New column: 11 Burning Questions as NBA lockout approaches

Here's my new SI column on the NBA labor crisis. While the weather is beautiful today and many folks might not be glued to their TVs, I'll be an in-studio analyst tonight on NBA TV at 6 pm and 11:30 pm eastern. I'm joining Kenny Smith to talk about NBA lockout. Hope you can watch.

Pesou hein

curto shorts mais justos.... hehehe

Abs

Soccer Boy

É Gurizada.... tah frio

mas sempre podemos esquentar néh ahahahah

Abs

Soccer Boy

New video on Dodgers Bankruptcy

Following Nathaniel's excellent work on the Dodgers situation, I have a video for Sports Illustrated channel on what's next with the Dodgers:

More on NBA Age Restriction

Age restrictions, especially in the NBA and NFL, have been a big discussion point on this blog since it began 8 years ago.  Here's the New Republic's Nathan Pippenger's take on the NBA's age limit, which requires that players be 19 plus one year out of high school.

Tah aê uma foto boa hehehe

....

Merece estar aqui no Soccer and Soccer

Teve Cielão nas piscinas e nda de foto do Brow... é phodis 

Abs

Soccer Boy

Can the NFL sanction players for misbehavior when the NFL has locked out those players?

John Glennon of The Tennessean asks Gary Roberts and me that question, and we seem to disagree.

Bud Selig Blocks the Dodgers' Proposed Television Deal with Fox

News broke last Monday that MLB Commissioner Bud Selig elected to exercise his "best interests of baseball" power by blocking the Los Angeles Dodgers' proposed television agreement with the Fox network. In short, Selig believes that the allegedly below market value deal would mortgage the future of the Dodgers franchise by diverting much needed funds from the team to satisfy Dodgers' owner Frank McCourt's personal debts (and help resolve his on-going divorce proceedings). Many commentators have speculated that Selig's decision will ultimately result in litigation between the Commissioner and McCourt.

For those trying to get up to speed on the quite complicated facts surrounding the Selig-McCourt dispute, Larry Behrendt of the It's About the Money, Stupid blog has posted an excellent summary of McCourt's ownership of the Dodgers.

Meanwhile, for analysis regarding the strength of McCourt's possible legal claims against Selig, be sure to check out Michael McCann's prior article for SI.com, as well as Sports Law Blog's previous coverage of the McCourt saga.

Update: The Dodgers announced this morning that they have formally filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Fala sério.... tem jogador mais gostoso que o Gladiador no Brasil?

Claro que não... porraw o cara é MTO BOM !

Olhem isso... afff

Podem esperar daqui alguns minutos tds outros blogs vão postar essas fotos hehehe

e pior... colocando o nome do blog no meio da foto #malgosto

Abs pra geral e J.

e ótima cmana

Soccer Boy

Do Minimum Age Rules "Work" in Sports?

I have been curious about this question for over a decade.

Minimum age laws/rules/policies are all around us. Think of voting, driving, drinking, and military service. The U.S. Constitution even has minimum age rules for certain political offices - 25 for the House of Representatives, 30 for the Senate, and 35 for Presidency. Minimum age rules are also plentiful in sports, of course.

Dan Stone and I recently published an economics-based analysis of minimum age rules in women's professional tennis in the Journal of Labor Research. The published version can be found here. The SSRN version can be found here. We provide some background in the paper's introduction (AR = age rule):

ARs are often controversial, and understanding their effects is clearly important to policy-makers. However, analyzing AR effects is generally a challenge empirically. In most nonsport contexts, the ARs have been in place for a substantial period of time. Women’s professional tennis provides a unique environment to analyze the effects of ARs on labor market outcomes, as the major change in the sports’ age rule was made fairly recently, in 1995. This allows a meaningful comparison to be made between the groups of players that had to comply with the restriction and those that did not. Moreover, consistent with the observation by Rosen and Sanderson (2001) regarding sports labor market research in general, the availability of player-specific records and the relatively static nature of other rules of the game over the past few decades make women’s tennis an excellent context for such an investigation.

We use regression analysis (OLS and probit) to test both the short-run and long-run effects of the age eligibility rule. With our data set comprised of year-level ordinal rankings, we were also able to use panel data methods, which allowed us to control for year and age effects more precisely. We tested whether players subject to the age rule (adopted in 1995) had longer and/or stronger careers. Our study found null results. We concluded as follows:

We find very limited evidence that the AR has had any systematic beneficial effect on players’ career longevity or success. Our results suggest that sport governing bodies should (re-)evaluate the efficacy and necessity of “one size fits all” age eligibility rules.

I have been working on a couple related studies (using different methods) pertaining to NBA basketball and women's gymnastics this summer. Given the "before and after" quality of minimum age rules and a plethora of metrics to track labor market outcomes, sports is a near-ideal environment to test whether such age eligibility rules "work."

Big Day for NBA today

The NBA and NBPA will be meeting today to see if they can get a deal done on a new CBA before it expires at the end of June 30.  For related coverage, I am interviewed on NBA TV to provide legal analysis and Gabe Feldman has a piece on Huffington Post on this topic. 

Meuw sente só

Piázada maluda .... timão do SUL série B

B de BONS hahahaha

demais esse 1º da esquerda néh ahahahaha

Owww

O Kaká como sempre ... mto bom

Show néh

Mala molhada... grudada

Abs

Soccer Boy

Precocity in the NBA

The NBA's age eligibility rule will be one of many issues that the league and union negotiate in the coming weeks. A large number of published papers have looked at the legality of the NBA age rule. Examples are here, here, and here.

Research has also touched on the efficacy of the minimum age rule. Mike McCann's oft-cited article looked at the issue from an economic perspective, with a particular emphasis on opportunity costs. Earlier this week, Peter Newman and Dean Oliver of ESPN blogged about whether age is a factor in the NBA draft. Newman and Oliver concluded, in relevant part, that: "...the trend is that a younger, highly drafted player will have more success than an older one." Such conclusion is consistent with my findings. I ran an OLS regression with age as my variable of interest and included a number of control variables found elsewhere in the literature. Across each dependent variable, age was a statistically significant predictor of on-court success. The working paper's conclusion is as follows:

Precocity and basketball are intertwined. If the current NBA age rule was in place prior to 2005, some of the best players in the league (Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Dwight Howard) during the past 15 years would have been initially ineligible. We find evidence that the younger a player is when he first enters the NBA labor pool the more successful he is likely to be. There is no systematic evidence of any success among “late bloomers.” Our findings cast doubt on the long-term on-court efficacy of the NBA’s age rule, although the recent imposition of the league’s age policy, coupled with certain off-court considerations that may be relevant, caution against any conclusive determination regarding the rule’s effectiveness (and necessity). Likewise, limitations stemming from the censored data argue against a more definitive position on such issue.

Gurizada na paz?

Cara feriadão hein.... quem vai pra praia? PUTS!

Saudade do MAR das sungas hahahahahah

Alguém chegou a ver o tal vídeo que o Valdivia fez na web?

eu gostaria muito de ver hehehe

conferir o material

O cara tem garra

se alguém tiver é só enviar

vms de olho na seleção

bom hein

Puta coxa boa

marcou legal

no feriado eu posto mais ok?!

Abs

Soccer Boy

Mississippi State University and Its Baseball Coach Sued By Former Player

Last month, former Mississippi State University baseball player Forrest Moore filed a lawsuit in Mississippi state court against the school, its head baseball coach John Cohen (pictured), and assistant athletic director Mike Nemeth. Moore was a scholarship pitcher for the Bulldogs during the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons.

In the complaint, which is available here, Moore levies a series of allegations against Cohen, Nemeth, and the university. Specifically, Moore alleges that upon taking over MSU's baseball program in 2008, Cohen required the team to work out for more than maximum number of hours permitted by the NCAA. In order to avoid NCAA sanction, Moore asserts that Cohen forced players to sign uncompleted time sheets, without allowing the players to document the actual number of hours they were being required to practice. During these practice sessions, Moore alleges that Cohen forced him to throw more pitches than he should have, causing Moore to develop forearm tendinitis. Moore asserts that Cohen continued to overwork him during the season, ultimately resulting in a partial tear to the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in Moore's pitching elbow. Moore requested a medical redshirt for the 2009-10 season in order to recover from the necessary surgery, but alleges that Cohen instead informed him that his scholarship was not being renewed for that school year.

Despite all of Moore's allegations about the origins of his arm troubles, his complaint ultimately does not seek to hold Cohen or the University responsible for his injury. Instead, Moore's legal claims focus on the non-renewal of his scholarship. Specifically, Moore asserts a breach of contract claim against Mississippi State, alleging that the university did not follow proper NCAA procedure by failing to provide him with the requisite written notice or hearing required under NCAA rules before depriving him of his scholarship. Article 15.3.2.4 of the NCAA Division I Manual states:

The institution’s regular financial aid authority shall notify the student-athlete in writing of the opportunity for a hearing when institutional financial aid based in any degree on athletics ability is to be reduced or canceled during the period of the award, or is reduced or not renewed for the following academic year.

Moore asserts that his scholarship constituted a contract with the university governed by NCAA rules, and that by failing to follow the proper procedure when revoking the scholarship, MSU breached the contract. But for this breach, Moore contends that he would have been permitted to retain his scholarship, rehabilitate his arm, and ultimately be "properly evaluated" by major league scouts.

Interestingly, Moore's complaint fails to mention the fact that he was nevertheless drafted in the 38th round of the 2010 draft by the Florida Marlins despite sitting out the 2009-10 season (Moore does not appear to have played yet in a professional game). Moore, a former high school All-American, had previously been drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 32nd round of the 2007 draft, but elected to enroll at MSU.

As for Cohen and Nemeth, Moore asserts that they intentionally interfered with his contractual relations with the university, and conspired to deny Moore his scholarship for the 2009-10 school year. Cohen denied almost all of Moore's allegations in a motion to dismiss filed last week, including the assertion that Moore's scholarship was not renewed. Cohen also claims immunity under the Mississippi Tort Claims Act.

It does not appear that Mississippi State has filed a response to the complaint yet, but the school has acknowledged that it is investigating Moore's allegations regarding Cohen's potential NCAA violations.

É meu amigo... por essas e outras q eu não perco a alegria

Olha aê

Pensa bem

é mto bom....

Abs

Soccer Boy

Kent State University Sues Its Former Men's Basketball Coach

Last month, various media outlets reported that Kent State University had filed a lawsuit in Ohio state court against both its former head men's basketball coach Geno Ford and Bradley University, after Ford left Kent State in March to take the same position at Bradley. The suit alleges that Ford breached his contract with Kent State by accepting the Bradley position without the university's consent, and seeks $1.2 million from Ford pursuant to the liquidated damages clause in his contract (i.e., his prior salary of $300,000/year for each of the four years remaining on his contract). In addition, Kent State asserted a $25,000 tortious interference with contract claim against Bradley, alleging that the school wrongfully induced Ford to breach his contract with Kent State.

Earlier this month, Coach Ford and Bradley each filed responses to Kent State's complaint. Ford denied the allegations and asserted 14 affirmative defenses, perhaps most notably arguing that the liquidated damages provision in his contract was unconscionable. Meanwhile, Bradley asserted that Kent State unconditionally consented to its interviewing Ford for the coaching position, thereby waiving any right to a contractual interference claim.

Lawsuits by jilted universities seeking to enforce liquidated damages provisions against former coaches are not uncommon, and typically settle out of court. For instance, one of the most notable recent examples was the $4 million settlement West Virginia University reached with its former head football coach Rich Rodriguez in 2008.

However, if the parties cannot reach a settlement in this case, Kent State has a favorable judicial precedent it can rely on in support of its claim against Ford. Specifically, in Vanderbilt University v. DiNardo, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the liquidated damages clause in former Vanderbilt head football coach Gerry DiNardo's contract was enforceable, after DiNardo left Vanderbilt to become the head coach at Louisiana State University. Like Ford, DiNardo had argued that the provision was unconscionable, insofar as it required him to pay Vanderbilt his net salary for each remaining year under the contract. The Sixth Circuit rejected DiNardo's argument, holding that the provision was not an unlawful penalty given the difficulty in measuring Vanderbilt's actual damages from DiNardo's breach.

In light of the DiNardo precedent, Kent State's attempt to enforce the liquidated damages in Ford's contract does not appear to be unreasonable. Accordingly, I suspect that Coach Ford will eventually agree to settle the case out of court.

An Update on the American Needle Litigation

It has been a little over a year since the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in American Needle, Inc. v. National Football League. I thought I'd check to see how the case was progressing upon remand to the district court.

Perhaps not surprisingly, little has transpired since the case was returned to the Northern District of Illinois. The most significant development to date was the reassignment of the case to Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman in December, as the original judge presiding over the litigation, Senior Judge James B. Moran, unfortunately passed away during the pendency of the Supreme Court appeal. Judge Coleman let the case sit until this past April, and since that time the parties have been preparing to restart the discovery process. Discovery is currently scheduled to run until Dec. 31, 2012.

One item of note comes from the parties' recent joint status report, which stated that there have been no meaningful settlement discussions to date. Therefore, it appears the American Needle litigation is unlikely to be resolved anytime soon.

For an analysis of the likely outcome of the remand of American Needle, be sure to read Marc Edelman's forthcoming law review article, Upon Further Review: Will the NFL's Trademark Licensing Practices Survive Full Antitrust Scrutiny? The Remand of American Needle v. National Football League.

Meanwhile, for those who just can't get enough analysis of the Supreme Court's decision in American Needle, check out my forthcoming article, American Needle and the Future of the Single Entity Defense Under Section One of the Sherman Act. In addition to considering the effect of the decision on the single entity precedent generally, the article also discusses its implications for the professional sports industry. Specifically, although I take issue with some of the Court's discussion of the single entity status of the NFL, and argue that the opinion does not necessarily signal the death of the single entity defense in all professional sports antitrust cases, I ultimately conclude that the decision is unlikely to have a significant effect on the industry given that it largely reaffirmed the status quo.

E aew Piá.... na PAZ?!

Meuw, cmaninha mais q fodah hein PUTS!

to cansado, cansado mesmo.

As vezes gostaria ser como um dos personagens dos filmes do Aronofsky, que vão até o fim, qualquer sejam os efeitos das escolhas, que encaram suas fraquezas, temores e imperfeições. Sofrem com isso, mas vivem plenamente.

Vms q vms, hoje é um novo dia

é... bom hein

vou fazer um tatoo...

pulou a vara hahahaha

sem o protetor

Ops

é isso...

Abs

Soccer Boy

Len Bias and counterfactual history

Today marks the 25th anniversary of the death of former University of Maryland basketball star Len Bias from a cocaine-induced heart attack. For sports fans of my age group, this is one of those significant where-were-you-when moments (I was at home studying for my last high-school finals). It was the subject of one of the best of ESPN's 30-for-30 documentaries and Bill Simmons always describes it as the singular event that changed the course of the Boston Celtics and all of the NBA in the late '80s and '90s. It was a major catalyst for Congress creating the crack/powder disparity that still plagues federal sentencing law

The assumption always is that Bias would have been an NBA superstar. He was the immediate heir to Larry Bird and would have kept the Boston Celtics (who had just won the NBA title with arguably the best team in NBA history) at the top of the league. And he would have been the truly worthy and equal rival to Michael Jordan in the 1990s. But I always have wondered whether that assumption is correct

We know (or really, really strongly suspect) two things: 1) June 19 likely was not the first time Bias had used cocaine and 2) Dozens of players drafted in the mid-'80s had problems with cocaine, with several being suspended or kicked out of the league for cocaine use, including some potential superstars. So is it equally reasonable to create a counterfactual in which Bias' career is similarly undone (or at least fails to live up to its fullest potential) by the league's pervasive drug culture of the time? Especially given that Bias' death itself was one of the major wake-up calls against that culture, the event that told leagues, teams, players, and fans in a more explicit and dramatic way that cocaine was something to worry about.

So how about a counterfactual in which Bias does not die, but the sports world never receives the jolt it needs to take cocaine seriously (at least until some other high-profile figure dies)? And then how does Bias' career actually play out?

Bullish on BCS?: Stripping USC and Potential Antitrust Implications for the BCS

As expected, the BCS chose to vacate USC’s 2004 national title last Monday. The decision was merely a formality because the BCS was only waiting for the NCAA to deny USC’s final appeal. From a legal perspective, however, the interesting consideration is why the BCS even cares about the NCAA’s ruling in the first place.

The BCS, which has been debated vigorously on this blog, is a virtual legal fiction with no organizational contracts at all. It has no formal affiliation with the NCAA whatsoever. Yet, BCS executive director Bill Hancock said in reference to the BCS championship games, “One of the best ways of ensuring they remain so is for us to foster full compliance with NCAA rules.” Presumably, there is nothing that mandates the BCS to take away a title for NCAA rules violations. In fact, the Associated Press did not to strip USC of its title. Theoretically, the BCS could operate completely outside the scope of NCAA regulations. Vacating USC’s appearances simply maintained the integrity of the system. With a potential antitrust suit lurking, the obvious co-dependence between the BCS and the NCAA could certainly play a prominent role in the case.

As attenuated as it might seem, this action could be potential ammunition for BCS opponents to suggest that the BCS is in fact not the least restrictive alternative system under rule of reason analysis of Section One of the Sherman Act. Hancock’s quotes seem to manifest an uneasiness that the BCS could in fact lose its right to stage the games should it fail to comply with NCAA rules. Perhaps Hancock realizes that the system is now in a precarious position and that viable less restrictive alternatives exist (e.g. the old bowl system, an NCAA mandated playoff, or another independently run postseason tournament). It could be that the BCS stripped USC of its title in order appease the NCAA and preserve its restrictive system.

Alternatively, the BCS may try to mitigate its culpability by portraying the NCAA as an equally complicit co-conspirator. The fact that the BCS is concerned with running its system in accordance with the NCAA suggests the presence of an unspoken agreement between the parties to maintain the current system. If the BCS did not require NCAA compliance, the NCAA would certainly step in and create its own postseason product. It seems, on the surface at least, that the NCAA has a “don’t ask don’t tell” type of policy in regard to the BCS, so long as it requires its member schools to remain in compliance. Despite NCAA President Mark Emmert’s letter to Assistant Attorney General Christine Varney, the NCAA may not be able to wash its hands of responsibility should a suit be filed.

Ultimately, the USC ruling may have little bearing on any potential suit, and certainly both sides will advance stronger arguments than this, but it certainly raises questions as to the veritable relationship between the BCS and the NCAA. Some conspiracy theorists argue that the NCAA actually plays a role in BCS operations? If so, what is that role? Will it matter if the Government files suit?

Hat tip to law clerk, Brian Konkel, for his work on this piece.

NBA TV Legal Analysis

I'll be NBA TV tonight at around 8:00 p.m. – I’ll be joining David Aldridge in a discussion on NBA labor issues, and I'll be on throughout the impending lockout to provide legal analysis. Hope you can watch.

Update: here's a link to the discussion. I'll be in NYC in late June to cover the story on location.

hahahahahah

É isso aew hein

gde a tatoo hein ... olha aê

Abs

Soccer Boy

Meuw..... olha aê o Thiago

todo jogo a mala do lek é destaque hein

Se vc ver o jogo em HD fica melhor hahahahah

Curto ver o cara jogar

Fiquei ferrado qdo ele foi vendido pro Hamburgo

temos q parar de vender jogador

os bons devem ficar

é isso aew

Abs

Soccer Boy