Sports environment means it's time to hit the law books
Posted: Tuesday, July 24, 2007 4:25 PM
At times such as these, when prosecutors are making more sports news than players, you may want to do more than visit sports-law.blogspot.com, you might want to bookmark it.
It is where lawyers and sports law professors go to talk about the legal issues faced by former NBA ref Tim Donaghy and soon-to-be-former Atlanta Falcon Michael Vick.
You may or may not be interested in the article on the home page, but you should be fascinated to see how attorney Geoffrey Rapp is looking at the Donaghy case. Unlike the rest of us, Rapp is not concerned about what it's going to do to the credibility of the league. Instead, he's speculating on who might be able to sue whom if Donaghy admits he shaved points to protect his betting line.
I've got to admit, I don't think this way, but there are some good points here. Donaghy, remember, officiated at the Brawl at Auburn Hills that cost Ron Artest most of a season. Artest and others may be able to sue Donaghy, the blog says, "If he bet on that game (which was a blowout long before fisticuffs erupted), and allowed things to get out of hand in part to protect his wager, he might be on the hook to anyone who has suffered financially as a proximate result of his misconduct."
Okay, that makes sense, but how about these prospective plaintiffs: "Bettors on the other side of the spread. In Nevada, at least, legal bettors on NBA games on the other side of the spread might have some sort of claim against Donaghy for violating the state's gambling laws."
Who'd a thunk it?
There's a lot more there, and you could easily get lost for a couple of hours if you start clicking on links. Given the current state of Michael Vick, I'd recommend this discussion that deals with why the NFL players association so willingly bends to the commissioner's office while the NBA players association takes a more adversarial stance.
