The intersection between Sports and Bioethics has grown geometrically since I argued on behalf of Eddy Curry that the Chicago Bulls had no right to insist on a DNA test as a condition of his employment. ESPN the Magazine recently devoted almost an entire issue to how genetic research might be changing the future of sports. Now Summer Johnson in Blog.Biothics.net reports on the rather uncomfortable link between March Madness and vasectomies. Apparently, there is a high incidence of men choosing to have this elective surgery during tournament time. What better excuse to sit for twelve hours on the couch than a doctors orders to rest with a cold compress between your legs. Indeed, as Summer notes, some doctors at The Oregon Urology Clinic market the procedure with Dick Vitale advising prospective patients to “take care of the equipment and lower your seed for the tourney. Ouch.
Archive for ◊ May, 2010 ◊
I had the Viewpoint Column on SI.com a few days ago, and my piece centered on the consumer and antitrust implications of the legal and business battles between the NFL and major cable companies. Here’s an excerpt:
I have a new column on SI.com on the potential legal impact of allegations by Floyd Landis that Lance Armstrong engaged in doping and possibly encouraged and facilitated other riders to dope. Here’s an excerpt:
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For those of you attending Law and Society this weekend: On Thursday morning at 8:15, I will be doing a roundtable discussion called Judges as Umpires, Umpires as Judges: Rethinking the Metaphor. We will explore the silly judge-as-umpire metaphor, instant replay, the nature of judging and sports officiating, and other links between judging and sports. The panel includes moderator Mark Graber (Maryland), Mitchell Berman (Texas), Chad Oldfather (Marquette), Aaron Zelinksy (recent Yale grad and occasional guest blogger here), and me.
I have an SI.com column on today’s big decision. Here’s an excerpt:
The United States Supreme Court released a unanimous opinion this morning reversing the Seventh Circuit’s decision in American Needle v. NFL. The opinion is available here. more…
What makes Sports and Sports Law so interesting is how its controversies frequently serve as a microscope into the human condition. Take the case of Floyd Landis. The cyclist from Amish country in Pennsylvanias version of the Bible belt had won the 2006 Tour de France, returned as a small town hero, and then was stripped of his title after accusations of doping. Offering his roots as the best evidence of his integrity, Landis spent hundreds of thousands of dollars contesting the accusations, accusing the French officials of anti-American bias: All day long I heard him shout so loud, crying out that he was framed.
I have a new SI.com column on the charging in both U.S. and Canadian courts of Dr. Anthony Galea, a Canadian doctor who is alleged to have provided illegal performance-enhancing drugs to many star athletes in the U.S. Here is an excerpt:
Last week, Brian Cushing became the first player in NFL history to win the Associated Press Defensive Rookie of the Year Award…twice. Cushing won the award back in January with 39 of the possible 50 votes, but the AP called for a revote after it was recently disclosed that Cushing had tested positive at the beginning of the NFL season for hCG, a fertility drug banned by NFL Policy on Anabolic Steroids and Related Substances (the same drug that led to Manny Ramirezs 50-game suspension by MLB). After the revote, Cushing won the award again, this time with a total of 18 votes.
