The NCAA and Learning Disabilities

The Washington Post on Saturday ran an interesting article discussing the next step in the NCAA's campaign for academic improvement - the battle over learning disabilities. As the NCAA steps up its enforcement of academic requirements, both at the high school level for entering freshmen and throughout college, the NCAA is concerned about an increase in fraudulent diagnosis of learning disability among student athletes as a means of gaining wider latitude in meeting those requirements.


The NCAA requires a written diagnosis of a learning disability from a licensed professional before it will grant any accommodation to a student athlete, but once that has been received and evidence of consistent accommodation by the athlete's school subsequent to the diagnosis, the NCAA is really in no position to challenge the diagnosis. At that point, the NCAA has little choice but to provide the student athlete with latitude in meeting academic requirements as the Americans with Disabilities Act requires that reasonable accommodations to a student's disabilities be met. Anyone who has experience with number of college age kids searching for a diagnosis of ADD/ADHD in order to take untimed SATs knows what the NCAA will be facing in the years ahead.

While I'm on the subject of the NCAA, I noticed a small item the other day, that the NCAA's recent ban on text messaging may be overturned. Override has received the requisite number of votes to be placed on the agenda of the NCAA Board of Directors at its August meeting. The Board may reaffirm the ban, in which case the entire membership will vote on it in January, override it or adopt alternative legislation.

NFL Europa Mercifully Put Down

After 16 years, numerous changes in strategy and the expenditure of close to 1/2 billion dollars, the NFL owners finally said enough and yesterday folded the tents on their European experiment, just one week after the World Bowl. NFL Europa fell victim to a game that proved difficult to translate to Europe as well as a shift in NFL thinking. From this point forward, no more European minor leagues, as the league brings regular season games to the Old Country, starting with the Giants - Dolphins in new Wembley Stadium, this October.

What the new strategy will do is significantly reduce the cost incurred by the league in marketing its product to Europe while presenting a much improved production. A regular season game, counting as it does for playoff positioning, will be a much different animal than the minor league production of NFL Europe in any of incarnations. The entire gameday experience will be recreated as near as possible, and if early ticket sales in London are any indication, the reception will be far greater than anything the NFL has seen to date.

What that leaves the NFL needing is a true minor league. Arena football doesn't quite fit the bill - the game is too different and the relationship isn't quite tight enough. The colleges provide free seasoning but not the tight control and directed development that even the NBA has determined it could really use. While NFL Europe always had its share of critics within the NFL family, all of the owners agreed that it was a useful minor league proving ground. So, the question remains what will replace the training aspects of NFL Europa?

NBA Extends TV Deals

The NBA owners owe a huge debt of gratitude to David Stern. Demonstrating his worth once again, Stern delivered an extension of the league's television contracts for eight years, through the 2015-16 season, with an approximately 20% increase in rights fees, up to about $930 million a year, in an environment of declining ratings and mounting criticism of his league and its product. In short, a stunning achievement.

To obtain the increase, the NBA has given its broadcasting partners, ESPN/ABC and TNT extensive new digital media rights, including media not yet discovered or in use. The digital rights include the right to broadcast live games on the web and mobile TV, as well as through digital means not yet developed.


"This agreement sets a new standard -- it is the most expansive package of rights we've acquired from a major professional league in our 27-year history," ESPN president George Bodeheimer said. "We're thrilled to take a major step forward in our relationship with David Stern and the NBA with this broad, global agreement. The scope of this deal and the new rights we obtained offer us tremendous opportunities to serve NBA fans like never before -- in the U.S., around the world, and through any device."

It is the expansive new digital media rights that enabled Stern to craft a package containing a substantial rights fee increase. Today, it looks like a winner. In 2015, will he have given away the store too cheaply? Only time will tell but it certainly appears as if he has retained no flexibility for any upside. Now, remember, I haven't seen the contract so there may be all kinds of contingent upside built in that no one is discussing publicly. I sure wouldn't if I were them.

Ratings News

Hockey's television ratings woes continue and the season has been over for several weeks. The CONCACAF Gold Cup final between the US and Mexico drew 41% more viewers than the Stanley Cup finals clincher, and that was for the Spanish language broadcast only. The broadcast on Univision drew a fast national rating of 2.5, which translates to 2.83 million households compared to the 1.8 which Anaheim's Stanley Cup win on June 6, which was seen in 2.05 million households. Bettman can't even blame this one on Versus as the game was on NBC. Just another reason why the NHL needs to do something about its US marketing.

The English language Gold Cup Championship game by the way was on Fox Soccer Channel and not rated. Why it was on FSC is a completely different story, which speaks to the difficulty soccer is still having gaining respect and viewers outside the Latino community. Still SUM, the marketing arm of MLS, which I believe holds the rights to the men's national team should have placed the game on a higher profile outlet - it is after all the championship of the region and not just any old national team match.

NFL Retired Players to Congress: The System Is Broken

Retired NFL players took their fight for more equitable treatment and better disability pay and benefits to Congress and the American people, appearing before a Congressional subcommittee and at a press conference at the National Press Club. In an oftentimes emotional press conference, Sandra Unitas, the widow of Hall of Fame quarterback Johnny Unitas told movingly of his struggles with daily living as heard in this video. Also seen is former Jaguars linemen Brian Demarco:

Among the former players appearing before the Congressional committee was Mike Ditka, who told the committee that the NFLPA had been derelict in getting help from the league for former players who suffer from health problems such as dementia and short-term memory loss incurred during their time on the field.

The NFL and the NFLPA have been slow to do make substantial changes in benefits for retirees and have been particularly slow to deal with problems like dementia and mental health brought on by head injuries that successive concussions may have induced. While some benefits were increased with the most recent collective bargaining agreement, much more still needs to be done.

Day of Silence

If you listen to Internet radio, you may have discovered that your favorite station is not broadcasting today. Instead you may have found a page that looked a lot like this one. Internet radio stations across the web are observing a Day of Silence to protest the dramatic increased in royalty fees that will be imposed by an arbitration panel responding to lobbying by the recording industry. The new fee structure is so onerous that many, if not most, Internet radio stations will be forced off the air/web.

A bill has been introduced to Congress to roll back the effects of this disastrous ruling and allow for a more equitable royalty structure. It is called the "Internet Radio Equality Act", (catchy title don't you think) and has been introduced in both houses, Senate Bill 1353 and House Resolution 2060. I urge you to call or write your Congressman and Senators today and tell them to support these bills to save Internet radio. If you don't know how to reach them, find your Congresspersons and their phone numbers by entering your zipcode here.


Visit www.savenetradio.org for more information.

Packers Had a Good Year

While the Pack didn't have a great year on the field, the financial picture was certainly brighter. While the Pack won't rank quite as high as it did last year, in terms of financial performance compared to the rest of league, that has more to do with its league partners than it does with the Packs' own performance. There are more stadia coming online each year and with new stadia come new revenue streams. Lambeau Field was last renovated in 2003 and the Packers are squeezing most every dollar they can out of it now.

As reported in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, for the year ended March 31, the Packers operating revenue was $218 million, up $10 million over last fiscal year, while profit net of taxes was $22 million, up $4 million, which could be traceable almost entirely to the fact that operating expenses, exclusive of player costs was down almost $4 million.

The Packers are the only NFL team which is community owned and the only NFL team which publicly reports financial information. As a result, it is the only verified annual financial information we have to assess the yearly performance of the NFL. Based on this data, life in the NFL is good and getting better. The Pack had a very good financial year with a mediocre performance on the field, that included no playoff appearances with its attendant additional revenue. The numbers would be considerably better if the team were better, leading to enhanced stadium revenue and greater merchandise sales. Nevertheless, all is still good in Cheesehead land. Favre is still playing in Lambeau and the Pack is still printing money.

Is Chrissie Worth $100 Million?

Greg Norman has finally reached a divorce settlement with his wife and it's going to cost him about a third of his $300 million estimated net worth. While the Shark had a successful golf career, he has had a far more successful business career, and that business empire is being carved up in the divorce settlement. The businesses include Great White Shark Enterprises golf course design, his Greg Norman clothing empire and the Norman's Estates Wine Company. Settling prevents Norman's current girlfriend, tennis great Chris Evert from having to testify in court about the details of their relationship, which certainly could have made great theater.
HT to Sports by Brooks.

Henry Kicks Transfer Season Into High Gear

The European transfer season got kicked into high gear over the weekend as spanking new Emirates Stadium, fresh off of finishing its debut season in the Premier League was shaken to its foundation with the announcement that the heart and soul of Arsenal had been sold. Thierry Henry, reversing course from a year ago, decamped from North London for the Nou Camp, simultaneously throwing two countries national leagues for a loop and possibly handing the Champions League title back to Barca. It will cost Barca $36 million but that is a small price to pay for the creative striker who is the heart of both the Gunners and the French national team. While Barca has no shortage of talent, Henry is a unique talent that if available one simply can't pass up, no matter how well stocked you may be.

And well Barca is. It appears that Barcelona is preparing to recreate archrival Real Madrid's fLos Galacticos, as Barca will be fielding a line-up next season with Henry, Ronaldinho, Lionel Messi, Samuel Eto'o, Edmilson and Deco. In Henry's words, Barca plays football "the Arsenal way", in a way that people like to watch, He went on to say that it was the only other club he would consider playing for because it was the only other club that played the attractive style that people enjoyed.

Gunner fans should take no solace from that however as Henry made it clear that he left because he fears for the future of Arsenal in the wake of the departure of club vice-chairman and director David Dein and the fact that to date manager Arsene Wenger has yet to sign a contract extension. Wenger contract expires at the end of next season and with Dein gone, it is rumored that the manager could well be on his way out too. Henry may just have decided to leave while he had the best opportunity rather than wait out the inevitable.

Business Week

My thanks to Business Week for the love thrown my way for being featured in this week's blogspotting section. You can check it out here.

UPDATE: I have just been alerted that the link may not be active for non-subscribers until Monday. Sorry for any confusion.

Worst Job in Science

Okay, this has absolutely nothing to do with sports but it was too good to pass up so if you don't want to read this, just skip it. I came across Popular Science's annual article on the worst jobs in science. Now, you might think, as I did, that a whale feces researcher might be the worst job, or at least number two, but no, that only made number 10. Oh, and there is a sports connection after all. There, at number 8 on the list is Olympic drug tester. That's it, for the rest of the list, go read the article.

Oden Signs with NIke

Just ahead of the NBA draft likely top pick Greg Oden makes his visit to the Pacific Northwest a fruitful one by signing an endorsement deal with Nike while in Portland to workout for the Blazers. Portland who holds the first pick also worked Kevin Durant and is not giving out too many clues as to its choice. Oden also visited Seattle and met with, but did not have to work out for the Sonics. While there, he did not sign any endorsement deals with Microsoft or anybody else. While details on the Nike deal were not released, Oden did say on his blog that it is the largest deal a rookie big man has signed.

Supreme Court Upholds Tenn. Recruiting Rules

The US Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, upheld a high school athletic association's ability to regulate recruiting in a case involving a private school from Tennessee. In the decision handed down yesterday, Justice Stevens said that the in designing the recruiting rule, Tennessee had reached the "common-sense conclusion that hard-sell tactics directed at middle school students could lead to exploitation, distort competition between high school teams and foster an environment in which athletics are prized more highly than academics." A good discussion of the case can also be found at the Sports Law Blog.

The Court's decision will empower the high school athletic associations in every state to now regulate all aspects of recruiting middle and high school students, without fear of constant litigation over the validity of those regulations. This case had been pending in one form or another for 10 years and at least some states had to have been leery of the impact on their rules. That worry is now over. I would hope this leads to better enforcement of existing recruiting rules and the implementation of new and stricter rules against recruiting in high schools across the country. We don't need to see the collegiate recruiting cesspool replicated in middle school.

FIFA Pays MasterCard Big Bucks to Walk Away

Soccer Ball - $100; World Cup ticket - $300; No longer the credit card sponsor of world soccer - $90 million. In order to settle the suit between MasterCard and FIFA, the world soccer body is paying the credit card that princely sum to walk away from its exclusive sponsorship agreement, in effect agreeing that it breached its contract by awarding a new sponsorship agreement to Visa, ignoring MasterCard's right of first refusal. Since MasterCard had paid FIFA a total of about $100 million over the life of the previous contracts, MasterCard has in effect been the exclusive sponsor of FIFA for free for the last four World Cups. Just one more example of FIFA's incredibly inept and corrupt financial administration.

As Expected, Yahoo Buys Rivals

Just one day after unceremoniously dumping CEO Terry Semel, Yahoo moved forward in its efforts to maintain momentum in content by approving the deal to buy Rivals that has been under discussion for some time. While the $100 million price tag is not a big number for Yahoo, it is probably more than Rivals is worth on the open market to anyone else. It is however a must buy for Yahoo as it attempts to: a) lower its demographic in sports which skews older than the desired number of its competition, B) gain on ESPN.com, which leads Yahoo in total sports numbers and c) maintain its content edge to give it product worth syndicating. Moreover, the Rivals community is notoriously loyal and probably second only to fantasy sports players in usage and both visits and time spent on site, so they are particularly valuable. While Yahoo overpaid, it's still a drop in the bucket and a very necessary acquisition from a competitive standpoint. They simply could not afford to see someone else buy it.

Preds Move Likely Hot Topic Today

The NHL Board of Governors meets today and although he is not on the agenda, I imagine that a main topic of discussion will be one Jim Balsillie and his attempt to purchase the Nashville Predators and move them to Hamilton. While the man impersonating a Commissioner has attempted to demonize Balsillie at every turn and has denounced his open attempts at securing support in Hamilton, Balsillie has done more than comply with NHL directives concerning the possible relocation of a franchise.

While it's true that no sales agreement yet exists or has been approved for the Predators, the agreement is a formality as this point. The approval may be a different matter, but Bettman should cease his attempts to quash this sale or the attempt to move the team. First, remember that Balsillie has been approved, unanimously too I might add, as a potential owner once already when he attempted to buy the Penguins. I don't think anything in his character has changes significantly in that time.

NHL rules require that you secure the rights to an arena and demonstrate fan support before the league will consider a city for expansion or relocation. That is exactly what Balsillie and Hamilton have done. It is also what has been done in Kansas City but Bettman hasn't complained about that. If he is sincere about saving the game in Canada, Bettman should support the move to Hamilton and if Balsillie wants the deal to work, he should turn the Hamilton arena's operation over to the MLSE, the owner of the Maple Leafs and an experienced arena operator. Balsillie needs an arena manager and who better than his Ontario neighbor whose support he desperately needs.

The purchase of the Preds and their relocation to Hamilton is the best solution for the franchise and for the NHL. It will clear up a bad situation in a city that doesn't support the team and move them to one that will, while helping the game in Canada. It's a winning solution that's it's too bad Bettman's too myopic to see.

Networks Not Happy with NFL Over Super Bowl Ads

All is not sweetness and light between the NFL and its television rights holders even though it has only been a few short months since the NFL inked new deals netting it more than $3 billion annually from the networks combined. The broadcast networks believe the league does not do nearly enough to get its official sponsors to advertise in the Super Bowl.

This is a problem that has been brewing for years but the networks have just now decided to go public with it. Other leagues do far more to get their official sponsors on board for their major events. For last year's Super Bowl, only 6 of the NFL's 21 official sponsors ran ads. Considering the rights fees, you would think the league could get every sponsor to kick in for at least one ad wouldn't you?

“What is even more galling,” said one network executive, “is that many of these advertisers want to be in the cheaper pregame show, as close to kickoff as possible, but won’t run an in-game ad.”

This is one of those arguments that is not likely to be settled to everyone's satisfaction anytime soon. It is probably a good thing for the NFL that it signed the rights deals this year but, of course, the magnitude of those deals is what provoked the networks to go public. Commissioner Goodell needs to sit down with his sponsors and try to placate the networks by getting more of them to pony up. It shouldn't be that hard.

Duke Settles with Lacrosse Players

Duke moved to put the lacrosse controversy behind it and yesterday reached a confidential settlement with the Duke Three. The Three issued a statement with a somewhat forced attempt at "community" which it is hard to imagine that they still feel, but the attempt was nice. Good effort fellows, it reflects well on you and your parents. As for Duke, once again that fine institution has covered itself in less than glory as by reaching for a confidential settlement it has all but admitted what we all know - it acted with haste and without regard for the truth in suspending the Duke Three in the first place.

The NBA Financial Powerhouse?

The just concluded, incredibly boring NBA playoffs marked a new low in television ratings for the league, drawing a rating of 6.2 on ABC. That low, eclipsed the previous low set by the Nets-Spurs in 2003 (anybody see a pattern developing here) which Stern and company had written off as a one-time aberration. The potential hiccup is that all three NBA TV contracts are currently being renegotiated and it's just not a great time to have a ratings flop, Sopranos finale or not.

Nevertheless, it appears that the league will survive the finals debacle and emerge from the contract renegotiation with a package above the current $767 million, as Stern predicts a "healthy raise". It looks like the deals will be eight year contracts, the longest that the NBA has ever signed and perhaps an indication that Stern wants to lock in a favorable market that he anticipates will be declining over time. The deals will include digital rights for streaming that the broadcasters don't now have and the extent of those rights is apparently the main sticking point.

The package will place the NBA second only to the NFL behemoth and its mega $3.7 billion yearly TV package, but well ahead of baseball, NASCAR, college basketball and golf. I suppose in this era of reduced ratings and tightening TV budgets, any increase should be considered a major success, especially given the raft of poor publicity the league has endured this season and the ever decreasing ratings the league is facing.

Holy Land Baseball in Just Seven Days

Making its debut in just seven days will be baseball from the Holy Land, as the Modi'in Miracle take on the Petach Tikva Pioneers. Scheduled for the first pitch on June 24, the fledging Israel Baseball League will debut with six teams and a sold-out stadium. The league is the brainchild of Massachusetts businessman Larry Baras and has received the entusiastic backing of Bud Selig and others associated with MLB. Among the league's managers are former MLB stars Art Shamsky, Ron Blomberg and Ken Holtzman. A game of the week can be viewed on a delayed basis on WNET in New York as well as PBS stations in Chicago, LA, Boston, Miami and West Palm Beach, not to mention the IBL's website. The game of the week will also be broadcast in Israel on Arutz Sport.

Two major rule changes will be in effect in Israel, which will make for faster games and more interesting endings. Games will only be seven innings long and if tied at the end of seven innings, games will be decided by a Home Run Derby. Play should be at the minor league level - exactly how high is difficult to predict at this point. Nevertheless, it should be an interesting experiment and there are good baseball people with smarts and money behind the project.

Nifong Guilty; Disbarred

The verdict is in and the State Bar has found Nifong guilty on almost all of the 32 charges that he broke rules of professional conduct in his handling of the Duke lacrosse case. The bar could decided to strip Nifong of his ability to practice law. Nifong has already announced that he will resign as the Durham District Attorney.

There were hints in today's hearing that it is likely that the panel will choose to strip him of his license, according to the News and Observer article. Based on the charges, there is little other outcome for them to choose. The verdict is just and the penalty, if disbarment is in fact the outcome, will be appropriate. It will not repay the Duke Three but it will be at least somewhat heartwarming to them.

UPDATE: Nifong has been disbarred. Shortly before the announcement of the sentence, Nifong's attorney announced to the state bar panel that he wished to forego any right to appeal and surrender his bar license, thereby rendering the actual sentence somewhat anticlimatic. Nevertheless, it was appropriate and quite a fall from grace for the prosecutor.

Will the Mets Bring MLS to Queens?

Whenever MLS Commissioner Don Garber has spoken about expansion of the league, he has always mentioned that he has wanted to place another team in the New York City area. In fact, when the league was first created the MetroStars were granted the rights to operate another team in metro NYC, but those rights returned to the league when the team was purchased by Red Bull.

Now, comes word that the Fred Wilpon, principal owner of the Mets, may be interested in placing a team in Queens near the Mets new stadium at CitiField. The Mets would have to build a new soccer specific stadium for the team but there will be abundant land available and compared to CitiField, it would be a cheap undertaking. With the demographics of Queens, a soccer team would be attractive as would the instant rivalry with the Red Bulls. The Mets have a class organization which is turning into a marketing dynamo with a strong Latino flair and would seem well suited to make a move into MLS.

Nifong Resigns: Too Little, Too Late

Yesterday on the witness stand, Durham DA Mike Nifong surprised everyone in the courtroom, including his own lawyer, by announcing his resignation as Durham District Attorney. While on the stand, Nifong apologized to the three Duke lacrosse players and their families that he wrongfully indicted for rape but denied that he deliberately withheld exculpatory evidence from their lawyers. He admitted however that his statements to the press were probably against the rules of the Bar. All in all, a performance best summed up by the attorney for David Evans, one of the Duke Three, as "a cynical ploy to save his law license." He added, "It came too late."
Here's a video report on the day's testimony:

Junior Joins Hendricks, What Now?

Dale Earnhardt, Jr announced the other day that he would be joining Hendricks Motorsports effective next season, in a decision that was really not all that surprising. There has been a long and deep personal relationship between Rick Hendricks and Junior since Junior was a child and he has looked to Hendricks as a father figure for some time. Junior said the family feeling at Hendricks was something he had been seeking. In addition, since the other finalist was Gibbs, an outfit which doesn't accept sponsorships from alcoholic beverage companies, don't dismiss the desire to retain Budweiser as Junior's main sponsor as a factor. Here is Junior's announcement:

The move raises almost as many questions as it answers. Among the questions its raises are:

1. Will Bud continue as Dale's sponsor? You would think so, but there are rumors that he wants to branch out and the asking price has probably just gone up.

2. What effect will joining the Hendricks team have on Junior competitiveness - will this be the answer he needs to finally win a championship?

3. Will the continued dominance of Hendricks, now joined by NASCAR's most popular driver, further the plunging ratings skid of NASCAR's TV ratings?

4. What will Junior's car number be? Will he try and take his father's fabled number 3; will Hendricks try and get his number 8 back from DEI?

5. How will he and Jeff Gordon get along as teammates? It's all sweetness and light now but will they continue to get along as they compete for fame and fortune now as teammates or will they be racing's version of A-Rod and Jeter?


Celebrate Number 8! Dale Earnhardt Jr. Fatheads on sale now!

The Beginning of the End for Nifong

Yesterday found Mike Nifong, the Durham North Carolina District Attorney, back in court, only this time as a defendant. The North Carolina State Bar charged the prosecutor with several violations of the state's rules of professional conduct in his handling of the allegations surrounding the Duke lacrosse case and the ultimately dismissed indictment obtained by him against three of the team's members.

Here is a video from CBS news with a report on yesterday's court proceedings. I'll attempt to keep you up to date on the progress of the proceedings as best as I can. As you will see, the prosecution is contending that Nifong's outrageous conduct was basically the use of the race card to win a hotly contended election as DA, while the defense basic case is being built on, are you ready for this, incompetence. That's right, their whole theory seems to be that Nifong, the DA and before that the chief assistant DA, had not tried a case in so long that the mistakes he made were just mistakes of incompetence not deliberately made. Good luck with that one.

Congratulations Cards

Congratulations to the University of Louisville Cardinals baseball team on their first ever trip to the College World Series. The Cards won their Super Regional rubber match today at Jim Patterson Stadium in Louisville whacking Oklahoma State 20-2. OSU stayed alive yesterday, squeezing out a 3-2 win in 12 innings after suffering an uncharacteristic 9-0 shutout in the first game on Friday. The Cowboys entered the Super Regional as the leading hitting team in the tournament, but were handcuffed throughout by the Cardinal pitchers. It was an all-around effort by the Cardinals as the Cardinals teed off on Cowboy pitching throughout the lineup, with every starter collecting at least one hit, getting 21 in all. The Cards task only gets harder as they draw number one seed Rice in the opening round of the CWS in Omaha, but the Cardinals have thrived on a lack of respect all season, so this should be nothing new.

In reaching the CWS, the Cardinals become only the second school to reach the Final Four, a BCS game and the CWS in the last three seasons. The only other school to do it? Florida, which of course, rules the NCAA universe, for now.

Get your Louisville Fathead here.

Marketers Moving into High School Sports

Not satisfied with the increasing professionalism of collegiate sports, America's marketers have set their sights on high school athletics. This article from today's New York Times does a nice job of introducing us to the increasing presence of advertisers in high school sports our high schools generally. Of course, the marketers all claim to be ever vigilant against "corrupting" the kids, but we all know that their definition of corruption and yours might well be miles apart. In any event, the article is well worth the read. Did you know there were over 7 million high school kids playing varsity sports?

Real Madrid Gets New Sponsor

Real Madrid has found a new principal sponsor to replace the bankrupt German phone company BenQ Mobile. Now gaining the coveted spot on the white jersey will be the Austrian online gaming company Bwin Interactive. The club will get about $21 million a year; the length of the deal has not been announced. Bwin had previously been in negotiations with Real's arch-rival FC Barcelona, but Barca opted for a unique deal with UNICEF, which found the club actually paying the charity to put its name on the jersey rather than being paid for the privilege as is the norm.

In other news from La Liga, Real Madrid is in position to win the league if it wins its next two games. The club had made inquiries about keeping David Beckham now that Becks has regained his stature with the club and with England, but the star and the Los Angeles Galaxy have rebuffed the effort and Becks and Posh will be moving to SoCal as planned come July.

Big Ten Joins Google Book Project

This is not exactly sports but since it concerns the Big Ten, I guess it qualifies. In its academic guise as the Committee on Institutional Cooperation, the Big Ten has agreed to join Google's effort to digitize the world's libraries. The CIC represents all 11 Big Ten universities plus former athletic but still academic member, the University of Chicago. The Google Book Project has signed up several other major universities, including Harvard and the University of California, but has run into trouble with the book publishers who claim that it will be violating copyright laws. Google and the CIC said that books will be scanned in a manner consistent with copyright law. This agreement provides a major boost to the Google effort with Northwestern, Chicago and Michigan's libraries, in particular, coming online.

Amanda, at Last

Finally, here they are ( with thanks to my friends at The Big Lead).

Light Posting

Sorry for the light posting this past week. My mother-in-law passed away last weekend and I have been tied up with family all week and frankly haven't felt much like posting or being online much. It's been at time for reflection and sharing with family and friends and much of that has been surprisingly positive energy, given the circumstances. I suppose having a 6 week old baby in the family, in the form of my grand niece, helps as she can't do anything but bring smiles to people's lips, no matter their mood. I know she's been good for my wife, who has enjoyed babysitting. I should be back to a more regular posting schedule soon.

Another Cardinal Milestone

Congratualtions to Tom Jurich for being named Sports Business Journal's Athletic Director of the Year. It's a well deserved honor as in my humble opinion, he is the finest athletic director in the company, without a doubt. He has taken a program with major gender equity issues, significant football issues, declining basketball fortunes and little infrastructure and built it into the rising power of the Big East Conference. From completely off the radar screen of big time athletics, other than men's basketball, practically every team, men's and women's competed in the NCAA tournament this year, and compete successfully, including the baseball team currently which just today upset Missouri to make the SuperRegional for the first time in school history (prior to this year, UofL had never won a NCAA tournament game). Congratulations Tom, I can't think of anyone more deserving.

How Much Is a National Championship Worth?

One NCAA championship in basketball or football is usually worth quite a bit in extra licensing income , not to mention substantial increases in alumni donations, increased interest in admissions and other fringe benefits. The usual estimate of licensing increase is several hundred thousand dollars - maybe more if you are already receiving substantial amounts like Texas or Florida. But what if you win two back to back?

Well, then the numbers begin to get real interesting. Following Florida's BCS championship in January, giving it the first basketball and football championships back to back, it climbed from number 8 to number 3 in royalties among colleges. In 2005-2006, Florida collected $3.2 million, in a year in which it won its first NCAA basketball championship. In the first nine months of this fiscal year, Florida has collected $4.4 million and that does not include money earned following the second NCAA basketball championship which the Gators won after the quarter ended. So, conservatively add another $500,000 to $600,000 to that total and you end with $5,000,000 or so, an increase of nearly $2,000,000 from wining the three titles back to back to back.

When considering these numbers, remember that this is only licensing income from the sale of tee shirts, sweatshirts and all that stuff with the Gator logo on it. It does not include the increased donations to the Gator athletic department or the university, nor does it include the increase in the price of tickets, which the Gators undoubtedly raised when the bills went out this spring.

Preds Could be Headed to Hamilton

Does Gary Bettman really know what is going on in his league? Within 48 hours after Bettman announced that Jim Balsillie had no plans to move the Predators from Nashville after he buys the team, a company he controls, secures the exclusive rights to operate a NHL team at the Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario. Now that means that either Bettman is clueless or deliberately misleading the media - you decide.

Anyway, Balsillie is playing a pretty mean game of poker with the purchase of the Preds. He pretty clearly would like to move the team to Hamilton, which seems to me to be the sweet spot for a NHL team not to mention being just down the road from the source of his billions. First, Balsillie overpays for the Preds by, oh let's call it an even $100 million, instantly inflating the value of every other team in the league, endearing himself to the Board of Governors who will have to approve not only his purchase of the team but any relocation.

Next, Hamilton is the doubtless the preferred spot of the league's most important broadcast partner - the CBC. It is the southern half of the most populous collection of hockey fans in North America. Why wouldn't the CBC love it?

The team would be held by an owner with deep pockets and probably be a contributor to the revenue sharing pool, as I believe almost all, if not all, Canadian teams were this past season. A return to Canada is a positive for the league. A move to Hamilton makes far more sense than a return to Winnipeg or Quebec City - the population in Hamilton can support a team and the city is willing to go all out to do so. The owner is in control of the facility and the surrounding area and the prospect of the intra-Ontario rivalry should be attractive. CBC is excited as it should be highly attractive to its audience - especially if the team stays in the western conference setting up potential Saturday night doubleheaders when Hamilton is on it west coast road trips.

Nashville is never going to be a long-term solution for this team. Hamilton makes too much sense for the reasons I have outlined. Bettman is a fool if he stands in the way and the objections of the Maple Leafs should be handled the way similar objections of territorial claims have been handled in the past - pay them off.

It's Not About the Truth

I've just finished reading a book I mentioned earlier about the Duke lacrosse case, entitled It's Not About the Truth written by Sports Illustrated writer Don Yeager with former Duke lacrosse coach Mike Pressler. Simply put, this will be the definitive contemporary history of the Duke lacrosse case. It is simply but dramatically told.

Those of you who read this blog regularly know that I have a special interest in this case as I claim Duke as one of my alma maters. As a result, perhaps I hold it to a higher standard than some others but as the case unfolded, I was continually disappointed in the actions and inactions of the Duke administration and most of the faculty. The administration, specifically in the guise of President Richard Brodhead and Athletic Director Joe Alleva, failed to support their students and coaches and in fact deserted them in their time of need, preferring instead to believe the lies being told by a prosecutor whose story changed whenever necessary to suit the changing lies of his accusing witness. Political correctness won out over due process.

What Yaeger was able to portray so well in his book was the deeply personal cost of this entire sordid affair. The effect of the charges not only on the three indicted Duke students and their families but on the other 43 lacrosse players and their families and particularly on Mike Pressler, their coach who was perhaps the major casualty. He was summarily fired for standing by his players and refusing to throw anyone under the bus, yet never wavered from the truth or his players. He was steadfast in his support of his players and never uttered a critical word in public even after it cost him his job. Why Duke felt it necessary to fire him has never been satisfactorily explained by anyone to this day and remains one of the great mysteries of this case. Of course, most of Brodhead's actions in this matter are mysteries - the man was in so far over his head it's almost sad really. He should never have left his safe, secure post as a dean at Yale - he's clearly not cut out for this job. The closing letter from Janet Pressler, Mike's teenage daughter, to Brodhead, eloquently sums up not only her or her family's pain but Brodhead's ineptitude.

Anyway, I digress. If you have any interest inthe Duke at all, I strongly suggest you buythis book - which you can do here. You won't regret it.