What can rugby tell us about the future of football?

A recurring question in discussions of the future of football in light of safety concerns is whether, and how, you can have a "safer" tackling sport. Thoughts generally turn towards rugby--dre did a workshop at FIU in February and this came up during that conversation. Having just watched the Tokyo Sevens rugby tournament, I wonder if the answer is in there somewhere. Without question it is a tough, brutal, physical sport and in all likelihood players are suffering some head trauma, as well as other physical injuries. But rugby seems to involve more tackling and less "big hits" or high-speed/high-impact collisions. Players (especially off the ball) do not get the same running start or head of steam, so they are not moving as fast when the hit one another.

So am I correct as to nature of the hitting and tackling in rugby compared with football? And if so, is there a way to change the rules of football and the way it is played to make the hitting more like rugby? And would it work to preserve football or would it so fundamentally alter the game?

MLB v. Biogenesis

In recently suing a Miami clinic, Major League Baseball signaled a new legal strategy for combating steroids: sue those who allegedly sell to players on grounds the sellers are intentionally interfering with players' employment contracts. I wrote an article titled "Squeeze Play" in the April 1, 2013 issue of Sports Illustrated that examines this strategy.

Hope you can check it out on page 20 of the magazine.

Happy Easter

Another beautiful day in paradise!




Ski trails of Killington/Pico from across the road on Easter morning (click to supersize and Mac folks can click a second time for a really close look)



Cooper at the South Peak of Moose Mountain
during our daily hike on a glorious Easter Sunday



Cooper the Wonder Dog showing off

Try Again

One of the popular rationales offered up for why the Ivy League does not go to the NCAA football playoffs is lost class time. Yale's 4-1 win over North Dakota yesterday that brought with it a berth in the Frozen Four exposes that rationale, as, if you'll pardon the pun, irrational.

OK, now follow along.

Yale's ice hockey season started with an Oct. 26 game. The Bulldogs play UMass Lowell in

Chelsea vs Manchester United: Sulit Di Prediksi

Pertandingan ulangan (replay) babak perempat-final Piala FA yang mempertemukan Chelsea dengan Manchester United, pada Senin (1/4) esok diperkirakan bakal berlangsung sengit, hal ini tak lepas dari target masing-masing klub untuk dapat menyapu semua gelar yang mungkin untuk dimenangi.

Pada pertemuan pertama, Chelsea berhasil menahan imbang MU dikandangnya dengan skor 2-2, saat itu Chelsea berhasil mengejar ketinggalan defisit 2 gol. Sekarang, mau tak mau harus ada yang menang dan yang kalah, oleh karenanya tentu saja bakal terjadi adu strategi dan adu kejelian antar pelatih. Manchester United berambisi memenangi piala FA yang sudah lama tidak mereka raih, sedangkan Chelsea ingin meraih minimal satu gelar musim ini.

Namun, menjelang laga ini, hasil dari kedua klub juga bertolak belakang, MU baru saja mengalahkan Sunderland, sedangkn Chelsea harus takluk oleh Southampton. Posisi MU kokoh dipuncak klasemen dan sangat sulit terkejar, sedangkan Chelsea harus turun ke peringkat empat digeser oleh Tottenham.

Sulit diprediksi memang, namun dengan berbagai faktor pertimbangan, sepertinya pertandingan akan berjalan imbang, namun menilik hasil pertndingan antara Chelsea dan United, sepertinya United lebih sedikit diunggulkan karena lebih konsisten sepanjang musim ini. Saya pun juga menjagokan United untuk dapat lolos kebabak selanjutnya, tanpa mengecilkan peluang Chelsea tentunya.

Manchester United Kian Dekat Ke Tangga Juara EPL

Liga Inggris musim 2012/13 sudah memasuki pekan ke-31, itu artinya tinggal menyisalakn tujuh pekan atau tujuh pertandingan lagi. Meski demikian, sepertinya siapa yang bakal menjadi jauar EPL musim ini sudah bisa di tebak, ya, Manchester United sudah sulit dikejar perolehan poinnya. 

Manchester City yang merupakan pesaing terdekat sepertinya sudah kesulitan untuk mengejar, meski masih mungkin mengejar, sepertinya selisih 15 poin sangat mustahil dikejar mengingat sisa pertandingan yang tinggal tujuh.

Pada pertandingan pekan ke-31, United yang bertandang ke markas Sunderland harus puas dengan kemenangan tipis 0-1 berkat gol bunuh diri pemain Sunderland. Sedangkan Manchester City yang menjamu Newcastle United berpesta gol usai menundukkan Newcastle dengan skor 4-0.

Langkah United kian sulit terbendung, meski demikian, pasukan Sir Alex Ferguson masih mempunyai target lainnya, yaitu menyamai atau melampaui rekor poin yang pernah di torehkan Chelsea semasa masih ditukangi Jose Mourinho. Kala itu poin Chelsea adalah 95, dan dengan sisa tujuh pertandingan masih sangat mungkin poin tersebut terlampaui, untuk poin MU sekarang adalah 77 hingga pekan ke 31. Kita nantikan saja.

State Bill Challenges NCAA Amateurism Rules

The battle over the future of college athletics continues to evolve as more and more people view the NCAA's failure to compensate student-athletes from the revenue created by their labor as hypocritical.  Most challeneges have come from either public commentary--Taylor Branch, Joe Nocera, Jay Bilas, etc.--or the court system, i.e. O'Bannon v NCAA.  However, the state of California continues to advocate on behalf of the college student-athletes, not surprising given that it's also home to the National College Players Association (NCPA)--a nonprofit student-athlete advocacy group.

The latest effort by the California legislature is Assembly Bill 475.  This Bill would require all public universities and colleges in California that offer full athletic scholarships and receive media and licensing revenues in excess of $20 million to provide each athlete $3,600 stipends and guarantee full-ride athletic scholarships for five years, instead of the year-to-year guarantee.  As of now, the only schools that meet these thresholds are USC and UCalifornia, Berkeley.

Of import is that this Bill directly conflicts with current NCAA rules regarding amateurism.  Any stipend will be defined as an "extra benefit" violating the NCAA's self-defined amateurism rules.  The $3,600 stipend, not coincidentally, is close to the average amount that the NCPA determined is the cost of attendance shortfall for student-athletes receiving a "full grant-in-aid" scholarship.  For more on this research, please see their study, conducted by Ramogi Huma and Dr. Ellen Staurowsky, entitled "The $6 Billion Heist: Robbing College Athletes Under the Guise of Amateurism."

Finally, from a strict legal standpoint, we may be heading for a showdown--does a state have the right to impose laws that supercede the NCAA's regulations?  I'd say yes.  Will the NCAA challenge this rule?  I'd say yes again.  The result, perhaps an expedited judicial hearing, and ruling on the merits, on the claim that the NCAA's rules impose an unreasonable restraint of trade under the antitrust laws.  Stay tuned.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/03/30/5303876/bill-would-guarantee-5-year-athletic.html#storylink=cpy#storylink=cpystr

Looking Good

Stratton Mountain (click to supersize)

It's too easy to take the view for granted from our perch here on the shoulder of Moose Mountain, about 7.5 miles from campus. Then you have a morning like this when you run back inside to get the camera. On clear days we can see five Vermont ski areas from across the road and this was one of those days. That's Stratton Mountain, Vermont in the distance.

Babak 8 Besar (Perempat-Final) Liga Champions Eropa 2012/13

Hasil undian babak 8 besar atau babak perempat-final Liga Champions Eropa sudah dilakukan beberapa waktu yang lalu. Tak banyak kejutan seperti di babak penyisihan atau perdelapan-final, delapan klub yang berlaga di babak perempat-final ini tak saling mempertemukan klub dari negara yang sama.

Dari hasil undian, hanya Bayern Munich vs Juventus yang bisa dikatakan sama-sama klub "besar", tanpa mengecilkan tim-tim lain, Munich dan Juventus adalah dua klub yang sama-sama pernah merasakan gelar juara. Dari delapan klub yang lolos hanya Malaga, PSG, dan Galatasaray yang belum pernah merasakan gelar juara liga champions, bahkan Malaga merupakan klub debutan di liga champions eropa.

Berikut hasil undian babak 8 besar (perempat-final) Liga Champions Eropa musim 2012/13:

	MALAGA	VS	BORUSSIA DORTMUND
	REAL MADRID	VS	GALATASARAY
	PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN	VS	BARCELONA
	BAYERN MUNICH	VS	JUVENTUS

Dari hasil undian diatas, sudah barang tentu pertandingan antara PSG vs Barcelona dan Bayern Munich vs Juventus yang bisa dikatakan pertandingan besar, lainnya sepertinya sudah ada klub yang di unggulkan. Saya sendiri berharap akan hadir kejutan, tim-tim non unggulan seperti PSG, Galatasaray dan Malaga bisa memberi perlawanan.

Barcelona dan Real Madrid mungkin masih menjadi unggulan utama, hanya saja, dalam pertandingan sepak bola segala sesuatu bisa terjadi. Tentu banyak penikmat sepak bola yang menantikan hiburan dan kejutan-kejutan hebat, kalau Barcelona atau Real Madrid yang juara, tentu tak banyak yang heran, tapi kalau tim-tim non unggulan yang berhasil lolos dan juara, itu yang layak dinantikan.

Can't make it Malibu for Pepperdine Law Review Sports Law Symposium on Fri Apr. 5? Live and Free Webcast = Next best thing

From the Pepperdine Law Review: 

The Pepperdine Law Review is pleased to announce that we will be hosting a free, live webcast of our Sports Law Symposium next Friday, April 5th.  If you cannot join us in sunny Malibu, CA, please consider tuning in online!  You may add the webcast to your calendar here: http://t.co/3gkgDlUmMh.  Sports law experts Michael McCann, Gabe Feldman, Matt Mitten and ESPN's Roger Cossack are among our 22 speakers.  A full list of panelists is below.

The New Normal in College Sports: Realigned and Reckoning

Friday, April 5th – 8:30am to 5:15pm PST // 11:30am to 8:15pm EST

Live from Pepperdine University School of Law, Malibu, CA

Live Webcast:  http://t.co/3gkgDlUmMh

Complete Schedule of Events: http://bit.ly/UvxZRr 

Line-up of Speakers: http://bit.ly/UvxZRr

Web viewers may tweet questions for the panelists to @PeppLawReview

Note: if you wish to attend in person, registration closes tonight at 11:59pm PST.  You may register here: http://bit.ly/10gmGdV.

The symposium will consist of four panel discussions and a keynote address with leading academics, university administrators, and practitioners in a variety of areas, including: a conversation with institutional leaders of major intercollegiate athletic programs; a consideration of the possibility of an antitrust exemption for the NCAA; the impact of conference realignment, digital media, broadcasting, and commercialization; and other emerging hot topics in college sports.

Schedule of events (all times PST):

8:30-8:45am                       Introductions and Welcome

8:45-10:45am                     Institutional Control: A View From the Top

11:00-12:30pm                   NCAA, Legal Exemptions, and Liability

12:30-1:30pm                     Lunch (Pause in Webcast)

1:30pm-2:00pm                 Address by Jeff Moorad, Founder, Moorad Sports Management

2:00pm-3:30pm                 NCAA: Enforcement, Sanctions, and Relationship with Universities

3:45-5:15pm                       The Money: Broadcasting, Digital Media & What Drives the Machine

Speakers include: 

Michael McCann, Professor of Law and Director of the Sports and Entertainment Law Institute, University of New Hampshire School of Law; Legal Analyst and Writer, Sports Illustrated

Gabe Feldman, Associate Professor, Tulane Law School; Director, Tulane Sports Law Program; and Associate Provost for NCAA Compliance 

Roger Cossack, ESPN Legal Analyst & Pepperdine University School of Law Distinguished Visiting Professor

Jeff Moorad, Founder, Moorad Sports Management; Former owner of the San Diego Padres

Judge Ken Starr, President, Baylor University

Katherine Sulentic, Assistant Director of Enforcement, NCAA

Britt Banowsky, Conference Commissioner, Conference USA

Steve Potts, Athletic Director, Pepperdine University

Dave Roberts, Vice President for Compliance, USC

Maureen Weston, Professor of Law, Pepperdine University School of Law

Daniel E. Lazaroff, Professor of Law and Director, Loyola Sports Law Institute at Loyola Law School

Jeffrey Standen, Professor, Willamette University 

Professor Ed Larson, Professor of Law, Pepperdine University School of Law

Matt Mitten, Professor of Law and Director, National Sports Law Institute, Marquette University Law School 

Rod Smith, Director of Sports Law & Professor of Law, Thomas Jefferson School of Law 

Brian Halloran, NCAA Perspective 

Andrew Brandt, NFL Business Analyst, ESPN; Columnist for ESPN.com; Director, Moorad Center for Sports Law at Villanova Law School; and Co-Founder, The National Football Post 

Brian Marler, Director, Houlihan Lokey 

Babette E. Boliek, Associate Professor of Law, Pepperdine University School of Law 

Mark Fainaru-Wada, Reporter, ESPN Investigations/Enterprise Unit 

Deanell Reece Tacha, Duane and Kelly Roberts Dean and Professor of Law, Pepperdine University School of Law 

Margot Parmenter, Editor-in-Chief, Pepperdine Law Review

Email Michael Wood at mcwood@pepperdine.edu or call Pepperdine Law at (310) 506-4653 if you have any questions.  For more information, please visit our website: law.pepperdine.edu/SportsLawSymposium

Pepperdine Law Review

A scholarly law journal published by second- and third year law students at the Pepperdine University School of Law, the Pepperdine Law Review was founded in 1972. In its 40 years of existence, the law review has been a resource for practitioners, law professors, and judges alike and has been cited several times by the U.S. Supreme Court. Written contributions to the symposium will be published in Volume 41. For more information about the Pepperdine Law Review, please visit our website: pepperdinelawreview.com

Thanks,

Michael Wood

Symposium Editor, Pepperdine Law Review

mcwood@pepperdine.edu

Consumers and NCAA-licensed products: new findings

New empirical findings by Anastasios Kaburakis and his research team on how consumers perceive NCAA licensed products in relation to athletes featured in them. Key finding: consumers associate video game representations with actual NCAA players & a good number of consumers mistakenly believe that players endorse (and are perhaps paid to be in) these games. These findings clearly connect to O'Bannon v. NCAA and more broadly to evolving conceptions of amateurism in college sports.

Night Flight

Butler Bowl under the lights

Going to be in Indianapolis for Dartmouth's season-opener against Butler on Sept. 21? Hopefully you weren't planning an early flight out.

Butler has announced its schedule and as widely anticipated the game will be played under the lights. Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m. (Sunset will be at 7:43, so the lights probably won't come into play until the second half.)

Diamond Time

The Dartmouth baseball team raised its record to 12-1 win a 15-7 win over Siena yesterday.

The victory improves the Big Green's mark on Red Rolfe Field at Biondi Park to a mind-boggling 56-7 since it opened in 2009. (Note: Dartmouth's stadium is ranked third-nicest in the nation among "small" venues behind only the facilities at Miami University and UNC-Greensboro in a review by College Baseball

Spring Things

The Nat Thompson Trail is much steeper than it looks here.



The view from Moose Mountain peak on an absolutely gorgeous Tuesday


Weather permitting Dartmouth baseball will be opening the home season down in the valley this afternoon against Siena. On Moose Mountain there's still plenty of snow as a hike up to the peak yesterday proved. (I guess it's a bit of an oxymoron that from up here

1 Degree Of Separation

Click the box scores to make them readable.




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Dartmouth defensive end recruit Jeremiah Douchee is front and center in a Chicago CBS TV report (and print story) posted under the headline, Talented Low-Income Students Shying Away From Top Colleges: Study.

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The Sports Network lists what it sees as the FCS's top 10 offensive players in the NFL draft and two are from the Ivy League.



Listed

Countdown To The Draft

The first round of the NFL Draft will be broadcast on primetime TV one month from today. The second and third rounds will be conducted the next evening, and rounds 4-7 will be taken the next day, Saturday, April 27.

No Ivy Leaguer is getting chosen on the first night and there's only a very small chance someone would go on the second day. But the final day of the draft will be nailbiting time

Slow Sunday

Not much for you this morning. If you have mixed feelings about Harvard basketball you may be interested in a story published by Slate under this headline:

Upset Special
How Harvard became part of the problem with college sports.
The Crimson, of course, got pounded yesterday by Arizona.

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Dartmouth baseball took a 7-4 decision from Bradley yesterday and returns to Hanover with an 11-1 record.

Hoops, Baseball, Golf and a Little Football

Imagine if you played in only one game in your college basketball career, but it was the game for the NCAA championship game. It happened and the fellow in question played for Dartmouth. Check out this story in our local daily.

•
New York Magazine takes a look at Columbia's Campbell Sports Center. From the story:

The architects began by sketching football plays, and they, at least, still see

Legality of NFL teams asking College Players about their Sexual Orientation

Can NFL teams legally ask college players about their sexual orientation? They clearly shouldn't, but legally it's a complicated issue involving states' anti-discrimination laws and federal labor law, as I write about in this week's issue of Sports Illustrated (March 25, 2013 issue). My article is titled "Loaded Question" and it's on page 16. Special thanks to the smartest lawyer around, Alan Milstein, for his insights.

Here's a brief excerpt:

But in Washington, D.C., where the NFLPA is based, and in 21 states, including those that are home to 13 NFL teams, it is unlawful for private employers to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. When local laws are taken into account, as many as 25 teams could be barred from asking prospective employees about sexual orientation. 

The jurisdiction with one of the toughest laws against such bias is New York, where the NFL is headquartered. The CBA, which amends the standard NFL player contract, stipulates that New York state law applies when federal law does not. In other words, a prospect who sued the league for discrimination could make a reasonable case.

Hope you have a chance to read the rest in this week's issue.

LA Times Note And March Madness

Former Dartmouth football coach Joe Yukica and his successful court case to coach out his contract in the 1980s gets a mention late in a Los Angeles Times article about the futures of Los Angles Clippers basketball coach Vinny Del Nego and Ben Howland, hoops coach at UCLA.

From the story:

 In the mid-1980s, a veteran football coach named Joe Yukica was fired by Dartmouth. The school said it

Pro Hopefuls

It would seem there is a very real chance that the Ivy League could have two players drafted this year.

Harvard H-back Kyle Juszczyk is reportedly draft guru Mel Kiper's No. 1 fullback, and is ranked No. 3 by NFL Draft Scout. Former Dallas Cowboys chief scout Gil Brandt predicts he'll be taken in the fifth or sixth round. (Brandt also discusses 6-foot-6 Holy Cross tight end Alex Schneider and

Familiar Names

Cedric Calhoun, Dartmouth's defensive line coach from 2006-09 before spending the last three seasons at Florida International, has joined the staff at Stony Brook.

Calhoun will coach the defensive line for Stony Brook, which moves to the CAA this fall. Stony Brook has won four consecutive Big South Conference championships and has gone 19-7 over the past two years, winning a first-round NCAA

S'No Problem

We've had about four inches of snow so far with 8-15 inches expected – depending on which service you believe. I'll take 8 in the snow pool  <[;-)

•
Snow is no problem for the Dartmouth baseball team, which is getting plenty of traction. With yesterday's 6-0 win over North Dakota State in Winter Haven, Fla., the Big Green raised its record to 7-0. Dartmouth, which has enjoyed back-to-back

From Tweeting to Meeting Lance Armstrong

I was a guest on NPR's All Things Considered this past weekend to talk about my interview with Lance Armstrong at his home in Austin, Texas.  I'll have more to write about it later this spring.

Bo Knows Football *and* Baseball

Bo Patterson

At 6-0 with wins over Minnesota of the Big Ten, Utah of the Pac 12 and Alabama Birmingham of Conference-USA, the Dartmouth baseball team is off to its best start since 1915.

Helping the Big Green to a 4-0 win over UAB in yesterday's second game was sophomore Bo Patterson, who went 2-for-4 at the plate and recorded six putouts in center field.

A wide receiver for the Dartmouth

Legacy Power

A couple of football alumni offspring are in the news with one planning to come this way and one Dartmouth could probably only dream of recruiting to Hanover.

Patrick Lesch, a football and lacrosse standout at Staples High in Connecticut, has chosen Dartmouth according to the school newspaper, Inklings. Lesch, only a junior at Staples, is the son of former Big Green football and baseball player

Practice Schedule

Dartmouth spring football practice schedule (subject to change):

Tuesday, April 9 – 4:45
Thursday, April 11 – 4:45
Saturday, April 13 – 9:45

Tuesday, April 16 – 4:45
Thursday, April 18 – 4:45
Saturday, April 20 – 9:45



Tuesday, April 23 – 4:45
Thursday, April 25 – 4:45
Saturday, April 27 – 9:45

Tuesday, April 30 – 4:45
Thursday, May 2 – 4:45
Saturday, May 4 – Spring Game TBA

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Sacred Heart

Lights . . . Action!

Dartmouth finally made the official announcement yesterday. The Sept. 28 home opener against Holy Cross will indeed by played under the lights at Memorial Field, with kickoff slated for 7 p.m.

Last year Dartmouth played two night games with the Homecoming contest against Harvard starting at 5 p.m.

Whether Holy Cross will be the only night game this fall is uncertain. Yesterday's release

Pepperdine Law Review Symposium: The New Normal in College Sports: Realigned and Reckoning Friday April 5

I can't wait to fly to Malibu for this (and great work by Pepperdine Law Professor Maureen Weston in putting this together and Pepperdine Law Review symposium editor Michael Wood for all of his excellent work)

Description:

The Pepperdine Law Review is pleased to invite you to a symposium discussing the status of big-time college sports and legal issues facing college athletics today. The symposium will consist of four panel discussions with leading academics, university leaders, and practitioners in a variety of areas, including: a conversation with institutional leaders of major intercollegiate athletic programs; a consideration of the possibility of an antitrust exemption for the NCAA; the impact of conference realignment, digital media, broadcasting, and commercialization; and other emerging hot topics in college sports.

This symposium has been approved for Minimum Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) credit by the State Bar of California. Pepperdine University School of Law certifies that this activity conforms to the standards for approved education activities prescribed by the rules and regulations of the State Bar of California governing minimum continuing legal education.If you have any questions, please contact us by phone at (310) 506-4653.

Register by Friday, March 29, 2013!

Symposium Speakers & Brochure / Mail Registration: Click here to view all of the symposium speakers or to register by mail.

Online Registration: Click here to register online.

Schedule: Click here to view the day’s schedule of events.

Additional Information: Click here for additional information.

Friday, April 5, 2013
7:45-8:30am	Check-In & Continental Breakfast
8:30-8:45am	Introductions and Welcome: Margot Parmenter, Editor-in-Chief, Law Review Deanell Tacha, Dean, Pepperdine University School of Law
8:45-10:45am	Panel One: Institutional Control: A View From the Top Moderator: Roger Cossack, ESPN Legal Analyst & Pepperdine University School of Law Distinguished Visiting Professor  Panelists: Ken Starr, President, Baylor University Britt Banowsky, Commissioner, Conference USA Steve Potts, Athletic Director, Pepperdine University Dave Roberts, Vice President for Compliance, USC
10:45-11:00am	Morning Coffee Break
11:00-12:30pm	Panel Two: NCAA, Legal Exemptions, and Liability  Moderator: Maureen Weston, Professor of Law, Pepperdine University School of Law  Panelists: Daniel E. Lazaroff, Professor of Law and Director, Loyola Sports Law Institute at Loyola Law School Gabe Feldman, Associate Professor, Tulane Law School; Director, Tulane Sports Law Program; and Associate Provost for NCAA Compliance Jeffrey Standen, Professor, Willamette University Michael McCann, Professor of Law and Director of the Sports and Entertainment Law Institute, University of New Hampshire School of Law; Legal Analyst and Writer, Sports Illustrated
12:30-1:45pm	Luncheon in Cafeteria Address by Jeff Moorad, Founder, Moorad Sports Management
1:45-3:15pm	Panel Three: NCAA: Enforcement, Sanctions, and Relationship with Universities Moderator: Professor Ed Larson  Panelists: Matt Mitten, Professor of Law and Director, National Sports Law Institute, Marquette University Law School Rod Smith, Director of Sports Law & Professor of Law, Thomas Jefferson School of Law Brian Halloran, NCAA Perspective Britt Banowsky, Commissioner, Conference USA
3:15-3:30pm	Afternoon Coffee & Cookie Break
3:30-5:00pm	Panel Four: The Money: Broadcasting, Digital Media & What Drives the Machine Moderator: Roger Cossack, ESPN Legal Analyst & Pepperdine University School of Law Distinguished Visiting Professor  Panelists: Andrew Brandt, NFL Business Analyst, ESPN; Columnist for ESPN.com; Director, Moorad Center for Sports Law at Villanova Law School; and Co-Founder, The National Football Post  Brian Marler, Director, Houlihan Lokey Babette E. Boliek, Associate Professor of Law, Pepperdine University School of Law Mark Fainaru-Wada, Reporter, ESPN Investigations/Enterprise Unit
5:00pm	Concluding Remarks Maureen Weston & Margot Parmenter

Loyola Los Angeles Law School Sports Law Sympsium Saturday April 6

Looks like an excellent event:

SYMPOSIUM: CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS IN PLAYER HEALTH AND SAFETY

LOYOLA LAW SCHOOL, LOS ANGELES

ROBINSON COURTROOM

SATURDAY, APRIL 6, 2013

9:00 AM - 3:00 PM

MODERATOR: Daniel E. Lazaroff, Cohen Chair in Law and Economics and Director, Loyola Sports Law Institute

CHECK-IN – 8:30 – 9:00 AM

PANEL: DRUGS, DOPING AND DRUG TESTING – 9:00 – 11:00 AM

Adolpho A. Birch III, Senior Vice President of Law & Labor Policy, National Football League

Anthony Butch, Ph.D., Director, UCLA Olympic Analytical Laboratory and Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Matthew Fedoruk, Ph.D., Science Director, United States Anti-Doping Agency

Onye Ikwuakor, Legal Affairs Director, United States Anti-Doping Agency

Maidie E. Oliveau, Counsel, Arent Fox LLP and Arbitrator, Court of Arbitration for Sport

BREAK: 11:00 -11:15

PANEL: CONCUSSIONS AND HEAD TRAUMA – 11:15 – 1:15

Modesto (“Doc”) Diaz, Managing Partner, Leviton Diaz and Ginocchio, Workers’ Compensation Attorney

Thomas V. Girardi, Founding Partner, Girardi/Keese and Member, Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame

Joseph M. Miller, Seyfarth Shaw LLP, Former Chair, Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board

Tony L. Strickland, M.S., Ph.D., FNAN, FACPN, Chairman & CEO, Sports Concussion Institute and Associate Clinical Professor of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

LUNCH: 1:30 – 3:00

Speaker: Ryan Nece, B.A., former UCLA and National Football League linebacker and Pac-12 Network analyst

Worth Another Look

I've met several times with a couple of local fellows working on a football movie and that sent me scurrying to watch once again the film 8 Ivy League Football and America. Check out this short, entertaining excerpt from the film and if you are interested in purchasing a copy, the 114-minute film is available from PBS for $14.99. (In the interest of full disclosure I spent a lot of time with the

Harvard Law School Sports Law Symposium on Thursday, March 28 2013

This event is open to the public and free.  To register, click here.

The Harvard Committee on Sports and Entertainment Law, in conjunction with Harvard's Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law and Harvard's Association for Law and Business, presents:

2013 HLS Sports Law Symposium:

The Evolution of the Fan

Thursday, March 28, 2013 at Harvard Law School, Milstein West in Wasserstein Hall

The 2013 Sports Symposium will focus on evolving consumer experiences in the sports marketplace.  Panels composed of executives from teams, leagues, and sports media outlets as well as law partners with prominent sports practices will address the business and legal challenges faced by the industry in each of three media contexts: the Stadium Experience, the Television Experience, and the Internet Experience. Ken Hershman, President of HBO Sports, will present a keynote address on cutting edge efforts to meet the demands of the modern sports fan.

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Event Schedule

 11:45am - 12:00pm

Opening Remarks

&

Lunch

• CSEL Board
• Professor Peter Carfagna, Lecturer on Law, Harvard Law School

12:00

The Stadium Experience

• Marc Edelman:  Associate Professor of Law, Barry University Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law; Fordham Univeristy (Moderator)
• Len Komoroski: CEO, Cleveland Cavaliers
• Jim Holzman: Founder & CEO, Ace Ticket Worldwide, Inc.*
• Jeff Miller: VP & Chief Security Officer, NFL
• Jon Oram: Partner, Proskauer Rose LLP - Sports Law Group

1:15

The Television Experience

• Michael McCann: Director of Sports and Entertainment Law Institute & Professor of Law, University of New Hampshire School of Law; Legal Analyst & Writer, Sports Illustrated & SI.com (Moderator)
• Ed Durso: EVP of Administration, ESPN
• Brett Goodman: Senior Vice President, Business & Legal Affairs for NBC Sports Group
• Tom Ward: Partner, WilmerHale
• Ed Weiss: GC, Fenway Sports Group; NESN

2:30

Keynote Address: Ken Hershman

Ken Hershman, President of HBO Sports, will present a keynote address on cutting edge efforts to meet the demands of the modern sports fan.

3:30

The Internet Experience

• Patrick Rishe: Director, Sportsimpacts; Associate Professor of Economics, George Herbert Walker School of Business, Webster University; Contributor, Forbes Magazine (Moderator)*
• Mary K. Braza: Partner, Foley & Lardner - Sports Industry Team
• Anthony D'Imperio: EVP, IMG
• Lauren Fisher: GC, Vox Media/SBNation
• Lucia McKelvey: EVP, Top Rank, Inc.
• Scott Doyne: VP, Turner/NBA Digital

5:00

Networking Reception

Drinks, hors d'oeuvres, and dessert will be served

*Awaiting Confirmation

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CSEL would like to thank Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP (www.milbank.com) for providing generous funding for this symposium.
For more information, please email csel@law.harvard.edu

Not Yet

Had hoped to share news yesterday on the scheduling of a night football game for next fall but the anticipated release about the schedule was waylaid by the announcement that Chris Wielgus, architect of the Dartmouth women's basketball program and winner of 12 Ivy League titles, has coached her last game in Hanover. Find a press release about her departure here.

Wielgus won 12 Ivy League titles

NINE Spring Training Conference

Later this week I'm off to Tempe for the 20th Annual NINE Spring Training Conference on the Historical and Sociological Impact of Baseball, sponsored by NINE: A Journal of Baseball History and Culture. I will be presenting The Economics of the Infield Fly Rule on a panel moderated by our own Ed Edmonds. And are some interesting-sounding papers covering economics, history, sociology, culture, and art as it relates to baseball.

I participated in this conference about eight years ago, when I first was writing about fan expression. It is always fun to engage with some non-legal academics (although this year there are at least a few other law-school types). Better still, there is a reason the conference is in Arizona--two afternoons are dedicated to "field research" at spring training games.

Spring Ahead Redux

With Dartmouth spring practice set to begin in less than a month we follow yesterday's unofficial list of players eligible to return on offense when the Big Green kicks off spring practice on April 9 with an unofficial list of defensive players eligible to return. This list is drawn from the roster on the team website and is subject to change.

Defensive Line
Keith Hamren
Make Kingsley
Martin

New Links!

Coach Mac's new blog with good Pistol and 4-2-5 articles that includes video!

Coach Mac's Play Fast Football

Coach Fore's blog has a lot of good resume tips, job advice, and leadership articles:

Coach Fore - Empowering Coaches

If you're an OC, you need to read this article by Donnie Mays at South Charleston HS (WV) from Fishduck.com here:

Donnie Mays - Inside the Mind of an Offensive Coordinator

Seton Hall Law Panel: The Fight for Fair Treatment in Mixed Martial Arts

The Fight for Fair Treatment in Mixed Martial Arts

SPEAKERS:

Timothy D. Cedrone, Esq.
Paul Haberman, Esq.
David N. Weinraub, Esq.
Justin E. Klein, Esq.
Andy Main, Professional Fighter and Trainer

LOCATION: Seton Hall University School of Law Newark, NJ

DATE: Tuesday, March 26, 2013, 6:00 PM

MEMBER FEE: $15(Includes CLE Credits and Dinner)

No Fee Includes Dinner, & Program, No Cle Credits

LAW STUDENTS: No Fee Includes Dinner and Program No CLE credits

CLE Credits: NJ G: 1.2;  NY P T&N/T: 1.0; PA S: 1.0 ($4.00 check made payable to NJICLE)

DESCRIPTION: There are currently two areas of heated discussion in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts: the fair treatment of fighters and First Amendment protection for the exhibition of sporting events. The topic of fair treatment focuses on the relationship between labor law and how fighters are treated in their working environment. Another area of concern is First Amendment issues in regards to hosting Mixed Martial Arts contests, particularly in New York.

Spring Ahead

Dartmouth spring practice is set to begin in less than a month. Here is an unofficial list of players eligible to return on offense when the Big Green kicks off spring practice on April 9. No word yet on who may not return. This list is drawn from the roster on the team website.



Quarterbacks

Ernest Evans

Andy Gay*

Thomas Militello

Alex Park

Dalyn Williams



Running Backs

Kyle Bramble

Off Season Comes With its Own Challenges

As the 2012 season closed, the Panthers knew that the departing Senior class, was taking a good deal of talent from both sides of the ball. Two wide receivers, one running back, most of the defensive backfield, and the kicker, just to name a few.
While these losses were expected, there seems to always be a certain amount of players that for whatever reason, choose to not return to the team. The retention problem is something that most teams in the conference likely deal with, and can only be combated by an aggressive recruiting campaign. This is something that Ferrum has been very successful in. In speaking with Coach Harper last month, he indicated that he was very pleased with the recruiting progress, and campus visits by prospective players. Every coach must have this to keep the positions filled.

While losing players is one thing for a coach to deal with, It becomes a far different challenge to replace assistant coaches. Since the end of the 2012 season, Ferrum is down two assistant coaches. Chris Warren left the team soon after the end of the season, and most recently, Offensive coordinator Ralph Isernia has been hired as head coach at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). While this is a great opportunity for coach Isernia, vacancies such as these could change the entire off season plans for Coach Harper. In order to get things back to normal, Ferrum must get these vacancies filled as soon as possible. It is a somewhat lengthy process to fill any position, so the sooner the positions are advertised, the sooner the replacements can be put into place. It's already March, and Fall Camp starts in August.

Hang In There

Zipping out at O-Dark-30 to drop That Certain Nittany Lion at the charter bus in East Hartford, Conn. for the ride back to University Park. Not sure if/when there will be an update today.

And Yet Again

From Flotrack:

Women's 3000m - 8:40pm ETIt's Abbey D at the double! The 5000m/3000m indoor double had only been done by Kim Smith (Providence) and Sally Kipyego (Texas Tech), but now there's a third name on the list.Similar to her 5000m the night before, D'Agostino won it from a long way out; her splits from 1600m to the finish were all faster than the last.

Sports Law Blogger Mark Conrad Chosen to Direct New Sports Business Program at Fordham

Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business announced the creation of a new undergraduate program focusing on the sports business. Called the Sports Business Specialization, the program will provide students first-hand knowledge of the business of professional and amateur sports. As part of the business program, all students are required to take foundation courses in accounting, finance, marketing, management and communications before they are eligible to take the sports-specific business classes. Students will also be required to complete an independent studies component, which will include an internship.

I was honored to be chosen to direct that program by Donna Rapaccioli, the dean of the Gabelli School of Business. The program will also offer the opportunity for guest speakers to come to campus or to speak to students via Skype. Speakers from the NBA and Major League Baseball have addressed our students. The state-of-the-art facilities at the Gabelli School of Business will also allow out-of-town speakers to address students and faculty via Skype or other online video service. Symposia will also be planned.  If anyone is interested in coming to the Bronx campus to speak about legal issues involving social media in sports, please drop me a message at Conrad@fordham.edu.

For more information on the specialization, please visit:

http://www.gabelliconnect.com/sports-business

D'Agostino Wins NCAAs

She did it again.

Dartmouth junior Abbey D'Agostino won another national championship last night with a five-second victory in the 5,000 meters at the NCAA Championships in Fayetteville, Ark. Needless to say, her 15:28.11 time set a school record.

Dartmouth has won two women's NCAA individual championships ever, and D'Agostino has both of them. Last spring she won the NCAA 5,000 outdoors.

A

The U?

Dartmouth University? It could be on the table according to a story in The Dartmouth that looks at reports pulled together by the college's Strategic Planning Advisory Committee.


From The D:

The Global Dartmouth group proposed the use of “Dartmouth University” to refer to the institution as a whole. 

“The name ‘College,’ while tied to important historical developments and rooted in tradition,

Will Florida Atlantic Football Partner With the Immoral Private Prison Industry?

The GEO Group, one of two nationally prominent private prison corporations in America has just signed an agreement with Florida Atlantic University to "name" the football stadium at FAU.  Understandably, this has caused an uproar from many on the faculty and in the student body at Florida Atlantic.  "The GEO Group Stadium" at Florida Atlantic University immediately conjures up images of the now retired "Enron Stadium" where the Houston Astros used to take the field, except that The GEO Group is undoubtedly more sinister and harmful to United States citizens than Enron ever was (a fact absolutely lost on FAU President Mary Jane Saunders until student and faculty protests erupted).

The GEO Group is a private prison company.  As I have written about extensively, private prison corporations essentially collect taxpayer funds from federal and state governments (a "per diem" or per bed fee) in order to house prisoners on behalf of these governments and do so with an immoral profit maximization motivation. Private prison companies profit on human misery.  Shareholders of  GEO Group stock expect the board of directors and executives to return handsome profits from imprisoning United States citizens (and increasingly illegal aliens).  The perversity in this arrangement, of course, is that in order to increase profits for shareholders, private prison companies, including the Corrections Corporation of America (the other prominent U.S. private prison company), seek to aggressively imprison more Americans by lobbying legislatures to increase sentencing laws, divine new laws/ways to imprison individuals, and even engage in drafting model legislation like SB 1070 (Arizona's "show me your papers" law) and three-strikes laws.  In "All Eyez on Me: America's War on Drugs and the Prison Industrial Complex," I describe the perverse incentives that motivate the private prison industry by examining the immorality attendant in leadership of private prison companies debating successful ways to increase profit by incarcerating more United States' citizens.

Private prison companies have flourished in recent years based upon the increasingly dubious claim that they provide prison services for less cost than do governmental agencies.  While numerous studies dispute this assertion, the bottom line economic transfer is that taxpayer funds are being funneled to private prison companies (and its executives and shareholders) without those companies providing any genuine public good or manufacture of product.  Indeed, recent reports indicate that private prison companies engage in gross human rights and constitutional violations, more egregious than government run prisons.

And now, FAU has signed an agreement to partner with The GEO Group allowing GEO to prominently appear on the facade of its' football stadium and increase its corporate branding.  FAU's President appears to have not engaged in any due diligence when signing the naming right, relying singularly upon the fact that the GEO Group Chair is a proud alumnus of FAU.  This is particularly egregious in Florida, where private prisons have attempted to seize on opportunities to stealthily motivate state legislators to sanction massive expansion of the private prison industry.  Students recently orchestrated a "sit-in" where President Saunders was forced to speak to the group, though she claims the naming agreement is a "done deal."  Whether students protests will lead to a repudiation of the agreement remains to be seen.  Sans repudiation, Florida Atlantic University may go down as one of the first American Universities to openly celebrate the incredibly perverse and immoral private prison industry and lobby.


(hat tip to Dave Zirin at The Nation)
cross posted on the Corporate Justice Blog

Idaho Rejects the "Baseball Rule"

In an under-the-radar opinion issued last month, the Idaho Supreme Court allowed a fan injured by a foul ball at a minor league baseball game to proceed with a negligence suit against the franchise.  Specifically, the court refused to adopt what it called the "Baseball Rule," in which most courts have held that baseball teams are generally not legally liable to fans for injuries caused by foul balls hit into the stands, so long as they have provided protective netting for the most dangerous seats in the stadium (i.e., those immediately behind and around home plate).  Click here for Sports Law Blog's prior coverage of this topic.

The court's opinion - available here - indicates that the plaintiff, Bud Rountree, was hit by a ball while standing in the Class-A Boise Hawks' "Executive Club," apparently the only area in the stadium that is not covered by protective netting (Rountree ended up losing an eye as a result of the injury).  In light of the area of the stadium in which the injury occurred, along with the fact that the team went to greater than normal lengths to protect most of the stadium from foul balls (pictured), Rountree's case may be stronger case than that of the typical fan hit by a foul ball in unprotected seating.  Indeed, his attorneys apparently argued to the Idaho Supreme Court that while the so-called "Baseball Rule" may be justified in normal bleacher settings, it was not appropriate for multi-purpose areas of the ballpark (such as in-stadium, sit-down restaurant seating). 

Whether the opinion will have a broader impact on baseball teams outside of Idaho remains to be seen, but given the number of jurisdictions that have adopted the majority rule it is unlikely that this latest decision will have a significant impact nationwide.

Slive Wields Power

Sports Illustrated yesterday posted this column: Ranking the 10 most powerful people in college sports

At the top of the list? Dartmouth product Mike Slive '62, commissioner of the SEC. To learn more about Slive, whose hiring by the SEC just about a decade ago was criticized by the Louisville Courier-Journal with this comment, "The man is as Southern as snow tires," read this Birmingham Magazine

Jay Peak

Click to enlarge a dramatic view from Jay Peak peak on a day when low-hanging
clouds make the view even more impressive.  (Matt Wood photo)

NYT On Columbia Facility

Columbia's new Campbell Sports Center is reviewed in an New York Times Art & Design story headlined: A Sports Complex Shows Its Brains and Brawn. (Thanks for the link.)

Green Alert Take: Thoughts like this from the story make me laugh:

The architects say football diagrams inspired them. The outside stairs would then be wide receivers, dashing across the field . . .  

Names And Plenty Of 'Em

Every Dartmouth All-Ivy League pick is on this display at Floren Varsity House.



The schedule has Butler tuning up for its first FCS game against Dartmouth on Sept. 21 with contests against Wittenberg and Franklin in the preceding weeks.

Not sure quite why The Sports Network/Fox News posted the story (it's not on the school website) but opening-game opponent Butler will be playing six home

The Tradition of Winning Continues

Over the last few months, I have been watching, somewhat quietly, the progress of the Ferrum sports teams. I attended a baseball game a few weeks back when Ferrum visited CNU. It was a doubleheader, but I only saw the first game...The Panthers played well, but fell 3-0. Thanks to the Internet, I I have been able to see many of the Men's and Women's basketball games. I have been quite impressed with what I have seen. It is apparent to me, that Ferrum is on the right road when it comes to their athletics program.
Football, in two years under Dave Harper has posted a 14-6 record, and this past season, were co champions of the conference. Coach Bill Tharp was named USA South Men's Basketball Coach of the Year, as the Panthers finished 2nd in the USA South with a 14-11 record.
The season was extended  for the Lady Panthers, as they received an at-large bid to the DIII NCAA tournament. For the second consecutive year, Ferrum made an appearance in the tournament, but had a quick exit as they fell to Huntindon (AL) Also for the second year in a row, Coach Bryan Harvey was named Women's Basketball Coach of the Year in the USA South. The future is bright for the Panthers.

My Freshman year at Ferrum was 1978-79. This was the year after Ferrum won it's final JUCO football national championship. While many of the players from that team had already transferred when I got there...(Remember, football was still a two year sport), there were still a lot of talent remaining. The team finished the season 8-2 that year, and although they were not national champions, they did win their regional title.

I happened to be flipping through my freshman year yearbook, and was surprised to learn of some of the othere records Ferrum posted in athletics that season.

Men's Basketball 23-6
Women's Basketball 11-9
Men's Tennis 8-3
Women's Tennis 1-7
Baseball 17-19
Women's Softball 6-3
Men's Golf 7-5
Track 10-1
Women's Volleyball 13-11

Interestingly enough, the yearbook lists a Men's and Women's swim team, and a Cross Country team, but does not show records. It was a strong year for the Panthers, and then, as now, the winning continues.