Jan
13
Baseball’s New Plan for Daily Interleague Play Is Not without Precedent
Posted by: J. Gordon Hylton | January 13, 2012 | 1 Comment
Major League Baseball is changing again. For more than nine decades, from 1901 to 1994, it was a cardinal rule of baseball that teams in the American and National League met in exhibition games, the All-Star Game, and the World Series, but never in games that counted during the regular season. Since 1994, we have [...]
Jan
12
Tebowing and the Constitution
Posted by: Scott C. Idleman | January 12, 2012 | Leave a Comment
Much has been made of Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow’s outward expressions of his Christian faith, especially his practice of kneeling in moments of prayer—“Tebowing” as it is now called—after touchdowns, some of them admittedly a bit miraculous. A recent issue of Time magazine, for example, included an article on Mr. Tebow, his faith, and the [...]
Jan
1
Why Milwaukee Lost the Braves: Perspectives on Law and Culture From a Half-Century Later
Posted by: J. Gordon Hylton | January 1, 2012 | 3 Comments
Forty-five years ago, the baseball world trained its attention on the Wisconsin Supreme Court and its impending decision in the case of Wisconsin v. The Milwaukee Braves, soon to be reported as 144 N.W.2d 1 (1966). At issue was whether or not a Milwaukee trial judge, acting on behalf of the state of Wisconsin, could [...]
Dec
24
Before the Sports Broadcasting Act: Professional Football Fifty Years Ago
Posted by: J. Gordon Hylton | December 24, 2011 | Leave a Comment
Warning: This essay contains pure, unadulterated nostalgia for the professional sports regime of the middle third of 20th century America. I remember watching the 1960 World Series on television, but the first year that I really followed major league baseball was 1961, the year of Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle’s historic assault on Babe Ruth’s [...]
Dec
14
Interested in Starting Your Own Minor League Baseball League and Joining Organized Baseball? Think Again.
Posted by: J. Gordon Hylton | December 14, 2011 | 2 Comments
The revival of independent professional baseball, which began with the establishment of a new Northern League in 1993, has been one of the most fascinating developments of the past 20 years in the world of baseball. The baseball-reference.com website, one of the authoritative sources for information on baseball history, lists thirty different independent professional baseball [...]
Dec
13
Why the Use of Performance-Enhancing Drugs by Great Athletes Still Bothers Us
Posted by: J. Gordon Hylton | December 13, 2011 | 3 Comments
The recent revelation that Milwaukee Brewer all-star Ryan Braun has tested positive for performance enhancing drugs once again raises the question of why such revelations bother sports fans so much. The answer lies, I believe, in the typical fan’s feelings about his or her lack of natural athletic ability. It is one of the sad [...]
Nov
29
How the NBA Should Have Handled the Recent Labor Dispute
Posted by: J. Gordon Hylton | November 29, 2011 | Leave a Comment
Most fans of professional basketball were probably delighted to learn of the recent agreement between the NBA owners and their players which will make possible a 66-game regular season beginning on Christmas Day. However, for fans of sports law (like myself), the resolution was disappointing. Had the players’ antitrust suit gone to trial, followed by [...]
Nov
7
Recent College Football Realignments Are Nothing New
Posted by: J. Gordon Hylton | November 7, 2011 | Leave a Comment
The realignment of major college football conferences has been one of the most important sports stories of the fall. As teams shift from one conference to another, many commentators have described these happenings as unprecedented, and in the minds of many, these developments appear to threaten the stability of college athletics. Rumor has it that [...]
Nov
1
Maybe the Brewers Should Hire a Lawyer as Their Next Manager
Posted by: J. Gordon Hylton | November 1, 2011 | 1 Comment
The announcement that St. Louis Cardinal manager Tony LaRussa is retiring after his team’s victory in the 2011 World Series provides us with an opportunity to remind the non-lawyer world of the extraordinary success of lawyers who have served as managers in Major League baseball. LaRussa, who earned his law degree from Florida State in [...]
Oct
17
Marquette Law School’s Enduring Connection to the Sports Law Industry
Posted by: J. Gordon Hylton | October 17, 2011 | Leave a Comment
As noted in an earlier post, the current issue of Marquette Lawyer magazine contains a profile of the current Marquette Sports Law program and the National Sports Law Institute. What the article fails to note, however, it that the law school’s involvement with the sports industry long pre-dates the founding of the National Sports Law [...]
Oct
10
Do We Need an Anti-Siphoning Act in the United States?
Posted by: J. Gordon Hylton | October 10, 2011 | 1 Comment
The remarkable Milwaukee Brewers have now reached the second round of the Major League Baseball play-offs, but many Brewers fans have yet to have the opportunity to stay at home and watch the team play post-season games on television. The reason, of course, is that this year all first round play-off games as well as [...]
Oct
9
Al Davis, R.I.P.
Posted by: J. Gordon Hylton | October 9, 2011 | 1 Comment
The late Al Davis, the mercurial owner and general manager of the Oakland Raiders football team, arguably had a greater impact on American sports law than any member of his generation. Davis reached the pinnacle of American sport even though he possessed neither great athletic ability nor access to financial resources. Born in Brocton, Massachusetts, [...]


