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I have a new SI.com column that looks at the Mike Leach firing from Texas Tech and the possibility of a wrongful termination lawsuit. Here’s an excerpt:

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A couple of weeks ago, Ed and I discussed an interesting lawsuit filed in a Massachusetts state court by the former agents of 21-year-old Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman against his new agents for “stealing” Chapman as a client. The lawsuit — Athletes Premier International v. Hendricks Sports Management — is based on a tortius interference claim, which Jimmy Golen of the Associated Press has discussed. Chapman, a lefthander who can reportedly throw 100 miles per hour, remains a free agent, having turned down a $15 million (guaranteed) offer from the Red Sox. He apparently seeks a deal that will guarantee him $30 million, which will be harder to obtain when 2010 arrives because of federal laws which tax signing bonuses when a person works in the U.S. but not when the person does not work in the U.S. (see below).

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Texas Tech has suspended football coach Mike Leach for its bowl game, because of Leach’s alleged treatment of a player (receiver Adam James, the son of ESPN college football analyst Craig James) who had suffered a concussion and was unable to practice. The James family alleges that Leach ordered the player to sit in an equipment closet or equipment bin (reports conflict) and was told that if he came out, he would be kicked off the team. Leach’s attorney insists that Leach had James sit in a cooler, darker area than the practice field because it would be better for the player, given his sensitivity to light. The school has begun an internal investigation.

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It is being widely reported this week that the proposed mega-fight between the two best fighters in professional boxing today, Filipino sensation Manny (Pac Man) Pacquiao and the undefeated Floyd (Money) Mayweather, Jr., tentatively scheduled for March 13, 2010, may now be in serious jeopardy. The reason: Pacquiao does not wish to contractually consent to Olympic-style drug testing procedures. According to Dan Rafael of ESPN.com:

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There has been a free-ranging blog conversation recently on why video-replay review in the NFL is so deferential rather than de novo. Joseph Blocher started things off, triggering responses here, here, and here, as well as my limited comments. Mitchell Berman weighs in at Slate today.

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The San Francisco Chronicle reported on Friday that San Francisco’s City Attorney has sent Major League Baseball officials a letter threatening a lawsuit by the city of San Francisco should MLB approve the relocation of the Oakland Athletics to San Jose. MLB has been exploring the possibility of moving the A’s to San Jose following the collapse earlier this year of a plan to move the franchise to Fremont, CA, with a decision on the San Jose relocation expected as early as next month.
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Two quick items for those closely monitoring the American Needle v. National Football League case before the United States Supreme Court. First, American Needle filed a reply brief yesterday, which is available here. Unfortunately, the NFL’s brief is still not yet publicly available for download.

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The next NCAA president will oversee the organization’s policies in a number of controversial areas, including player rights to names and likenesses, a potential college football national championship playoff, and policies regarding the hiring of minority coaches.

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Back on November 6, I offered an observation based on Buster Olneys claim that many teams would not tender players by the December 12 deadline. Olney argued that this year many more players (he said he and executives had a list of 93 candidates) would be non-tendered and added to the free agent market. Well, the results are in. A total of 39 players were non-tendered - 17 in the American League and 22 in the National League. Of that number, 9 were not arbitration-eligible players (6 in the American League and 3 in the National League). A few signed quickly including some with their old team. Buster Olney offered some observations on his blog Sunday (Slew of Signing Lie Ahead). I got sucked in a bit with my earlier posting wondering if the predictions were going to be true. In Olney original article producing a different dynamic. The final results are pretty underwhelming. The increased number of non-tendered players is similar to the number from last year. Although there are many free agents on the market including recent non-tenders Chien-Ming Wang, Jack Cust, Ryan Church, Matt Capps, and Garrett Atkins, the stories usually make sense if you examine each case in its own context. more…