News, Press, Sports and Entertainment Law, The Bock's Score
The Bock’s Score: Deflategate and Deterring Cheating in Sport
Tom Brady knew that the footballs he used in the first half of the AFC Championship Game were intentionally deflated in order to give him a competitive advantage, so concluded Ted Wells, the lawyer hired by the NFL to investigate the scandal dubbed “Deflategate.” Debating suspensions As quickly as the league moved to suspend Brady for four games and to fine the New England Patriots a million dollars and eliminate first and fourth round draft choices, Brady apologists, including his agent, Don Yee, and the Patriots’ owner Robert Kraft, called the penalties overblown. Vigorous debate ensued over whether Brady’s conduct was ethically culpable, some even calling it commendable, asking if it was not the duty of a gladiator such as Brady to do whatever he could to help his teammates win. National pundits quickly weighed in. No less an authority than Morning Joe Host Joe Scarborough called Brady’s suspension extreme, adding, “I just don’t get this.” New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, perhaps hoping to energize support in New England for his presidential bid, currently mired in the single digits, joined a chorus of Bay Staters, labeling the suspension “too harsh.” Debates over similar questions re-emerge each time an athlete is penalized for misconduct. Was the sanction sufficient? Was it too harsh? How should the fairness of the penalty be assessed? Should our hero (or nemesis) have even been sanctioned at all? Isn’t it the duty of the athlete to try to win at all costs?
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The Bock’s Score: Pete Rose and a Lifetime Ban
Bill is a partner at Kroger Gardis and Regas, serves as the general counsel for the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and is an expert analysis contributor at Sports Law360 They played a major league baseball game on Tuesday night, July 14, 2015, in Cincinnati, and Pete Rose took the field to the raucous cheers of the hometown fans. . . That lead sentence would not have been jarring for any 40, 50 or 60 something had we read it on any summer morning in our youth. Starting in 1963 when he was the National League Rookie of the Year, through three world championships, and a record 4,256 lifetime hits, #14 of the Cincinnati Reds became practically the embodiment of the North Star in the sports world of the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. Preternaturally burning intensity With preternaturally burning intensity, Rose forged his legacy the old fashioned way. As an E.F. Hutton commercial used to say, he “earned it.” Some were blessed with power or great speed, like my two favorite childhood heroes, Pete’s Cincinnati teammates, Johnny Bench and Joe Morgan. Rose, on the other hand, seemed to wring every ounce of performance from somewhat lesser skills, and, yet, by the end of his career eclipsed virtually all of his peers through dent of indefatigable effort. Rose may have been only my third favorite player from those great Reds teams of the 70s, but it was from him that I learned life lessons. Not directly, of course. Rose played a hundred miles away from my small Indiana hometown. …
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Hamilton To Speak At ICLEF Seminar
Anne Hamilton will be speaking at the upcoming Estate & Probate Administration seminar on July 22, 2015, presented by the Indiana Continuing Legal Education Forum. Anne focuses her practice on estate planning, estate and trust administration, income tax planning, charitable giving and special needs planning. Ms. Hamilton counsels families, business owners, and individuals assisting them in developing and defining their personal intentions and financial objectives as they relate to their estate plans. For more information on the ICLEF seminar, please visit their website www.ICLEF.org
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