We all know the expression, “It’s all fun and games till someone loses an eye.” Who would imagine that a hotdog could cause such an injury? According to Coomer, a hotdog indeed caused him a serious eye injury. He claims that he was a mere “few feet away” from Slugger when Slugger’s errant, behind-the-back throw led to Coomer’s left eye getting hit by a hot dog. Coomer suffered a detached retina and other eye damage. Coomer’s complaint doesn’t address how he could have been seated six rows up from third base yet only a “few feet” from Slugger, who was atop the third base dugout (maybe Slugger ventured up into the crowd or Coomer took a stroll down to field level, though the complaint doesn’t state so).

Coomer claims that as an invitee, he was owed the highest protection of safety, and that the Royals, through their employee—the unnamed artist performing as Slugger—failed to exhibit the requisite care. Coomer has also filed a battery claim.

The baseball rule, which was premised on dangers from actual baseball play, arguably should not apply to game presentation, which is about entertaining when play does not occur.

* * *

So, the $80 million question comes down to this -- was the "egregious nature" of Arenas' conduct "so lacking in justification as to warrant" a league-imposed 50 game suspension and the termination of his contract?...The closest precedent we have for this case is the infamous choking incident involving Latrell Sprewell.

For the Wizards to terminate Arenas' contract, they would likely have to convince David Stern (and perhaps an arbitrator) that Arenas' conduct was more egregious than Sprewell's. Would they have a compelling argument? Perhaps. Let's compare the two. Arenas violated a specific written NBA rule prohibiting the possession of guns on NBA property (on a team that changed its name from the Bullets to the Wizards to avoid an association with gun violence). Sprewell violated a rule that was so obvious ("don't choke your coach") the NBA did not feel the need to write it down. Arenas compounded the situation by joking about the incident on twitter and in a pre-game team huddle on the court. Sprewell, after being wrestled away from his coach by his teammates, retreated to the locker room to cool off, and then returned to the court 20 minutes later to throw a punch at Carlesimo (and was later charged with reckless driving and served three months under house arrest during his suspension). Arenas had a prior gun offense -- he was suspended in 2004 for failing to properly register a gun. Sprewell had a prior fighting offense -- two years before the choking incident, Sprewell fought with his teammate Jerome Kersey. After the fight, he threatened to return with a gun (fret not, he only returned with a two-by-four).

Hasn't Jackson's banishment from baseball actually served to keep him in front of the baseball public for so many years? Does the average fan know as much about Tris Speaker, Nap Lajoie, Honus Wagner (if not for the baseball card) as they do about Jackson? Perhaps Rose can make more money selling his autograph because the controversy keeps his name before the public.

Sean W.L. Alford, Comment, Dusting off the AK-47: an examination of NFL players’ most powerful weapon in an antitrust lawsuit against the NFL, 88 NORTH CAROLINA LAW REVIEW 212 (2009)

Jeffrey Benz, Common issues in international sports arbitration, 10 PEPPERDINE DISPUTE RESOLUTION LAW JOURNAL 165 (2009)

Kristan Bryant, Note, Take a knee: applying the First Amendment to locker room prayers and religion in college sports, 36 JOURNAL OF COLLEGE & UNIVERSITY LAW 329 (2009)

Christian Dennie, Tebow drops back to pass: videogames have crossed the line, but does the right of publicity protect a student-athlete’s likeness when balanced against the First Amendment?, 62 ARKANSAS LAW REVIEW 645 (2009)

N. Jeremi Duru, This field is our field: foreign players, domestic leagues, and the unlawful racial manipulation of American sport, 84 TULANE LAW REVIEW 613 (2010)

Virginia A. Fitt, Note, The NCAA’s lost cause and the legal ease of redefining amateurism, 59 DUKE LAW JOURNAL 555 (2009)

Michael Gerton, Note, Kids’ play: examining the impact of the CBC Distribution decision on college fantasy sports, 11 TEXAS REVIEW OF ENTERTAINMENT AND SPORTS LAW 153 (2009)

Mike Leach, A legal education applied to coaching college football, 42 TEXAS TECH LAW REVIEW 77 (2009)

Michael Lenard, The future of sports dispute resolution, 10 PEPPERDINE DISPUTE RESOLUTION LAW JOURNAL 173 (2009)

Richard H. McLaren & Geoff Cowper-Smith, The Beijing Summer Olympic Games: decisions from the CAS and IOC, 10 PEPPERDINE DISPUTE RESOLUTION LAW JOURNAL 69 (2009)

Matthew J. Mitten, Judicial review of Olympic and international sports arbitration awards: trends and observations, 10 PEPPERDINE DISPUTE RESOLUTION LAW JOURNAL 51 (2009)

Jennifer A. Mueller, Note, The best defense is a good offense: student-athlete amateurism should not become a fantasy, 2009 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS JOURNAL OF LAW, TECHNOLOGY & POLICY 527-560

Chad M. Oldfather & Matthew M. Fernholz, Comparative procedure on a Sunday afternoon: instant replay in the NFL as a process of appellate review, 43 INDIANA LAW REVIEW 45 (2009)

Christopher Pruitt, Debunking a popular antitrust myth: the single entity rule and why college football’s Bowl Championship Series does not violate the Sherman Antitrust Act, 11 TEXAS REVIEW OF ENTERTAINMENT AND SPORTS LAW 125 (2009)

Scott Rosner & Deborah Low, The efficacy of Olympic bans and boycotts on effectuating international political and economic change, 11 TEXAS REVIEW OF ENTERTAINMENT AND SPORTS LAW 27 (2009)

John Ruger, From the trenches: the landscape of sports dispute resolution and athlete representation, 10 PEPPERDINE DISPUTE RESOLUTION LAW JOURNAL 157 (2009)

Michael S. Straubel, Lessons from USADA v. Jenkins: you can’t win when you beat a monopoly, 10 PEPPERDINE DISPUTE RESOLUTION LAW JOURNAL 119 (2009)

Geoff Varney, Note, Fighting for respect: MMA’s struggle for acceptance and how the Muhammad Ali Act would give it a sporting change, 112 WEST VIRGINIA LAW REVIEW 269 (2009)

Jeremy A. Wale, Adequate protection of professional athletes’ publicity rights: a federal statute is the only answer, 11 THOMAS M. COOLEY JOURNAL OF PRACTICAL & CLINICAL LAW 245 (2009)

Adam Wasch, Children left behind: the effect of Major League Baseball on education in the Dominican Republic, 11 TEXAS REVIEW OF ENTERTAINMENT AND SPORTS LAW 99 (2009)

Maureen A. Weston, Doping control, mandatory arbitration, and process dangers for accused athletes in international sports, 10 PEPPERDINE DISPUTE RESOLUTION LAW JOURNAL 5 (2009)

Dr. Glenn M. Wong, Kyle Skillman & Chris Deubert, The NCAA's Infractions Appeals Committee: Recent Case History, Analysis and the Beginning of a New Chapter, 9 VIRGINIA SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT LAW JOURNAL 47 (Fall 2009)

Brian P. Yates, Whether building a new sports arena will revitalize downtown and make the team a winner, 17 UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI BUSINESS LAW REVIEW 269 (2009)

Panelists

Michael McCann, Legal Analyst, Sports Illustrated

Mark Verstegen, Founder and Chairman, Athletes' Performance

Dr. Kim Blair, Founding Director, MIT Center for Sports Innovation; Director of the Sports Engineering Practice at Cooper Perkins, Inc.

Dr. Thomas Murray, President & CEO, The Hastings Center

Moderator

Gary Belsky, Editor in Chief, ESPN The Magazine

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A related issue to the dangerousness of conditions is the type of legal duty owed by the parties to Olympic athletes. According to page 15 of the Olympic Charter, which furnishes the core set of guidelines for the Olympic Games, one of the IOC's roles is "to encourage and support measures protecting the health of athletes." Similarly, according to its own statutes, the International Luge Federation, which regulates luge competitions and works with the IOC, also adheres to the Olympic Charter. Parties involved in the design, construction and maintenance of the Whistler Track would also be expected to provide lugers with reasonable safety.

There are, however, a number of factors that would work against recovery for Kumaritashvili's parents. For one, Kumaritashvili, like other Olympic athletes, had to sign a waiver with the IOC to participate in the Games. The form states: "I acknowledge and agree that: a. I participate in the XXI Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver at my own risk and that I will take all reasonable measures to protect myself from the risks of participation." While waivers are powerful pieces of evidence and bar many forms of civil actions, they are not necessarily complete defenses. The precise wording of the waiver matters considerably; though the Olympic athlete clearly assents to assuming risk as a general matter, certain types risks may not be assumable. Along those lines, even when waivers expressly bar legal claims, they normally do not bar claims based on egregious or unforeseeable behavior. In addition, the IOC's waiver protections may not extend to a torts claim, such as one sounding in wrongful death or negligence, brought against VANOC or other parties.

Some in the media have asked me whether Tiger took the correct path in handling this matter with respect to public relations given that I had represented Sammy Sosa, Andy Pettitte, and A-Rod (and others) in somewhat similar circumstances. To be candid, I would have provided different advice, and employed a different strategy, but that is not to say Tiger (and/or his advisors) chose the wrong path. At the end of the day, Tiger only had to apologize to his wife, his family, and his friends, which he did. He does not need to apologize to the American public or his sponsors. With his statement (and I’m sure well before then), he apologized to the only people he needed to apologize to. This was a personal failure, not a professional failure.