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

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

NBA Power Rankings

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What would you change here?

Sports and the Rule of Law

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

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

Sports Law Prof to be New Baltimore Law Dean

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

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

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

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

Congrats to Phil & to Baltimore!

I Want to Be Like Mike, Except in Bankruptcy Court

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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