SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA 2008 / 2009 - ROUND 25 SATURDAY GAMES RESULTS

SEVILLA FC keeps consolidating it´s third table place after they defeatedATHLETIC DE BILBAO 1-2, in a "dress rehearsal" of next WednesdaysSpanish Cup clash.KANOUTE (above) scored twice & sealed his teams victory with hisgoals in the 38th & 57th min. For Bilbao GABILONDO put Athletic aheadin the 25th but were then slowly grind down by Sevilla who dominantedin the second half.With FC Barcelona

Saturday Links

* I have a new column on SI.com concerning a "last second" appeal brought by the prosecution in the Barry Bonds trial, which was set to begin on Monday and now likely won't start for weeks, if not months. The prosecution wants the Ninth Circuit to reverse Judge Susan Illston's evidence rulings concerning the exclusion of various BALCO related materials. I don't think the appeal will work and because of the delay it is poised to cause, it may backfire on the prosecution. Hope you can check out the column.

* Ian Fischer of Florida Law Online has a great write-up of the recent University of Florida sports law symposium that I had the good fortune of being a part-of. The event had some star panelists, including ESPN founder Bill Rasmussen and Kevin Sullivan, who was White House Communications Director under President George W. Bush.

* Kirk LeCureux, the Managing Editor for the University of Florida Entertainment Law Review, tells me that his journal is interested in sports law article submissions. If you have written a sports law paper that is good, consider e-mailing it to Kirk at kirk.lecureux[at]ufl.edu

* The National Sports & Entertainment Law Society Blog has some good posts up, including on how the bad economy impacts on sports law and posts on Tejada and A-Rod.

* Howard and I were interviewed by Paul Elias of the Associated Press on pre-trial evidence rulings in the Bonds case.

Kettlebell Session 60kg 48kg

Kettlebell Session 60kg 48kg 27.02.09

Yesterdays kettlebell training at lunchtime with 60kg and 48kg

First 2 shots are of 60kg BUP atempt and 60kg flips all rest of work was done with 48kg beast.

I had fully intended to do lots of 48kg BUP but got carried away with 60kg and ended up totally destroying my grip leaving it pretty much useless for 48kg BUP's

Still, was a good training session. Leaves me wondering about my kettlebell goals. Got 3 weeks left to hit them so will be closing in on them soon and putting some more fuel on the fire.




Kettlebell Session 60kg 48kg

BARCELONA MEDIA CONFIDENT ON RIBERY & BENZEMA FOR BARÇA

Barcelona based Sports daily “Mundo Deportivo” is quite adamant inits reference to BAYERN MUNICH French International wingerFRANCK RIBERY. According to them FC BARCELONA has tiedan agreement with the player for next season, what is now needed isthat the German Club agree to let him go. In order to loosen the ropesBarça is willing to fork out 30M€, a figure the beforehand looks lowif you consider

THIERRY HENRY - STAY OUT OF SPANISH POLITICS, PLEASE!!!!

Intellectuales say intelligent things, but Football players say..."Cataluña no es España y eso hay que sentirlo" - translated -"Catalonia is not Spain, you have to feel it". Ok that is fine, but two years living in "Catalonia" & one thinks (feels) what peoplein 500 years has´nt yet got it clear.Ok, I now go on & say this about the south of France... "this belongsto the Basque Country & not the

ATLETICO DE MADRID END OF SEASON

ATLETICO DE MADRID bad choice Coach Abel Resino, bad mistakePresident Cerezo & Club owner Gil, Abel Resino...hopeless!!! A SFS opinion, a typical At. Madrid decision.

The Implications of Kevin Durant's Jersey Retiring

Congratulations to Kevin Durant, whose No. 35 was just retired by his alma mater, the University of Texas. Durant's time at UT was admittedly brief; he played just one season before turning pro. But it was quite the season: he averaged 26 points and 11 rebounds per game, leading his team to the second round of the NCAA tournament and earning the honor of 2006-07 National Player of the Year.

Still, it was just one season.

Should a player receive such distinction by a university when his commitment to the school would seem to have been mainly about satisfying the NBA's age limit, which requires that a player be 19 years of age plus one year removed from high school? I wonder, how often did Durant attend classes in the spring semester? What was his involvement in the university, other than his exceptional basketball play -- did he participate in any student clubs or perform any community work ? Did he at least follow the rules for living in his freshmen dorm, if in fact he lived in one? What does all of this say, if anything, about the student-athlete mission of the NCAA?

Maybe those questions don't matter. Their relevance would seem to depend on the criteria for jersey retiring. If it's all about basketball production, and if one season of play is enough, then Durant certainly deserves to have his number retired. Also, as my Vermont Law School colleague and friend Jason Czarnezki (of Empirical Legal Studies blog fame) wonders, Durant's earning of the National Player of Year might, like at UNC, automatically mean jersey retirement. Should these be the tests for an institute of higher education?

Let's think about Durant's contributions. In addition to his excellent play, Durant generated a lot of money for UT, with his jerseys selling well and with improved attendance to UT basketball games. I imagine his presence also helped with recruiting, and perhaps also in attracting alumni donations and maybe even in generating more applications from high school students (aka, "The Flutie Effect").

But for an institute of higher education like UT, which has a preeminent academic reputation in various fields, there's an argument to be had that jersey retiring should at least acknowledge the student-athlete's contributions as a student. It's not clear that happened here. In fact, for what it's worth, the official story on the University's website is entirely about Durant's basketball achievements.

As several of us have argued, these would be avoidable situations if there was no restriction on supremely talented high school basketball players being eligible for the NBA Draft. There is plenty of empirical support for letting high schoolers turn pro, be it on-court perfromance, off-court performance, or related points (see e.g., Alan Milstein's "Kobe" and "Reggie Bush Sweepstakes"). Plus, if no restriction existed, then a player like Durant who chose to attend college, and to presumably also attend college classes, would have done so without people questioning why he is there.

Sonny Vaccaro in the Hoosier State

For those of you near Indiana University-Bloomington, Sonny Vaccaro will present there on Monday, March 2nd from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m. He will discuss the NCAA's treatment of student-athletes, particularly male basketball players, and the relationship between those players contributions to their universities and the income generated by those universities from sports TV contracts and related revenue sources. He will also address the NBA's age limit and the possible trend of teenage star basketball players who are ineligible for the NBA due to age going to play pro hoops abroad (like Brandon Jennings is doing in Italy).

For more information about Sonny's talk at Indiana University-Bloomington, click here. My thanks to Ryan Rodenberg, who teaches at Indiana University-Bloomington and runs Sports Law Professor blog, for the information.

For those of you near Indiana University-Indianapolis, Sonny will be speaking there on March 4th from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Details of that event are available here.

UEFA CUP 2008 / 2009: DEPORTIVO & VALENCIA CF SAY GOODBYE

It was always going to be difficult for DEPORTIVO after going down 1-3 in the 1ºleg to AALBORG, but there always exist the miracles. WhenSERGIO scored first for Deportivo it looked like that the impossible could happen, however it went wrong, terribly wrong.Aalborg scored three goals in 4 mts & Deportivo collapsed, perhaps to the nerves which lead to lethal mistakes. SHELTON equalized in the 41st

100 40kg kettlebell Jerks

100 Jerk's with 40kg kettlebell

Pretty insane amount of kettlebell jerks - 100 with the 40kg kettlebell in 5 mins 45 secs by Gregor Sobočan.

It is claimed that the huge set of reps is an unofficial World Record as no one else has done it yet (I feel some WR's coming on tonight for myself), a great feat of strength endurance nonetheless.




100 40kg kettlebell Jerks

THE PROBLEM WITH SERGIO "KUN" AGUERO IS DIEGO

New Atlético de Madrid Coach Abel Resino surprisingly decided to substituteArgentine star forward SERGIO AGUERO in the 2ºhalf of theirChampions League clash against OPORTO last Tuesday. Many werebaffled & Aguero was even “shocked” as his face told the story as he leftthe ground. Latter Coach Abel commented that Aguero was not at his best& decided to simply give another player the chance. Fair

ATLETICO DE MADRID MOURNS THE LOSS OF YOUNG 9 YEAR OLD DANIEL ALCALÁ RIVAS

Spanish Football & Sports will like to dedicate a post to a youngster, aSpanish Sportsperson, a Footballer (Soccer) player & an Atlético deMadrid community member & fan.DANIEL ALCALÁ RIVAS of 9 years of age & junior cadet of the“Escuela de Fútbol del Club Atlético de Madrid” – ATM junior FútbolTeams – has died 9 days after the injuries received while participatingwith his team in a game.It was a

LIVERPOOL FC MORE "SPANISH" THAN REAL MADRID

Curious observation yesterday in the Real Madrid - Liverpool FC1ºleg Champions League clash at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.The English team had more Spanish born players & than Real Madridon the field.Real Madrid only had Casillas, Sergio Ramos & Raul ( Guti come on inthe second half).Liverpool FC had Reina, Arbeloa, Xabi Alonso, Riera & FernandoTorres.Curious indeed!Here is the VIDEO of

Evil Betty Kettlebell

Evil Betty Kettlebell

What a great name for a set of kettlebell exercises....EVIL BETTY I love it!

I'm pretty sure this will give a great workout:

Evil Betty = 5 double press, 10 double snatch, 15 double swings, 5 minutes of pushups.

Sounds like a good workout! Not sure about the 5 minutes of pushups though as this could be torture.

If anyone knows exactly where this workout originated let me know, cheers!






Evil Betty Kettlebell

2009 Tulane Law School Moot Court Mardi Gras Invitational Sports Law Competition

Last week, Tulane Law School hosted the 2009 Tulane Law School Moot Court Mardi Gras Invitational Sports Law Competition. This year’s problem was based on hybrid of the single entity issue raised in the American Needle case and the release issue raised in the MSG-NHL case .

I want to take this opportunity to thank the students at Tulane Law School—in particular Susan Jaffer, Paul Lund, Demelza Baer, and Taryn Brown—for all of their hard work in putting this event together. I also want to thank our “celebrity” guest judges for joining me on the panel to judge the finals of the competition. The guest judges were: Don Fehr, Executive Director of the Major League Baseball Players Association; Gary Roberts, Dean and Gerald L. Bepko Professor of Law Indiana University School of Law – Indianapolis; and Richard House, General Counsel of the New Orleans Hornets. And, of course, thanks to the students from the 37 different law schools from around the country for competing in this year’s event. All of the judges were impressed with the quality of the teams from the first round through the finals. I hope you enjoyed the competition and were able to find some time to take advantage of all that New Orleans has to offer (well, maybe not all of it) during Mardi Gras.

Finally, congratulations to the winners of this year’s competition. As always, the winning brief will be published in The Sports Lawyers Journal. Here are the results:

The winner of the 2009 Competition was: William & Mary Law School.

Semi-Finalists were: William & Mary Law School, Western State University Law School (second place), University of Virginia and Capital University.

The best brief was submitted by: Florida Coastal School of Law.

The top 5 Oralists were: 1) Sarah Grimm (Ohio State University Moritz School of Law), 2) Arpan Sura (William & Mary), 3) Mathew Spriggs (Ohio State University Moritz School of Law), 4) John J. O'Kane (William & Mary) and 5) Adam Milasincie (University of Virginia School of Law).

Here are the schools that competed in this year’s competition.
1) Florida Coastal School of Law Team
2) University of Detroit Mercy School of Law
3) Indiana University School of Law
4) University of Connecticut School of Law
5) UC Hastings College of Law
6) Florida State College of Law
7) Drexel University Earl Mack School of law
8) University of North Dakota School of Law
9) Charlotte School of Law
10) Western State University College of Law (Second Place)
11) Brooklyn Law School
12) The George Washington School of Law
13) Marquette University Law School
14) Capital University Law School
15) William & Mary Law School (Winner)
16) Temple Law School
17) Cornell University Law School
18) Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
19) Nova Southeastern University Law Center
20) Loyola University New Orleans College of Law
21) West Virginia University College of Law
22) Wayne State University Law School
23) Howard University School of Law
24) University of Maryland School of Law
25) Harvard Law School
26) DePaul University College of Law
27) Wake Forest University School of Law
28) University of Wisconsin School of Law
39) Thomas Jefferson School of Law
30) University of North Carolina School of Law
31) Emory University School of Law
32) Ohio State University Moritz School of Law
33) University of Michigan Law School
34) Villanova School of Law
35) University of Virginia School of Law
36) The John Marshall School of Law
37) The University of Toledo College of Law

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2008 / 2009: REAL MADRID LOSES & VILLAREAL DRAWS

It was the big clash of the Football "Titans" & like giants they basically cancelled each other, basically because LIVERPOOL FCmanaged a valuable away goal towards the end to give them a 0-1away victory to REAL MADRID.It was smart Football from Liverpool Coach Benitez who knows wellthe opposition team & Spanish Football. Rafa Benitez laid out a positionstrategy that bogged down Real Madrid & did´

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: REAL MADRID vs LIVERPOOL FC - 1ºst ROUND

Who will win the 1ºst Round tonight?(photo:AS)The last time they played:1981 – Real Madrid 0 – Liverpool FC 1 (European Cup Final)Goal: Alan Kennedy, See VIDEO:

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - 2009 1º LEG - ATLETICO DE MADRID & FC BARCELONA

Thank you DIEGO FORLAN. ATLETICO DE MADRID is still in there but still has its return leg game. The game against OPORTOended in a 2-2 draw.Average game for Atletico with bad defending, as Oporto scored twovaluable goals via LOPEZ in the 22 & 72 nd min. Thank "Christ" forMAXI in the 2ºnd min & FORLAN in 46th min. Decider in Oporto!See VIDEO of highlights:The "Best Team in Europe" FC BARCELONA got

The 22nd Sports and Recreation Law Association Conference

The 22nd Annual Sports and Recreation Law Association takes place from March 4 - 7 in San Antonio, with presentations and speakers covering a number of issues. SRLA's s conferences focus on issues of school and amateur sports, particularly questions of personal injury and risk management. The subjects may be of interest to those interested in teaching, writing and practicing in those areas of law that do not get the media publicity as legal issues of professional sports do.

Professional sports issues will be covered as well. The keynote speaker is Greg Kondritz, corporate counsel of the Houston Texans who will discuss "Life as an In-House Counsel with an NFL Franchise" on March 5th at 11:00 AM. For more information about the conference, check the organization's website srlaweb.org.

Boar Kettlebell Training Protocol

Boar Kettlebell Training Protocol

This youtube training aid has been developed by Jonnywildboar of BoarRKC and is very similar in method to that of Kenneth Jay RKC, VO2 max protocol and starts with 30 seconds on 30 seconds off in an inverse pyramid manner. Will surely bring on some serious sweating and fitness increases. For best results use the kettlebell snatch.



same weight / same reps / same exersise for every set

after set 5 there is no rest so if you need to change hands (for the KB snatch) listen for the switch in music !!

30 / 30
30 / 20
30 / 10
30 / 5
30 / 0
30 / 5
30 / 10
30 / 20
30 / 30

A nice selection of music to get you through your workout

Boar Kettlebell Training Protocol

Law Professor's New Book Argues for Unionization of Minor League Baseball

Via the Workplace Law Prof blog and my colleague Joseph Slater, McGeorge Law Professor and labor arbitrator Don Wollett has released a new book, Getting on Base: Unionism in Baseball. The book argues that minor league baseball players should be organized into a union. Among the responses so far:

Great! …[I] agree … not affording collective-bargaining to minor leaguers is self-serving and outrageous. Chuck Mack, Vice President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

Great contribution to baseball history…invaluable insights. Judge Alan Hancock.

After you’ve read Getting On Base…, you, the silent partner, may want to stand up and be heard, Duane Beeson, Esq., senior partner Beeson, Tayer and Bodine.

Don’s ideas about “members-only” bargaining for minor league players in, for example, the independent minor league teams in the U.S., and a different kind of “full services union” (complete with hiring halls) in the foreign player market, are very creative, Charles Askin, arbitrator.

New Sports Law Scholarship

Recently published scholarship includes:

Ian C.B. Davis, Note, An analysis of horse racing jockeys riding under Kentucky’s workers’ compensation laws, 97 KENTUCKY LAW JOURNAL 173 (2008-2009)

Dionne L. Koller, How the United States government sacrifices athletes’ constitutional rights in the pursuit of national prestige, 2008 BYU LAW REVIEW 1465

Raymond Shih Ray Ku, Is nominal use an answer to the free speech and right of publicity quandary?: lessons from America’s national pastime, 11 CHAPMAN LAW REVIEW 435 (2008)

Michael A. Mahone, Jr., Note, Sentencing guidelines for the court of public opinion: an analysis of the National Football League’s revised personal conduct policy, 11 VANDERBILT JOURNAL OF ENTERTAINMENT & TECHNOLOGY LAW 181 (2008)

Matthew J. Mitten, A triple play for the public domain: Delaware Lottery to Motorola to C.B.C., 11 CHAPMAN LAW REVIEW 569 (2008)

Anthony Vecchione, Comment, Fantasy sports--has recent anti-gambling legislation ‘dropped the ball’ by providing a statutory carve-out for the fantasy sport industry? 61 SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW 1689 (2008)

Maureen C. Weston, The fantasy of athlete publicity rights: public fascination and fantasy sports’ assertion of free use place athlete publicity rights on an uncertain playing field, 11 CHAPMAN LAW REVIEW 581 (2008)

EL MUNDANO DEPORTIVO: REAL MADRID CHANTS “YES, WE CAN”

El Mundano Deportivo: the bi-monthly collaboration from Adrian Vogelfor SFS. Adrian this time comments on whether Real Madrid can comeback& take the Liga title in the final sprint from FC Barcelona. Real hasalready cut from 12 points to 7 points the gap & “La Liga” has gainedmore interest & passion. Leave you with the thoughts of“El Mundano Deportivo”, click the title & you can read Adrian´s

SPANISH FOOTBALL & SPORTS BLOG ON TWITTER: JOIN!

Hi readers. Now you can follow Spanish Football & Sports anywhere& at anytime you wish with flashes of updates, scores, reminders, events,etc.By joining & using TWITTER you can become a "follower" & be part ofthe Global SFS Community. See widget on the right side of SFS:Click here & go to the Spanish Football & Sports Twitter page.JOIN!

FC BARCELONA THE 2º MOST POWERFUL MEDIA CLUB IN THE WORLD

An economic study elaborated by the Spanish University of Navarra,concretely by its “Economic, Sports & Intangibles” Department (ESIorg)has released its list of the Top World Football Clubs that are the most“famous” in the global Football (Soccer) market. That is, how muchpublicity, marketing & communication power each Club has to congregatemost of the World´s media attention.The Club with the

LASSANA DIARRA RETURNS EQUILIBRIUM TO REAL MADRID

When REAL MADRID lost their midfielder Mahamadou Diarra for thewhole season due to a serious knee injury, the alarm bells rang with thesound of danger. The following results were highlighting disequilibrium inthe playing system with “holes” in the midfield that was putting defenderunder extreme pressure & forcing them to be out of position. Goals werebeing scored as if the opposition have opened

Continental Beef

Continental Clean and other Beefy Activities

Had a great weekend of training.

Went for some single arm deadlifting and suitcase deadlifts on friday night. Had a whole load of fun testing myself on this novel movement.

Then today, got my reverse hyper machine cleaned off and loaded up for a great sunday session.

Warm up
3x10 100kg reverse hyper (not too heavy seen as it's had crap dumped on it for months)
3x10 40kg kettlebell swing
3x15 Press ups
2x10 High pulls wih 70kg barbell

Then set off and worked upto a 150kg Continental clean + front squat + suitcase deadlift. It felt really good to get back into some proper barbell work.

I find the continental clean a great exercise for getting some heavyish weights up to the chest and feel it highlights the fact that you need to pull relax and contract to get the weight up, which is a key factor in all explosive sports. The rate at which you can apply force and relax under control is key.

Finished off with deadlift working upto mid 200's and finished off with all out reps on 200kg. I don't think my Smolov Cycle will materialise but I will certainly using elements from it over the next 4 weeks or so.

Adlington is looming so would be nice to hit some decent weights.

I need to start adding in some presses and jerks, which shouldn't be too hard on the back of kettlebell training.




Continental Beef

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA 2008/ 09 - ROUND 24 SUNDAY GAMES RESULTS

This seasons revelation team MALAGA jumped into EuropeanClassification places (Uefa) by winning & in doing so knocking out of theTop 6 places Atletico de Madrid. Malaga won away a soft VALLADOLID1-3.ALBERT LUQUE again scored for Malaga early in the 7th min , followed by APOÑO via a penalty in the 28th min & later NACHOin the 87th min. For Valladolid the consolation goal came thanks toOLDONI in

BASKETBALL: TAU VITORIA TAKES THE SPANISH CUP

Fabulous final of the Spanish Basketball SPANISH CUP FINAL playedtonight in Madrid with TAU VITORIA taking its 6th Spanish Cup title.It was intense, hard fought out, very dramatic & of the highest level, the otheropponent UNICAJA MALAGA managed to equalize in the final 11seconds of normal time 81-81 to take the game into extra time.It was furious stuff, but TAU managed to get ahead & keep out

Evidence excluded in Bonds case

Judge Illston's order is here Download USAvsBondsOpinion021909. Straightforward, but a good review for my Evidence class of a number of concepts--real evidence requires a chain of custody, the chain of custody requires admissible evidence, the search for hearsay exceptions, and the unreviewable discretion that district court judges have on procedure and evidence.

Only one part of the opinion gave me a pause: She excluded one of three audio transcripts of conversations--the one in which Bonds' trainer, Greg Anderson (the guy whose refusal to testify is the cause of all this) speaks with Bonds' personal assistant about random drug testing for the upcoming (2003) season and seems to suggest that he knows someone at the testing lab and he will be tipped in advance to when, if ever, Bonds will be tested. Judge Illston rejected the government's argument that this is admissible as a statement against interest, because "the government has not established that it was a criminal or civil offense in 2003 to help athletes evade
detection by professional sports associations."

But this seems a bit too quick. If a lab employee were tipping off players (or members of their posses) about upcoming tests, wouldn't MLB have some claim against the lab and the employee (fraud, interference with business expectation, something else (help me out, tort people))? And wouldn't MLB also have a claim against the posse member (in this case, Anderson) who received the tip and passed it along, also frustrating MLB's business expectations? Maybe this just was a matter of what the government brought forward on the motion. But it seems Anderson could have gotten into some trouble by receiving and passing along these tips, such that his admission of it would be against his interest.

VIDEOS: REAL MADRID 6 - BETIS 1 & FC BARCELONA 1 - ESPANYOL 2

SFS has found its email awash with requests for the Real Madrid & RealBetis 6-1 video, well OK your wish is my command. I´ll also put Fc Barcelonavideo of its 1-2 loss to Espanyol, be sure to watch the De La Peña 2º goal!The girls at the start of this video were already there, but good value added:)

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA 2008/09 - ROUND 24 SATURDAY GAMES RESULTS

Can Real Madrid grab FC Barcelona after all? Tonight Real Madrid pulled back 3ºpoints to put itself only 7º behind Barça & they still haveto meet in what will be a crucial game.Lets get straight into the summary of tonights awesome Round 24 gamesof the Spanish League.REAL MADRID were nearly perfect tonight defeating 6-1 REAL BETIS& doing the demolition job in the 1ºhalf. It was all Real with

WTA Fines Dubai Tournament for Ban on Israeli Player

It is a truism that sports and politics should not mix. It is an equal truism that they do. The question is in the justification. Nations have boycotted the Olympics and the Olympics have boycotted nations, such as Apartheid-era South Africa. Numerous debates as to the wisdom of boycotts and their effect on sports have gone on for years.

But sometimes there comes a political act that is so wrongheaded that it is difficult to come up any justification for it -- except obvious discrimination. Such a decision came last week when Israeli tennis professional Shahar Peer was barred from competing at a WTA-sanctioned event in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The Dubai Championship, with millions in prize money, is an attempt by the country and its rulers to create an attractive venue for premier sporting events. Touting itself as a welcoming place for people all of the world, the UAE's rulers wish to create a friendly, tolerant place for sports to flourish. Friendly and tolerant to all, except, apparently Israeli citizens.

The recent war in Gaza was the pretext for the government's actions. The organizers said that they feared fan anger over Israel's actions because the anger would spill into riots if Peer were to play. In fact, these have been tough times for Israeli athletes. An Israeli basketball team was chased off the court during a game in Turkey and the players were attacked with bottles thrown from some "Pro-Gaza" demonstrators. (Incidentally, Turkey was given credit for a "victory"). An upcoming Davis Cup match in Sweden will be played without fans because of threats.

The Sony Ericsson WTA sanctions the Dubai event and the organization initially criticized the action, but did not take any action until today. In a statement posted on their website, the Tour's board, after criticizing the UAE's action as "unjust discrimination," announced the following actions:

• Fined of the Dubai tournament $300,000
• Awarded $44,250 to Peer – an amount equal to the average prize money that she earned per tournament (singles and doubles) in 2008
• Awarded $7,950 to Anna Lena Groenefeld, who was to be Shahar Peer’s doubles partner in Dubai and who was unable to compete in doubles with Ms. Peer. The amount is equal to the average prize money that she earned per tournament in doubles in 2008
• The posting by the Dubai tournament of a $2 million financial performance guarantee
• Shahar Peer Ranking Points - The awarding of 130 ranking points to Shahar Peer – an amount equal to the points that she earned during the same week in 2008 (week of Memphis) that she was unable to defend this past week in Dubai as a result of the denial of her entry visa by UAE. Such points will remain on Ms. Peer’s ranking until such time as she has had an opportunity to earn equivalent points at the next tournament offering ranking points equal to the Dubai tournament.
• Most importantly, the Dubai organizers also must confirm that qualifying Israeli players will get visas at least eight weeks in advance to remain on the tour schedule for 2010.

According to the WTA, the $300,000 fine represents the highest fine ever levied against a Tour member and proceeds will be used to compensate Peer and Groenefeld.

In the wake of this criticism, the UAE decided to grant a visa to Israeli men's player Andy Ram for an upcoming tournament after the men's counterpart, the ATP had warned that future events could be in jeopardy if Ram wasn't allowed to enter.

The WTA's actions are a justified moral response to the UAE's actions and also a good example of governance control. The organization -- like the ATP -- is not a sports league in the traditional sense, but an organization representing individual players which sanctions tournaments and set forth conditions for their players. It has a detailed structure -- with more than 400 pages of organizational materials, rules and regulations.

Some would argue that the actions do not go far enough. The fine may be a drop in the bucket for the UAE and this year's tournament took place without Peer. Although some wanted the WTA to stop its sponsorship of this year's event, that would have been impractical because of the last-minute nature of the visa rejection. After being assured of a visa, Peer was about to leave to Dubai from Thailand, when she was denied entry to the country. The other players were already there, so the tournament went on. That makes their action more egregious, and the WTA at the very least put the tournament's organizers on notice.

BRAZIL: 6 SENT OFF IN THE BRASIL - ULBRA GAME (19/2/09): WHAT FOOTBALL IS NOT

This is not Spain or related to Spanish Sports, unfortunately it´s Brazil.However, this transcends all frontiers & labels, & is worth a post onany type of Sporting Blog as an example of woeful behaviour.Situation: Game of « La Rio Grande do Sul » League between the teamsBrasil & Ulbra. Pereira for Ulbra scores his teams 5 goal to take thescore line 2-5 in their favour. The goal scorer Pereira

WILL KARIM BENZEMA END UP AT REAL MADRID?

The tough minded President of Olympique de Lyon Jean Michel Aulashas commented on French TV program “Le 10 Sport” that he is willingto hear offers for his star forward KARIM BEZEMA & negotiate withthe interested Clubs. The President let know that effectively REALMADRID was very interested in his services, along with ManchesterUnited & FC Barcelona. He also added that he received a grand offerfrom

2009 Arbitration Season Ends with Settlement

The Washington Nationals and Ryan Zimmerman settled early this morning prior to their scheduled hearing at the midpoint figure of $3,325,000. So, the players prevailed in 2 of the 3 hearings this season and that marks the first time since 1996, when the players won 7 of the 10 hearings, that the players defeated the teams in arbitration. For the record, there have now been 487 hearings, and the teams have won 280 and the players 207. Teams are ahead in percentage, 57% to 43%. That is a 1 percentage point change from last year (58%-42%).

I went 0-3 in predictions. I was just as poor at this as I was with my 2 fantasy football teams this past season.

The final tally on the 43 settled cases:

Multiyear deals - 11
Above the midpoint - 5
Midpoint - 11
Below the midpoint - 16

FC BARCELONA: FOUR NAMES BEING RUMOURED TO SUBSTITUTE ETO´O

The speculation & rumour “can of worms” has been opened at FCBARCELONA with the Samuel Eto´o comments regarding his futureor no future at Barça, to French magazine “Sportweek” (see post below).Although the Barça Club Directives will continue contract renewalnegotiations with Eto´o & try to convince him to stay further at Barça,the Club however is covering its back just in case.Three are the main

Kettlebell Basic Exercises

Kettlebell Basics

Great video from averagtoelite

This simply cannot be reiterated too much - stick to the basics with kettlebell training and kettlebell exercises before trying to move onto more sophisticated exercises.

The basic kettlebell exercises are the kettlebell swing, kettlebell snatch, kettlebell press/jerk and kettlebell turkish get up. Get a great base from these kettlebell exercises to build on. Althoug they are simple exercises do not expect simple results. Kettlebell training doesn't need to be too technical, train clever and reap the benefits.





Technorati Tags: kettlebells, kettlebell exercises, youtube

Kettlebell Basic Exercises

SERGIO AGUERO FIRST TIME FATHER - BENJAMIN NAME OF SON

ATLETICO DE MADRID & Argentine 21 year old star SERGIO "KUN"AGUERO rushed off to the hospital today to be along side his lady,Giannine Maradona, as she gave birth today to their first son.The boy was named BENJAMIN AGUERO MARADONA, & came tothe real world at 19.00 local time weighting 3,660 kilos. The baby is perfectalong with the mother.This makes Argentine Coach & World Football legend

Harvard Law School Sports Law Symposium: Sports Law in an Economic Downturn

I'm pleased to be joining Rick as a participant in this year's Harvard Law School Sports Law Symposium, which will be held on Friday March 13th and Saturday, March 14th at the law school.

The symposium, which is hosted by the Harvard Law School Committee on Sports and Entertainment Law, is in honor of Harvard Law School Professor Paul Weiler, one of the founders of U.S. sports law and the person who may deserve more credit for the growth of sports law than any other legal scholar.

The symposium's subject matter is "Resiting the Recession: Growth Opportunities for Sports in an Economic Downturn."

The event is open to the public, and details can be read at this link. In addition, Harvard Law School 3L Megha Parekh -- the sports co-chair of the Committee -- can be contacted with questions at mparekh[at]jd09.law.harvard.edu.

Here are some of the detiails:

New Stadiums
Friday, March 13, 2009 – 5 pm
Harvard Law School, Langdell North

The “New Stadiums” panel, moderated by Professor Peter Carfagna, will focus on the new stadiums that have been built recently, the difficulties teams face in financing stadiums, the use of public monies, and other issues associated with the development and leasing of sports venues.

Moderator:

Peter Carfagna
Partner, Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP (Cleveland, OH)
Lecturer on Law, Harvard Law School

Panelists:

Derek Jackson
Vice President & General Counsel
Florida Marlins

Damon Jones
Vice President / Club Counsel
Washington Nationals

Andy Lee
Former General Counsel
New York Jets

Mike Lufrano
Senior Vice President, Community Affairs/General Counsel
Chicago Cubs

Allan G. Mutchnik
Partner
Skadden, Arps (Los Angeles)

New Media

Saturday, March 14, 2009 – 10:30 am
Harvard Law School, Langdell North

The “New Media” panel, moderated by Professor Rick Karcher, will cover how sports leagues and teams exploit new media and fantasy sports to generate revenues.

Moderator:

Rick Karcher
Florida Coastal School of Law

Panelists:

Bob Bowman
President and Chief Executive Officer
Major League Baseball Advanced Media LP

Frank Hawkins
Partner
Scalar Media

Mike Mellis
Senior Vice President & General Counsel
Major League Baseball Advanced Media LP

Bryan Perez
Senior Vice President and General Manager
NBA Digital

Michael Zarren
Assistant Executive Director of Basketball Operations/Associate Counsel
Boston Celtics

New Markets
Saturday, March 14, 2009 – 2 pm
Harvard Law School, Langdell North

The “New Markets” panel, moderated by Professor Mike McCann, will cover how sports leagues choose which markets to reach, the legal challenges associated with expansion into new markets, and how leagues approach branding and marketing their sport domestically and abroad.

Moderator:

Michael McCann
Associate Professor of Law, Vermont Law School
Legal Analyst and Si.com Columnist, Sports Illustrated
Co-Founder, Harvard Law School Project on Law and Mind Sciences

Panelists:

Rob Friedrich
NBA China

Eric Nyquist
Vice President, Strategic Operations
NASCAR

Jon Oram
Partner
Proskauer Rose

Jim Renacci
Vice Chairman of the Executive Committee
Arena Football League


Keynote speakers include Andrew Zimbalist (economics professor at Smith College and rewnowed sports business expert) and Jeff Pash (NFL's Executive VP and General Counsell)

It should be a great event.

MMA Kettlebell Complex

MMA Kettlebell Complex

Chris Fanelli performing a Kettlebell Complex for mixed martial arts and fighter training.

The complex comprises of double kettlebell snatch into double kettlebell front squat into double kettlebell press/jerk.

Triple kettlebell combo's are a fantastic way to train cardio and strength at the same time.

Check out more at Hanley Strength



Technorati Tags: MMA, kettlebells


MMA Kettlebell Complex

Catching Up with Some Links

* Oliver v. NCAA: Last week, Alan Milstein blogged on an Ohio state court's ruling in favor of Oklahoma State University star pitcher Andrew Oliver, who had been suspended by the NCAA. The NCAA had suspended Oliver after learning that, years earlier, Oliver had met with Minnesota Twins representatives with his attorneys while contemplating whether to retain his amateur status and attend college or turn pro after high school. A few days ago, Southern Illinois University Professor Tassos Kaburakis blogged on the same subject on the National Sports and Entertainment Law Society's blog. Alan supports the decision, while Tassos disagrees with it. I'd check out both posts (though I'd read the decision in its entirety first).

* Darren Rovell's Sports Biz on CNBC: Always a great website to check out, Darren has had some particualrly interesting posts of late, including on commissioners' salaries and the NCAA's efforts to ban certain vitaminwaters.

* National Sports and Entertainment Law Society Blog: has some excellent posts up, including on age limits in pro sports -- this blog has been generating very good content. And the Society's main website is also worth checking out.

* Free Miguel Tejada?: Aaron Zelinsky of Yale Law School and The Huffington Post makes the case that the prosecution construction's of 2 U.S.C. 192 was over-broad and should not include congressional staffers on off-site investigations.

* Crowd Noise and Refereeing: Are referees unknowingly biased by crowd reaction? Even if they try to be fair and tune out hostile and unruly crowds who are yelling at them, does statistical data suggest they often fail? The Situationist has some links on the topic.

* Training Athletes to Safely Use Guns: On Sports Agent Blog, Darren Heitner wonders if it makes sense to train athletes on how to use a gun.

* Sonny Vaccaro to speak at Indiana (Indianapolis) Law School: On Wednesday, March 4th, Sonny Vaccaro will present at Indiana University School of Law - Indianapolis on the NCAA's treatment of student-athletes, particularly male basketball players, and the relationship between those players contributions to their universities and the income generated by those universities from sports TV contracts and related revenue sources. He will also address the NBA's age limit and the possible trend of teenage star basketball players who are ineligible for the NBA due to age going to play pro hoops abroad (like Brandon Jennings is doing in Italy). For more information about Sonny's talk, click here.

* Sports Law Review Article Submissions: If you have written a sports law paper that may be worthy of publication in a law review, keep in mind that there are many sports law reviews and journals seeking submissions. Just consider those listed in our "Sports Law Resources" link section on the left-hand side of our blog (and yes, we know we have to update our links). One law review that has emailed us of their interest in subsmissions is the Virginia Sports and Entertainment Law Journal. For more information, contact Lauren Paull, Articles Development Editor, at lpaull[at]virginia.edu

HUMOUR FROM BARCELONA FOR REAL MADRID

The "pro-Barça" & Barcelona based sporting daily "Sport" has asense of humour & if given the opportunity, will stick the finger in theeye of REAL MADRID. Here is todays cartoon section called"Futbolitis" were it gives its opinion on the fact the Real Madridforward Huntelaar will not play Champions. Here is the translation:A couple of months ago: "Presentation of the great signing for theChampions

REAL MADRID FOLLOWING 6 YEAR OLD MADIN MUHAMMAD?

It´s the video doing the Internet round. The so called wonderboyof 6 years of age, the French - Algerian Madin Muhammad, claimedas the next Zidane, Ronaldo, Messi...why not, Pele. Why? Because hemoves does like Zidane?The English paper "The Telegraph" has brought this kid to the limelightwith their story that both REAL MADRID & CHELSEA FC have puttheir eye on Madin. Lets see Madin Muhammad in

UEFA CUP 2008/09: VALENCIA CF & DEPORTIVO A CORUÑA

UEFA CUP Football returned tonight with two Spanish Clubs in action.The 1º leg for VALENCIA CF finished in a 1-1 draw away to DYNAMOKIEV in the snow. A snow "storm" that gave the local side an advantageas it halted the dominance of the Spanish team.Valencia scored early thanks to DAVID SILVA in the 8th min & had thechance to wrap up the tie but they could´nt finish the job. Dynamo, withthe help

Not a Problem or Not Enough Money to Fund the Program: Florida Ends HS Anabolic Steroids Testing Program

The Florida High School Athletic Association’s anaboloic steroid testing program, which began in July 2007 for athletes participating in football, baseball and weightlifting, has been put on the back burner, at least for now, due to the economy and the rationale that the money must go elsewhere. In a deteriorating economy, state officials apparently cannot justify spending the $100,000 needed to do the testing (or a cost of $166 a piece). Cristina Alvarez, spokeswoman for the Florida High School Athletic Association, states that in this economy the money must go to the classroom and textbooks. Moreover, of the 600 teens tested randomly at 53 schools, only one steroid user was found.

Testing was only performed on one percent of Florida HS student-athletes. Testing was administered by the National Center for Drug Free Sport, Inc, with samples analyzed at UCLA's Olympic laboratory. Testing was limited to tackle and flag football, boys and girls weightlifting, softball, and baseball, and was random (school randomly picked, thereafter, student-athlete randomly picked). Unlike Illinois' voluntary program, which I discussed on this Blog last January, submitting to this random testing was a prerequisite for membership in the FHSAA under Florida law (2007-192). A student-athlete could opt out of the testing program (no consent given), but then could not participate (practice or competition) in the aforementioned sports. Said student-athlete would be permitted to participate in non-tested sports.

Outside of the cost, reasons given for dropping the testing program is there is no problem at the high school level in Florida ("only one positive test"), it was not comprehensive enough (max out at 1% of student-athletes in grades 9-12), and the recent A-Rod scandal. While I believe the last reason is a throw-away, it certainly does not bode well for additional states to pick-up testing for anabolic steroids or other performance enhancing drugs at the high school level when in the midst of one of baseball's superstars admitting using performance enhancing drugs, his home state (starred at Westminster Christian High School in Miami and signed a national letter of intent to play baseball at "the U") drops testing.

For discussions of legality of such testing, see Board of Ed. v. Earls and Vernonia School Dist. v. Acton.

Salary Arbitration Update

There were four hearings set for today, and all proved to be unnecessary as settlements were finalized between Corey Hart and the Brewers, Conor Jackson and the Diamondbacks, Mike Jacobs and the Royals, and Josh Willingham and the Nationals. That leaves only the Atlanta Braves and both Jeff Francoeur and Kelly Johnson and Washington and Ryan Zimmerman left for this year. Of the 40 settled cases this year, we have the following results:

Multiyear deals - 11
Above the midpoint - 5
At the midpoint - 8
Below the midpoint - 16

The 11 multiyear deals are the most for the six year period of 2004-2009. There were 10 in both 2007 and 2008. There were 5 in 2004, 8 in 2005, and 7 in 2006. This is an interesting trend, and I will comment more about this at the end of the week. This really reduces the number of comparables that can be considered.

Yale Law School Sports Litigation Panel

Next Wednesday, February 25th, Yale Law School will be hosting a panel discussion on sports litigation.

I am honored to be moderating the event, which has some phenomenal speakers.

The panel will take place from 4:10 to 6 p.m. and is open to the public.

Here are the details:

Yale Law School

Yale Entertainment and Sports Law Association hosts a Panel Discussion on Sports Litigation

February 25 2009 4:10 to 6:00 p.m.

Moderator:

MICHAEL MCCANN (Professor at Vermont Law School; Legal Analyst at Sports Illustrated)

Panelists:

HAL BIAGAS (Deputy Counsel, National Basketball Players Association; plays a lead role in collective bargaining for players and has advised Stephon Marbury in his on-going dispute with the New York Knicks)

BILLY MARTIN (has litigated on behalf of Michael Vick, Allen Iverson, Jayson Williams, and other athletes; has represented other notable clients, including U.S. Senator Larry Craig and the parents of former White House intern Monica Lewinsky)

ALAN MILSTEIN (has litigated on behalf of Maurice Clarett, Allen Iverson, Eddy Curry, jockey Eddie King, and other athletes, and also a nationally-recognized expert on bioethics and clinical trials litigation)

JEFFREY MISHKIN (has litigated on behalf of the National Basketball Association in all of the league's key litigations over the last 20 years, including in NBA v. Williams and NBA v. Motorola; formerly served as Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer of the NBA)

JAY REISINGER (legal adivser to Andy Pettitte and Sammy Sosa during Mitchell Report and Congressional hearings on steroids; also represents MLB players in salary arbitrations)

MICHAEL ZARREN (Assistant Executive Director of Basketball Operations and Associate Counsel of Boston Celtics; directs Celtics in legal matters, including those concerning player contracts and endorsement and licensing deals; also plays a key role in the evaluation of players)

Special thanks to Michael Bloom, a 3L at Yale Law School and Co-Chair of the Yale Sports and Entertainment Law Association, for putting this event together. For information on attending, please contact Michael at michael.bloom[at]yale.edu

Update: My thanks to ESPN's Henry Abbott for telling his readers about the panel. Also, related point to the panel: William Rothstein of the National Sports and Entertainment Law Society and Vermont Law School has a terrific post up today on the NBA's age limit and O.J. Mayo.

Can Barry Bonds Receive a Fair Trial?

I address that question and some others in a new SI.com column. Here's an excerpt:

* * *

In addition to avoiding Bonds-haters, counsel for Bonds will seek jurors who are skeptical about the government's decision to prosecute Bonds. A libertarian-leaning person, for instance, might object to the expenditure of millions of tax dollars to prosecute baseball players who used substances to help hit home runs. While Bonds is not on trial for steroids per se, as his case concerns lying under oath, the charges against him would have never occurred but for the government's extensive investigation into BALCO and the interstate sale and distribution of steroids. Bonds' attorneys also figure to seek jurors who could believe that Bonds has been singled out among the many MLB players who used steroids (hence the desire to ask about Rodriguez).

The prosecution, in contrast, will probably try to identify jurors who are inclined to focus on the legal intricacies of the case: the arguably compelling evidence that Bonds knowingly lied under oath, as detailed in each of the 10 perjury counts. Such jurors might be particularly beneficial if prosecutors are only able to prove Count 10, which alleges that Bonds knowingly lied about being injected by personal trainer Greg Anderson. Indeed, Kathy Hoskins, the sister of Bonds' longtime friend/business manager Steve Hoskins, is expected to testify that she saw Anderson inject Bonds. Bonds could thus be found guilty for committing perjury without the government proving that he knowingly took steroids, since the lie would involve the injection itself, rather than its contents. If that is all the prosecution could prove, prosecutors would want jurors who would be willing to find Bonds guilty on that one and only count, as opposed to jurors would be tempted to let an otherwise-exonerated Bonds walk free.

* * *

For the rest of the column, please click here.

SFS FLASHBACKS - 1974: REAL MADRID 0 - FC BARCELONA 5

Curiously 35 years ago, REAL MADRID played FC BARCELONA inone of the two classic derby’s of the 1973/1974 Spanish League season,in which Barça was proclaimed Champion. But what’s historical is thatin this particular game Barcelona handed a 0-5 thrashing to Real Madridin there own home ground, the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. Here arethe team lineups & scorers for this historic clash - 17.02.1974:R.

THE FUTURE FOR SAMUEL ETO´O IS AT AC MILAN?

The gossip & the speculations were let loose this weekend when it wasrevealed that FC BARCELONA forward SAMUEL ETO ´O had madesome interesting comments to French media – “Sportweek” - concerninghis future. When asked, will he stay at Barcelona, the player answeredthat he has already decided his future but could not say anything for themoment. This & the fact that he is holding ( its also been

80kg Kettlebell Clean

80kg Kettlebell Clean

After my recent attempt with the 85kg kettlebell at a bodyweight similar to that of 2 normal sized men, I found this on youtube.

This is phenomenal as Darren Flagg weighs only 75kg.

Darren Flagg Animal Strength's cleans an 80kg Kettlebell.

Superb



80kg Kettlebell Clean

When they say they don't want to politicize sports, . . .

Shahar Peer of Israel, the # 48-ranked women's singles player, was denied an entry visa to the United Arab Emirates to play in this week's Barclays Dubai Tournament, citing security fears of having an Israeli playing in Dubai in the wake of the recent military conflict in Gaza. The denial, by the way, came on Saturday night, with Peer's first match scheduled for Monday. The Tennis Channel refused to broadcast the tournament following the UAE's decision.

The tournament organizer, Dubai Duty Free, said Peer's "presence would have antagonized our fans." The statement then added "We do not wish to politicize sports, but we have to be sensitive to recent events in the region and not alienate or put at risk the players and the many tennis fans of different nationalities that we have here in the UAE."

Sorry, folks; you cannot have it both ways. Shahar Peer is neither an Israeli political official nor a member of the Israeli military; she played no role in the events in Gaza and those events have nothing to do with her--and certainly nothing to do with her as a tennis player. You have banned an Israeli player from the tournament (the country, actually) explicitly on the ground that her mere presence as an Israeli (playing for herself, not even on behalf of her country) would "antagonize" and "alienate" people and be insensitive of recent (political) events. By definition, you are politicizing sports; you are incorporating socio- and geo-political considerations having nothing to do with sport into decisions decisions about who gets to participate in a sporting event. And it is insulting and dishonest to claim otherwise.

This is not necessarily to criticize politicizing sport. If you believe that the actions of Israel are such that its citizens should not be permitted to participate in international competitions, make that argument; but acknowledge that you are being explicitly political--and take the hit when others respond to those political positions, as by (perhaps) pulling the event off the WTA schedule.

Interestingly, this whole thing might be repeated at next week's men's tournament. Andy Ram, an Israeli doubles specialist, still is waiting for his visa.

INTER MILAN EXPRESS DESIRE FOR VALENCIA CF JUAN MATA?

With VALENCIA CF in a serious financial crisis - has´nt paid its players for 5 weeks or more - the Football "vultures" are flying over the Spanish Club & targetting the crown jewels.One of those prized assets is youngster JUAN MATA (below) who is said from Italy to be flirting with INTER MILAN.According to Italian media, concretely "Tuttosport", the father of Matahad dinner with Inter Coach Jose

SFS FLASHBACKS: REAL ZARAGOZA 1995 EUROPEAN CUP WINNERS CUP TITLE

This is the situation.It’s 1995, & it’s the Final of the European Cup Winners Cup (nolonger) with Spanish side & Spanish Cup title holder REAL ZARAGOZAplaying the winner of the English FA Cup ARSENAL in Paris (France).Real Zaragoza scored first via Esnaider in the 68th min, to see Arsenalequalize via Hartson in the 76th min to force the extra-time. In the extraperiod with just seconds left before

ABA Teleseminar this Thursday

This Thursday, the ABA Section of Antitrust Law Trade, Sports & Professional Associations Committee, Section of Intellectual Property Law, The Forum on the Entertainment and Sports Industries and the ABA Center for Continuing Legal Education are sponsoring a 90-minute teleseminar and live audio webcast titled, Whose Home Run is it Anyway? Practical Advice on Intellectual Property Issues in Sports.

The teleseminar will explore the ownership and use of intellectual property by sports leagues, their member teams, player associations, and other entities. The panel will focus on the efforts of professional sports leagues and player associations to control the intellectual property activities of both teams and third-parties, including:

• The burgeoning fantasy sports industry
• The efforts of individual teams to gain increasing control of their own intellectual property

Fantasy leagues have existed for decades, but prior to the internet age participants in those leagues typically cobbled together statistics from the sports section of local newspapers. Most leagues however consisted of small groups of friends. The growth of the internet spawned an explosion of interest in fantasy leagues, making participation more efficient and allowing firms to monetize what had once been a private system. In recent years, attempts to profit from the use of players' statistics have caused disputes between player associations, sports leagues, and third-party fantasy sports purveyors.

Panelists will also discuss disputes that have also arisen regarding intellectual property among some professional teams and the leagues of which they are members. Some teams have sought to manage and profit from their intellectual property in ways not sanctioned by the leagues, leading to legal disputes, including--most prominently--the New York Rangers' recent lawsuit against the National Hockey League.

Program Time
1:00 PM - 2:30 PM Eastern
12:00 PM- 1:30 PM Central
11:00 AM - 12:30 PM Mountain
10:00 AM - 11:30 AM Pacific
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM London
7:00 PM - 8:30 PM Brussels

Panelists
Program Moderator: Scott Walker, Counsel, Lowenstein Sandler PC
Glenn Colton, Partner, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
Annette L. Hurst, Partner, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP
Rick Karcher, Director, Center for Law and Sports, Florida Coastal School of Law
James Keyte, Partner, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
Andrew Lee, General Counsel, New York Jets

This is a great way to pick up CLE credit because you can listen to the seminar right at your desk. To register, click here.

Jawcracker Kettlebell Swings

Jawcracker Kettlebell Swings

Found a new awesome kettlebell exercise today called The Jawcracker Kettlebell Swing

The exercise was invented by Strength and Fitness Enthusiast jonnywildboar of Adlington weightlifting club and spola

Looks like a great exercise to me so will be trying this one out tomorrow.



Jawcracker Kettlebell Swings

SAMUEL ETO´O CURRENTLY SPANISH & EUROPEAN LEADING GOAL SCORER

He’s a lean mean fighting goal scoring machine & is having his bestseason in Spanish Football. FC BARCELONA Cameroon Internationalforward SAMUEL ETO´O is leading the goal scoring tally in theSpanish 1º Division (“La Liga”) with 23 goals from 22 games, a supereffective rate. But that’s not all; the 27 year old (28 next month) is alsoleading the race for the prestigious “Golden Boot Award” given to

The Michael Phelps Saga

We've somehow ignored the much discussed Michael Phelps situation concerning a certain photo, for which he has apologized. I was recently interviewed by Ed Berliner on Stone Cold Sports to discuss it. Here are my comments can be heard at this link.

RAUL MAYBE GIVEN A LAST CHANCE TO PUT ON THE SPANISH NATIONAL TEAM SHIRT

Continuing on with Real Madrid Captain RAUL, who has captured allthe media attention with his 309 record breaking goals for his Club (seethe below post), we have more news of interest from Spanish Sportsdaily “AS”.According to the cited paper, RAUL maybe given his final wish to play ONE MORE time with the Spanish National Team. Raul confessed toSpanish TV that his dream is to slip on the “Red

Top 5 Youtube Kettlebell Videos

Top 5 Youtube Kettlebell Videos


Here are the Top 5 Youtube Kettlebell videos by popularity (View Count)

I'll let you decide whether or not you think they're.
Quite obviously the No.1 kettlebell video is because of the sex appeal.

However the other's certainly are worth a watch. But the BEST youtube kettlebell videos???..............

I will post my opinion in the next few days.

So look out for my top 5 soon.












Technorati Tags: youtube, kettlebell, utube, kettlebell videos, kettlebell exercises

Top 5 Youtube Kettlebell Videos

Take Your Fitness To Another Level with the Gymboss Interval Timer

RAUL GONZALEZ BLANCO SURPASSES DI STEFANO & MAKES REAL MADRID GOAL HISTORY

In yesterdays Real Madrid 4-0 win over Real Sporting de Gijón, the RealMadrid Captain scored two goals in a great afternoon for RAULGONZALEZ BLANCO. In fact, you may have calculated that he takeshis personal goal tally to 11 goals for the season in “La Liga”, not a badfigure in anyone language. But if someone had told you that his first goalyesterday made him historical Club legend & that the

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA 2008/09 - ROUND 23 SUNDAY GAMES RESULTS

REAL MADRID won a very poor REAL SPORTING DE GIJON0-4 & in the process RAUL became the highest goalscorer in RealMadrid Club History by overtaking mythical Alfredo Di Stefano withhis two goals today ( 14th & 76th m) to take his tally to 309 goals asfar, & risingThe other good news is that HUNTELAAR started ( Robben out dueto injury) & scored his first goal with the Club in the 36th min. He could

SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA 2008/09 - ROUND 23 SATURDAY GAMES RESULTS & VIDEOS

Here are the video highlights ( with goals) of yesterdays two matchesplayed in Round 23 of the Spanish 1º Division - "La Liga". The otherfinished in a nil all draw.REAL BETIS made FC BARCELONA fight all the way & force themto make a comeback with ETO´O scoring twice to take his seasons goal tally to 23. Final result 2-2VALENCIA CF & MALAGA played out a 1-1 drawMusic by Nirvana, the persona who

Kettlebells and Bodybuilding

Kettlebells and Bodybuilding

I've often thought that kettlebells were not really a tool for bodybuilding/adding muscle mass. my thoughts on this have changed!

However, of late I feel like I've packed on a nice slab of muscle to my frame by using kettlebells.

Recently I've been doing bottoms up kettlebell press ladders as a shoulder/upper body warm up before hitting a snatch routine and BUP practice.

I've been working from 5-10 with the 24kg kettlebell with both hands on the BUP ladder. My left side requires considerably more concentration and is more challenging on the grip to get the full set.

Despite the low kettlebell weight (in comparison to a dumbbell) I've experienced more muscle fullness and over all upper body growth and my body feels 'more together' from only a week of this.

At best my training is all over the place moving from one direction to another, generally with kettlebells as the major theme running through it.

So with this said I'm still aiming towards my goals just not in a very structured way. But there is one thing that can be said and that is that I'm bringing about postitive adaptions with this method and my body is adapting to everything I throw at it.

Which is the purpose of training after all (A training adaption takes place only if the magnitude of the training load is above the habitual level - Zatiorsky)


So my message is - kettlebell ladders are a fantastic tool for bodybuilding. Use your imagination with the exercises and work as hard as you can for some great results.




Technorati Tags: bodybuilding, body building and kettlebells, kettlebells, kettlebells for bodybuilding

Kettlebells and Bodybuilding

JUVENTUS HAS DAVID SILVA IN ITS PLANS.

His one of the young pearls of Spanish Football & of VALENCIA CF.It´s public knowledge that his Club has serious financial problems,proof is that they have not payed the salaries their players in the last weeks. DAVID SILVA is an objective of Italian Club JUVENTUSwho under Coach Ranieri who knows well Valencia & its financialenvironment as an ex-Coach of the Spanish Club.The news from Italy &

Two Arbitration Hearings Postponed

The Associated Press reported yesterday that the arbitration hearings for Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim pitcher Ervin Santana and Tampa Bay Rays infielder Willy Aybar were postponed. I cannot remember a postponement of a hearing in recent years, but the general consensus is that the Angels and Rays are close to a settlement with Santana and Aybar. That leaves 11 players and teams scheduled for hearings next week as salary arbitration will come to an end for 2009.

New Article: The Truth about Collusion in Baseball

For those interested in the history of baseball collusion and its implications on the game today, here is a link to my newest article -- "Moving Past Collusion in Major League Baseball: Healing Old Wounds and Preventing New Ones."

This article discusses the history of collusion in Baseball, as well as explains how Baseball collusion in the 1980s led to more recent allegations of collusion (A-Rod, Bonds) and other troubling aspects of Baseball's labor-management relationship (for example, drug testing disagreements).

Here are a few highlights from the piece:

(1) Selig's Documented Role in Collusion: Although MLB Commissioner Bud Selig continues to deny any role in collusion, Arbitrator George Nicolau in his Collusion II ruling cited testimony from Philadelphia Phillies president William Giles that Selig -- in the capacity of Milwaukee Brewers owner -- called him to discourage the Phillies' signing of catcher Lance Parrish (p. 619-20).

(2) George is the Good Guy: Although often maligned for other reasons, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner was probably Baseball's least culpable owner during the Collusion Era. In Arbitrator Thomas Roberts' Collusion I ruling, he cites an offer Steinbrenner made for catcher Carlton Fisk as the only bona fide free agent offering during the 1985-86 season. (p. 615).

(3) The Smallwood Plan: Major League Baseball continues to criticize Barry Bonds's collusion allegations as being unrealistic and fanciful. However, the idea really can't be that off-the-wall. On September 1, 2006 -- long before Bonds was out of baseball -- Philadelphia Daily News reporter John Smallwood wrote an editorial piece explicitly suggesting that clubs collude against his services (p. 630).

(4) The Solution: Want to keep future allegations of collusion out of Baseball? The answer involves four steps: (i) returning the game's oversight to a neutral, outside commissioner; (ii) separating the role of Baseball CEO from Baseball Commissioner; (iii) allowing union lawyer oversight of Major League Baseball's off-season meetings; and (iv) providing full disclosure to players and fans about past collusion (p. 635-639).

(This article is cross-posted at SportsJudge Blog).

Diversity and Sports CLE Conference

Next month, Widener Law will be hosting "Diversity and Sports: The History, The Challenges, and The Future." The event is part of the school's Dean’s Leadership Forum On Diversity and will take place on March 16, 2009, at the school's Harrisburg, PA campus.

The brochure for the event can be found here.

Jon Pessah of ESPN Magazine has an interesting investigatory report on the BALCO investigation in the latest online edition of the magazine (Who's on Trial in the Bonds Case? Not Just Barry). Jon is not only a journalist, but he also teaches sports journalism at Stony Brook University and has a unique perspective.

Salary Arbitration Update

The Tampa Bay Rays and Willy Aybar are reportedly close to a 2-year deal. According to my hearing dates chart, they need to get this done today prior to their hearing. Here are the dates that I have for hearings next week:

Edwin Encarnacion (Reds) - Tuesday, February 17
Andre Ethier (Dodgers) - Tuesday, February 17
Jeff Francoeur (Braves) - Friday, February 20
Corey Hart (Brewers) - Wednesday, February 18
Conor Jackson (Diamondbacks) - Wednesday, February 18
Kelly Johnson (Braves) - Thursday, February 19
Ryan Ludwick (Cardinals) - Tuesday, February 17
Nate McLouth (Pirates) - Tuesday, February 17
Josh Willingham (Nationals) - Wednesday, February 18

I have not yet located the hearing dates for Mike Jacobs (Royals), Ervin Santana (Angels), or Ryan Zimmerman (Nationals)

The victory by the Rays over Dioner Navarro lifts the Rays hearing record to 4-0. They are the only unbeaten team left in arbitration hearings history. The Nationals now have a record of 3-2 after their loss to Shawn Hill, and the Marlins are 3-4 after losing to Dan Uggla.

SFS FLASHBACKS: ATLETICO DE MADRID & THE 1974 EUROPEAN CUP FINAL

The scene is the following. It´s extra time in the 1974 European CupFinal & ATLETICO DE MADRID are playing BAYERN MUNICH.Luis Aragones, ex Spanish national team Coach & then Atlético player,puts Atlético ahead from a brilliantly taken free kick & set the Spanishteam onward for their first ever European Cup title. Then in the last minute, Schwarzenbeck tried his luck & the ball slipped pass

Slosh Pipe Exercises

Slosh Pipe Exercises



Something on my 'to do list'
Make a slosh pipe (great idea from Dan John)






Slosh Pipe Exercises

REAL MADRID HAS RONALDO, KAKA & ANCELOTTI IN "THE BAG"?

Imagine this picture applied to REAL MADRID for season 2009/10?...continue readingIt seems that the Spanish Sports daily “AS” is the official paper backingthe campaign of REAL MADRID ex-President Florentino Perez. SFSsays this because Mr. Perez has not announced that he will present himselffor re-election in July when the Club plans its Presidential elections. Howeverthe paper goes further &

Court Blows Fastball Down NCAA Pipe

In a long awaited decision, an Ohio state court has ruled in favor of Oklahoma State University star pitcher Andrew Oliver. You might recall, Oliver was suspended by OSU before a critical college tournament game after news emerged that years before he had met with Minnesota Twins representatives with his attorneys while contemplating whether to retain his amateur status and attend college or turn pro after high school. NCAA Bylaw 12.3.2 allows amateurs to retain attorneys or advisors while considering such options as long as such professionals are not present at any meetings with professional clubs.

Oliver challenged his suspension in the Court of Common Pleas of Erie County, Ohio, arguing among other things, that such a rule interfered with his attorney client relationship and was against public policy, kind words for a rule that is emblematic of NCAA hypocrisy and arrogance. The NCAA presumably wanted 18 year olds and their families to have to deal with professional clubs without professional help, thus limiting the ability to choose the best option between turning pro and remaining ineligible until the athlete’s junior year. Oliver also challenged his suspension under Bylaw 19.7, which essentially allows the NCAA to punish member schools if they do not immediately suspend an athlete the NCAA finds has violated one of its sacred By Laws.

Judge Tygh M. Tone’s Opinion is remarkable on several fronts. First, the Judge held that student athletes are third party beneficiaries to the agreements between the NCAA and its member schools and that the NCAA thus owes a duty of good faith and fair dealing towards student athletes. Those are concepts long missing from the manner in which the NCAA treats the kids on the playing fields and in the gyms on college campuses across this country. Second, the Judge declared NCAA By Law 12.3.2 “unreliable . . . capricious…illogical . . . and arbitrary” and declared it void and unenforceable. The Judge made a similar finding with respect to By Law 19.7, also declaring it void.

The Court then enjoined the NCAA from issuing any disciplinary action with respect to Mr. Oliver and announced the case would proceed to the next step of establishing damages Oliver suffered by the tawdry treatment he received from an institution thought to be impervious to the standards that govern the rest of us.