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Obama v. MacCain: No one is leading because the game has not started yet Post Date: Fri, 01 Aug 2008 11:17:00 +0000 The line between politics and sports frequently is blurred, but rarely more so than in the "horse-race" coverage of political campaigns, which treats the campaign as an ongoing game. Thus, the constant story, besides criticism of the MSM, is the narrative, based on polls, that Obama is "winning" and McCain is "losing" and the question is by how much and whether Obama should be leading by more and who is gaining or losing ground. McCain played into this a few weeks ago by insisting that he was going to make a big comeback and pull the election out forty-eight hours before Election Day.<br /><br />My thought when I read that was "No, you're going to pull it out (or not pull it out) <em>on</em> Election Day." Prior to that, you are not leading or trailing or coming back or blowing a lead. There is nothing to lead or trail in until the polls open at 7 a.m. on Election Day and people actually begin casting votes; prior to that point, "the game" has not started. Compare it to the Super Bowl. There are two weeks of wall-to-wall coverage leading up to the game, talking about who has advantages over whom and why and how the game likely would play out, one team is installed as a "favorite" over the other (sometimes, as in this past game, a prohibitive favorite), and pundits predict who is going to win when the game finally is played. But for all that noise, at kick-off the score is 0-0. The Giants can claim a lot from their win in the last Super Bowl; "coming from behind" because all the stories prior to kick-off predicted a New England victory is not one of them. Nor would we say the Patriots "blew" a big lead because they were early favorites.<br /><br />So why is that any less true of elections? Why do people still speak about Michael Dukakis (whom polls projected as winning by 20 points in mid-summer) as having lost a big lead to Papa Bush? One reason might be that the pre-Election-Day noise influences what happens on Election Day, creating something of a self-fulfilling prophecy. If the narrative is "Obama is leading," that might fix what some people do when they vote. The pre-Super Bowl hype has no direct effect on what happens on the field, except perhaps as it affects the expectations and mental preparation and attitudes of the players and coaches and those attitudes affect physical performance (probably only minimally). Another is that polls are a rough preview of the precise actions that will matter come Election Day (casting of votes); the discussion of how Tom Brady or Eli Manning will play on game day are merely predictions (really just wild guesses) of what might happen based on past performance, but do not really affect how they, in fact, perform. But are those differences so meaningful that we can say the "game" of the election is going on when no one is actually casting votes and the numbers are just projections of what we expect to happen?<br /><br />The snarky line from sportscasters is "X looks like the better team on paper, but that's why they don't play the games on paper." Similarly, what representative segments of the public think on the telephone prior to Election Day may make one candidate seem better than the other, but the election is not decided by representative segments of the public on the telephone. Autor of the post: noreply@blogger.com (Howard Wasserman) Fantasy Leagues Now Profiting from the Likenesses of College Athletes Post Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2008 20:15:00 +0000 Of course, I couldn't withhold my thoughts on <a href="http://online.wsj.com/public/article_print/SB121733679819593215.html">today's press release</a> that CBSSports.com has decided to make millions using the names and performance statistics of college football and basketball players in a fantasy league game without paying for it. There are a couple of points in the press release that I need to address:<br /><br />1. <em>A fantasy college game has never been widely accepted or attempted before because of a reluctance to utilize anything but broad signifiers in identifying college athletes. CBSSports.com had previously developed a game using generic terms including only a team and a position, like "SYRACUSE RB" and "MICHIGAN WR," instead of players' names. But it never caught on with users, due mainly to the disconnect between the robotic names and the fantasy audience, according to senior vice president and general manager Jason Kint.</em><br /><br />Yeah. No kidding! You know why it never caught on with users? Because the game only has value if you use their names!!! But I suppose we can keep pretending that players don't have a right of publicity because "fantasy leagues only use their stats which are in the public domain." What a joke.<br /><br />2. <em>National Collegiate Athletic Association spokesman Bob Williams says that the NCAA did send a letter to CBS informing them that their bylaws were being violated by using player likenesses in the game. But he adds that because of the added exposure fantasy sports can bring the student-athlete, the NCAA does not intend to stand in the way of the fantasy game for now. "We are concerned with protecting the amateur status of the student athlete," Mr. Williams says, but he also believes that the bylaws, which were enacted "before new media," do not properly address a situation like this. Still, he warns that NCAA lawyers will be watching closely.</em><br /><em></em><br />Umm,....o.k.,....yeah. Let me try to break this down:<br /><br />a. The NCAA says its bylaws are being violated because player likenesses are in fact being used.<br /><br />b. But, the NCAA says it is going to allow the violation to occur, for now, because of the added exposure fantasy leagues bring the student-athlete [which is apparently a good thing].<br /><br />c. But wait a minute, the NCAA says it is concerned about "protecting" the student-athlete from this added <em>exposure.</em> [If you're totally confused at this point, wait, it gets better.]<br /><br />d. The NCAA says it can't do anything about fantasy leagues because the bylaws don't address this situation. [Go back and read a. and b. again.]<br /><br />e. The NCAA says its lawyers will be watching closely. I'm not quite sure what the lawyers will be watching, except maybe the continued exploitation of college athletes. Autor of the post: noreply@blogger.com (Rick Karcher) Tim Donaghy Sentencing Post Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2008 17:37:00 +0000 <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_zGTe5MsCVYc/SJCqwaJmR9I/AAAAAAAAAjQ/fTBLpFcsh3w/s1600-h/Tim+Donaghy.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_zGTe5MsCVYc/SJCqwaJmR9I/AAAAAAAAAjQ/fTBLpFcsh3w/s400/Tim+Donaghy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228866916007167954" border="0" /></a>Much has been written about yesterday's sentencing of disgraced former NBA referee Tim Donaghy to 15 months in prison. Here are some stories that may be of interest:<br /><br />* I wrote a piece on <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/michael_mccann/07/29/donaghy/">SI.com</a> on the sentencing. My thanks to the folks on <a href="http://www.celticsblog.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3693&Itemid=189">Celtics Blog</a> for their nice words about it.<br /><br />* Jeffrey Standen of <a href="http://thesportslawprofessor.blogspot.com/2008/07/donaghy-sentencing-and-its-discontents.html">The Sports Law Professor</a> weighs in as well.<br /><br />* And so does Lester Munson of <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=munson_lester&id=3507550&campaign=rss&source=NBAHeadlines">ESPN.com</a>.<br /><br />* Mark Fass of the <a href="http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202423368648">New York Law Journal (by way of Law.com)</a> has an intriguing take on the surprising background of the federal charges that were used to prosecute Donaghy.<br /><br />* An unrelated but really interesting piece by Darren Heitner of <a href="http://www.sportsagentblog.com/?p=1576">Sports Agent Blog</a> on basketball agents using overseas employment opportunities as leverage in negotiations with NBA teams.<br /><br />* Another unrelated but really interesting piece by Marc Isenberg of <a href="http://moneyplayers.typepad.com/blog/2008/07/one-and-never-quite-done.html">Money Players</a> that seeks to debunk educational arguments in favor star basketball players attending college and then going pro. He notes that <span style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: normal;">Latrell Sprewell and Jason Caffey each spent four years in college only to make some bad life decisions.<br /></span> Autor of the post: noreply@blogger.com (Michael McCann) IOC lifts Iraq's Olympic Suspension Post Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2008 21:25:00 +0000 Last week, Aaron Zelinsky <a href="http://sports-law.blogspot.com/2008/07/aaron-zelinskys-let-iraq-play.html">argued</a> that the IOC should reverse its ban on Iraqi players from the Olympics. Today, <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/olympics/2008/07/29/bc.oly.iraq.olympicstops.ap/index.html?cnn=yes">the IOC did just that</a> (though only two of the seven banned athletes remain eligible to participate in the Olympics, meaning the other five won't benefit from the IOC's reversal). Autor of the post: noreply@blogger.com (Michael McCann) Duke Lacrosse at SEALS Post Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2008 03:20:00 +0000 Tomorrow I will be at SEALS, hosting and moderating a panel titled <em> The Phases and Faces of the Duke Lacrosse Controversy</em>. This will be a moderated conversation about the multiple facets, details, and issues of this still-ongoing legal controversy. Panelists include KC Johnson of Brooklyn College (author of a bestselling book on the case), James Coleman of Duke Law (who chaired a University committee that investigated the case), Michael Gerhardt of UNC Law, Lyrissa Lidsky of Florida Law, and Angela Davis of American/Washington College.<br /><br />I hope to have an audio file to post here later in the week and the proceedings will be published in the <a href="http://law.shu.edu/journals/sportslaw/">Seton Hall Journal of Sports and Entertainment</a>. I hope to write more about the many and varied issues implicated in this case. And I think it would make an interesting single-topic seminar to explore the multiple angles raised by one controversy, akin to the <a href="http://prawfsblawg.blogs.com/prawfsblawg/2006/10/walmart_the_cla.html">class on Wal-Mart</a>.<br /><br />If you are at SEALS, I hope you can check the panel out. Autor of the post: noreply@blogger.com (Howard Wasserman) News, notes and lineups Post Date: Sun, 24 Aug 2008 10:52:49 -0500 TORONTO - Welcome from Rogers Centre, where currently the dome roof is closed (normally open by now) with a threat of rain in the area. Not much happening this morning. The players had their fantasy football draft last night. Montro was at the team hotel giving haircuts. Otherwise, Terry Francona seemed to have his hands full trying to figure out how to deal with all of his recent injuries. Francona indicated that he hadn't yet seen J.D. Drew, but that the rightfielder seemed to be walking "crooked" out of the clubhouse following the Sox' 11-0 loss to the Blue Jays on Saturday. Francona did not rule out a stint on the DL for Drew, but with an off-day coming up tomorrow before Boston's final three-game set (maybe ever, barring a playoff game) at Yankee Stadium, Francona was hoping to see if the time would improve the spasms Drew is experiencing in his lower back. David Pauley arrived this morning and will be in the Sox bullpen with David Aardsma back to Boston for tests on his right groin. Julio Lugo is also back there to get an MRI on his strained left quad. Some interesting facts from the Bill Chuck files: Daisuke Matsuzaka (15-2) has started 22 games this season and has a 2.77 ERA. Today's lineups: Boston: Ellsbury-RF Toronto: Inglett-2B Autor of the post: Undefined Bronx Banter: Cool Hand Mo Post Date: Sun, 24 Aug 2008 07:37:06 PST Last night, Mariano Rivera's son worked as the bat boy for the Yanks and he wore #42 just like his old man. With one out in the ninth inning, the boy was perched on the top step of the dugout, leaning over the fence. Tony Pena told him to step down and the boy sat next to Pena on the bench. Girardi was next to them. I wondered what it must be like to be the son of a big leaguer. The rest of the men on the team must really accept you into the fold. Autor of the post: Undefined Bronx Banter: Gettin Better All the Time Post Date: Sun, 24 Aug 2008 07:34:45 PST Bob Klapisch writes about his very scary injury for the first time today. Excellent, sobering piece by Klap. Check it out. Autor of the post: Undefined Donyell Marshall waived Post Date: Thu, 21 Aug 2008 18:56:24 +0000 Donyell Marshall will not be making the move from Seattle to Oklahoma City with the rest of his teammates. The veteran forward was waived by the unnamed Oklahoma City franchise on … [visit site to read more] Autor of the post: Undefined LeBron gives the trade an “A” Post Date: Fri, 15 Aug 2008 11:53:20 +0000 ”It can help us. I think Mo is a very good point guard,” James said today in Beijing after Team USA beat Greece 92-69 in Olympics pool play, a game in which he scored 13 points, grabbed six rebounds, had six assists and blocked three shots. ”He can create for himself and create for others, so [...] Autor of the post: Undefined 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 79 | 80 | 81 | 82 | 83 | 84 | 85 | 86 | 87 | 88 | 89 | 90 | 91 | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 100 | 101 | 102 | 103 | 104 | 105 | 106 | 107 | 108 | 109 | 110 | 111 | 112 | 113 | 114 | 115 | 116 | 117 | 118 | 119 | 120 | 121 | 122 | 123 | 124 | 125 | 126 | 127 | 128 | 129 | 130 | 131 | 132 | 133 | 134 | 135 | 136 | 137 | 138 | 139 | 140 | 141 | 142 | 143 | 144 | 145 | 146 | 147 | 148 | 149 | 150 | 151 | 152 | 153 | 154 | 155 | 156 | 157 | 158 | 159 | 160 | 161 | 162 | 163 | 164 | 165 | 166 | 167 | 168 | 169 | 170 | 171 | 172 | 173 | 174 | 175 | 176 | 177 | 178 | 179 | 180 | 181 | 182 | 183 | 184 | 185 | 186 | 187 | 188 | 189 | 190 | 191 | 192 | 193 | 194 | 195 | 196 | 197 | 198 | 199 | 200 | 201 | 202 | 203 | 204 | 205 | 206 | 207 | 208 | 209 | 210 | 211 | 212 | 213 | 214 | 215 | 216 | 217 | 218 | 219 | 220 | 221 | 222 | 223 | 224 | 225 | 226 | 227 | 228 | 229 | 230 | 231 | 232 | 233 | 234 | 235 | 236 | 237 | 238 | 239 | 240 | 241 | 242 | 243 | 244 | 245 | 246 | 247 | 248 | 249 | 250 | 251 | 252 | 253 | 254 | 255 | 256 | 257 | 258 | 259 | 260 | 261 | 262 | 263 | 264 | 265 | 266 | 267 | 268 | 269 | 270 | 271 | 272 | 273 | 274 | 275 | 276 | 277 | 278 | 279 | 280 | 281 | 282 | 283 | 284 | 285 | 286 | 287 | 288 | 289 | 290 | 291 | 292 | 293 | 294 | 295 | 296 | 297 | 298 | 299 | 300 | 301 | 302 | 303 | 304 | 305 | 306 | 307 | 308 | 309 | 310 | 311 | 312 | 313 | 314 | 315 | 316 | 317 | 318 | 319 | 320 | 321 | 322 | 323 | 324 | 325 | 326 | 327 | 328 | 329 | 330 | 331 | 332 | 333 | 334 | 335 | 336 | 337 | 338 | 339 | 340 | 341 | 342 | 343 | 344 | 345 | 346 | 347 | 348 | 349 | 350 | 351 | 352 | 353 | 354 | 355 | 356 | 357 | 358 | 359 | 360 | 361 | 362 | 363 | 364 | 365 | 366 | 367 | 368 | 369 | 370 | 371 | 372 | 373 | 374 | 375 | 376 | 377 | 378 | 379 | 380 | 381 | 382 | 383 | 384 | 385 | 386 | 387 | 388 | 389 | 390 | 391 | 392 | 393 | 394 | 395 | 396 | 397 | 398 | 399 | 400 | 401 | 402 | 403 | 404 | 405 | 406 | 407 | 408 | 409 | 410 | 411 | 412 | 413 | 414 | 415 | 416 | 417 | 418 | 419 | 420 | 421 | 422 | 423 | 424 | 425 | 426 | 427 | 428 | 429 | 430 | 431 | 432 | 433 | 434 | 435 | 436 | 437 | 438 | 439 | 440 | 441 | 442 | 443 | 444 | 445 | 446 | 447 | 448 | 449 | 450 | 451 | 452 | 453 | 454 | 455 | 456 | 457 | 458 | 459 | 460 | 461 | 462 | 463 | 464 | 465 | 466 | 467 | 468 | 469 | 470 | 471 | 472 | 473 | 474 | 475 | 476 | 477 | 478 | 479 | 480 | 481 | 482 | 483 | 484 | 485 | 486 | 487 | 488 | 489 | 490 | 491 | 492 | 493 | 494 | 495 | 496 | 497 | 498 | 499 | 500 | 501 | 502 | 503 | 504 | 505 | 506 | 507 | 508 | 509 | 510 | 511 | 512 | 513 | 514 | 515 | 516 | 517 | 518 | 519 | 520 | 521 | 522 | 523 | 524 | 525 | 526 | 527 | 528 | 529 | 530 | 531 | 532 | 533 | 534 | 535 | 536 | 537 | 538 | 539 | 540 | 541 | 542 | 543 | 544 | 545 | 546 | 547 | 548 | 549 | 550 | 551 | 552 | 553 | 554 | 555 | 556 | 557 | 558 | 559 | 560 | 561 | 562 | 563 | 564 | 565 | 566 | 567 | 568 | 569 | 570 | 571 | 572 | 573 | 574 | 575 | 576 | 577 | 578 | 579 | 580 | 581 | 582 | 583 | 584 | 585 | 586 |