The NCAA and the major athletic departments under their purview have been the subjects of many recent articles criticizing their outsized influence on campus life and university budget priorities. When the articles mention these athletic programs they focus on the teams that rule their schools and garner tremendous media attention, schools like Alabama, Penn State,… Continue Reading
Monthly Archives: January 2012
New Jersey’s Push for Legal Sports Betting
Posted in Baseball, Basketball, FootballAs the Super Bowl nears two New Jersey congressmen took action and introduced several timely bills designed to allow legal sports betting in the state. Republican U.S. Representative Frank LoBiondo introduced a bill that would give all states until 2016 to legalize sports betting. A previous window was opened and closed in 1992 and when… Continue Reading
Bama fan turns down heavy plea for Toomer’s Corner tree poisoning
Posted in Basketball, Football, NCAAHarvey Updyke, 63, is the Alabama fan accused of poisoning the 130 year old Toomer’s Corner trees at Auburn. After Auburn beat Alabama (28-27) in last year’s Iron Bowl, he called into a Paul Finebaum’s radio show and bragged of the crime in Jan. 2011. Yesterday he turned down a plea offer of 13 years… Continue Reading
NCAA rescinds $2000 stipend to athletes
Posted in UncategorizedThe NCAA Division I Board of Directors at a recent meeting went on record saying that it still believes scholarship limits should be expanded. It just wants time to work out the details. On Saturday the board delayed implementation of a $2,000 expense allowance, opting instead to ask the working group to make a modified proposal… Continue Reading
Cricket Bats and Federal Court: Part II
Posted in Cricket, Federal FraudThis is an update to a previous post (found here) regarding the trial of Ponzi scheme leader/cricket teaming owner Allen Stanford. Last we heard Stanford had failed to convince a federal judge that he was mentally unfit to stand trail for an alleged $7 billion scheme to defraud investors. Now, a former employee of the… Continue Reading
Somebody ought to lose their job at Nike, Meb Keflezigh wins Olympic Marathon trials
Posted in Olympics, Track & FieldMeb Keflezighi won today’s Men’s Olympic Marathon trials in Houston. Meb, 36-years old, ran a personal best to win the race and qualify for the 2012 Men’s Olympic Marathon Team. Keflezighi’s time of 2:09:07 was just shy of an American Olympic trials record, with Ryan Hall, the race favorite, coming in second and finishing just under the… Continue Reading
Lamar Odom Scores Victory in Tax Court
Posted in Basketball, NBALast year, Lamar Odom, 32 sued the IRS after being handed a whopper of a bill: $87,000 plus interest. The IRS slapped Odom with the bill after determining that he had no right to deduct $190,000 in personal fitness fees and various NBA-imposed fines from his 2007 tax return. Odom responded by arguing that the… Continue Reading
Bankruptcy Court clears the way for Dodgers sale
Posted in BaseballA bankruptcy judge in Delaware approved a settlement today between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Fox Sports. That action by the Court clears the way for the sale of the team. The settlement appears to end litigation between the Dodgers and Fox Sports. “The agreement with Fox clears the path for the Dodgers to sell… Continue Reading
Salaries in the NCAA
Posted in NCAAThis post is a follow-up to a previous piece found here, and to a post from last week concerning an in-depth article in the New York Times which ripped the NCAA for its treatment of student athletes. Joe Nocera’s article is thorough and insightful and demands several posts to fully flesh out the issues, today’s post deals with… Continue Reading
Sam Hurd Indictment
Posted in NFLSam Hurd’s Indictment was returned yesterday in Federal Court for the Northern District of Texas. Sam Hurd is the former NFL wide receiver who most recently played for the Chicago Bears. This is a two count indictment with a forfeiture provision. The first count is conspiracy to distribute 5 kilos or more or cocaine. Count two is possession of 500… Continue Reading
Sam Hurd Arrested on Federal Drug Charges
Posted in NFLBy Jay Perry Putting an embarrassing ending on a disappointing season for the Chicago Bears, receiver Sam Hurd was arrested December 14th on federal drug charges. The charges arose out of activities that began last July during the NFL lockout when an associate of Hurd’s was stopped while driving Mr. Hurd’s car for a traffic… Continue Reading
$2,000 NCAA Stipend Represents Failed Attempt at Change
Posted in NCAAThe NCAA has been on the receiving end recently of some harsh and quite deserved criticism. First, Taylor Branch’s Shame in College Sports, an indictment of the NCAA , in The Atlantic (written about on this blog here); and, now Let’s Start Paying College Athletes , by Joe Nocera in the New York Times excoriates the NCAA for its treatment of… Continue Reading
NFL and Injured Players Set to Collide
Posted in FootballAccording to a recent article in the New York Times, the National Football League is now facing many lawsuits that challenge how the League has handled the issue of player concussions. More than a dozen suits, filed since July of 2011 on behalf of more than 120 retired players and their wives, claim that the… Continue Reading