog on the race click here; to see videos on YouTube, click here and here]

I became intrigued for personal as well as professional reasons. I have run a number of long distance races (often at the back of the pack) and have long considered whether the preparation done by the organizers are adequate to ensure an efficient and reasonably safe race.


As far as liability is concerned, most litigation is precluded by tort and contract law limitations. Assumption of risk is a venerable tort concept that creates a defense to negligence cases because the participant, by voluntarily entering the event, assumes all reasonable risks of injury which in a marathon include many factors, such as physical difficulty, running surface and the weather. Assumptions of risk can also be created under contract, through a waiver agreement or an agreement to participate. It is a rule of thumb that any athletic event organizer who markets a competition open to the public includes such agreements, which tend to broadly disclaim liability to the organizers, sponsors and municipalities (or facility owners) for negligence. Most states do not recognize a waiver of all liability (meaning for intentional or reckless acts), but uphold assumption of risk clauses against negligence claims.



But what happens when difficulties in the race are partially caused by the event coordination itself? Before answering this question, I wanted to find out more about the recollections of the runners involved in the race. I put together a questionnaire and e-mailed it to running clubs across the United States and to specific runners that I identified through news articles and YouTube videos. The questions included:

Did the weather forecasters predict such a hot and humid day or did the weather exceed their predictions in both temperature and humidity?

When did you find (if you found) water and Gatorade lacking? At what mile? Did the race have (or supposedly have) water stops every mile?

Did you see runners in distress? At what point?

In some of the videos I saw, there seemed to be efforts by others (firefighters, e.g.) to spray water on the runners or have makeshift areas. Did you see anything like that?

Did you see ambulances? How were the paramedics able to take the injured runners out of harms way?

How would you rate how well the organizers handled the situation? If you can, please explain the basis for the rating.

–a. In initial preparations?
–b. Water supplies?
–c. First aid?
–d. Organizational skills to cope with an unexpected event?

When did you hear that the race was canceled? What was your reaction?

Did the people who announced the cancellation tell runners what they should do and not do?

Some interviewees said that runners were taking a large number of cups of water, which contributed to the shortages for the runners toward the rear. Do you think that was true?

If you have run other marathons, what do you think could have been done differently?

Do you know if anyone (e.g. a law firm) contacted you regarding the proposed class action?

Many of the runners I contacted criticized organizers for lack of adequate amount of liquids (although they increased the water supply based on the weather forecast and took other measures like more emergency vehicles and misting stations) and for a perceived breakdown in organization after the race was cancelled. A number of respondents were confused as to what to do and some claimed that promised transportation did not arrive. However, only one of the 40 plus runners I surveyed welcomed the idea of a lawsuit. Most said that the organizers distributed warnings about the heat. A number of respondents suggested that the race should have started earlier and some were incensed by the comments of the race director that seemed to blame runners for taking too much water. And most of the respondents agreed that the race should have been cancelled. The runners who were most affected by the logistical problems were those who tended to be slower or novice runners.

Although there is a paucity of cases involving lawsuits against marathon organizers, I did find one case that concluded that an assumption of risk clause did not preclude a lawsuit against marathon organizers where lack of water and electrolytes occurred during the race. The California appellate court in Saffro v. Elite Racing, 98 Cal. App. 4th 173 119 Cal. Rptr. 2d 497 (2002) ruled that the trial court's summary judgment ruling was reversed.

I would be happy to send my presentation to anyone interested. E-mail me at Sportslaw@aol.com.

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA - ROUND 27 /2008 SUNDAY GAMES RESULTS

Round 27 of La Liga has concluded tonight with plenty of goals &Fc Barcelona allowing League leader Real Madrid to further open upthe gap by another 3º points. The pressure & the missing "Messi effect"could be determining factors at Camp Barça at this vital stage.The above picture tells the story, FC BARCELONA lost 1-2 to aserious VILLAREAL side as they consolidate their ChampionsLeague position

MOTO GP QATAR 2008: GREAT START FOR SPANISH RIDERS

The Moto GP season kicked off tonight from QATAR with the firstever races under lights & during the nightime. Spaniards are Worldfamous for their active nightlife & it seems that has rubbed off withthe excellent results in all catagories.In the 125cc Spain scored a double placed victory with FAUDEL1ºst & OLIVE 2ºnd on the podium, alongside 3ºrd placed GermanBradl, as pictured above.In the 250cc

UNC-Duke and Cheering Speech

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Last night's UNC-Duke game provides a good opportunity for two quick thoughts on cheering speech. The game was another chapter in what is supposedly the nastiest and deepest rivalry in all of college sports, played at the arena whose fans get the most attention for their clever/rude (depending on your point of view) cheering speech.



First, Duke fans wore Carolina-blue ribbons in memory of Eve Marie Carson, the UNC Student President who was killed last week. I assume there was a moment of silence, but I did not see the beginning of the game. A wonderful gesture--and an illustration of precisely why cheering speech is so important and why I define it as such a broad category of expression. Sporting events are a unique secular gathering place at which we can express, as a collective, a great many messages and ideas (here, ideas of sadness and mourning and sympathy). Of course, many of these messages, including the memorial here, have absolutely nothing to do with sports or the game. That's the point--what touches "the game" is enormously broad.



Second, early in the week, Coach K met with Duke students to talk about their cheering and urging them to keep it classy and supportive of Duke and to be particularly sensitive in light of the events of last week. (H/T: Deadspin). Good for him and for Duke. Because, ultimately, the key to controlling fan behavior is for those in charge (coaches, university administrators) to convince the bulk of students to keep it clean and to have the student-section mores self-police, for social pressure to bring everyone into line. That, in fact, is how we develop and maintain a functioning civil society--not through government coercion, but through social pressures.



But here is a question: Suppose one asshole decided to depart those mores by displaying a sign saying "Our President Lives, How 'Bout Yours?" Without question this is insensitive and obnoxious and rude and disrespectful. But it is not defamatory; it is not a targeted threat; it is not obscene (or even indecent); and it is not fighting words--it falls in no unprotected category of speech. So is there any theory of free expression (other than a sort of Borkean, the-First-Amendment-only-protects-political-campaigns-and-policy-discussions position that never has gotten anywhere) on which that sign should be formally punishable (put aside for the moment that Duke is a private university)?

Scottish sport newspapers

Scottish newspapers one of the oldest english language published newspapers in the world. Scottish sport newspapers write mainly about sports that are played in the island like rugby, football, cricket and others. The best football teams in Scotland and that have an important coverage in scottish sport newspapers are Rangers F.C. and Celtic F.C.

http://sport.scotsman.com/

http://www.indy-online.co.uk/sport.aspx

http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/latestsport

http://www.sundaymail.co.uk/sport-news/http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/

http://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/output/2008/03/07/gensport.shtm

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/sport

http://www.theherald.co.uk/sport/

http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/northscotlandsport.html

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA - ROUND 27 /2008 SATURDAY GAMES RESULTS

Two games played tonight in Round 27 of the Spanish 1ºst Division- La Liga - with both Madrid teams in action with mixed results.REAL MADRID went into tonights game with certain tensionafter being knocked out of Champions & the teams coach Schusterbeing questioned. The best way to cure any doubts is with a win overa dangerously 5th placed ESPANYOL with a 2-1 scoreline.Espanyol started well with

MOTO GP: SPANIARD GP ROOKIE JORGE LORENZO GRABS POLE

The Spanish raider JORGE LORENZO is the reigning two time 250ccWORLD CHAMPION that has "jumped" up to the maximumcatagory this year. He has signned with Yamaha & shares team withnone other than Valentino Rossi, his natural place is therefore to bethe "rookie" & learn the methods of the more powerful motorbike.However, the "new turk" has surprised everyone at the qualifyinground for POLE position

LUIS FABIANO FLIRTS WITH REAL MADRID?

It´s no secret that SEVILLA FC Brazilian forward & the SpanishLeague current leading goal scorer with 19 goals LUIS FABIANO wishes to leave his club to go play in one of the "BIG" teams.The elimination of Sevilla in the Champions League takes away theopportunity to continue playing on the "World Stage" & grab a titlethis year.The player is ambitious & wishes to better & he lookselsewhere to charm

USA Today on Fan Behavior

I provide the Opposing View in a debate in USA Today over speech and behavior by college basketball fans. Nothing new from either side, but a quick distillation of competing positions.

Ethics and Agent Fees

In this month's issue of the ABA Journal, Kathryn Thompson has a very informative piece about the ethics standard for lawyer fees pursuant to Rule 1.5 of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, which simply prohibits fees that are "unreasonable" ("Let's Be Reasonable: Client consent to a fee agreement doesn't mean it's ethical"). Agents who are lawyers are obviously bound by the legal ethics rules. However, non-lawyer agents also act in a fiduciary role on behalf of their clients, which subjects them to common law agency principles of "duty of care" and "duty of loyalty". I have always questioned the reasonableness of a commission-based agent fee system by which agents are paid a percentage of the entire value of the player contract negotiated by the agent. In my Willamette Law Review article, I examine how the economics of the player representation business, with increasing player salaries under a commission-based agent fee system, fuels intense competition among agents, which ultimately harms the players, the teams and the leagues in multiple ways.

The typical counter-arguments to my position are two-fold: First, a commission-based fee is the "normal" fee charged in the player-representation business and players are willing and able to pay the fee. Second, the agent does much more work for the player than simply negotiating a player contract, which makes it difficult to charge a flat fee or an hourly rate fee for the agent's services, i.e. agents put a lot of time and expense into "babysitting" their existing clients and recruiting prospective clients. Although Thompson's article is not specifically addressing agent fees, it essentially addresses why each of these two counter-arguments is not compelling. Regarding the first one, Thompson notes:

A meeting of the minds between lawyer and client does not necessarily mean, however, that a fee agreement is reasonable in the eyes of disciplinary tribunals or courts. A case in point is In re Sinnott, 845 A.2d 373 (2004), where the Vermont Supreme Court affirmed a disciplinary panel’s finding that a fee was unreasonable even though it was based on a valid contract knowingly signed by the client. The court said it is unethical for lawyers to charge unreasonable fees “even if they are able to find clients who will pay whatever a lawyer’s contract demands.”

Regarding the second one, Thompson notes:

Courts also have held that it is unreasonable for lawyers to charge their own rates for services provided by nonlawyers or for their own law-related tasks that do not constitute the practice of law, such as sending faxes or delivering documents to opposing counsel. Lawyers should similarly avoid charging clients for services that fall outside the confines of traditional law practice. In Cincinnati Bar Association v. Alsfelder, 816 N.E.2d 218 (2004), the Ohio Supreme Court affirmed the finding of a disciplinary board that it was unreasonable under Ohio’s version of Rule 1.5 for an attorney to charge a client for “friendly advice” unrelated to the cli­ent’s legal needs. Often meeting over lunch or dinner, the client consulted the attorney about personal relationships, finances and restaurants, among other things. Despite the attorney’s assertions to the client that he had only “attorney’s time” to give, the result was “allowing the client to consult him as a friend while charging for his time as a lawyer,” the court concluded.

The NFLPA and the NBPA have been proactive in this regard by capping the commission that an agent may charge the client. The NFLPA agent regulations, for example, provide that the maximum fee chargeable is 3% of the player's compensation, which is reduced to 2% for players who are Restricted Free Agents or tagged with a Franchise or Transition designation, and further reduced to 1.5% and 1% when tagged with a Franshise or Transition designation a second and third time, respectively. Presumably, the idea here is that the agent's fee should be appropriately tied to the time, difficulty and skill of the work involved (which are factors listed under Rule 1.5 to consider). Thus, the agent's fee should be less to the extent the agent is doing less work or when the work involves less skill because there is little or no negotiation involved in determining the player's compensation. This is also the rationale behind the MLBPA's agent regulations (which do not impose an agent fee cap) that prohibits an agent from receiving a fee to the extent of a player's guaranteed "minimum" salary as set forth in the CBA.

Is it "reasonable" for agents to charge fees on a commission basis? Should A-Rod be required to pay any agent a commission on the first (pick an arbitrary number) $15 million in salary he receives each year? My 10 year old could obtain that, and even more than that, on A-Rod's behalf. Fifteen years ago, Don Fehr said: "As an athlete begins to earn 3 or 4 or 5 million dollars a year, is the work involved that much more lengthy than it was before? As a matter of fact, the agent’s skills may improve and his or her bargaining power may be greater which could mean the process entails less work. Do percentages make any sense? Well, maybe not."

Well, in today's dollars, that 3 or 4 or 5 million is now 10 or 11 or 12 million....