December 2014

I like sports.  Some more than others.  The great thing about professional sports is that they provide us high profile and in some instances highly scrutinized employment situations.  Just look at the NFL this year.  We have had: (1) a suspension/reinstatement for Ray Rice related to domestic violence; (2) the suspension/appeal of Adrian Peterson for taking a switch to his son; and (3) the suspension of Cleveland wide receiver Josh Gordon for drug use.  These things run the gamut.  In addition to the employment relationships between the player and team, there is the overarching supervision of the National Football Leauge.  To make matters even more complicated there is the player’s union.

So I am going to attempt to identify some interesting anecdotes/stories from the world of sports.  Let me know your thoughts.

1.  Marshawn Lynch plays running back for the Seattle Seahawks.  He is very good.  He also doesn’t like giving interviews.  After a few fines from the NFL Lynch spent one week simply answering questions with the word “yea” and went with “nope” this past week.  No one knows what to do with him.  Obviously the intent of the league and team is to get players to provide information to the media and promote the game.  I’m not sure how you can force a player to provide better answers but we shall see.

2.  Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli is in hot water again over an instagram post.  Though the post was titled “Don’t Be a Racist!”  It went on to provide some racist commentary below.  Here is a link.  Seriously though, has something good ever come from an athlete’s social media post?  Balotelli has apologized but is being investigated.

3.  Coaching changes are in full swing now in the college ranks.  Bo Pelini was ousted at Nebraska over the weekend and others are to follow.  Firings aren’t always limited to head coaches to.  Case in point is Texas A&M letting go of its defensive coordinator.    This article has a great breakdown of the money college coaches make these days.  The interesting thing for Pelini and other high profile coaches is the buyout – Nebraska will have to pay him $7.65 million for the right to fire him.  Basically, these types of coaches have some serious serverance built into their agreements.