Why Take The Case?

Essence.  I have already written a post on it, and as you (should have) read, the essence can lie with fame and power.  The attornies get these clients that they try so hard to prove innocent, and what do they get out of it?  A little bit of power?  The question that I would like to ask in this post as well as help answer, is this; Is that little bit of power and fame worth compromising your beliefs, and selling your soul to the devil persay?

Take Roger Clemens’ lawyer, Rusty Hardin, for example.  The man claims that he loves the sport of baseball, http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/5377578.html, but then he goes and defends a man who if you watch his growth progression in the major leagues, clearly was not all natural.  Hardin clearly does not love the sport of baseball if he is willing to kep a man that has the potential of being known as the greatest pitcher of all time, and there being a slight possibility that it was not all him.  That is taking away from men like Sandy Colfax, and Randy Johnson, and Jamie Moyer who put their blood, sweat, tears, and arms into the game that they love.  Not to mention the kids, how could Hardin take the case…the case that will leave an imprint on the vulnerable little minds of kids that love baseball.  Now they will think that they have to take steriods if they want to become good, and no consequences will fall on them.  Great job Rusty, you no longer have a soul.

Another “man” that needs to be mentioned again is Johnny Cochran.  Here is a guy who got a man off of murder.  From previous blogs of mine you will know how I feel based on the evidence about the O.J Simpson case.  That takes no heart at all.  All that little Johnny wanted was fame.  Any self-respecting person would not take that case, people need to be punished for their crimes, not get off without any reprocussions.

If there is one thing that people should get from this post, and hopefully from this blog, it is that athletes are people.  Their fame does not give them special privelages or make it so they can not be held accountable for their acts.  If anything they should have more responsibilities to be good people, and those few choice lawyers who decide to help these people, should be punished just as the atheletes because they are just as guilty.

http://i.a.cnn.net/si/2008/writers/david_epstein/02/10/waxman.clemens/T1_0210_hardin.jpg Image

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/Simpson/Evidence.html  O.J. Stuff

Should They, or Shouldn’t They?

As those of you that have read my previous posts know, there are many controversies involving professional athletes.  Some of the classic examples are Michael Vick and his dog fighting, Kobe Bryant and his rape case, and probably the most popular are Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds with their steroids issue.  If you look back on the cases, one question may arise…how were those athletes still allowed to play with those charges against them?

Take the Kobe Bryant example.  He was on trial for rape charges, which you can see the situation at http://lukeford.net/profiles/profiles/kobe_bryant.htm.  If a man is being tried for rape, how is he still allowed to participate?  He did get off and was found innocent, and let’s face it, if a woman comes to the best basketball player in the worlds hotel room, she obviously knows that they are not going to sit down, talk about the economy, and eat tea and crumpets.  That is why it was not considered rape.  Regardless, he was still traveling from Eagle, Colorado to L.A. for playoff games, and playing amazing.  The question that pops into many people minds is, “How are they letting this man do this?  He is a possible rapist, and he is still being allowed to play basketball in front of millions of kids…kids who look up to him.”

Another example is the baseball/steroids situation.  Roger Clemens was still allowed to pitch, and Barry Bonds was still allowed to swing the bat (because he doesn’t play defense) even though they were both being tried for the use of steroids in baseball.  If there is even the slightest possibility that these men used steroids, and compromised the sport of baseball, then why should they get to play?  It pretty much comes down to the “innocent until proven guilty” line.  Regardless of the law, should the ultimate decision not come down to the law, but rather our morals as human beings?  There are some things that are legal, but not right.   These men are role models!  If kids see them getting away with this stuff, even if proven guilty, then many kids will think that they can get into trouble, and be fine until they are proven guilty.  

It even happens in high school.  If a kid has bad grades, then they have two weeks to get them up…that is two weeks for their team to mold together, rely and trust one-another, then get pulled apart when the kid gets the boot.  It is not right. 

Pretty much what should happen, is that there should be suspension until proven innocent, because that can still abide by the “innocent until proven guilty.  Rules were meant to be broken, or just bent, but that doesn’t mean that they can only be bent the wrong way, let’s stick to these morals and bench those who deserve it.

http://www.popmatters.com/sports/features/images/040107-sports2003-kobe.jpg Kobe Image

http://lukeford.net/profiles/profiles/kobe_bryant.htm Roger Clemens Case

Ultimate Practitioner

Sports-law.  This fairly new field is exploding into universities everywhere.  Why?  People like to keep that inner child within themselves, while growing up at the same time.  Some might say that the essence of sports-law is to stay young.  Others might say that the essence of sports-law is to enter a field of work that you love.  Believe it or not, the essence of sports-law is a combination of power, fame, and knowledge.

If on is to look deeply into sports-law, they will find that there is more to it that being a lawyer.  Not only do you have to be aware of the regular laws that exist, but for the given sport the lawyer has to be aware of the rules and how the league’s rules tie into the law.  There may be things that are legal, but when with a sports team, are not legal.  For example, Ben Roethlisberger,quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers, was in a motorcycle crash the year after he won the Super Bowl.  He was not wearing a helmet, crashed, and was seriously injured.  It is legal to ride a motorcycle in Pennsylvania without a helmet, but the lawyers on the case tried to find something in Roethlisberger’s contract that said he had to wear one.  Nothing was found, and nothing happened to Roethlisberger.  You see, there are many things that sports lawyers must look for and take into account when researching a case, this is the essence of the knowledge.

Fame.  Obviously there are famous people involved with sports-law.  Now, I do not know off the top of my head the name of O.J. Simpson’s lawyer, but if I see a picture of him, I would know that it is O.J.’s lawyer.  He may not be as famous as O.J. but people know who he is.  The judge involved with Michael Vick’s incident with dog fighting is also now famous not by name, but appearance.  In this sense, many people get into sports-law for the fame.  Sure nobody knows their name, but if a picture is seen, then everybody will realize that they are “famous.”

The last ingredient in the essence of sports-law is power.  If you think about it, the people who come up with the codes of conduct for professional athletics have all of the power in the world.  If they say that an athlete can not eat spaghetti on Tuesday, then they can not.  Having power over someone that is more famous than you is huge.  Nobody knew who Roger Goodell (commissioner of the NFL) was until he had to deal with Michael Vick.  But he had the power over someone that people knew, so he in turn became famous, and had power.

Deep down, sports-law does not lie in passion or love of a profession, the essence is being the “ultimate practitioner.”

O.J.’s Lawyer, Johnny Cochran

http://img2.timeinc.net/people/i/2005/news/050411/jcochran.jpg Image

http://www.buckingham.ac.uk/law/llb/courses/sports.html Ultimate Practitioner Source

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2480830 Roethlisberger Source

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/2007-08-24-842711123_x.htm  Goodell Source

A Picture Is Worth 400-600 Words

Anybody that was alive during the early and mid nineties has heard of the O.J. Simpson case.  Your classic example of an ex-football player who allegedly killed his wife, Nicole, then ran from the cops in a white Ford Bronco on national television.  Pretty normal…not.  Obviously the man had something to hide.  Later on O.J. would go on the be found not guilty after a long, nationally popular trial.  Honestly, how could somebody with all of the evidence pointing towards him be found not guilty?

Some of the evidence was…

Blood matching Nicole’s was found on his car door and passenger seat cover

Matching footprints were found at the crime scene, and the same bloody print was found in the Bronco

O.J. had a history and reputation of beating his wife

This is just some of the evidence that was found in regards to the O.J. Simpson case.  Some may believe that it is enough to convict him of murder; for crying out loud the man had HER blood in and on HIS car!  How the jury let him off is beyond any rational mind.  Several years later, O.J. wrote a book titled, “If I Did It.”  Obviously after the trial, according to the fifth amendment, there is no double jeopardy, meaning a person can not be charged the same crime twice.  His book did however raise some eyebrows.

First off, after a man has been found innocent after his wife dies and he was the one accused of killing her, he does not write a book about how he would have killed her if he did.  That is just not kosher.  The whole book may have been a publicity stunt, and an attempt for O.J. to make money, but in writing the book, he showed that he has no remource and feels nothing in regards to the murder of his wife.  If you look closely at the picture, you will see eyes black as coal, and a little smirk on Simpson’s face.  This is a picture taked during the trial that was eventually turned into the cover of his book, and if he looked that calm and unaffected by the murder of his wife during the trial, it is hard to believe that the man was and still is innocent of the crime.  With the evidence that was found, the fact the Simpson wrote a book about the how he would have murdered his wife had he done it, and the smug expression on his face, there is no reason that anybode should believe O.J. is innocent.  Granted he was found to be innocent by the courts, that does not man that he is indeed an innocent man…EVERYBODY makes mistakes.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/shared-blogs/palmbeach/swan/OJ_If_I_Did_It.jpg This is the site of the Book Cover.

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/Simpson/Evidence.html  This is the site with the evidence from the case.

 

 

 

HELP!!!

Help.  Today help has such a broad meaning.  Usually help means that you assist someone so that they can succeed.  In relation to sports law, the concept of help has gone astrew.

O.J. needed help hiding evidence and seeming innocent, Michael Vick needed help covering up the dog fighting, and countless major league baseball players have needed help in proving that they do not do steroids.  Sure this”help” will get them off of the hook, and prove them not guilty, but in the long run is it really helping them? 

When you were young, there were so many things that your parents could have made easier by helping you or guiding you through, but then you would not learn anything.  Their help would have made it so you needed help every time you perform that act.  Sometimes learning things the hard way is more help than learning things the easy way.

So when lawyers help their clients, and the judges let the professional atheletes or teams off of the hook because their lawyers “helped” them, it is taking the easy way out.  No lesson is learned, and no help was provided.

Damon Stoudamire and Rasheed Wallace were two NBA stars for the Portland Trailblazers…and they were indeed blazers.  On a road trip they got caught with marijuana stored in tin foil as they went through a metal detector at the airport.  After the incident, and a few weeks in court, all that happened was a suspension for a couple of games; no fine, no misdemeanor, just a slap on the hand.  After the season the same thing happened again.  Rasheed was caught driving under the influence of alcohol, and he was also in possession of marijuana.  This time Rasheed got a DUI.  The first time there was no lesson learned because there were virtually no consequences, nothing to teach Rasheed a lesson.  He figured he has untouchable, and the law did not apply to him.  Coincidentally, Rasheed has never been found in possession of marijuana or driving under the influence of alcohol since his run in with the law.  Maybe, just maybe, if there was a punishment the first time, he would not have done it again.

People thought that they were helping Stoudamire and Wallace by letting them off, but all it really did was feed their habit and poor behavior.  This is too prevalent in sports; the athletes get “help”, and never suffer the consequences that they deserve.

Next time an athlete gets in trouble, we should all consider what we think HELP means.

Blog Mission Statement

It seems like every day you hear about a new legal issue revolving around an athlete or a sports team.   The purpose for me writing this blog is to dissect some of these more popular issues, give some solid examples of how to analyze the cases, and come up with a verdict.

My life revolves around sports, and I feel like I can benefit from learning and writing on these issues.  Athletes are role models to kids everywhere, and by writing these blogs, I hope to gain some popularity, and hopefully the athletes will read them, and question what they do in the future.  Like it or not, athletes and sports teams are looked up to, and they need to carry themselves in a manner that reflects high moral standards.  This is why I am writing this blog.  I also want to let people know all of the facts about specific examples; too many times have I heard casual conversations about some of the cases that I will discuss, and they never have all of the facts.  It seems like people jump on the band-wagon, and say what they hear on the news.  Hopefully my blog can better inform people, with a view that has no bias, and provides only the truth.

One thing that my blog will always offer that you will struggle to find elsewhere is honesty, and a view without bias.  All of my cases are going to relate to law as well as sports, and I promise that I will not complain or give an opinion without relevant facts to support it.

I look forward to having many dedicated readers, and will do my best to keep your interest while being a straight-shooter.