Thursday, February 21, 2008
UEFA CUP RETURN GAMES 2008: 1 OUT OF 3 FOR SPANISH TEAMS
Only one Spanish team managed to go onto the next round of the UEFACUP tonight, after the two supposingly big names said goodbye.Above is the away goal by PROGREBNYAK that gave ZENITST.PETERSBURG the victory over VILLAREAL, althoughthey lost the match. They came with a goal advantage & in caseof a draw an away goal is worth double.Villareal almost made the comeback with goals from G.FRANCOin the
NFLPA Says NFL is Colluding
Last November, the NFLPA launched an investigation into whether the NFL’s decision to lower the debt ceiling of its 32 clubs constitutes collusion to reduce competition for players or players’ salaries (which I previously posted on the blog). In October, NFL owners voted to lower the debt ceiling (how much money a team can borrow) by $30 million, which reduces the debt ceiling to $120 million from $150 million, and to cut $1 billion of league and team debt over the next three years. This morning, Street & Smith's SportsBusiness Daily reports that the NFLPA plans to announce later today that it is has asked Special Master Stephen Burbank to overturn the NFL’s decision last fall to lower teams’ debt cap, which the the union contends is designed to dry up the cash teams need to spend on players' salaries, charging that the league violated the anti-collusion provisions of the CBA.
The league takes the position that reducing the debt cap was essentially a "business decision" in light of the current turmoil in the economy. As I noted in my November post, the NFLPA takes the position that lowering the debt ceiling could have a chilling effect on team spending for players because clubs frequently finance player compensation and signing bonuses with debt. Essentially, the union views the debt limitation as a restriction on free agency.
The NFLPA has two very strong claims in support of its position. First, the union can argue that imposing the debt limitation constitutes a breach of the anti-collusion provision in the CBA. The anti-collusion provision, which essentially prohibits the teams from acting in concert with each other with respect to the players' exercise of their free agency rights, is a necessary prerequisite in order for free agency to work properly (i.e. player salaries determined by an uninhibited free market). There is precedent that collusion does not require a "common agreement" among teams to suppress player salaries. Therefore, if, as a result of the agreement among the teams to lower the debt ceiling, teams are not able or willing to spend as much on salaries as they otherwise would in the absence of such an agreement, then the agreement violates the anti-collusion provision.
The second argument the union can make here is what I mentioned in the comments within my November post. It can be argued that lowering the debt cap constitutes a mandatory subject of collective bargaining that must be negotiated with the union and can't be unilaterally implemented by the league. Based on precedent interpreting what constitutes "wages" for purposes of mandatory subjects of collective bargaining, I don't see how the NLRB or any court could conclude that lowering the debt cap does not impact players' wages. But even if it's a permissive subject, then the league could be exposed to an antitrust lawsuit here. As a side note, MLB negotiated, and agreed to, its debt service rules with the MLBPA.
The league takes the position that reducing the debt cap was essentially a "business decision" in light of the current turmoil in the economy. As I noted in my November post, the NFLPA takes the position that lowering the debt ceiling could have a chilling effect on team spending for players because clubs frequently finance player compensation and signing bonuses with debt. Essentially, the union views the debt limitation as a restriction on free agency.
The NFLPA has two very strong claims in support of its position. First, the union can argue that imposing the debt limitation constitutes a breach of the anti-collusion provision in the CBA. The anti-collusion provision, which essentially prohibits the teams from acting in concert with each other with respect to the players' exercise of their free agency rights, is a necessary prerequisite in order for free agency to work properly (i.e. player salaries determined by an uninhibited free market). There is precedent that collusion does not require a "common agreement" among teams to suppress player salaries. Therefore, if, as a result of the agreement among the teams to lower the debt ceiling, teams are not able or willing to spend as much on salaries as they otherwise would in the absence of such an agreement, then the agreement violates the anti-collusion provision.
The second argument the union can make here is what I mentioned in the comments within my November post. It can be argued that lowering the debt cap constitutes a mandatory subject of collective bargaining that must be negotiated with the union and can't be unilaterally implemented by the league. Based on precedent interpreting what constitutes "wages" for purposes of mandatory subjects of collective bargaining, I don't see how the NLRB or any court could conclude that lowering the debt cap does not impact players' wages. But even if it's a permissive subject, then the league could be exposed to an antitrust lawsuit here. As a side note, MLB negotiated, and agreed to, its debt service rules with the MLBPA.
Howard Wins in Arbitration
Ryan Howard won his request for $10,000,000 from the Phillies. This represents the first hearing loss ever for the Phillies. The arbitration panel was Stephen Goldberg, Robert Bailey and Jack Clarke. According to my research, Goldberg’s panel record is 24-17 in favor of teams, and Bailey’s panels are 2-2. Clarke, who also sat on the Chien-Ming Wang panel this year, has a panel record of 9-8 in favor of players. This decision ties the record for the highest award. Previously, Alfonso Soriano was given a $10,000,000 award. However, he lost his case against the Washington Nationals in 2006 when he asked for $12,000,000.
NFL Reverses Position on Church Super Bowl Parties
According to my colleague Howard Friedman's Religion Clause blog, the NFL has reversed its position on whether churches could host "family friendly" Super Bowl parties without infringing on the league's IP rights. I blogged about the underlying dispute here. According to Howard's post,
in a Feb. 19 letter to Sen. Orrin Hatch, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said that starting next year, the league will not object to "live showings -- regardless of screen size -- of the Super Bowl" by religious organizations as long as the showings are free and are on premises that the church uses on a "routine and customary" basis.
FC BARCELONA: LIONEL MESSI TRIMS THE CELTIC CLOVER
From the city of Barcelona , from its based daily sports paper "MundoDeportivo" & its cartoon section "KAP" comes this post - matchcomment about the Celtic 2 - Fc Barcelona 3 result last night inChampions.The Barça Argentine forward MESSI was the star that gave his team thevictory with his two goals.
FC BARCELONA IS THE WORLD´s TOP NEWS GENERATOR
According to the University of Navarra (Spain) via its ESIrgBusiness School study, that was presented yesterday at the"Business Centre of Birbeck ( university of London), Spanishclub FC BARCELONA is the club that most generates news inthe World. The Nº1 spot is directly related to the fact that the clubhas in its squad Lionel Messi, Thierry Henry & Bojan ( picturedbelow) that grab most of the
Howard Decision Today - Perez and Rodriguez
Yesterday at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort and Golf Club in St. Petersburg, Florida, Ryan Howard, his father Ron, and agent Casey Close squared off against Astros president Tal Smith to see which side could convince a majority of three arbitrators that Howard either deserves the highest figure ever awarded to a first-year arbitration-eligible player ($10,000,000) or a modest raise from $900,000 to the Phillies offer of $7,000,000.
The Phillies have never lost a salary arbitration hearing. The $3,000,000 gap is considerable, and the largest in this arbitration cycle. Because Howard is a Super-2 player, Tal Smith argued that the $7,000,000 figure is more appropriate. Furthermore, with management winning all five hearings this year, I expect the Phillies and Smith will be happier today when the decision is announced. Service time, Howard’s 199 strikeouts, the drop in on-base percentage, batting average, and slugging percentage last year should also tip the scale towards the Phillies. Arbitrators have often been reluctant to award a huge increase, and that is exactly what they were asked to do in Howard’s case. There is no denying the great offensive production of the young slugger who was Rookie of the Year in 2005 and Most Valuable Player in 2006.
There were a number of fine articles posted yesterday including ones by Philadephia Inquirer columnist Jim Salisbury ("A Window on How Arbitration Works"), Bill Conlin of the Philadelphia Daily News ("Why Howard Will Win, Why He’ll Lose"), and MLB.com’s Ken Mandel, who posted a number of articles on MLB.com. Jon Heyman of si.com had some interesting inside information on the Chien-Ming Wang presentation ("Chien-Ming Wang) that underscores why it is difficult to predict outcomes when you have not heard the presentation. It is the same difficulty that one encounters when looking at appellate court decisions without consulting the briefs of counsel or, to a lesser extent, the oral arguments.
Oliver Perez of the Mets and Francisco Rodriguez of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim take their shots at management today. If the Howard decision goes to management as I think it will, the Mets and the Angels could produce the first-ever clean sweep of the hearings. It should be an interesting final few days.
The Phillies have never lost a salary arbitration hearing. The $3,000,000 gap is considerable, and the largest in this arbitration cycle. Because Howard is a Super-2 player, Tal Smith argued that the $7,000,000 figure is more appropriate. Furthermore, with management winning all five hearings this year, I expect the Phillies and Smith will be happier today when the decision is announced. Service time, Howard’s 199 strikeouts, the drop in on-base percentage, batting average, and slugging percentage last year should also tip the scale towards the Phillies. Arbitrators have often been reluctant to award a huge increase, and that is exactly what they were asked to do in Howard’s case. There is no denying the great offensive production of the young slugger who was Rookie of the Year in 2005 and Most Valuable Player in 2006.
There were a number of fine articles posted yesterday including ones by Philadephia Inquirer columnist Jim Salisbury ("A Window on How Arbitration Works"), Bill Conlin of the Philadelphia Daily News ("Why Howard Will Win, Why He’ll Lose"), and MLB.com’s Ken Mandel, who posted a number of articles on MLB.com. Jon Heyman of si.com had some interesting inside information on the Chien-Ming Wang presentation ("Chien-Ming Wang) that underscores why it is difficult to predict outcomes when you have not heard the presentation. It is the same difficulty that one encounters when looking at appellate court decisions without consulting the briefs of counsel or, to a lesser extent, the oral arguments.
Oliver Perez of the Mets and Francisco Rodriguez of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim take their shots at management today. If the Howard decision goes to management as I think it will, the Mets and the Angels could produce the first-ever clean sweep of the hearings. It should be an interesting final few days.
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