NCAA Rejects Mascot Appeals

The NCAA Executive Committee rejected appeals on nicknames and mascots from the University of Illinois and the University of North Dakota at its meetings last week. In the press release announcing the decision, the NCAA gave no reason for its decision. What makes that silence so interesting is that the appeals filed by Illinois and North Dakota are both detailed and very different.

The appeal filed by the Illinois addressed the very process by which the NCAA undertook the entire issue of mascots and nicknames and attacked the process as arbitrary, overreached and interfering with campus jurisdiction. The NCAA staff responded to each appeal by UI by raising new issues. It makes interesting reading. We don't know what the Executive Committee addressed.

In the case of North Dakota, the university was able to provide the NCAA with the backing of the at least one of the two Sioux tribes in the state and perhaps both. It's not clear about one of them as the leadership is in dispute. Nevertheless, endorsement of the namesake tribe has in the past, see Florida State, been sufficient to permit continued use of mascots and nicknames. So why wasn't it this time?

Mazel Tov Moscow

In a thrilling Euroleague Championship Game, Maccabi Tel Aviv was denied its chance for a threepeat at the hands of CSKA Moscow. The Final Four was held in Prague before a sell out crowd of over 18,000, well over half of whom were wearing the Maccabi yellow giving Moscow the feeling of a road game. Moscow won its first championship since 1973 after making the Final Four for the fourth consecutive time. Moscow took a 5 point lead into intermission and held the lead most of the second half. Maccabi fought back to lead briefly at 58-56, but Moscow went on a 10-1 run led by former Duke player Trajan Langdon. While Maccabi got close again, Moscow never trailed on its way to a 73-69 victory. Moscow was led in scoring by Theodoros Papaloukas with 18. He added 7 assists and was named MVP. Maccabi was led by Will Solomon with 20.

Anaheim Considering an Appeal of Angels Case

The City of Anaheim is considering an aappeal of the case against the Angels over the lease of Angels Stadium and the use of the name of club according to the Los Angeles Times. However, it appears that this stance by the City Council may be little more than a negotiating ploy to get Angels owner Arte Moreno to agree to drop his demand that Anaheim pay the $7 million in attorneys fees he ran up in defending the suit. Anaheim's attorneys have agreed to a fixed fee for the appeal, making that route more attractive to the City. Stay tuned for the never ending saga of the team with the longest name in professional sports.

Unique Approach to Salary Dispute

You have to admit that this is a certainly an interesting approach to a salary dispute. If you don't have the money to make good on what you owe your team, just go ahead and fire them all. You got to love minor league football: great mascots, great nicknames, and stories you just don't see anywhere else.

More Bowls Approved - Playoff Coming?

The NCAA approved three new bowls at its meeting this week, while reserving a final decision on the Houston Bowl at the request of four conferences. The new bowls are the International Bowl to be played in Toronto and bowls in Albuquerque and Birmingham. The NCAA also approved the new BCS Championship game to be played the week following New Years Day at the site of one of the BCS Bowls on a rotating basis, this year at the Fiesta Bowl. Fox, which takes over the broadcast from ABC this year, is responsible for securing the naming rights for the bowl.

It is this structure that opens the door for a limited playoff possibility. Right now, the BCS Championship features the teams ranked one and two in the polls at the end of the season and the university presidents have been adamantly opposed to a playoff. Sentiment has also been strong in the past against the so-called "plus one" plan in which a title game would be held the week following the bowl games.

However, a report in yesterday's Atlanta Journal Constitution indicated that at least some college presidents may be weakening. All but one of the ten presidents contacted by the paper said that they would be willing to consider the "plus one" model of playoff. However, it should be noted that these presidents were presumably from the South which has been the region of the country most consistently in favor of the playoff. The presidents of the Pac 10 and the Big Ten have maintained that they will not agree to a playoff of any kind, "plus one" or any other kind.

It should also be noted that the Rose Bowl is not a part of the Fox television contract but has a separate contract with ABC. Now, it has been often been said that as long as the Rose Bowl gets to keep the Big Ten and Pac 10 champions in any future configuration of the football postseason, the Big Ten, Pac 10 and Rose Bowl would all be inclined to go along with new proposals. I'm not so sure that is correct, but so long as all we're talking about is the "plus one", which doesn't add any games or any weeks to the season, then that may well be the case. By the end of the 4 years of the Fox contract, the "plus one", for better or worse, may be the new national championship.

NCAA Cracks Down on Diploma Mills

The NCAA Board of Directors adopted emergency legislation yesterday in response to a series of articles in the Washington Post and the New York Times documenting the diploma mills that preyed on high school athletes trying to obtain qualifying scores and grades to obtain scholarships to play Divison I sports. The new rules will allow NCAA investigators to make site visits to the schools. In addition, the NCAA can now question any transcript that seems irregular which will give it the opportunity to question not only the eligibility of the prospect, but also the qualifications of the high school.

The NCAA legislation also requires that all ACT and SAT scores be sent directly to the Clearinghouse. In the past, prospects would sometimes only send qualifying scores and then the scores would not be sent by the testing organization but would show up handwritten.

Finally, the Bylaws have been expanded to include as unethical conduct an school's failure to provide complete and accurate information to the NCAA or the admission's office on a student's academic record. This places the responsibility directly on the coaches to ensure that the recruited athletes academic records are real, honest and legitimate. A far cry from the records of the athletes attending the so-called high schools featured in the Post and Times stories over the last year.

The NCAA should be commended for an extraordinarily quick, by their standards, response to the articles, just as they should have been rightly criticized for allowing the situation to grow in the first place. These steps are both needed and proper and we can just hope that they will be all that is required to end the abuse of young athletes through this system of fradulent high schools and guys looking to scheme the system for a quick buck. There will always be those guys, but the NCAA is now better armed to fight them. Let's hope it's enough.

Ringing Up Recruits Gets Fresno Rung Up

So Fresno State gets caught by the NCAA for major violations in basketball recruiting by harassing recruits with excessive phone calls and emails and other contacts. It is the second major violation in three years for the basketball program and what does the NCAA do? Add a few years to the school's probation. Big deal. What real effect does that have on anything? Oh, there is a show cause order in effect for former Coach Ray Lopes and I do not want to minimize that. It is a major deal and one that is entirely appropriate. However, two major violations in three years and the school basically scoots with only missing the post season for one year. The NCAA has basically become a toothless tiger. What good is the death penalty or a ban from television or any other truly significant penalty if you never actually impose any of them? Is this what Myles Brand meant by reform?

Twins Stadium Plan Clears House

The plans for a new stadium for the Minnesota Twins cleared its biggest hurdle yet when it was approved yesterday in an surprisingly lopsided vote in the state House of Representatives. The project cleared the House 76-55 after a marathon session which saw opponent's attack the stadium funding plan repeatedly to no avail. The plan now goes to the Senate, where it is expect to pass.

The proposal calls for Hennepin County to put up $392 million towards the new stadium with the Twins pledging the remaining $130 million. The plan which the House approved contain an exemption permitting the County to impose .15% sales tax without having to hold a referendum. The battle moves to the Senate where the stadium supporters must hold off those who want to see the matter put to a referendum. Commissioner Bud was quick to congratulate the House for acting and to remind the Senate that the Twins current home was simply "no longer an acceptable venue for the Twins." The Governor is expected to lobby the Senate to preserve the bill in its present form. Leaving no doubt where he stood, he said:" We're not going to lose the Minnesota Twins on my watch." Expect the Twins to finally win a stadium without a referendum in the coming weeks.

Wimbledon Forgets What Century We're In

Wimbledon announced increases in the purse money for The Championships but refused yet again to join the 21st century, not to mention the other three Grand Slam tournaments by paying the same amount of prize money to the men's and women's champions. The men's winner will receive $1.170 million while the women's winner will get $1.117 million. The All England Club claims that what they do is actually "fair to the men and the women." Now where they get that idea, I have no clue.

In these days, there can't be any doubt that the women deserve equal compensation. Their crowds are equal, their television ratings are probably higher and their fan support is most certainly higher. Only the Victorians running the All England Club can't see that.

NHL in Good Financial Shape?

With 22 of 30 clubs at break even or profitable, the NHL is clearly recovering from the lockout that threatened to destroy professional hockey. Commissioner Gary Bettman said yesterday: "People had suggested and speculated that the league was damaged beyond repair. That is not the case."

Bettman attributes the recovery to higher television revenue, booming attendance and business fundamental (read new collective bargaining agreement). The question of higher television revenue is an interesting one because it's certainly not clear how long that will last. OLN has not exactly drawn a multitude of viewers to its new telecasts and while Bettman professes to be pleased with the new relationship, one wonders how long either the league or OLN's owner, Comcast, will be satisfied with the anemic ratings. Both the NHL and Comcast can opt out of the deal at the end of next season. The NHL may not be able to find another broadcast partner who would pay more than Comcast or deliver higher ratings.

Whether Comcast will decide to continue now that its bid for NFL games was lost may depend of the success of its bid for baseball games. Comcast wants to transform OLN into an all sports channel and saw the NHL as a part of its anchor package. It hoped to land NFL games and Major League Baseball to complement hockey but the NFL chose to keep the Thursday-Saturday package in house for the NFL Network. Comcast is presumed to be negotiating with MLB for a package of baseball games. How that negotiation turns out may determine the future of the NHL on OLN.

UPDATE: From the Sports Economist comes news of the extent of the Lauries' losses while owning the St.Louis Blues. While the losses were extnsive, it shouldn't be too hard for the Lauries to bear (she is a Walton as in Wal-Mart) but what was surprising was the results for the Blues this year in the year of the rebirth of the NHL. The Blues were a bedrock franchise before the lockout with the league's longest playoff streak and consistently high attendance, but this year the team finished out of the playoffs and 28th in attendance. Dave Checketts is going to have to put a team back together that can win in order to put the fans back into the Savvis Center.

Braves Deal May Be Close

The ownership of the Atlanta Braves may be about to change from one media giant to another. Time Warner is nearing a deal to trade assets with Liberty Media in a deal driven mostly by a large block of Time Warner stock owned by Liberty. Liberty would trade its Time Warner stock for the Braves, cash and significant tax benefits. Liberty would also give Time Warner its 50% interest in Court TV, which it co-owns with Time Warner.

If the deal with Liberty falls through, a deal with Arthur Blank, the owner of the Falcons and one of the co-founders of Home Depot, could probably be put together fairly quickly, according to the article. Time Warner continues to talk to Blank just in case the Liberty talks fall apart, as they have done before.

Liberty is a major programming force in the cable industry with holdings in QVC, Starz, IAC and News Corp., the parent of Fox. It also holds interests in the Denver Nuggets and Avalanche, so it's no stranger to professional sports. For talks to have reached this stage, both Liberty and Blank will have received preliminary approval from Major League Baseball. However, any sale will have to receive final approval from the MLB owners.

The Battle for OJ is Engaged

And Round One goes to Nike, on the basis of the relationship of shoe peddler supreme Sonny Vaccaro with phenom O J Mayo. In the first of several hotly contested shoe battles to come, Mayo plays in the Kingwood Classic for a Nike sponsored AAU team instead of his usual Reebok sponsored and Cincinnati based team.

The big battles will come this summer when each of the shoe companies hold their premier high school all star camps the same week. Which camp Mayo attends will probably be read as the indicator of which company will win the opportunity to pay him millions of dollars next year to wear its shoes in the D League. Yes, the D League. You see, with the new age limit for the NBA high schoolers like Mayo won't be leaping directly to the league but the NBDL recently changed its rules to allow players to be drafted at age 18 rather than 19. That would permit high school kids to jump into the D League rather than go to college.

With that change and the money available to a rising star such as Mayo, don't expect to see OJ Mayo or his sidekick Bill Walker to actually enter a college classroom. While the powers that be at Kansas State are certainly hoping that new coach Bob Huggins' close relationship with Mayo and Walker will translate into recruitment success, I doubt that whatever inducements they can offer will match Vaccaro's largesse. In the end, expect them to be in the D League, Europe or somewhere other than college where they can take the money from Nike or Reebok without worrying about repercussions from the NCAA or public outcry as a result of recruiting violations.

San Diego "Can't Afford Chargers"

From the what's old is new file, it is beginning to look like the Chargers may be going back to their origins and returning to their city of birth. The Mayor of San Diego declared that the city can't afford the Chargers and he will go to the City Council and ask that the Chargers lease be amended to allow the team to seek a new home elsewhere in the county immediately. The Chargers can get out of their lease at Qualcomm Stadium after the 2008 season and the team can begin relocations discussions after January 1, 2007. The leader in the clubhouse for the first franchise relocation is Los Angeles, the city in which the Chargers were born in the old AFL, before they headed to San Diego in 1961. If they move back to LA, maybe the Bolts will also go back to the original powder blue and gold unis, which they should never have given up - by far, the best unis in pro sports.

Euroleague Players Changing NBA

As the NBA Playoffs open, the influx of skilled veterans from the Euroleague has changed the face of the League and more than ever determine who takes home the Larry O'Brien trophy. The defending champs Spurs have a 7 international players, most of whom had Euroleague experience. Fully 60% of the foreign players in the NBA came to the NBA from the Euroleague.

The style of play in Europe emphasizes passing, teamwork and outside shooting. Players are drilled in fundamentals and are developed in a team's system, often from a very young age - much like soccer clubs. There is often a vast gap in the grasp of fundamentals between an average European player and an average NBA player raised in America and the comparison is not favorable to the American.

The business model in Europe is only recently gaining new traction. It had for years been lagging significantly behind soccer and the NBA, but is now becoming more popular and the larger clubs are operating on slightly higher budgets. What I believe would be a major boost for both the Euroleague and the NBA is for the NBA to abandon Stern's dream of expanding to Europe and enter into a partnership with the Euroleague. Televise Euroleague games in the States. Develop a business relationship where there is a formal mechanism to move players between the leagues, depending on how well they are playing. You could even move teams between the leagues in a form of promotion and relegation similar to what soccer uses. Couldn't you just imagine the reaction of the New York tabloids when the Knicks were relegated to Europe and Maccabi Tel Aviv was promoted to the NBA?

Lerner Significantly Strengthens Bid for Nats

As the countdown for the sale of the Washington Nationals nears the end, the Lerner family is making the kind of moves you would expect a front runner to make to secure its position. First, they added Stan Kasten, longtime Atlanta Brave executive a known and well-respected commodity within the Major League Baseball hierarchy. most recently, shoring up their major weakness, they have addedlocal minority investors to the ownership group, adding former Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater and B. Doyle Mitchell, the President and CEO of Industrial Bank, NA. Mitchell heads one of the largest minority owned banks in the country.

Commissioner Bud is being as inscrutable as ever so we don't know for sure how much difference this will make to the Lerner bid, but it is bound to help. The Lerners were criticized for lack of minority investors, so they went out and with this announcement we see that they have added a couple of high powered local ones. It has long been the feeling that the Lerners were the favorites and with Kasten in the fold and the minority issue put to bed, I'll be very surprised if they are not handed the keys whenever Selig finally gets around to making the announcement.

Demand for Duke Lacrosse Merchandise Soars

I'm going to link to this story on ESPN.com about the soaring demand for Duke Lacrosse team merchandise without further comment. It speaks for itself I think.

MasterCard Sues FIFA

So what do you get when you combine two of the world's leading credit card companies and the keeper of world soccer? Litigation. MasterCard has filed suit against FIFA seeking an injunction prohibiting it from going forward with an agreement with Visa to sponsor the 2010 and 2014 World Cups. MasterCard claims that it had the right of first refusal to provide sponsorship in the credit card category and that FIFA had provided it a 96 page contract, which it signed and returned, but FIFA went ahead and concluded a deal with Visa instead. The suit has been filed in Federal Court in the Southern District of New York.

Why Golf is Bad for the Boardroom

Frank Deford's most recent column for Sports Illustrated, which was also his commentary last week on NPR, was a rant on why golf represented all that was wrong with America's corporate boardrooms. I have to admit that it got me thinking as I heard him on my way to the office the morning he was on NPR. His basic thesis is that golf, with its handicaps and the idea that you're competing against the course rather than against the other guy (most tournaments are not match play) is not the proper ethos for the cut throat competition needed to survive in the business world.

In fact, it could be argued that it is exactly this sense of shared experience and unwillingness to go "mano a mano" that will hinder American innovation in the coming years as we battle the coming juggernauts from China and India. Now, I don't want to pretend that sports as metaphor is the answer to trade competitiveness - it is not going to replace the necessary billions of dollars that need to be spent in science education in this country - but it is an interesting analysis nonetheless. Golf is popular in western countries and Japan but not yet in China or India. We'll see if that changes as prosperity comes and the middle class grows.

Subscribing

You may have noticed new buttons in the lower left hand column of the page as well as a new form box on the lower right hand side. I'm trying to provide alternate ways for people to access the wit and wisdom that everyone finds on these pages just in case you find clicking through to this page on a regular basis too troublesome and have not yet activated a RSS reader.

On the left hand side of the page, you will see a button for Newsland. Click on it and learn how to receive SportsBiz free on your cell phone, PDA or other mobile device. You don't want to be without your daily fix for too long now do you?

On the right side is a box for entering your email address for a free email subscription to SportsBiz brought to you by Feedblitz. Sign up and the posts will be arriving in your mailbox each morning or afternoon as you select. Just another way we're trying to make this site as user friendly as possible.

UPDATE: Correction, I mentioned above that Newsland operates with cellphones. It appears that I jumped the gun on the technology. I have since been informed by the Newsland folks that deployment with cell phones is planned but not yet operable - for now, it's PDAs only.

FIFA's' Appalling Double Standard

Normally, I stick pretty much to sports in this blog and do not venture into the realm of politics very often. However, there are times when the two overlap in ways that simply boggle the mind and this is one of those times.

To set the stage properly, let's back up a couple of weeks to events in the Middle East. Israel has withdrawn from Gaza and the Palestinians have begun launching rocket attacks on southern Israel. The Israeli air force responds with several air strikes on suspected rocket sites and hits an empty soccer field that was used as a training field by Islamic Jihad and Al Aqsa Matyrs Brigade, an arm of Fatah, the supposed moderate wing of the Palestinian movement. FIFA, the world soccer governing body, condemns Israel for the attack and announces that it plans to meet to decide what further action to take.

Now, in isolation this would be bad enough, but this is the first condemnation issued by FIFA of a country's military action. It failed to take steps to stop Uday Hussein's (Saddam's son) torture of the Iraqi soccer team when he served as chair of the Iraqi soccer association. It failed to condemn the use of Chile's soccer fields as prisons by Pinochet. It failed to speak out against the use of soccer stadiums in Argentina as prisons. It has failed to speak out against the planned visit of holocaust denier, funder of international terror and general menace Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to this year's World Cup in Germany, despite it's violation of German law, where holocaust denial is a crime.

I would like FIFA President Sepp Blatter to explain the double standard applied to Israel. Why is it the only country singled out for condemnation? Why was there no mention of the Qassam rocket attacks that led to the air strike in the first place? How does Blatter justify the Palestinian's holding a soccer tournament named after a suicide bombing in Israel? Why does FIFA allow Arab countries to continue to boycott both Israel and Israeli players - did you know Israel was in Europe? Ask FIFA. Since the Arab and Muslim nations wouldn't play Israel, it was forced to compete as a member of UEFA, the European soccer confederation. It's strange geography only FIFA would understand. I'm sorry for the rant, but the double standard here, as elsewhere, is just too much to take.

Online Poker at Halftime?

There are many ways to help focus your concentration for the task at hand: yoga, meditation, massage, coach's inspirational pep talks, but online poker? Apparently, it works works for All-Star Gilbert Arenas. It focuses his mind and keeps his mind active, something he wants to do all the time and always in a competitve way. I wonder what David Stern thinks about this one.

Changes Coming to the Pacific Northwest NBA

What were once model NBA franchises are now two of David Stern's biggest problems. The Seattle Sonics are stuck in a building that is no longer up to NBA standards and despite repeated attempts by the team's owners, the Governor and the Commissioner, it is now clear that according to Stern, the Seattle city fathers are,"not interested in having the NBA here."

Just down the coast in Oregon, the Blazers have endured a season from Hell resulting in actual attendance that was probably a league worst of about 10,800 per game. Billioniare owner Paul Allen has been locked in a dispute with the owners of the Rose Garden, the team's arena, for several years about restructuring the team's lease and no settlement is in sight. This is a far cry from the Blazers who annually played before sell-out crowds no matter what the records. In Portland's case, help may be on the way as Allen may be resigned to selling the team, although there is no commitment that the team will stay in Portland.

Allen told the Oregonian newspaper that his days as Blazers owner are numbered. Former Blazer Terry Porter is trying to put an investment group together to buy the team and keep it in Portland.

In the case of the Sonics, suburban Bellevue may be a destination, if an arena deal can be worked out there. The Governor is backing any deal that can be worked out with local backing to keep the Sonics in greater Seattle, but if a deal can't be found, the Sonics could be moving. With the Blazers on the block and the owners of the Rose Garden proving difficult to deal with, the Pacific Northwest may wake up in October and find itself suddenly bereft of NBA teams. What will Nike do then?

New Look

As you can see, I have unveiled a new look to the blog today and would be vey interested in your reaction. I have been working on it for some time and hope that you find it a cleaner, easier to read look, as that is what I was trying to achieve. Please email me and give me your reactions, comments and suggestions and most of all, please keep reading.

End Game for Nationals Ownership Nears

The seemingly endless task of finding an owner for the Washington Nationals may be nearing its end. Commissioner Bud has been giving out signals that he may be finally (we all hope and pray) getting around to making a decision. As that decision nears, it appears that there are now two groups that have the inside track, with former Braves executive Stan Kasten being a key figure. The group headed by the Lerner family would be the odds on favorite if baseball were satisfied that it had added sufficient minority investors. Kasten is supposed to have joined the group to add baseball management expertise. The other group is headed by Fred Malek and includes Colin Powell among its investors. From everything I've read, and assuming it's true that Kasten has actually joined up with Lerner, then it would appear that it would to be the choice. I think that the respect that Kasten has within baseball is so high that his presence in the group is an indication that they are about to be named the winner.

How Much is a Name Worth?

Well, that depends on who you are. If your name is Muhammad Ali, apparently your name is worth at least $50 million, because that's how much Ali received for selling an 80% interest in his name and likeness. The buyer was CKX Inc. owned by billionaire marketing whiz Robert Sillerman who last year acquired an 85% interest in Elvis Presley's name and likeness from the King's daughter Lisa Marie in a deal worth a reported $100 million.

It will be interesting to see how Sillerman decides to market Ali. He immediately reduce the number of Presley licenses, while increasing the overall revenues. Ali presented a different marketing challenge. While Ali is perhaps one of the world's most recognizable men, he is also very concerned about the image he projects. He will want to make sure that Sillerman continues to project an image of peace, spiritually and an approach to conflict resolution, while trying to commercialize the name and likeness as much as possible. It is a delicate tightrope to walk. For Sillerman to realize the value of his investment, he will have to substantially increase the relatively paltry $4-7 million in marketing revenue that Ali has received in recent years.

Adidas and NBA Tie Up a Deal

When adidas bought Reebok one of its purposes was to become a stronger presence in the sports shoe market outside its traditional base in soccer. It took a major step in that direction today signing a new 11 year agreement to be the exclusive uniform and apparel supplier to the NBA in a $400 million deal. The deal replaces an existing 10 year deal with Reebok that was reopened upon Reebok's acquisition by adidas.

Surprisingly, although the NBA was able to negotiate with anyone as a result of the adidas/Reebok deal, apparently adidas is the only company with whom serious negotiations were held. Either that means that Nike showed no interest or adidas made a preemptive bid so large that David Stern decided that the deal was so good he better grab while he could. The deal will include NBA subsidiaries WNBA, NBDL and retro logos. However, at least for now, no adidas logo will appear on official game jerseys.

Beanballing Not Actionable in California

Last week saw a little beanball war breakout between the Mets and the Nationals much to the chagrin of the Commissioner Bud's Director of Discipline, Bob Watson, who told both teams to cool it. Turns out, Mr. Watson wasn't the only voice heard on beanballs last week and the other voice spoke with perhaps greater authority.

In a 6-1 decision, the California Supreme Court, ruled that a beanball is an inherent risk in baseball and therefore is not actionable. A college baseball player, Jose Avila, was beaned in a preseason community college game in retaliation for a beaning in the previous inning. Following the beaning, in which Avila's batting helmet was cracked and he allegedly suffered unspecified personal injuries, he sued the opposing Community College claiming that it failed to adequately supervise its pitcher.

The Court held that "being hit by a pitch is an inherent risk of baseball." In the course of the majority decision, Justice Werdegar wrote that it didn't matter that beaning was not permitted by the rules of baseball. She cited an array of baseball legend's who calimed it was a part of pitching tactics.

This decision seems to be consistent with basic doctrine that by voluntarily engaging in sport, one assumes the risk of injury inherent in the sport, even if that injury is caused by a breaking of the rules. Hockey players are injured in plays resulting in penalties as are football players, yet in the majority of cases they are no court cases resulting from them. When a football player steps onto the field, he expects to get hit and he consents to that hit. Similarly, a batter consents to be hit, by stepping into the batter's box.

CFL Departs the Capital

In a move that came as little surprise to CFL watchers, the league suspended the operations of the Ottawa Renegades for the 2006 season. The team was in financial difficulty and the league chose to shut it down and disperse it players via a dispersal draft. Winnipeg will move to the Eastern Division for this season. The capital will be left without a team for perhaps only this season as a team may well return in 2007 under new owners, with new players and no doubt, a new name.

The CFL has plans to become a 10 team league and this deals it at best a temporary setback. It now reverts to an 8 team league which appears to be on fairly solid footing. All 8 remaining clubs are in good financial condition, with at least 5 of them profitable. The league will continue to look at expansion plans for next season only now looking for two owners instead of one.

I just wish they would only work out a deal with ESPN or the NFL Network to get back on TV in America so I could see some games. I miss the wide often CFL. It's a fun game to watch, with 3 downs and a wide field. The expansion into the US was ill-fated but the league would be well-advised to try to put its game back on TV in the States. The sports fan in the States is usually dying for football just about now and the CFL season starts in 5 weeks. It sure beats NFL Europe.

Does InterToronto Spell Success for MLS?

MLS looks to continue the recent trend of stealing names from European soccer clubs without regard to origin or meaning as it increasing looks like the name for the new Toronto entry will be Inter Toronto FC. According to published reports, MLS and Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, the owner of the Toronto franchise have filed trademark applications on the Inter Toronto name. Apparently, the domain name has also been registered by MLSE. As the first MLS club outside the US, calling itself Inter, short for International, makes some sense, it does continue a disturbing MLS trend combining lack of originality with blatantly trying to rip off the history of Europe's great clubs, in this case, Inter Milan. Oh well, it certainly makes more sense than Real Salt Lake. One last thing since we're talking about names, can somebody at MLS wake up and remember that we speak English here so these names like FC Dallas make no sense. If you have to use it all, at least change it to SC Dallas since this is America and we call it soccer here not football. Same goes for Toronto - if you stick with this name at least make it Inter Toronto SC.

Grizzlies Make Playoffs but Not Profits

Seems that franchise relocation wasn't quite the cure-all that the NBA was hoping for a couple of years ago. You may recall that the Hornets moved to New Orleans and even before Katrina that was a franchise with attendance woes in a market in trouble. Around the same time the Grizzlies moved to Memphis and struggled to attract fans and put a winning product on the court. Last season was something of a break out year, as the Fed-Ex Forum opened, new attendance record was set and the team made playoffs. However, the club still lost money.

In an interesting article team owner Michael Heisley maintains that he never got into basketball to make money. He always seen the team as a vehicle to leverage charitable work. While I would take that comment with a grain or two of salt, what the Grizzlies have done in charitable work in Memphis is truly inspiring and worthy of emulation all around not just the NBA but major league sports of all types. Heisley has been able to use the Grizzlies unique position as the only major professional team in town to create several major charities around St. Jude Childrens Hospital as well as a high school for at risk children. In all, the estimate is that the Grizz have raised at least $17 million in the short couple of years that they have been in town. Impressive. HT to True Hoop

Manchester United's Significant Other Revealed: It's AIG

We'll soon see AIG here

Only one day after online gambling company Mansion blasted Manchester United for double-dealing after the club backed out of an English record 70 million pound shirt sponsorship deal, it appears that the reason for that move was a deal the Red Devils have made with a much better known and more respected American multinational. The global insurance giant AIG appears set to be the new jersey sponsor for a price certain to be more than Chelsea's 10 million pound a year deal with Samsung. Whether it will be greater than the world's best 15 million pound a year deal that Juventus has with the Libyan oil company Tamoil remains to be seen. However, it is clear that the Glazers were correct when they professed not to be worried at the time Vodafone ended its sponsorship in November with two years remaining.

UPDATE: Today, the deal with AIG was announced and it is indeed a British record. It is a four year deal and totals 56.5 million punds, far in excess of Chelsea's deal with Samsung. While vindicating the Glazer's optimism after Vodafone pulled out, it does raise some questions about the close ties between AIG and the hedge funds that financed the Glazer takeover of ManU, as more detailed in the Times article. AIG is an investor in one of the larger hedge fund backers and one must wonder how much of a difference that made in the jersey deal.

Kansas City Votes and the Chiefs and Royals are Staying

The voters of Kansas City approved new taxes yesterday which will go to pay for the renovation of Arrowhead Stadium and Kauffman Stadium, ensuring that the Chiefs and Royals will remain in town for the next 25 years. A second ballot measure, to approve a rolling roof on Arrowhead, failed, meaning that there will be no Super Bowl in Kansas City's near future. So, once again the seemingly timeless threat of packing up to move elsewhere has worked it magic again.

The stadium deals in Kansas City are two of the more favorable deals for teams in recent memory. The election approved a 3/8 cent sales tax expected to raise $425 million. The state is kicking in another $50 million in tax credits. The Chiefs are contributing $75 million and the Royals $25 million and the teams will be responsible for all cost overruns. It works out to about 23% and 10% respectively, in short, a great deal for the teams - especially for two teams that haven't seen a championship in decades.

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Women's Bball Takes Off Despite NCAA

The NCAA has a hit on its hands if it doesn't kill the golden goose first. Women's basketball interest is exploding as the game improves each year by leaps and bounds (pun intended). Attendance is up in arenas around the country and interest from sponsors on both the local and national level has increased substantially.

However, the cloud on this sunny picture is amply documented in this interesting column by Sally Jenkins of the Washington Post. The NCAA needs to move, and quickly, to correct the problems Jenkins describes so that the interest we are seeing doesn't dissipate. The brackets in this year's tournament made little sense and we're lucky to be treated to a championship game that has the possibility of being worthy of the name. Dr. Brand, don't let the women be stepchildren any longer. Clean up the administration of this sport and soon.

Carnival of the Capitalists

This week's Carnival of the Capitalists is now up at Jotzel, which you should really check out to visit the site if nothing else. Jotzel is a great collection of posts, sort of a daily version of the Carnival of Capitalists, with ongoing visitor input on which posts get prominent display. A good collection of always insightful business news on a wide variety of topics.

ManU Still the Most Valuable

Forbes is out with its annual list of the most valuable soccer clubs in the world and Manchester United is still on top. Although the Galacticos of Real Madrid have overtaken the Red Devils in total revenue, the value of ManU remains significantly higher, due in large part to the greater profits which the ManU is able to generate. The Red Devils generated $82.5 million in operating income in the 2004-05 season, compared to $30 million for Real Madrid. Close behind Manchester in operating income was Juventus with $82.4 million, but declining attendance led to a 18% decrease in Juventus' value.

As you review this list, note the overlap with the members of the G-14, the group of now 18 of the largest, most profitable and valuable European clubs battling UEFA and FIFA over control of the fixture calendar, the future of the Champions League and compensation for players called to duty with their national teams. It is precisely because of this, that the battle will be intense, because it is the clubs who are the primary source of compensation for the players but it is the World Cup in which reputations are made and endorsement opportunities are created. Stay tuned as the battle for control of European soccer will, if nothing else, be entertaining to watch.

The Chile Bowl May be Coming to Your Post-Season

Since spring football has started around the country, it is an appropriate time to take a look at the next bowl game to be featured in college football's increasingly crowded post-season calendar. Are you ready for a little chile in December? Officials at ESPN and in Albuquerque are hard at work putting together the bid for the Chile Bowl to be submitted to the NCAA for approval. If approved, the bowl will feature a team from the Mountain West taking on a team from the WAC, in a game to be televised on one of the networks of the WWLS, which is providing a $2 million line of credit to the bowl organizers. The Chile Bowl is only the working title, as the organizers may yet sell naming rights, but it's really too good to pass up. I know you can hardly wait. HT to Wizard of Odds