FC BARCELONA COMFORTABLY WINS FIORENTINA 1-3 IN FRIENDLY 2008

The first real opponent to test how FC BARCELONA is developing& the vibrations are good. Yesterday they played Italian ClubFIORENTINA in a friendly pre-season game with the return oftheir Euro 2008 stars: Xavi, Iniesta & Xavi. The result an easy win 1-3 that puts them in high spirits for their Mexican Tour.See the video of the highlights & below a match summary with somedetails:Match details:1 -

Finnish Kettlebell Training

Finnish Kettlebell Training

If it's too hot for you where you are (for a change it's pretty warm here in the UK and hasn't rained in a few days) then take a look at Voimatoimi video by Linnalma

The video is of kettlebell training in the snow, awesome (one way to keep warm). I really love the side to side kettlebell twistng on this video, not particularly new but good to remind us you don't just need to swing yourself to death.



Previous post related to Finnish Kettlebell Training


Finnish Kettlebell Training

Fantasy Leagues Now Profiting from the Likenesses of College Athletes

Of course, I couldn't withhold my thoughts on today's press release that CBSSports.com has decided to make millions using the names and performance statistics of college football and basketball players in a fantasy league game without paying for it. There are a couple of points in the press release that I need to address:

1. A fantasy college game has never been widely accepted or attempted before because of a reluctance to utilize anything but broad signifiers in identifying college athletes. CBSSports.com had previously developed a game using generic terms including only a team and a position, like "SYRACUSE RB" and "MICHIGAN WR," instead of players' names. But it never caught on with users, due mainly to the disconnect between the robotic names and the fantasy audience, according to senior vice president and general manager Jason Kint.

Yeah. No kidding! You know why it never caught on with users? Because the game only has value if you use their names!!! But I suppose we can keep pretending that players don't have a right of publicity because "fantasy leagues only use their stats which are in the public domain." What a joke.

2. National Collegiate Athletic Association spokesman Bob Williams says that the NCAA did send a letter to CBS informing them that their bylaws were being violated by using player likenesses in the game. But he adds that because of the added exposure fantasy sports can bring the student-athlete, the NCAA does not intend to stand in the way of the fantasy game for now. "We are concerned with protecting the amateur status of the student athlete," Mr. Williams says, but he also believes that the bylaws, which were enacted "before new media," do not properly address a situation like this. Still, he warns that NCAA lawyers will be watching closely.

Umm,....o.k.,....yeah. Let me try to break this down:

a. The NCAA says its bylaws are being violated because player likenesses are in fact being used.

b. But, the NCAA says it is going to allow the violation to occur, for now, because of the added exposure fantasy leagues bring the student-athlete [which is apparently a good thing].

c. But wait a minute, the NCAA says it is concerned about "protecting" the student-athlete from this added exposure. [If you're totally confused at this point, wait, it gets better.]

d. The NCAA says it can't do anything about fantasy leagues because the bylaws don't address this situation. [Go back and read a. and b. again.]

e. The NCAA says its lawyers will be watching closely. I'm not quite sure what the lawyers will be watching, except maybe the continued exploitation of college athletes.

Tim Donaghy Sentencing

Much has been written about yesterday's sentencing of disgraced former NBA referee Tim Donaghy to 15 months in prison. Here are some stories that may be of interest:

* I wrote a piece on SI.com on the sentencing. My thanks to the folks on Celtics Blog for their nice words about it.

* Jeffrey Standen of The Sports Law Professor weighs in as well.

* And so does Lester Munson of ESPN.com.

* Mark Fass of the New York Law Journal (by way of Law.com) has an intriguing take on the surprising background of the federal charges that were used to prosecute Donaghy.

* An unrelated but really interesting piece by Darren Heitner of Sports Agent Blog on basketball agents using overseas employment opportunities as leverage in negotiations with NBA teams.

* Another unrelated but really interesting piece by Marc Isenberg of Money Players that seeks to debunk educational arguments in favor star basketball players attending college and then going pro. He notes that Latrell Sprewell and Jason Caffey each spent four years in college only to make some bad life decisions.

FC BARCELONA OBLIGED TO ALLOW MESSI TO GO TO PEKING 2008

Bad news for FC BARCELONA in its "fight" to retain its starforward LIONEL MESSI for its important upcoming pre-qualifying Champions League home & away game. The World Football ruling authority FIFA has ruled in favour ofArgentina & Messi, & this will oblige FC Barcelona to release theplayer for the upcoming Peking 2008 Olympic Games.The main arguement, amongst others, is that under 23 year old

IOC lifts Iraq's Olympic Suspension

Last week, Aaron Zelinsky argued that the IOC should reverse its ban on Iraqi players from the Olympics. Today, the IOC did just that (though only two of the seven banned athletes remain eligible to participate in the Olympics, meaning the other five won't benefit from the IOC's reversal).

ATHLETIC DE BILBAO APPROVE PUBLICITY FOR THE FIRST TIME IN ITS HISTORY

The market dominates & crushes through tradition. SpanishClub ATHLETIC DE BILBAO "surprised" many & angered theveterans when they revealed publicity on their team shirts for the first time in its 110 years of history in front of 8000 fans todayin the teams presentation. Below we can see how President of theClub Macua (left) holds the shirt to media.The Club is experiencing economic difficulties &

KOREA vs IVORY COAST: KOREAN GOALKEEPER SCORES GOAL

This has nothing to do with Spanish Football & Sports. However, theocassion calls for a post, & a mention at least, as what happeneddoes´nt occur often & when it does it always calls for our attention.Korean Goalkeeper scores a goal in a pre-Olympic match againstthe Ivory Coast.

REAL MADRID NEWS 2008: PESSIMISM SETS IN WITH RONALDO & SOLDADO GOES TO GETAFE

REAL MADRID see their dream of signing CRISTIANO RONALDOget more complicated as the days move forward. Real Madrid officialsare more pessimistic as they are not able to speak with ManchesterUnited officials & the actual player in question does not make a publicmove to express his desires. In fact, Real wish that Ronaldo make publichis rebel attitude before next Monday, date he is expected to

MANCHESTER UNITED THINK ABOUT HENRY

According to "Sport", MANCHESTER UNITED Coach Fergusonhas put up the option of 31 year old French International & FCBARCELONA forward THIERRY HENRY as the alternative toTottenham Hotspurs striker Berbetov, after the signning of thelatter gets more complicate.Henry has demostrated that his best Football was in England& he could well be a valuable asset. FC Barcelona count with theFrenchmen for the

Duke Lacrosse at SEALS

Tomorrow I will be at SEALS, hosting and moderating a panel titled The Phases and Faces of the Duke Lacrosse Controversy. This will be a moderated conversation about the multiple facets, details, and issues of this still-ongoing legal controversy. Panelists include KC Johnson of Brooklyn College (author of a bestselling book on the case), James Coleman of Duke Law (who chaired a University committee that investigated the case), Michael Gerhardt of UNC Law, Lyrissa Lidsky of Florida Law, and Angela Davis of American/Washington College.

I hope to have an audio file to post here later in the week and the proceedings will be published in the Seton Hall Journal of Sports and Entertainment. I hope to write more about the many and varied issues implicated in this case. And I think it would make an interesting single-topic seminar to explore the multiple angles raised by one controversy, akin to the class on Wal-Mart.

If you are at SEALS, I hope you can check the panel out.

HUMOUR: CRISTIANO RONALDO A REAL MADRID OBSESSION

Here is some humour from Barcelona for its old rival Real Madrid.In todays cartoon section in Sports daily "Mundo Deportivo"-"Pelotazos" by KAP - they give us this piece on Real Madrid´s( our its President Calderon) obsession in signning Cristiano Ronaldo.Coach Schuster say to his President:"...Is´nt this a bit too far?"

Kettlebell Front Squats

Kettlebell Front Squats

As a follow from yesterdays post and workout Kettlebell Thrusters I want to just write a short and let you know how I reacted.

I found my core was absolutely blown away after yesterday.
I've put this down to what essentially can be termed as a 'kettlebell front squat' i.e the first part of the kettlebell thruster.

The kettlebells tend to pull you forward on this movement so to counter this you need to keep more upright with the kettlebells, hence using a major amount of your core to stabilise.

I can see some real value to be had out of kettlebell front squats after this has had a major effect on me.

I will be adding in some 40kg x 2 kettlebell front squats to see how this goes.
Will keep you posted

Cheers
Rob


Kettlebell Front Squat

REAL MADRID START THE SEASON WITH A 2-3 WIN IN AUSTRIA (SEE VIDEO)

REAL MADRID has started its pre-season series of games today with a 2-3 victory over Austrian side LASK DE LINZ. Entertaininggame so early in the season with an outstanding ROBBEN, who if avoids injuries will be a real asset this season.Baptista, Saviola & Raul all got onto the scoresheet (see detailsbelow)Game summary:Lask Linz 2: Cavlina; Gansterer, Baur, Kablar, Wisio; Panis;Klein, Salmutter,

TENNIS: NADAL WINS TORONTO MASTERS & GETS CLOSER TO Nº1

Spaniard & World Nº2 RAFAEL NADAL defeated German Kiefer6-3, 6-2 to take the Toronto Masters. Spanish Sport is in a Goldenmoment & Nadal has added to the magic as he now goes into thenext tournament with the chance to take the World Nº1 spot fromSwiss Roger Federer.We will have to wait until the Cincinnati Masters.

Kettlebell Thrusters

Kettlebell Thruster

Did a great workout today. 10 x 10 Double kettlebell (32kg) thruster with 2 min rest between sets.

This exercise totally shreds you up and leaves you gasping for air.

The kettlebell thruster is a superb exercise for all round fitness and strength.
Take 1 or 2 kettlebells, clean them ito the shoulder. Squat down and then thrust them over your head at the top into a lockout....repeat until you drop. The exercise is similar in some ways to the bear (which is done using a barbell where you peform a clean followed by press, squat and press as one rep). Again, it's one of those exercises that can be done by itself even if you did nothing but that exercise.

This exercise is also great when performing a tabata workout. Tabata method is 20 seconds exercise with 10 seconds rest repeated for only 8 sets total. This doesn't sound like much work But you won't get far with this one to start with unless you go really light. As soon as you put your kettlebell down for a rest you're almost just picking it up again. Great way of training if you're mentally strong (or want to be) and wanna get a load of work done in around four minutes :)

I love to simplify training and training programs. I think you could take this exercise and do 10x10 3-4 times per week for 6 weeks and shed a big load of flab and become stronger and fitter in the process. Hell, you could almost call it 'German Volume Training with kettlebells'


Give it a go! I know if you put the hard work in with this one you'll certainly reap the benefits whatever your sport.

Check out this great example of a kettlebell thruster with a single kettlebell. As I didn't video my own session



For getting into great shape check out my previous article regarding kettlebell circuits

Kettlebell Thruster

CYCLING : SPANIARD CARLOS SASTRE WINS TOUR DE FRANCE 2008

Spanish rider CARLOS SASTRE made his dream come true at theage of 33, to win the Worlds most prized cycling race, the TOUR DEFRANCE 2008. Sastre become the 7th Spaniard to win the race &gives the Tour a "Spanish Flavour" for the 3ºrd consecutive year.Behind him finished Australian Evans in 2º place & Kohlin the the3ºposition.But the "party" continues, with another Spaniard winning the Greenjersey

FC BARCELONA SCOTTISH TOUR 2008: WINS DUNDEE UTD 1-5 (SEE VIDEO)

The Messi Show - 3 goals

Minor League Pitcher Charged With Felonious Assault in Brawl

The AP reports that Peoria Chiefs pitcher Julio Castillo will be charged with felonious assault in the aftermath of a brawl between the Chiefs and the Dayton Dragons. Castillo has been arraigned and ordered to give up his passport.

During a bench-clearing brawl (which you can view in its lengthy entirety here or here, Castillo seems to have thrown a baseball towards a member of the opposing team, or perhaps (as some reports suggested, but as the video seems to contradict) towards the opposing team's dugout. The baseball went into the stands, however, and struck 44-year-old fan Chris McCarthy.

In Ohio, the crime of "felonious assault" requires that a person knowingly cause "serious physical harm to another" or knowingly "cause or attempt to cause physical harm to another . . . by means of a deadly weapon or dangerous ordnance." The fan here was released from the hospital that night, so it would not seem that we have a case of "serious" physical harm. Instead, what the prosecutor must be thinking is that a baseball, at least in the hands of a single-A pitcher, constitutes a deadly weapon.

"This charge is a result of outlandish and inexcusable conduct by a professional baseball player," Montgomery County Prosecutor Mathias Heck Jr. said in a statement.

Perhaps true. But there are numerous examples of inexcusable conduct during bench-clearing brawls that don't lead to criminal charges. What is obviously different here is that a fan got bloodied.

For a discussion of criminal liability for on-field behavior, see Greg's posts here and here.

OLYMPIQUE LYON THINK ABOUT SAMUEL ETO´O

Local dailys like "Marca, As & Sport"give the news that FrenchChampions OLYMPIQUE LYON are thinking about FCBARCELONA forward SAMUEL ETO´O.It´s published that Lyon President Jean-Michel Aulas will make an offerif his Coach Claude Puel asks for the player. The only doubt is Eto´o´shigh salary, which may unbalance the dressing room equilibruim.However, Barcelona based paper "Sport" goes further &

Kettlebell Circuit Training

Kettlebell Circuit Training

Kettlebells lend themselves very well to circuit training.

Put a kettlebell or 2 in front of you, swing them, go sprint, walk back, snatch them, sprint, bear crawl back, press them, sprint, jog back, turkish get up with a kettlebell....... and so on and so on.....and you've devised a really simple and really effective kettlebell circuit that will send your GPP through the roof.

As a general rule for any circuit I use the following time scheduling.

Choose between 6-10 exercise (try to follow a format which allows rest for body part between exercises)
i.e
Single kettlebell squat, kettlebell press, turkish get up, kettlebell snatch
Don't forget it's also ok to put bodyweight exercises in the mix.

20-20-20 (20sec on 20 seconds off) for 3 sets (20-20-20) with 3 mins between sets
20-30-20 (30sec on 30 seconds off) for 3 sets (20-30-20) with 3 mins between sets
20-20-30-20
20-30-30-20
20-30-30-30

At this point you could introduce shorter recovery periods for a month and then active recovery such as running, short sprints, step or hill runs.

Just make sure you start off light and build up the intensity gradually over a period of weeks and months. This type of circuit could be performed twice weekly depending on the fitness requirements of your sport. Or if your sport demands more technical ability then once weekly in the off season would suffice.

As a great example of what can be done as a stand alone kettlebell circuit training session check out this video of Nick Jasken performing a medley of kettlebell exercises.

Very impressive video with some really good music.




For extra info check out Outdoor Circuits from Kettlebells.org.uk for extra reading


Kettlebell Circuit Training

REAL MADRID & CRISTIANO RONALDO - THE EUROPEAN DOMINO EFFECT

Spanish Sports daily "AS" has put together an interesting theory thatstipulates that European Football is stalled & awaiting a conclusionto the REAL MADRID - CRISTIANO RONALDO "Operation".The daily comments that if Ronaldo goes to Madrid, the effect willunleash a "chain reaction" ( dominio effect) of transfers throughoutEuropean Football.Here is the "AS" theory:If Cristiano Ronaldo signs for Real

Hip and Back Training with Kettlebells

Hip and Back Training with Kettlebells

After my recent article on Kettlebell Swinging

I have posted a video demonstration of the Double Kettlebell Sumo Swing

Check it out



This movement is fantastic for building power in the hips and lower back as it isolates these areas to a point because of the limited movement from the legs.

I usually work up to this exercise with single kettlebell swings (inside the legs and then outside) and then up from the lighter weights to 40kg each hand.

Testimony of Expert Witness for Hamburg Almost Leads to a Mistrial

SportsBusiness Journal's Daniel Kaplan reports that during the ATP-Hamburg trial yesterday, one of Hamburg's expert witnesses, sports economist Andrew Zimbalist, took with him to the witness stand a 17-page document on which he apparently based his testimony, even though witnesses are not allowed to bring notes up to the stand (Zimbalist Testimony Almost Results in Mistrial in ATP-Hamburg Trial, 7/24/08, subscription only). His appearance was halted once it was noticed, after 90 minutes of testimony. According to Kaplan, a transcript indicates that Hamburg lawyer Rob MacGill informed the judge that he had told Zimbalist yesterday morning not to bring the outline and that the outline was prepared in conjunction with MacGill.

There are two problems here. First, apparently the outline was not disclosed to ATP's counsel. Second, an expert witness' opinion must be his own opinion -- if he is testifying on the stand from the lawyer's outline, then he is merely parroting the lawyer's opinion. Kaplan notes that at one point during his testimony, Zimbalist corrected MacGill and asked him if he asked the right question. The ATP called for a mistrial and the judge dismissed the jury at noon, at least five hours early. The judge said he would consider striking the testimony from the record and told the lawyers after discussing the issue, “Well, I have seen it all.”

Who would have thought that an antitrust case could bring such Matlock-type excitement....

REAL MADRID 2008: DAVID VILLA = PLAN B = 40,000,000€

REAL MADRID is seeing how its aim to sign Manchester Unitedplayer Cristiano Ronaldo is slowing & getting even more difficult.This has prompted the Club to elaborate a PLAN B , according to"Marca".That Plan B is VALENCIA CF palyer DAVID VILLA, & his Clubhas put a price: 40M€. That´s the price that Valencia will at least sitdown & listen.The advantage that Real Madrid has is that Valencia is in

Fantasy Football Rankings: Quarterback

I just had my first draft a couple of days ago, and I've got a couple more in the next week, so with me compiling my personal fantasy football rankings, I figured it would be good to post them here. Not to sound vain, but I've had success in the past with fantasy football. But like the stock market, past performance does not guarantee future returns, so take these rankings for what they're worth.

1. Tom Brady
Duh. Maybe he can't match last year's numbers (right?), but all of the main weapons are still in place, meaning more big numbers for Brady.
2. Peyton Manning
3. Tony Romo
4. Drew Brees
Add in Jeremy Shockey and a healthy Robert Meachem, and the passing game should be even more dangerous. The Saints threw the ball more than anyone else last year, and while they might try to be a little more balanced this time around, Brees will have the ball in his hands quite often.
5. Carson Palmer
6. Ben Roethlisberger
7. Derek Anderson
Continued pressure from Brady Quinn will force Anderson to play at a high level. It doesn't hurt that the Browns added big play guy Donte' Stallworth to receiving threats Kellen Winslow and Braylon Edwards. The Browns are a trendy pick in the AFC North - the passing game is the reason why.
8. Matt Hasselbeck
9. Jay Cutler
Physically, he's one of the most gifted QBs in the game. If a second receiver can step up, he can potentially be a top 5 QB.
10. Donovan McNabb
11. Marc Bulger
12. David Garrard
Has a lower ceiling than some guys below him, but also a lower floor. You know what you get with him... he'll make some plays, take care of the ball, and get you a TD or two a game.
13. Eli Manning
14. Matt Schaub
15. Jake Delhomme
Reports are that he's healthy, and he put up pretty good numbers last year when that was the case. Top threat Steve Smith is still there, and that makes Delhomme a legitimate threat as long as he's healthy.
16. Philip Rivers
17. Aaron Rodgers
Pressure will be on, but having good receivers helps. And Donald Driver, Greg Jennings, James Jones, and Jordy Nelson is a pretty nice top 4.
18. Jason Campbell
19. Jon Kitna
20. Matt Leinart
Looks like he's the starter. For now.
21. Vince Young
22. Tarvaris Jackson
23. Jeff Garcia
24. Alex Smith
If he gets the starting nod and if he grasps Mike Martz' offense, he could be a legitimate fantasy threat. But I'm not holding my breath.
25. JaMarcus Russell
26. Trent Edwards
27. Kurt Warner
We know what he can do. If he plays.
28. Rex Grossman
29. Shaun Hill
30. Brodie Croyle
There is something to be said about being the undisputed starter, I guess. But still, if you're in any type of position where you need to rely on Brodie, my condolences.

Your thoughts? What do your rankings at the top look like?

Aaron Zelinsky's "Let Iraq Play"

We received an excellent submission from Aaron Zelinsky, a rising 2L at Yale Law School, concerning today's IOC decision to ban Iraq from Olympic participation.

* * *

Let Iraq Play

After months of public outcry, with the Olympics mere weeks away, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) took dramatic action. Its principled stand: banning seven Iraqi athletes from the 2008 Summer Games.

The IOC ban was unnecessary, counterproductive, and hypocritical. The IOC should reverse its decision and allow Iraq's seven Olympic athletes to compete.

The IOC banned the Iraqi delegation under section 28(9) of the Olympic Charter, which authorizes sanction when “any governmental or other body causes the activity of the [National Olympic Committee] or the making or expression of its will to be hampered.” Iraq's Olympic Crime: Prime Minister Maliki disbanded the Iraq National Olympic Committee in May and appointed an interim committee, alleging corruption and vote stealing.

The IOC ban is unnecessary. The Olympic Charter does not proscribe automatic suspension for governmental interference with a National Olympic Committee (NOC). Rather, section 28(9) declares that the IOC executive board “may take any appropriate decisions for the protection of the Olympic Movement in the country of an NOC.” The draconian club of disqualification is one the IOC wields voluntarily.

The IOC ban is counterproductive. Banning Iraq will hardly lead to the “protection of the Olympic Movement” in Iraq, as called for by the Olympic Charter. Rather, it will likely further discourage athletes and fans. The ban is particularly sad in light of the Cinderella-story of the 2004 Iraqi Olympic Soccer Team, which provided one of the few moments of national unity and hope during troubled times.

The IOC ban is hypocritical. The same body that proclaims the need to uphold the “principle of not wanting sports and politics to mix” allowed Uday Hussein to serve as the head of the Iraq National Olympic Committee during his father's dictatorial reign. On Uday's teams, athletic failure -- or early retirement -- was punished with whippings and torture, despite the IOC's commitment to “safeguarding the dignity of the individual.”

If the IOC were truly committed to individual dignity, it would allow the Iraqi athletes to compete, regardless of national bureaucratic squabbling. The IOC should reverse its unnecessary ban and let Iraq play.

Aaron Zelinsky is a member of the Yale Law School Class of 2010

FC BARCELONA SCOTTISH TOUR 2008: HIBERNIAN 0 - FC BARCELONA 6 (SEE VIDEO)

FC BARCELONA started "officially" its pre-season match scheduleagainst Scottish Club HIBERNIAN tonight with a 0-6 victory.The Scottish side - with all due respects - was a "sparring" partnerfor the powerful Barça team.The Barça starting lineup had 4 Barça-B players, plus new comersPique & Dani Alves, as seen in the below picture:(Valdés; Alves, Márquez, Piqué, Córcoles; Víctor Vázquez, Busquets,

IASL Congress on Sports Law

On November 28th and 29th, the International Association of Sports Law (IASL) will be hosting its 14th International Congress on Sports Law in Athens, Greece. Papers on various international sports law topics may be submitted, and selected papers will be announced at the Congress. Some selected papers will be published in the International Sports Law Review. The main theme of this year's Congress is "Sports Law: An Emerging Legal Order; Human Rights of Athletes".

ATLETICO DE MADRID MEXICAN TOUR 2008: ANOTHER DRAW

ATLETICO DE MADRID finished their 4 match tour yesterdaywith a 1-1 draw against TOLUCA DE MEXICO.The Mexicans turned out to be a competitive & very aggresive side, with an excellent defensive line that made things for the Spaniardsdifficult throughtout the whole game. In fact Toluca scored first in the 58th min via PONCE, but LUIS GARCIA headed in the equalizer forAtletico in the 65th min to at

Two Good Links

Eric McErlain of The Sporting News has an extensive article on Russia's nascent Kontinental Hockey League, which may soon rival the NHL in attracting top players, including those from Canada and the United States. Eric considers, among other points, the legal and economic significance of the lack of player transfer agreement between the NHL and the KHL.

JB of Celtics Blog and Celtics Stuff Live has a thoughtful article entitled "Zebraphobia Pt. II" on the NBA referee scandal. JB includes new empirical research on Scott Foster, the NBA referee who spoke often with Tim Donaghy, which suggests that Foster's officiated games had unusual scoring patterns.

FOOTBALL (SOCCER) : IT´S UNIVERSAL

This clip has´nt nothing to do with Spanish Football, but its has to dowith something much wider & important, the global reach of the sportcalled Football (Soccer). Found this video on "Dailymotion" & wasgladly surprised to see none other than the Reggae King - Bob Marley- showing his Football skills. Impressive indeed & indicative of how this sport crosses borders, cultures, languages & all

Where's the Harm to the Consumer?

This week the ATP Tour is in court defending its recently-adopted scheduling format against Hamburg. A jury, who reportedly appears to possess very little knowledge of professional tennis, will soon determine whether the anticompetitive effects of the ATP's scheduling changes for 2009 outweigh its procompetitive effects. I have maintained the position that it is pretty much a given that the decisions of sport governing bodies, such as the ATP, PGA and LPGA, regarding scheduling of events, format of play and player ranking systems are necessarily going to impact third parties (e.g. tournaments like Hamburg that are not selected as one of the "elite tournaments"). Should these governing bodies be required to defend the reasonableness of their decisions in court each time some third party claims to be disadvantaged by one of their decisions? Even if the ATP wins this case, they had to spend gobs of time and resources proving that the scheduling change was reasonable and they will be subject to suit by the next disgruntled third party challenging a different rule or decision.

On the surface, the ATP-Hamburg case looks like a classic antitrust problem breaking every rule in the antitrust book -- Simply stated, you have producers of a product (tennis players) agreeing with certain distributors of the product (the tournament organizers) to place various geographic and supply restrictions on the production and distribution of that product. But when you go beyond the surface, the pertinent question for the jury in this case, as in any antitrust lawsuit, is not whether Hamburg has been harmed but whether the consumer has been harmed. Typically in other industries, these types of arrangements drive the price up and the quality down resulting in obvious harm to the consumer. But the ATP is not selling widgets. While I have no idea how the ATP's scheduling changes affect the price of tennis for the consumer, I can say fairly confidently that the quality of the tennis product is much better if the top players are playing against each other in a consolidated number of tournaments each year.

Bloomberg News editor John Helyar, the renowned author of The Lords of the Realm: The Real History of Baseball and co-author of Barbarians at the Gate, wrote an excellent column today discussing many of the problems currently confronting the sport of tennis (Tiger Woods's Knee Ends ATP's Federer-Nadal Dream). Helyar mentions the Hamburg suit and pinpoints what I believe to be a major hurdle for Hamburg, and that is demonstrating how the ATP's scheduling changes actually harm the consumer. Indeed, if anything they benefit the consumer:

The past two weeks make a good case study in the ATP's chronic problem: too many tournaments -- eight of them in seven countries in two weeks -- with too few stars. Casual fans can't make sense of it and can't sustain interest in it. Too much of a geographical challenge; too much of a "Where's Waldo'' aspect to it.

....

Moreover, all these scattered, simultaneous tournaments dilute the game's thin supply of stars and diffuse the sport's focus. Tennis needs more of its stars in the same tournaments -- hell, on the same continent would help.

....

The Rogers Cup gets the top players because it's one of nine ATP "Masters Series'' tournaments. These carry added weight in the ATP points system, which is used to determine which eight players make the rich ($4.45 million) season-ending Tennis Masters Cup. The ATP changes would build on that concept. The tour would mandate that top players compete in all the top-tier events, to be called the Masters 1000s. It would also create a more compelling second tier of tournaments, called Masters 500s and require that players compete in four of the 11 of them. So instead of players scattering to tournaments all over Europe following Wimbledon, more of them would be aggregated in one Masters 500 tournament in Hamburg. Suffice it to say, however, Hamburg is not honored.

If Hamburg is right in this case, it threatens the ATP's existence and could in fact ultimately destroy it. Is that good for tennis? And is that good for the consumer?

FC BARCELONA 2008: THIERRY HENRY "PUMPED" FOR 2008/2009

From Scotland (St.Andrews) FC BARCELONA French Internationalforward THIERRY HENRY has spoken to the media to give hisopinions about the upcoming new season. The Frenchmen took sometime out of his pre-season training to lift the hopes of Barça fans &Football lovers Worldwide.The most notable statement from Henry was the following:"Playing badly, I scored 19 goals last season".If you think about it

SAMUEL ETO´O TO REAL MADRID?

So much hype weeks back with Tottenham, AC Milan, Inter Milan,Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Valencia... to see now how FCBARCELONA forward SAMUEL ETO´O has no real firm offers.The forward is doing pre-season with Barça at Scotland because histeam cannot find him a Club to go to that satisfies them or the player.Sources say that the high tranfer price tag of 50M€ scared off Clubs, added with his

Top Twenty

Paul Caron of TaxProf released his ranking of the Top 35 law-prof-edited blogs, by visitors and page views. Sports Law Blog was number 20, with more than 304,000 visitors and more than 512,000 page views from June 2007 until June 2008.

Thanks to all of you for helping to make this site successful and fun.

NY Times Story on ATP Antitrust Lawsuit

Michael Brick of the New York Times interviews Geoff for a story today on the ATP lawsuit. The story is excerpted below.

* * *

The antitrust lawsuit in United States District Court promises to reveal financial arrangements of a plan known as Brave New World, an effort by the ATP Tour to reinvigorate the sport.

The jurors, selected from a group of three dozen candidates who displayed little awareness of professional tennis, listened attentively as lawyers for a German tournament promoter argued the legal backwaters of civil antitrust law.

“The ATP knew that if it controlled the player-services market, it controlled everything in tennis,” Robert D. MacGill [of Barnes & Thornburg], a lawyer for the Germans, said in his opening statement. “It’s as simple as if you don’t have players, you don’t have a tournament.”

A lawyer for the ATP Tour, Brad Ruskin [of Proskauer Rose], disputed those accusations. “What they’re asking for is special protections, and what they’re hypocritically complaining about in this case is the very types of rules, the very types of structures they have advocated,” he said.

In court documents, the German Tennis Federation has accused the ATP Tour of unfairly manipulating the control of star players to steer money to favored tournaments at the expense of promoters in Hamburg.

The Germans are seeking $77 million in damages. Financial damages in antitrust cases are often tripled.

The outcome of the trial, expected to last two weeks, will probably affect individual sports like golf and skiing that do not feature organized teams and collective bargaining agreements, experts said. The ATP comprises tournament promoters and players.

“This case is going to tell us a lot about how powerful these individual tour sponsors are going to be in the future,” Geoffrey Rapp, an associate professor of sports law and antitrust at the University of Toledo, said in a telephone interview.

* * *

For the rest of the story, click here.

CARTOON HUMOUR: REAL MADRID & ROBINHO

Nothing like some "sarcastic" humour from Barcelona to stick thefinger into the old arch rival REAL MADRID. From the CatalanSports daily "Sport" & its cartoon section, "Futbolitis" come this piecededicated to Madrid player ROBINHO & his daily flirts with ChelseaFC & his "loyalty" to Madrid.Translated literally:1º image : " I wish to leave Madrid"2º image : " I expect to stay at Madrid for a long

ATLETICO DE MADRID TRANSFER RUMOUR QUICKIES 2008

According to news from Portugues paper "O Jogo", PortuguesInternational & JUVENTUS midfielder THIAGO is back onthe ATLETICO DE MADRID agenda. The paper cites that only1M€ seperates both Clubs from shutting the deal ( Juventus asks for 12M€ & Atletico wishes to pay 11M€). Stay tuned!News from local Sports daily "AS" says that VALENCIA CF maybeabout to make an offer to ATLETICO DE MADRID for its

Catching Up with Some Links

I've been meaning to post on these stories, hope you have a chance to check them out:

~ USA Today's Douglas Robson interviews Rick and me for his story on the ATP antitrust lawsuit, the trial for which began today in the U.S. District Court in Wilmington, Delaware.

~ The Tennessean's John Glennon examines the legal issues surrounding Nashville Predators' forward Alexander Radulov, who is signed to play for the Predators next season, but recently signed a three-year deal with Salavat Yulaev Ufa of Russia’s Continental Hockey League. The Predators' are weighing their legal options.

~ Jason Chung has a thought-provoking post on The Situationist on whether the Beijing Summer Olympics will bridge political differences between countries in conflict with one another.

~ I have a new SI.com column on Congress becoming more interested in the Tim Donaghy/NBA referee betting scandal in the wake of learning that Donaghy repeatedly called another referee, Scott Foster, before and after games which Donaghy bet on.

~ Darren Heitner of Sports Agent Blog has a really good piece on Brandon Jennings (photo above), the high school senior who's decided to skip college and go play in Italy, signing a multi-million, multi-year deal to play for Pallacanestro Virtus Roma. Marc Isenberg of Money Players also has a thoughtful piece on Jennings deciding to earn income for the required one-year following high school in order to be eligible for the NBA draft (Jennings will apparently stay in Italy for more than one year, which may in part explain why the Italian team was willing to pay him so much).

I've argued against the NBA's age limit many times--since 2005, eligibility for the NBA draft requires that an amateur player of American origin be at least 19 years old on December 31 of the year of the NBA draft and that at least one NBA season must have passed from when he graduated from high school, or when he would have graduated from high school, and the NBA draft. Jennings, however, could be the start of a new trend where star players right out of high school go to Europe and make a lot of money and then later come back to the U.S. and be eligible for the NBA draft -- presumably with a lot of money already in the bank, much like many of the international players who now join the NBA (to illustrate: Knicks' 2008 first round pick Danilo Gallinari, who is 19-years old and has played pro basketball in Italy since he was 15, has already earned millions in both basketball income and endorsement income).

So imagine you are 18-years old and are an NBA prospect. What would sound better for one year (after which you would be eligible for the NBA draft):

1) earning a ton of money to play basketball in Rome or another European city; or

2) earning no money, but getting to live in the U.S. and enjoy the college experience while playing for Georgetown or Duke or the like?

I could see why some players would elect to stay in the U.S. Being the "big man on campus" plus being closer to home and closer to the U.S. media would have their advantages. But it must be tough to pass up all that money in Europe, especially given the ever-present risk of getting injured and no longer attracting the notice of NBA scouts. Plus living in Rome (or Barcelona or Athens etc.) would probably be a lot of fun and a good cultural experience.

REAL MADRID: CANNAVARO WILL LEAVE AT THE END OF THE 2008/2009 SEASON

According to an interview given by Gaetano Fedele, representativeof Italian International & REAL MADRID defender FABIO CANNAVARO, to Italian radio "Kiss Kiss", this will be the last season that his player will play for Madrid.Cannavaro will finish his 3 year contract with Real Madrid thisseason & his dream is to return & end his Football carreer at theClub where he started it all, NAPOLES.Real

SEVILLA FC 2008: FERNANDO NAVARRO PRESENTED AS NEW PLAYER

SEVILLA FC has finally presented its new defender & substitutefor the departed Dani Alves, FERNANDO NAVARRO that comesfrom REAL MALLORCA.The Spanish International defender signs for the next 5 years & promises to fill the gap left open by the departure of the Brazilianto FC Barcelona. Fernando Navarro costs the club 5M€ which isconsidered economical , by SFS standards at least, as he is

Third Circuit Vacates 'Wardrobe Malfunction' Fine

In a long-awaited and hardly surprising ruling, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit threw out the Federal Communication Commission's $550,000 fine against CBS for the now-infamous Janet Jackson-Justin Timberlake breast-bearing (all 9/16 of a second) 2004 Super Bowl halftime show. In language echoing a Second Circuit ruling in FCC v. Fox over one year ago, this panel, concluded that the FCC's actions in imposing a fine for a fleeting incident was arbitrary and capricious. For the text of the ruling click here. [Before I go on, I want to give full disclosure: my wife works in the legal department of CBS, but was not involved in this litigation.]

It never ceases to amaze me how the Commission could make the arguments it made with a straight face. After 30 years of interpreting "indecency" as encompassing consistent patterns of conduct or language, the FCC argued that by February 1, 2004 (the date of the Halftime Show), a broadcaster in CBS’s position should have known that even isolated or fleeting indecent material in programming could be actionable." How could it? The official change in FCC's policy came a few weeks later on March 3rd.

Chief Judge Scirica, writing for the panel, slapped the FCC down for relying on a single sentence in a 2001 policy statement to justify the single, isolated event as indecent "standard", which noted that "[E]ven relatively fleeting references may be found indecent where other factors contribute to a finding of patent offensiveness.” Noting that it took the sentence out of context, Judge Scirica found that the term "relatively fleeting" is not the same as one isolated incident to trigger indecency fines. Then, as if the court was lecturing a wayward student, it stated: "While an agency’s interpretation of its own precedent is entitled to deference,” . . . deference is inappropriate where the agency’s proffered interpretation is capricious. Until its Golden Globes decision in March of 2004, the FCC’s policy was to exempt fleeting or isolated material from the scope of actionable indecency. Because CBS broadcasted the Halftime Show prior to [the introduction of the fleeting expletive standard] this was the policy in effect when the incident with Jackson and Timberlake occurred."

The court also addressed a secondary argument, that the indecency policies may differ between words and actions -- something never claimed by the commission. "In the nearly three decades between the Supreme Court’s ruling in [FCC v] Pacifica and CBS’s broadcast of the Halftime Show the FCC had never varied its approach to indecency regulation based on the format of broadcasted content. Instead, the FCC consistently applied identical standards and engaged in
identical analyses when reviewing complaints of potential indecency whether the complaints were based on words or images," Judge Scirica stated. The court also pointed out to the enabling statute, 18 U.S.C. 1464, does not make any differentiation between words and actions.

To add more to the mix, the court stated that the arbitrariness of the standard were not enough to reject the fine, it noted that CBS should not be responsible for performers operating at a live event beyond its control. The FCC claimed vicarious liability under the doctrine of respondeat superior, but the court, properly questioned how could an employment law concept be applied to independent contractors under no control or supervision of CBS. After an exhaustive review of the question of whether federal law applies to this question, the court concluded that "CBS’s actual control over the Halftime Show performances did not extend to all aspects of the performers’ work. The performers, not CBS, provided their own choreography and retained substantial latitude to develop the visual performances that would accompany their songs. . . . [and] but the performers retained discretion to make those choices in the first instance. . . " Therefore, the performers were considered independent contractors.

With the FCC v. Fox case scheduled for argument in the Supreme Court, I wonder if the FCC will seek a petition for certiorari in this case. If its does, there is a possibility for the court may consolidate both this case and the Fox case for determination next year.

One hopes that this indecency crusade may be rendered moot either by a Supreme Court ruling or a new FCC in the next administration.

SPANISH FOOTBALL NEWS 2008: ROBINHO & LUIS FABIANO RENEW CONTRACTS

Spanish daily "Marca" advance that REAL MADRID Brazilianforward ROBINHO will renew his contract with the Club another5 years which will double his salary to 3M€/season. This is a reactionfrom Madrid to the calls of English Club Chelsea FC & their offersto sign the player.However, there is a catch as said here at SFS, Robinho´s future istied directly with Cristiano Ronaldo. If Real Madrid manage

Valantin Dikul Steel Ball Rolling

Valantin Dikul Steel Ball Rolling

Although this post isn't related to kettlebells I really wanted to share it with you.

This video is of Valantin Dikul rolling steel balls around his chest and flipping it behind his head like a it's a football. Truly amazing. After seeing the 180lb kettlebell flips I was truy amazed this is incredible too.




Please also check out the powerlifting video of Valantin Where he squats 450kg, benches 260kg and deadlifts 460kg. After scanning around everyone seems sceptical of the weights lifted as the deadlift would be a world powerlifting record.




Valantin Dikul

Check 'em out and see for yourself

ATLETICO DE MADRID MEXICAN TOUR 2008: FIRST GOALS AGAINST TIGRES (SEE VIDEOS)

ATLETICO DE MADRID continue with their Mexican Tour &played their third game against the TIGERS. A game that broughtthe Spaniards their first goals via JOHN HEITINGA with a headerin the 58th min & via DIEGO FORLAN in the 62th min to put them0-2 ahead.However, the tiredness & the constant changes in the team lineup gavethe Mexicans the opportunities to get back & draw the match thanks toPEREZ in

Valantin Dikul

Valantin Dikul

I recently found a video of Valantin Dikul Powerlifting on Youtube.
The weights he lifted were:

Bench 260kg = 572lb

Deadlift 460kg = 1012lb

Squat 450kg = 990lb

Video of this here

After digging a bit deeper I found the video below.

The kettlebells are reportedly 180lb. Yes that's right 180lb. Judging by what he can lift with the powerlifting moves this is no suprise. But in his late fifties when he did it. WOW! Just shows there's no reason not to keep on getting stronger or at least maintaining it as we get older.

Also, I found a great bio on Valantin Dikul here. Reporting how he broke his back in 1962. Maybe this is the original bionic man.

It has certainly inspired me.

I hope you enjoy





Valantin Dikul

New Sports Law Scholarship

Recently published scholarship:

Robert Ambrose, Note, The NFL makes it rain: through strict enforcement of its conduct policy, the NFL protects its integrity, wealth, and popularity, 34 WILLIAM MITCHELL LAW REVIEW 1069 (2008)

Robert M. Bernhard, Comment, MLS’ designated player rule: has David Beckham single-handedly destroyed Major League Soccer’s single-entity antitrust defense?, 18 MARQUETTE SPORTS LAW REVIEW 413 (2008)

Michael E. Buchwald, Comment, Sexual harassment in education and student athletics: a case for why Title IX sexual harassment jurisprudence should develop independently of Title VII, 67 MARYLAND LAW REVIEW 672 (2008)

Paul Caprara, Comment, Surf’s up: the implications of tort liability in the unregulated sport of surfing, 44 CALIFORNIA WESTERN LAW REVIEW 557 (2008)

Phyllis Coleman, Scuba diving buddies: rights, obligations, and liabilities, 20 U.S.F. MARITIME LAW JOURNAL 75 (2007-08)

Brian Craddock., Casenote, Signed, your coach: restricting speech in athletic recruiting in TSSAA v. Brentwood Academy, 59 Mercer L. Rev. 1027 (2008)

andré douglas pond cummings, Progress realized?: the continuing American Indian mascot quandary, 18 MARQUETTE SPORTS LAW REVIEW 309 (2008)

David J. Espin, Book review of Chris Lincoln, Playing the Game: Inside Athletic Recruiting in the Ivy League, 18 MARQUETTE SPORTS LAW REVIEW 445 (2008).

Stacey B. Evans, Note, Whose stats are they anyway? Analyzing the battle between Major League Baseball and fantasy game sites, 9 TEXAS REVIEW OF ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS LAW 335 (2008)

Jeremy J. Geisel, Book review of Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, Game of Shadows, 18 MARQUETTE SPORTS LAW REVIEW 437 (2008)

Aaron S. Glass, 2007 Annual Survey: Recent Developments in Sports Law, 18 MARQUETTE SPORTS LAW REVIEW 341 (2008)

Jeffrey P. Gleason, Comment, From Russia with love: the legal repercussions of the recruitment and contracting of foreign players in the National Hockey League, 56 BUFFALO LAW REVIEW 599 (2008)

Nathaniel Grow, A proper analysis of the National Football League under section one of the Sherman Act, 9 TEXAS REVIEW OF ENTERTAINMENT AND SPORTS LAW 281 (2008)

Spencer H. Larche, Comment, Pink-shirting: should the NCAA consider a maternity and paternity waiver?, 18 MARQUETTE SPORTS LAW REVIEW 393-411 (2008).

Daniel J. Louis, Note, Nationally televised segregation: the NCAA’s inability to desegregate college football’s head coaching position, 9 RUTGERS RACE & THE LAW REVIEW 167 (2007)

Alfred Dennis Mathewson, A sports seminar with a free agent market exercise, 18 MARQUETTE SPORTS LAW REVIEW 337 (2008)

Michael J. Mellis, Internet piracy of live sports telecasts, 18 MARQUETTE SPORTS LAW REVIEW 259 (2008)

Jack N. E. Pitts, Jr., Comment, Why wait?: an antitrust analysis of the National Football League and National Basketball Association’s draft eligibility rules, 51 HOWARD LAW JOURNAL 433 (2008)

Ryan M. Rodenberg, Book review of Ward Farnsworth, The Legal Analyst: A Toolkit for Thinking About the Law, 18 MARQUETTE SPORTS LAW REVIEW 433 (2008)

C. Paul Rogers, The quest for number one in college football: the revised Bowl Championship Series, antitrust, and the winner take all syndrome, 18 MARQUETTE SPORTS LAW REVIEW 285 (2008)

Martin M. Tomlinson, The commissioner’s new clothes: the myth of Major League Baseball’s antitrust exemption, 20 ST. THOMAS LAW REVIEW 255 (2008)

REAL MADRID TRANSFER NEWS 2008: CRISTIANO RONALDO & JULIO BAPTISTA

Last Monday in the Portugues city of Sintra (close to Lisbon)MANCHESTER UNITED Coach Ferguson met his Portuguesstar CRISTIANO RONALDO to convience him to stay &forget about the REAL MADRID sirens.According to "AS" & other similiar sources, Ronaldo made it clear that his desire was to leave the Club & play for RealMadrid. The response from the Scotsman was that he wouldaccept a transfer to any

FC BARCELONA RETURN TO TALKS WITH DIDIER DROGBA

Another on-off summer story that has CHELSEA FC 30 year oldforward DIDIER DROGBA at numerous clubs at the sametime.The Ivory Coast player wishes to breathe new air & play elsewhere, his name has be associated with Real Madrid, Inter Milan, AC Milan& FC Barcelona & it´s with that latter that Drogba comes back to theforefront of the news & transfer rumours.According to Spanish sports paper "Mundo

Kettlebell Swingers Club

Kettlebell Swingers Club

Ok I'm not talking about that kind of swingers club!

I'm talking about the Kettlebell Swing It's probably the most common kettlebell exercise there is. There is a good reason why you should be doing it. Today I'll be talking about the least talked about swing movement, the 'Two Hands Kettlebell Swing'

This exercise brings into play just about every muscle group in your legs and back not to mention others aswell. The two hands swing gets you from all angles. Hitting your power, flexibility and cardio all in a major way.

In a previous post (here)
I tagged a video of some old style Olympc lifting. Check the video out and watch out for the two handed kettlebell swing. Athletes have been using this exercise for years with great reults.

To enhance this superb exercise don't forget to sit low at the bottom, work on 'hip snap' on the way back up and for extra difficulty instead of going to eye level, shoot the kettlebell all the way above your head and hold for a second before commencing the second rep.

To add another degree of difficulty use 2 kettlebell instead of one. Check out my recent article on swinging for details of this here.


Kettlebell Swingers Club

TRANSFERS 2008: FC BARCELONA ASKS FOR ROBINHO

Wagner Ribeiro, representaive of REAL MADRID BrazilianInternational ROBINHO, has let known to the media that RealMadrid has a "big" offer from Chelsea FC & that a FCBARCELONA Directive has called him to ask for the situation ofhis player.This has exploded in the local sports papers (marca, as, mundodeportivo...) as it concerns the "old enemy" & transfers to theeternal rival are controversial &

U/19 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS 2008: SPAIN ELIMINATED

Two time consecutive European U/19 Champions SPAIN have been eliminated from this years tournament after losing 0-1 toHUNGARY. Spain needed to win their Group A match today afterlosing after Germany 1-0 in the group opener.Hungary took it´s chances after the Spanish defence made a series ofmistakes that allowed NAGY to score in the 70th min. Spain had achance to draw via Emilio, but he failed

SEVILLA FC NEWS 2008: SEBASTIAN SQUILLACI SIGNS FOR 4 YEARS

Spanish Club SEVILLA FC have tthemselves a formable newdefender, it´s LYON & French International SEBASTIANSQUILLACI after signning for 4 years. The Frenchmen was presented to the Spanish media today alongside Sevilla directives.The 28 year old of Italian origin comes to strenghen the defence afterAlves went to Barça & injuries last year left the backline without areliable substitute to fill the

Max Mosley's S&M Escape Leads to Privacy Lawsuit

You have to give Max Mosley, the President of the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), credit for fighting back. After secretly-recorded videos revealed him in a sado-masochistic role-play with five women (paid about $5,000 in cash for a five-hour session), he has decided to sue and hold on to his position at the helm of the organization.

The tape was given to "News of the World" an English tabloid newspaper which makes its business publishing gossip and celebrity stories. According to the Sydney (Australia) Daily Herald, the week before its Mosley story, the News Of The World published photographs of a Premier League football club manager indulging in consensual sex with an adult woman six years earlier. The Mosley video showed him counting in German — “Eins! Zwei! Drei! Vier! Funf!” — as he used a leather strap to lash one of the women. “She needs more of ze punishment!” he cried in German-accented English. One woman appeared to search his hair for lice while another called off items on an inspection list. Mr. Mosley, naked, was bound face-down and lashed more than 20 times. More background is found in the New York Times article here. One of the women had a hidden camera and did the taping. The News of the World article is found here and is worth a read to put the case into context. The video is found here.

The FIA is the international governing body for international motorsports, including Formula-1 racing. Like many leads of international sports organizations, Mosley wields considerable power. Since there are no team owners or players representatives to create and checks and balances system, Mosley and others in his position often have control over sponsorships, schedules and sanctions (although there is an appeals process in the FIA rules). Also, like many of his brethren in other such organizations, he is not universally loved and lives baronially. Commuting in the FIA's £15million executive jet between his homes in London and Monaco, is not going to make him a man of the common folk.

That could be one reason that the video resonated strong reactions by the larger participants. Shortly after it was broadcast (portions available on the Internet), four of FIA's leading participants --Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Toyota and Honda - demanded his removal. Also F.I.A.-national governing such as the American Automobile Association and its German counterpart, sought his exit. It is natural that German auto makers and organizations would want him out, given their historical issues. However, another reason - family background - looms large over this issue. Mosley is the son of Sir Oswald Mosley and Diana Mitford, two card-carrying fascists (he headed the British Union of Fascists) and Hitler admirers who were marred in the dictator's presence. Although it may be unfair to have to carry this baggage, it is part of his identity. Even though he may not carry the views of his parents, an S&M video of allegedly "Nazi-type" activities casts a wide shadow over him.

Mosley fought back by retaining his position and control (his term ends next year) with the help of smaller national bodies. Then he filed a lawsuit against the newspaper based on violation of his privacy rights. The case is currently being heard in London. An earlier attempt at a prior restraint against the newspaper to prevent distribution of the video was defeated, since it was already widely available. However, things seems to be going Mosley's way during the trial. The woman (identified as "Woman E") failed to testify because of her "emotional and mental state." The other women denied that the ritual was "Nazi" refuting the lurid tabloid headline by the News of the World (and other tabloids, to be sure). I will leave it to readers to decide the level of Nazism found in the activity.

English law is more sympathetic to privacy claims by public figures than in the United States, which gives more protection to the press under the First Amendment. Yet, he could win here as well, although the First Amendment creates a more difficult barrier. In the United States, a case could be brought on one of two privacy claims, intrusion or embarrassing private facts. Intrusion requires that the plaintiff have a reasonable expectation of seclusion and that this seclusion is intentionally invaded in a manner highly offensive to a reasonable person. In the U.S., this is a normally a jury question, but many cases involve non-public figures. Technically, a public figure (such as Mosley) is treated the same as a non-public figure, but given his status and family background, a jury may not be as sympathetic.

Embarrassing private facts concerns the publication of truthful information concerning the private life of a person that would be both highly offensive to a reasonable person and not of legitimate public concern is an invasion of privacy in a number of states. Liability often is determined by how the information was obtained and its newsworthiness. Here, too, a jury would decide whether Mosley's notoriety outweighs the private activity. But the issue of newsworthiness comes to play. Is this so newsworthy as to trump those rights? It would be an crucial question.

The ruling should come down quite soon in the Mosley case and a number of articles I read cite legal experts who think it could set an important precedent. However, in addition to the fascinating law questions (I can't hardly wait to make this a moot court case for my class), there are ethical and business issues as well. Is all this relevant to Mosley's role at FIA? Or, given its high-profile, should Mosley be dismissed for such conduct, if it would hurt the business of auto racing and harm his relationship with sponsors and affiliates? And if so, what damages should News of the World pay?

SAMUEL ETO´O & INTER MILAN TALKING?

Spanish sports daily "Mundo Deportivo" inform that FCBARCELONA forward SAMUEL ETO´O & INTER MILAN arein "silent" negotiations & hint that both maybe getting close to a transfer agreement.Inter Milan Coach Mourinho has never hidden his admiration forthe Barça forward & FC Barcelona has already said on many occasions that they do not count with Eto´o. Saty tuned!

ATLETICO DE MADRID MEXICAN TOUR 2008 - SECOND DEFEAT

ATLETICO DE MADRID experienced their second defeat yesterdayin their Mexican pre-season Tour. The Spanish team went down 1-0to Mexican Club CRUZ AZUL in the 7th min when new Atleticokeeper COUPET made a mistake & allowed Edgar Andrade to score.Atletico gave a run to all its stars & new signnings, & were unlucky tonot score. It´s early days & the team continues to get to know eachother (specially

Kettlebells for Bodybuilding

Kettlebells for Bodybuilding

My idea of bodybuilding is using compound movements (multi joint exercises)as a base for creating the bulk of your body and then padding this out with isolation exercises.

Kettlebells lend themselves very well to compound movements (snatch, swing, squat) and can also be used on the isolation movements too (flyes, curls etc)

There is absolutely no reason not to add in a session or exchange a few sessions a week if you are a bodybuilder. The change in the direction maybe a real boost for you and can often turn stale old workouts into new passion.

As bodybuilding can quite often be higher rep based (6-12) then kettlebells will fit nicely into this rep range but could even be used upto say 20 reps depending what phase you happen to be in.

Recommended exercises for body areas

Legs:

Double/single kettlebell squat, step up to bench, lunge matrix, deep seated swing.

Lower Back:

Swing, waiter bow, windmill, bent press.

Upper back:

Bent over row, renegade row (Mahler style), bent flyes.

Shoulders:

Clean and press, seesaw press, double/single jerk.

You may want to view my previous article regarding mixing trad. weights and kettlebells here

I will not list any exercises for biceps, triceps as these areas get hit sufficiently with many other exercises.

As a starting pointtake a look at your existing routine and try subsitituting the exercises for ones done with kettlebells.
The only trouble you may have is with squats depending on your current standard.

If you've never heard of EDT (escalaitng density training) then you must. Mike Mahler has written a superb article about EDT with Kettlebells Here.

Kettlebells for Bodybuilding

FC BARCELONA TRANSFER NEWS 2008: ALEXANDER HLEB NEW PLAYER

Brazilian Ronaldinho goes to AC Milan & ALEXANDER HLEB comesfrom ARSENAL, that´s how quick FC BARCELONA has operated asit gets its new squad & proyect ready to begin pre-season & set theirsights to conquer all for 2008/2009.Alexander Hleb (see above) flew into Barcelona today to pass thecompulsary medical checks & was presented as the new signningof FC BARCELONA. The deal cost the Club 15M€ + 3M€

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA - THE 2008/2009 SEASON FIXTURE/CALENDAR

Today was the day that the draw was held to set the 2008/2009season fixture for "La Liga". The results are the following:Start - 30th of August 2008; here is the 1ºRound fixture:Athletic - AlmeríaOsasuna - VillarrealDeportivo - Real MadridNumancia - BarcelonaRacing - SevillaSporting - GetafeBetis - RecreativoEspanyol - ValladolidAtlético - MálagaValencia - MallorcaFull details of all 38 Rounds -

REAL ZARAGOZA TRANSFER AIMAR TO BENFICA

Ex - Valencia Cf & now Portugues Club BENFICA Spanish coachQUIQUE SANCHEZ FLORES has managed to get the midfielderdesired over to his new team, Argentine PABLO AIMAR.Sanchez Flores had Aimar under his orders in their Valencia days& now reunite after REAL ZARAGOZA came to an agreement totransfer Aimar to Benfica for a total of 7,5M€ & a 4 year contract.Real Zaragoza has to let go some of its stars

FC BARCELONA: RONALDINHO GOES TO AC MILAN

It´s over & it´s official, FC BARCELONA & AC MILAN have come to an agreement to transfer RONALDINHO to Italy. TheItalian Club rose its offer, as expected, from 15M€ to 21M€ +4M€ in variable terms, that is, 25M€.In the end the Brazilians pressure on Barça & AC Milan willingnessto go further put an end to this long saga that shuts one door &opens another. Now Ronaldinho will be an AC Milan player

SPANISH FOOTBALL: VICENTE DEL BOSQUE NEW SPANISH NATIONAL SIDE SELECTOR.

Known for his tranquil manners, his excellent team building & dressing room ego management, & his love for flowing & ballcontrol Football, VICENTE DEL BOSQUE, ex Real Madrid player& Coach of the "Dream Team (Zidane, Ronaldo, Figo, Beckham,Raul, Hierro...)" that won Liga´s, European, Super & IntercontinentalCups, has been announced as the new Spanish National TeamSelector. The 58 year old takes

REAL MADRID HAS A 60M€ OFFER FOR ROBINHO FROM CHELSEA FC

It´s common knowledge that REAL MADRID Brazilian InternationalROBINHO, via his representative, has met with CHELSEA FC threetimes already. It´s also known that Chelsea coach Scolari insists thathis Club sign the 24 year old forward. Add to this that Robinho is unhappy to know that he may enter into a hypothetical "CristianoRonaldo Operation", plus that Robinho has asked for a doubling of

FC BARCELONA NEWS 2008: THE RONALDINHO DILEMA - AC MILAN OR MANCHESTER CITY

The future of FC BARCELONA Brazilian player RONALDINHOwill be decided in the next hours. FC Barcelona has repeated onvarious occasions that they do not count with the player anymore& are willing to transfer him.The Club has received two offers: MANCHESTER CITY - 30-32M€& AC MILAN - 20M€. Barcelona for obvious reasons prefers theEnglish Club offer, but Ronaldinho desires to play at AC Milan &

U/19 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS 2008: BAD START FOR SPAIN

The U/19 European Championships at the Czech Rep. got underway with GERMANY defeating two time Champions SPAIN2-1 in the opening game of Group A ( other teams Hungary &Bulgaria) with Spains only goal from ALBA.The Germans out played Spain with a better organized team in defence & strenght. The Spaniards controlled the ball but werefrustrated by the "German Wall".After the "Seniors" won the Euro

SEVILLA FC NEWS 2008: POULSEN LEAVES FOR JUVENTUS

CHRISTIAN POULSEN was on the lips of many Clubs: RealMadrid, FC Barcelona..., but its Italian Club JUVENTUS that has won & taken the Danish midfielder from SEVILLA FC.According to local media sources, Sevilla receives 10M€ &Poulsen signs a 4 year contract. The signning of the Dane shuts the Juventus door for Spanish & Liverpool midfielderXavi Alonso. Good luck to Poulsen , we enjoyed his

FC BARCELONA NEWS 2008: 20M€ PLUS ETO´O FOR ADEBAYOR

News from England which has been picked up by local Sports paper "Marca" inform that FC BARCELONA offers EnglishPremier League Club ARSENAL 20M€ plus SAMUEL ETO´Ofor its forward EMMANUEL ADEBAYOR (pictured below)New Barça coach Guardiola insists in the signning of the Arsenalplayer. The difficulties so far with negotiations is that Arsenal haspriced Adebayor at 44M€, while Barça´s offer was only

RONALDINHO CLOSER TO MANCHESTER CITY?

The Brazilian RONALDINHO is angry with FC BARCELONA afterthe Club announced that they will not allow him to participate withhis country at the Olympics. In fact, the player is waiting to see if he canshut a deal with a Club that is not Barça to finally leave his personal"nightmare". Ronaldinho has announced that he will not show up forBarça pre-season which begins tomorrow & the Club reacts that

Can kettlebells replace traditional weight training?

Can kettlebells replace traditional weight training?

Good question!!

In some cases kettlebells can replace a traditional weight training routine and sometimes be even better.

However ,this all depends on what you are trying to achieve with your efforts. No doubt there is no number one form of physical conditioning. Aerobic, strength and explosive qualities can be built using many varying modes of conditioning.

If your goal is to lose fat and gain functional muscle then I believe you could replace your trad. weights sessions with kettlebells as KB's are a superb tool for aerobic conditioning due to the constant repping and medium sized weights that can be used. Don't get me wrong you can turn a bog standard bodybuilding routine into an aerobic fat burning session from hell if you want, but kettlebells lend themselves to this type of session because you don't need to keep stopping and adjusting loads.

With a little imagination most trad. exercises can (in some way or other) be exchanged for a kettlebell alternative (even squats) as you they hit every major muscle group.

I personally wouldn't recommend a full switch to kettlebells if your sport demands a high level of explosive power and strength. I would however recommend mixing some kb's into your routine to add variety and new dimensions, but not a full switch over. The main reason for this being there is no substitute for heavy bench, squat and deadlift. This effect cannot be replicated in any other way.

Being a shot putter and highland games athlete myself have found myself with limited time recently with the birth of my first child and have hence being almost exclusively training with kettlebells at work on lunch times and the odd session in the dining room at home just keep things ticking over. My findings are that I can maintain my strength levels pretty easily with swings, snatches and presses.

The take home message is if you're not a competitive athlete then give sole kettlebell training a whirl (some people find huge increases in strength from bombarding themselves with kettlebells) you've got nothing to lose.



Check out mypost on kettlebells and powerlifting for mixing up the two.

can kettlebells replace traditional weight training

Final thoughts on WVU v. Rodriguez

So WVU v. Rodriguez ends (as most cases do) with the whimper of settlement. I want to mention three significant and potentially lasting lessons and questions from the case.


The importance of forum selection

WVU filed suit in December 2007 and the case settled in July 2008, meaning it was alive for just over six months. And a big chunk of that time was spent fighting over where the case was going to be litigated and among what parties. Rodriguez removed the case to federal court on the basis of diversity jurisdiction but, on WVU’s motion, the court remanded to state court because there was no federal jurisdiction.

The fight over federal jurisdiction was a great lesson in the minutae of diversity jurisdiction, which I wrote about at the time. These include the unique treatment of States as not being citizens; the intensely fact-bound nature of the inquiry into an individual’s citizenship, notably the question of how quickly a person can change his citizenship from one state to another and how courts should determine citizenship; the allocations of cases among different parts of the federal juriciary; and some limitations on unadorned concern for “local bias” as a basis for pushing cases into federal court. As I wrote then, it is hard to imagine a bigger example of local bias than the former football coach of the flagship public university having to litigate against the State itself in state court. But the diversity rules keep this case in state court. I will continue to use the materials from this case to teach removal and diversity.

There also is reason to believe that Rodriguez’s lawyers did not thoroughly research the facts or law prior to removing, always a big no-no. They did not have a good factual record to show that Rodriguez had successfully changed his citizenship from West Virginia to Michigan at the time the lawsuit was filed; he and his family clearly were mid-move at the time. His lawyers also seemed to have assumed WVU’s status as a citizen, rather than as an arm of the state. Ironically, these lawyers previously had represented WVU in litigation and had argued the university could not be sued in federal district court on diversity precisely because it was the state and not a citizen. In moving to remand, WVU also moved for sanctions against the lawyers based on this past representation, although the court denied that motion.

Is settlement a good thing?

More than thirty years ago, Owen Fiss criticized the modern judicial preference for settlement as a method of dispute resolution, arguing that it deprived courts of the opportunity to give meaning to public constitutional values by identifying, elaborating, and expounding on those values. And it deprived the public of the benefit of judicial exegesis on constitutional meaning and values, particularly as that guides future real-world conduct. Fiss focused on settlement in constitutional cases, but the point could be made for all litigation—settlement deprives courts of the chance to establish and elaborate on legal rules and principles and deprives future actors of the benefit of clearer legal rules.

One might make that complaint about the settlement in Rodriguez, a case that had been shaping up as a test case of sorts. How mobile are college football and basketball coaches under long-term contracts? How much leeway do schools have to use steep liquidated damages clauses as a way to at least slow coaches down or make other schools hesitant to hire them? How do schools raid coaches? Is a $ 4 million buyout provision so out of line with the actual damages WVU suffered as to be an unreasonable, and unenforceable, penalty? Did WVU improperly strong-arm Rodriguez into signing the contract with that buyout provision? Was there an under-the-table agreement not to enforce it? Did WVU abide by its contractual obligations to Rodriguez to sink substantial resources into things such as facilities and assistant coaches? When and how did Michigan pursue Rodriguez as its coach? We never found out.

Reading the tea leaves of the settlement

It generally is a bad idea to read anything into a settlement; parties settle for many reasons, usually upon balancing the strength of their case against the cost of litigation, as well as taking into account (as Rodriguez likely did) the value of “moving on.” But can this settlement give any guidance for future clashes between coaches and their former schools and attempts to enforce similar provisions? I find it interesting that WVU will receive the full $ 4 million; the settlement did not compromise on the amount. Back in January, Rodriguez made a $ 1.5 million settlement offer, which the University rejected. The ultimate compromise was over who pays (Rodriguez will pay $ 1.5 million, the University of Michigan $ 2.5 million) and the payment plan (Rodriguez makes three annual installments of $ 500K). This suggests that such a steep buyout clause, even one largely divorced from any real damage suffered by the school, will be enforceable. It suggests that there were no under-the-table agreements beyond what was in the contract and that Rodriguez did not, in fact, sign under duress. It seems to me that if WVU were worried at all about whether its conduct made the buyout less than fully enforceable, it would have given up something monetary.

I would expect that we will begin to see similar multi-million-dollar provisions become the norm in coaching contracts. I also would expect to see payment of all or part of the buyout as a negotiating point with schools looking to hire coaches away from other schools. So, to the extent this was a test case on coaches’ mobility, we did not get a judicial determination on the issue, but we did get a settlement that offers some strong hints.


Cross-Posted at WVU v. Rodriguez: The Legal Perspective

ATLETICO DE MADRID TRANSFER NEWS 2008: THE NEW SQUAD BUILT WITH 5 NEW FACES

ATLETICO DE MADRID has virtually sealed the makeup of itsnew team for 2008/2009 today after presenting its 5ºth signning to the media. Chech International defender TomasUjfalusi possed to media with his new uniform, after leavingItalian team Fiorentina. Before him Dutch International defenderHeitinga, midfielder Assuncao, French International goalkeeperCoupet & French forward Sinama have all been

FERNANDO TORRES - VIDEO AGAINST AC MILAN WITH 12 YEARS OF AGE

With 12 years of age FERNANDO TORRES already was showing his skills & mould of future goalscoring World Star. Here is a videoof Torres playing for Atletico de Madrid against AC Milan in a youthtournament with passes & goals.

Boston Globe Feature Article on Marvin Miller

Stan Grossfeld of the Boston Globe has an excellent feature today on Marvin Miller, the first executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association (he ran it from 1966 to 1982). Miller, 91, explains why he doesn't want to be in baseball's Hall of Fame. Here's an excerpt from Grossfeld's piece, entitled "A Reserved Clause".

* * *

After getting overlooked in 2003 and 2007 for election and getting passed by on three Veterans Committee votes, Miller recently wrote a letter to the Baseball Writers Association of America asking them to keep his name off subsequent ballots. Even when he's dead.

* * *

He calls the institution "a crock."

He wrote recently, "I find myself unwilling to contemplate one more rigged Veterans Committee whose members are handpicked to reach a particular outcome while offering a pretense of a democratic vote. It is an insult to baseball fans, historians, sportswriters, and especially to those baseball players who sacrificed and brought the game into the 21st century. At the age of 91, I can do without farce."

In 1975, Miller defeated the reserve clause, which had bound a player to a team, and paved the way for free agency. He ushered in salary arbitration, collective bargaining, and stronger pensions. Owners hated him.

Pulitzer Prize-winning sportswriter Red Smith called him "the second most influential man in the history of baseball" behind Babe Ruth. In a poll of people who changed sports, Sports Illustrated once ranked him eighth, just ahead of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. Jim Bouton, who wrote "Ball Four," calls him "the greatest figure in sports history." Hank Aaron said the Hall of Fame doors should be broken down to get Miller in. Three-time Cy Young Award winner Tom Seaver, who holds the highest plurality in Hall of Fame history, called Miller's exclusion "a national disgrace."

* * *

Besides the owners, Miller has many enemies. There is no middle ground - people love him or hate him. Some believe he ruined baseball, recalling the strikes of 1972 and '81. And some believe Miller brought about skyrocketing ticket costs that priced out the average fan.

* * *

Miller also denies free agency ruined the national pastime, that small-market teams such as the Kansas City Royals and Pittsburgh Pirates can't compete in payroll with the major television markets. "In the old days before free agency, if you weren't the Yankees, Giants, Dodgers, or Cardinals, you were [upset] . . . The Yankees won every year. Every single year from 1949-58 either the Yankees, Dodgers, or Giants were in the World Series. You think everyone enjoyed that?"

* * *

For the rest of the piece, click here. The photo above is from the New York Times and is of Curt Flood and Miller from back in 1970.

Kettlebell Training for Golf

Kettlebell Training for Golf

As if kettlebells didn't already have enough uses!

I believe kettlebells can be used to add an extra dimension to a Golfers training routine and convert your game to Power Golf, extra fitness and lower handicaps

If you're a golfer and you don't train and condition your body for Golf then you're seriously missing out on dropping your scores and creating a massively powerful driving action

Don't forget Golfers are athletes too! They certainly must be as it takes a serious amount of body power to drive a Golf ball 300 yards.

With all the rotational and core power elements requires to drive a Golf ball, golfers certainly benefit from some of the exercises that kettlebell training has to offer.

As a general rule I would recommend all athletes use the kettlebell and perform the Swing and Snatch as a basis for their training.

Not only will this work on general fitness but also the golfers grip

On a more specific note for Golfers I would recommend the following exercises.

The 2 Handed Side to side kettlebell swing

Take hold of a small kettlebell (8-16kg for starters) with both hands (as you would a Golf club). Now swing the kettlebell laterally in front of your body (the opposite of the conventional kettlebell swing). Limiting your range of motion initially until you get used to your boundaries, then go for swinging the kettlebell either at the front and back of your swing.

The second exercise I would recommend is the kettlebell windmill

This is best explained by the following video



This exercise will go a long way to increasing the overall flexibility of Golfers and strengthening the area they use and injure the most. Be careful with the windmill and take it easy to start with until you're fully capable and strong enough to go heavier.

Kettlebell Training for Golf