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sportslawtalk — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 17:34:50 GMT

January 19, 2012

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Lincecum arbitration numbers; Super Bowl tickets;

sportslawtalk — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:00:18 GMT

January 18, 2012

Lincecum arbitration numbers

The arbitration numbers for San Francisco Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum were revealed on Tuesday as Baseball's arbitration season nears. Lincecum is asking for $21.5 million, while the Giants are countering with $17 million. The highest figure ever asked for by a player was $22 million by Roger Clemens back in 2005, while the Giants' offer of $17 million is the most ever offered by a team. Look for the two sides to reach an agreement before the matter goes to a hearing. In 2010 Lincecum was scheduled for arbitration before the two sides reached an agreement on a two-year deal.

Super Bowl ticket lawsuit

As the NFL gets ready for the Super Bowl in Indianapolis on February 5, there is still action going on from last years Super Bowl in Dallas. You may remember a number of ticket holders were unable to get into the game after they had purchased tickets. A class-action lawsuit was subsequently filed on the behalf of those ticket holders and that case is still around. For an update on the case, click on this link.

Baseball arbitration; Delay in Contador decision; Dirty business

sportslawtalk — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 11:08:00 GMT

January 17, 2012

It's almost Baseball arbitration time

142 Baseball players have filed for salary arbitration for the 2012 season. Arbitration hearings will take place between February 1-21 in St. Petersburg, Florida. Usually a number of agreements take place just before the club and player are scheduled to have the arbitration hearing. One player scheduled for arbitration this year was Nyger Morgan of the Milwaukee Brewers. However, Morgan and his agent won't have to make the trip to St. Petersburg this year. The Brewers reached an agreement with Morgan and avoided arbitration with the outfielder. Morgan made $471,5000 last year with the Brewers and will get a raise up to $2.35 million for the 2012 season. This was Morgan's first year of being eligible for arbitration and salaries usually take a significant jump when a player goes into his first year of arbitration.

Controversy in Contador matter will delay CAS decision

If you were expecting a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in the Alberto Contador doping case this week, you will have to wait another two weeks for the court to issue its decision. The court announced that because of questions about the panel's impartiality, there will be a delay in the final decision. The court asked the International Cycling Union, the World Anti-Doping Agency, Contador and the Spanish Cycling Federation if they wanted to change the make-up of the decision making panel. All of the above parties declined to make any changes in the panel.

Lawsuits in a cutthroat business

The agent business is as cutthroat as any business in the world. Stealing of an agent's client by another agent happens with great regularity. Agents certified by the NFLPA can file a grievance with the union when they feel another agent interfered in the existing agent-athlete relationship. However, this past spring and summer the NFLPA decertified and this allowed an open season on the poaching of clients. Now one agent is using the court system to ask for monetary damages after he lost a client of his who was a first round NFL draft pick.

Darvish negotiations; Contador

sportslawtalk — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 03:10:14 GMT

January 16, 2011

Rangers and Darvish continue negotiations

With a deadline of Wednesday for the Texas Rangers to complete a contract for Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish, the two sides do not see eye-to-eye on the length of the contract. Darvish is seeking a five-year deal that would allow him to benefit from free agency sooner. The Rangers are looking to sign Darvish to a six-year deal. The Rangers bid $51.7 million just for the right to negotiate with Darvish through Baseball's posting process. If the Rangers are unable to sign Darvish the team will not have to pay the posting process fee of $51.7 million.

For Nolan Ryan's views on Darvish, click on this link.

Darvish

Contador decision expected this week, as controversy continues

The Court of Arbitration for Sport is expected to make a decision in the Alberto Contador doping case this week. The objectivity of the judges has become a major issue over the past week. Albert Contador is the Spanish cyclist, who is a three-time Tour de France winner, and is before the Court of Arbitration for Sport for PED use. Contador claims that he consumed contaminated meat which caused him to test positive for the banned drug clenbuterol. Expect lawyers for National League MVP Ryan Braun to pay close attention to the Contador matter this week.

Bankruptcy for Steinberg; Moorad must wait; Bud will be back

sportslawtalk — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 14:05:34 GMT

January 13, 2012

Alcoholism contributed to Steinberg's financial woes

Leigh Steinberg, who was arguably the number one of sports agent in the 1980's and 1990's, has filed for bankruptcy. Steinberg who began representing athletes in 1975, with Steve Bartkowski as his first client, built an empire based on his clean image and having his athletes strive to give back to the community. Steinberg admitted that his battles with alcoholism and former partner David Dunn, contributed to his present financial difficulties.

For more on Steinberg, click on this link.

MLB delays sale of Padres to Moorad

Speaking of Leigh Steinberg, one of Steinberg's former partners, Jeff Moorad will have to wait a little longer before the other Baseball owners approve the sale of the San Diego Padres to Moorad.

Three more years for Bud

As expected, Major League Baseball owners voted 29-1 to give Commissioner Bud Selig a two year contract extension. Selig had said he would retire after the 2012 season, but now it appears he will be around to at least 2014. Only one owner voted against the extension, San Diego Padres owner John Moores was so upset that Selig delayed the vote on the sale of the Padres, that he refused to vote yes on Selig's extension.

Fox Sports and Dodgers settle; Finchem gets extension; Mediation for Big East and WVU; Loophole closed

sportslawtalk — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 13:22:22 GMT

January 12, 2012

Settlement reached between Dodgers and Fox Sports

Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross has approved a settlement between Fox Sports and the Los Angeles Dodgers that will allow the Dodgers to move forward with the sale of the team. Judge Gross in December had ruled that the Dodgers could market the media rights to future games beginning in 2014. Fox Sports then appealed to U.S. District Judge Leonard Stark, claiming Judge Gross had ignored an existing contract between the Dodgers and Fox Sports. Judge Stark indicated that Judge Gross probably erred in his decision and issued a stay of Gross' order. Fox Sports and the Dodgers then went back to working on a settlement with the help of a court-appointed mediator.

PGA Commissioner Finchem gets extension

This is the week for Commissioners to get extensions. Yesterday, news broke that Bud Selig would get an extension to continue on as Baseball Commissioner. Now, Tim Finchem has received a four-year extension to continue as PGA Commissioner. Finchem has been in his position since 1994. Finchem, graduated from the University of Virginia Law School in 1973. Finchem practiced law for three years after his graduation from law school, before going to work in the White House for President Jimmy Carter.

Tim Finchem

Mediation ordered for West Virginia and Big East

A Rhode Island judge has ordered West Virginia University and the Big East to enter non-binding mediation to try and settle their differences on the timing of how West Virginia will exit the Big East conference.

Cam Newton loophole closed

The NCAA will now consider parents who shop an athlete's services to schools for financial gain as agents. You may recall that Cecil Newton, the father of Cam Newton attempted to shop his son to Mississippi State. The NCAA later declined to suspend Cam Newton based on the finding that Cam was unaware of his father's scheme.

Costly typo in Jacksonville; More Selig?; Boldin gets judgment against former agent

sportslawtalk — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 17:49:58 GMT

January 11, 2012

Make sure you review and then carefully review again any document you draft

A typo in the contracts of seven fired Jacksonville Jaguars assistant coaches could be costly. In news that may or may not be related to the contract fiasco, the Jaguars fired general manager Paul Vance.

MLB Commissioner Selig offered extension

Reports indicate the Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig will be offered a contract extension when the owners meet this week in Phoenix. Going back to 2009 Selig has threatened on many different occasions to retire after the 2012 season. See this post from SportsLawTalk from November 30, 2009.

Anquan Boldin gets judgment against former agent

Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Anquan Boldin received a default judgment against a former agent in the amount of $280,000. Boldin claims Darrell Eugene Willis defaulted on a loan dating back to 2004. Many of the details of this matter are sketchy, but it is sufficient to say that it is never a good idea for players to loan agents money.

Mercedes-Benz; Consolidation of concussion suits; Scouts will not be in attendance

sportslawtalk — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 23:09:53 GMT

January 10, 2012

BCS Championship Game

Everyone knows that BCS Championship Game was played last night in New Orleans. You can probably name the stadium, as well. But did you get the correct name of the stadium? If you said the Mercedes-Benz Superdome you would be correct. That's what naming rights deals are all about - giving a corporation greater exposure and visibility. It was several months back that the Louisiana Superdome and Mercedes-Benz entered into this ten-year agreement. Back in October, Forbes took a look at this deal to see if the luxury automaker could actually benefit from the money spent to get the Mercedes-Benz name on the dome.

Concussion consolidation

With the plethora of concussion lawsuits filed against the NFL lately, both the league and the ex-players who filed the suits are looking to consolidate the many suits in one jurisdiction. On January 26, a hearing will be held in Miami to ask a federal judicial panel to consolidate the cases in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia. The NFL has requested the consolidation because of the difficulty of defending numerous suits in different jurisdictions.

College all-star game without scouts

One of the main reasons for draft eligible players to participate in post-season college all-star games is to get additional exposure in front of NFL scouts during the week of practice leading up to the game. The NFLPA College All-Star Game in Carson, California will take place on January 21, but without the presence of NFL scouts attending the practices leading up to the game. Because the game will have juniors who have declared for the NFL draft, the NFL will not send scouts to the game. If you are an agent of a player selected to play in the game, do you pull your player out of the game now? It seems that there are no longer any benefits of playing in the game now, but only the risk of injury. We will see how many players pull out of the game.

Mets need help with money problems; NHL Labor talks; NCAA hardship waiver

sportslawtalk — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 11:40:18 GMT

January 9, 2012

New York Mets' budget woes

The New York Mets have hired CRG Partners to help deal with the club's financial difficulties. CRG Partners will assist the Mets in "financial reporting and budget processes" according to the team. The Mets' organization also made it clear that CRG's services were not bankruptcy related. CRG Partners was the consulting firm that worked with the Texas Rangers during their bankruptcy in 2010.

Now it's time to look at the NHL

The NFL and NBA have new CBAs in place, now the NHL and its players will be set to do battle over the coming months. With Donald Fehr taking over at the NHLPA, the NHL will not be able to crush the union like it did back in 2004-05. Yahoo! Sports takes an early look at the upcoming labor talks.

NCAA hardship waiver

University of Tennessee football player DeAnthony Arnett is leaving Knoxville and heading to Michigan State. Arnett is hoping to receive a waiver from the NCAA so that he can be eligible for the 2012 season and avoid sitting out a year, as is the usual requirement when a player transfers. Arnett is asking for the hardship waiver because his father has been sick and by transferring to Michigan State he will be closer to home and his ailing father.

Braun likely to sit-out first 50 games; Leach contract terms; Racing in the Streets (of Baltimore)

sportslawtalk — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 12:07:00 GMT

January 6, 2012

Ryan Braun's suspension unlikely to be overturned

The Milwaukee Brewers are making plans to play the first 50 games of the 2012 MLB season without National League MVP Ryan Braun. A Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel story says there are only two ways Braun's suspension will be overturned - prove that there was a lab error or that the Brewers approved of Braun treatment in advance and signed-off on Braun's use of the substance that caused Braun to test positive. It is unlikely that either of the above defenses will work for Braun.

Leach contract terms

Washington State University's new football coach Mike Leach has an agreement that will pay him $2 million per year, with guaranteed supplemental income of $250,000. over the course of five years, according to the Spokesman-Review. If Leach is fired without cause, he will be able to receive 60% of the money left on his agreement with Washington State. Leach also has incentives in his deal for reaching the BCS title game and having the highest graduation rate among PAC -12 public schools. It is interesting to note that the graduation incentive only includes public schools, as it would be very difficult for Wazzu to top Stanford in terms of graduation rates for football players.

City of Baltimore terminates Grand Prix contract

The city of Baltimore has terminated a contract it had with Baltimore Racing Development (BRD). BRD had operated the first Baltimore Grand Prix in 2011, it was the first year of a five-year contract BRD had with the city. The city of Baltimore warned BRD that if it failed to pay the city the $1.5 million it owed the agreement would be terminated. The termination of BRD opens the door for other groups interested in organizing the race to step forward and take over the Grand Prix race.

Time to workout

sportslawtalk — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 12:54:58 GMT

January 5, 2012

That time of year again

The college football bowl season is just about over, and that means draft eligible seniors and some juniors have made their decisions about representation. After making their decisions on an agent, most players will be heading off to extensive training and workout programs courtesy of their agents. Most agents view the paying for their new clients workout programs as a necessary evil. In many cases agents are thrilled when they find out a draft eligible player wants to stay on campus and workout with his college strength and conditioning coach, thus saving the agent thousands of dollars.

To read a great article from last April on workout programs, click on this link.

Back in 2009 SLT took an extensive look at how the practice of agents paying for their draft eligible clients originated. To look at the first part, click on this link.

Bowl sponsorship

sportslawtalk — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 12:59:51 GMT

January 4, 2012

The Rose Bowl Game presented by VIZIO

The Rose Bowl has the distinction of being the oldest college football bowl game. The "Granddaddy of Them All" was first played in 1902 and was one of the last bowl games to have a title or presenting sponsor. Monday's game saw Oregon defeat Wisconsin in the traditional Big Ten versus PAC-12 contest. For the last two years the Rose Bowl has been known as The Rose Bowl Game presented by VIZIO. Currently VIZIO has a four-year contract with the Tournament of Roses and ESPN to be the presenting sponsor through 2014. Here are some highlights of VIZIO's deal:

The deal consists of the multi-media integration of VIZIO as part of ESPN's season-long college football coverage, including a new game mark that will be incorporated into all Rose Bowl Game and BCS-related materials. VIZIO also secures logo rights for product packaging, and on-site integration for all Rose Bowl related events. VIZIO's deal ensures the brand will be a part of the Rose Bowl Game's 100th Anniversary celebrating an unprecedented milestone in college bowl game history.

For all the prestige that the Rose Bowl brings to a sponsor, many bowl games are sometimes the butt of jokes as corporate America became involved in post-season college football. One of the first bowl games to look for a corporate sponsor was the Independence Bowl in Shreveport. In 1990 the Independence Bowl reached an agreement with AB Electrolux Home Products for the naming rights to the game. Poulan was then a division of AB Electrolux Home Products, and Poulan was best known for its weed-eater equipment, thus the game was called the Poulan Weed-Eater Independence Bowl. The agreement between the Independence Bowl and Poulan lasted until 1996. But even today you will sometimes hear fans refer to some lower tier bowls as the "weedwhacker bowl"

Bonds briefing schedule; Illini contract dispute

sportslawtalk — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 15:01:26 GMT

January 3, 2012

Welcome to the new year at SLT. Because of computer network problems over the last few days we were unable to post anything on Monday. Hopefully within the next few weeks we will have our new website running.
So stay tuned.

Bonds' appeal briefing schedule set

Barry Bonds will now go before the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to appeal his obstruction of justice charge. Bonds was given until March 21, 2012 to file his written argument to overturn his conviction. It was just last month that Judge Susan Illston sentenced Bonds to 30 days of home confinement and a $4,000. fine for giving an evasive answer to a grand jury.

Contract dispute with Illini assistant football coaches

A threatened boycott by four fired University of Illinois football coaches did not materialize as the coaches went on to coach in the school's bowl game this past Saturday. The dispute centered around four coaches believing that they had contracts that would have expired after the 2012 season. However, according to former Illini head coach Ron Zook some of the contracts were changed, and the contracts expired after this past season. Because of this, the coaches had threatened to boycott the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl. This link explains why it is important to have an attorney or agent carefully read a contract. It seems a clause was put in all of the contracts that said in the contract year ending after January 31, 2011 that either party could terminate the contract with 60 days written notice prior to January 31 of the current contract year. It is interesting to note that Ron Zook's explanation was just a little off, similar to much of his coaching history in Champaign-Urbana.

Fox Sports-Dodgers case; FIFA problems; USTA seeks repayment

sportslawtalk — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 18:14:00 GMT

December 30, 2011

Judge Stark and Judge Gross

U.S. District Judge Leonard Stark probably won't be invited to U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross' house anytime soon. Judge Stark issued a 33-page ruling explaining why he feels Judge Gross erred in allowing the Los Angeles Dodgers to get out of a media rights deal with Fox Sports. Stark has stepped in to stop the Dodgers from selling their media rights while the team still has a contract in place with Fox.

Soccer corruption

World Cup television rights for Trinidad and Tobago were sold for $1. in 1998 in exchange for helping Sepp Blatter gain the presidency of soccer's governing body. Jack Warner, a former FIFA vice-president said he was awarded the television rights in the years 1998, 2002 and 2006 for helping Blatter get elected and re-elected. By the way, Warner resigned from FIFA in June because of charges that he accepted bribes.

Sepp Blatter

Touring pro asked to repay USTA its their help

A professional tennis player who was born in Russia, then moved to the Unites States with his father to train, has made the Unites States Tennis Association unhappy. The reason for the USTA's displeasure is that Alex Bogomolov, Jr. has decided to play Davis Cup tennis for his native Russia, despite the fact that the USTA provided financial and coaching help to Bogomolov. The USTA will likely look for Bogomolov to repay the organization for its help.

The Sports Law year in review, part 4

sportslawtalk — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 11:11:28 GMT

December 29, 2011

We continue with our look at the year in Sports Law.

In October, with the NFL lockout in the rearview mirror, the NBA lockout took center stage. Even with mediator George Cohen lending his expertise to the NBA talks, talks were called off because of a lack of progress.

After the cancelation of the first two weeks of the NBA regular season, the two sides got back to the bargaining table.

Though there was talk that HGH testing would begin in the NFL during the 2011 season, the NFLPA wasn't quite ready to take the next step to start the testing program.

Auburn football and Cam Newton could finally celebrate their 2011 National Championship after the NCAA couldn't come up with anything on the Auburn program after a thirteen month investigation.

Al Davis passed away in October. For Sports Law students, the name Al Davis might be as important as any in the history of Sports Law.

November saw the NBA and the players finally reach an agreement on a new CBA.

Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt finally agreed to sell the team.

Major League Baseball announced that its new CBA will provide for HGH testing.

In December, National League MVP Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers was flagged for PED use. Braun had tested positive for an abnormally high level of testosterone. MLBPA executive director Michael Weiner urged everyone to keep an open mind on the matter until the full story comes out.

Albert Pujols and the St.Louis Cardinals failed to reach an agreement on a new contract and the slugger found a new home in California.

Unlike the NFL and NBA, Major League Baseball and the MLBPA quietly reached an agreement on a new CBA.

Just days ago Fox Sports was granted an emergency stay to prevent the Los Angles Dodgers from selling the television rights to the team for upcoming seasons.

The Sports Law year in review, part 3

sportslawtalk — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 10:47:53 GMT

December 28, 2011

We continue our look at the year in Sports Law 2011

July saw the end of the NFL lockout as players and owners finally resolved their differences. Throughout the lockout we continually heard that the key to a settlement was through negotiation and not litigation. However, the filing of lawsuits gave the NFLPA leverage to strengthen their position at the bargaining table. Something that the NBA players did not do soon enough in their labor battle with NBA owners.

The University of North Carolina football program had gone through a tumultuous year with many compliance issues, but Head Coach Butch Davis had survived the storm. At the end of July, Davis was ready to go to camp to prepare for the 2011 season. But nine days before heading to camp UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp announced the school's decision to terminate Davis.

Roger Clemens' trial for perjury finally got underway in July, but it was over before it started as Judge Reggie Walton declared a mistrial.

NFL great John Mackey passed away in July. Mackey was a huge influence in the growth and development of the NFLPA. Mackey, was a powerful force on field as one of the league's first great tight ends, off the field Mackey could easily be compared to Baseball's Curt Flood. It was Mackey who led the fight to eliminate the NFL's Rozelle Rule.

August started out with the Sports Law headlines coming from Coral Gables, Florida. As a rogue friend of the Miami Hurricanes program stole the headlines.

Los Angeles Angels' pitcher Jared Weaver declined to listen to the advice of agent Scott Boras and gave the Angels a hometown discount in order to keep pitching in Anaheim.

September saw conference realignment hit a fever pitch as Texas A&M's move to the SEC became a headline grabber.

Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig and Dodgers' owner Frank McCourt remained in the headlines in September.

September saw the regular season kick-off in the NFL. No longer were names such as Judge Susan Nelson, Jeff Pash, Arthur Boylan, DeMaurice Smith and Jeffrey Kessler in the news, but now it was back to Tom Brady, Eli Manning and the rest of the NFL players in the headlines.

The Sports Law year in review, Part 2

sportslawtalk — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 10:43:41 GMT

December 27, 2011

We continue with our review of the year in Sports Law.

In April, Judge Susan Nelson briefly put an end to the NFL lockout and declared that the league year should begin. However, there were no rules in place for free agency and many other issues. The NFL quickly moved to stay Judge's Nelsons order pending an appeal. But, for a few days players were able to report to team offices, receive treatment, pick-up play books and meet with coaches.

Also in April, Major League Baseball appointed a trustee to run the Los Angeles Dodgers, as owner Frank McCourt struggled to meet the team payroll.

Barry Bonds was in the news in April, as a jury failed to reach a verdict on three counts of perjury against Bonds and Judge Susan Illston declared a mistrial. Bonds was only convicted on one count of obstruction of justice.

Judge Susan Nelson' s order that ended the lockout was reversed by the
8th Circuit Court of Appeals on May 16th. Thus, the NFL was able to continue the lockout. Essentially the NFL went to court in order not to play games.

Lance Armstrong was in the news as the government sought to bolster its case against him by turning to France for help in supplying additional evidence against Armstrong and his teammates. Despite Armstrong never having tested positive for steroid use the government felt there was still a strong case against Armstrong.

May saw the resignation of Ohio Stale's Jim Tressel. Little did we know that the Big Ten would have even bigger news of another coach being terminated in November.

The month of June saw the continuation of the battle between Frank McCourt and Bud Selig. The Dodgers elected to file bankruptcy in McCourt's last ditch effort to save his ownership of the team. Commissioner Selig strongly objected to the bankruptcy filing.

Hope of ending the NFL lockout came from keeping the lawyers out of negotiations.

In June, Albert Pujuls of the St. Louis Cardinals suffered what appeared to be a serious wrist injury.The question that was asked was if the injury would diminish Pujol's value in free agency? We found out in November when Pujols signed with the Los Angeles Angels that the injury did nothing to hurt Pujols' market value.

SLT year in review

sportslawtalk — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 02:06:36 GMT

December 26, 2011

SportsLawTalk wishes everyone a joyous holiday season. Over the next few weeks look for some major changes at SLT. As we get ready to welcome 2012, SLT takes a look back at 2011 in the Sports Law world. Today we go back and look at January, February and March, 2011. The Sports Law world was dominated by labor struggle in 2011, but as we enter the last week of the year both the NFL and NBA are back in full swing.

One of the first stories of the year was Pitt firing newly hired football coach Mike Haywood. Haywood had just come to Pitt from Miami of Ohio, when he was arrested for a domestic violence charge. Pitt immediately fired Haywood, who had yet to even lead a practice at Pitt. Pitt would go on to hire Todd Graham from Tulsa, of course Graham would come under much criticism when he left Pitt for Arizona State just a few weeks back.

January 13, 2011 was an interesting day at SLT. There was talk of an 18 game NFL schedule. The University of South Florida reached a settlement with recently fired football coach Jim Leavitt and LSU's Les Miles received a seven year contract extension.

Football coach Mike Leach has been in the Sports Law headlines for much of the past few years as his legal battles with Texas Tech, ESPN and Craig James continue. Leach, however, is back doing what he does best, and that is coaching football. Leach was recently hired at Washington State. In January of 2011 Leach's legal battles were receiving much attention.

February saw the CBA battle in the NFL start to heat up. Judge David Doty was back in the news as he presided over a dispute about TV revenue between owners and players. The NFLPA claimed that the NFL had failed to negotiate maximum TV revenue in 2009 and 2010, so that the league could protect itself from a lockout in 2011. by receiving $4 billion in 2011 in case there was a lockout.

Earlier in the month the NFL and NFLPA agreed to go to mediation.

March saw then Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel receive a two game suspension from the University. By the end of March Tressel's seat was getting much hotter.

The biggest news in March was the decertification of the NFLPA. This move allowed the NFLPA to take the offensive and move forward with an antitrust suit against the NFL.

Several months later the NBA players would try the same move, without the same success as the football players

Another concussion lawsuit; Bonds appeal filed; Five NBA owners vote against CBA

sportslawtalk — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 13:16:49 GMT

December 23, 2011

Another concussion lawsuit filed against NFL

Jamal Lewis, Dorsey Levins, Ryan Stewart and Fulton Kuykendall, all former NFL players have filed a lawsuit against the NFL claiming brain injuries incurred while in the league have left them struggling with many medical issues. This is one of many lawsuits filed against the NFL in the past few months claiming that the NFL did not do enough to protect players from concussions.

Bonds get his appeal filed

Retired slugger Barry Bonds has asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse his felony obstruction conviction. Bonds was recently sentenced to 30 days house arrest and fined $4,000. for his conviction on giving evasive answers to a grand jury.

Heat owner and four others cast protest votes against new CBA

Miami Heat owner Mickey Arison said that he and four other owners voted against the new NBA CBA to show their displeasure with the new structure of revenue-sharing in the CBA. ESPN provided this break down of the differences in revenue sharing between the last CBA and the recently agreed upon one:

Revenue sharing

• 2005 CBA: Some of the undistributed funds from the luxury tax were given to teams in competitively disadvantaged markets.

• 2011 CBA: A new plan approximately triples the amount of money that is revenue-shared.

• Who benefits? Small-market teams. Teams like the Lakers, with their new $3 billion local television contract, will be perennial payers into this system, and teams like Charlotte and Milwaukee will be perennial beneficiaries.

UConn deals with loss of scholarships; DeMaurice Smith bonus; UNC receiver reinstated; Money talks at Coastal Carolina

sportslawtalk — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 13:36:03 GMT

December 22, 2011

UConn basketball gets around loss of scholarships

When the NCAA came down hard on UConn basketball and reduced the number of scholarships available because of compliance issues and a poor academic performance rating it did not deter the basketball program from figuring out a way to get around the issue. Top recruit Andre Drummond simply became a walk-on, paying his own way to play on the team.

DeMaurice Smith collects his bonus from the NFLPA

NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith will collect a $1 million bonus from the union based on his performance in getting the players back in action without missing a regular season game. Pro Football Talk reports that there is still a question if Smith will be back as the union leader after this coming March, despite receiving this performance bonus from the union.

NCAA reinstates UNC receiver Dwight Jones

The NCAA has reinstated University of North Carolina wide receiver Dwight Jones for the team's bowl game . Jones was ruled ineligible earlier in the week for using his name and likeness to advertise a New Year's Eve party.

Did Coastal Carolina give their football head coaching job to the highest bidder?

Check out this link and decide for yourself why Coastal Carolina University fired a coach who had been successful and decided to replace him with the chairman of TD Ameritrade.