Seriously? quote of the day

From a public statement by the Fairfield County (OH) School District, announcing it would allow a 12-year-old girl to play football rather than defend its ban (which it never explained) in litigation that the ACLU threatened to bring on the girl's behalf:

"We have no intent of competing with the deep pockets of the ACLU in any litigation situation in order to secure a favorable judgment," the district said in a statement. "Therefore, we will allow female participation in contact sports."

Really? The ACLU has deep pockets? The ACLU's pockets for litigation are lined with the money it recovers from idiotic governments--like Franklin County--when it successfully challenges pointless-but-unconstitutional like this one. Still, it's a nice piece of demagoguery that might play well with the public. I do agree with one commentator, who noted that such a statement indicates the district still does not support the girl's efforts, is not convinced she is legally entitled to play, and potentially not willing to give her the backing she needs (that is, the same backing as all other players get). We may not be done with this story.

Leigh Steinberg's Sports Law Class at Chapman Law

Leigh Steinberg writes on his new Sports Law class at Chapman Law in Forbes.  From his description, the class

… will be extremely interactive and emphasize real life skills.…They will learn how to negotiate by playing a general manager or player agent in a NFL first round contract signing. They will master win-win negotiating which meets both parties needs….They will experience “damage control”, having to defend an athlete gone wrong in front of a room of student reporters. They will learn how a player needs to accept responsibility and engage in prevention of a recurrence. ….Of course we will cover standard player contracts and collective bargaining agreements.

I love the sound of the class, with a great list of guest speakers.  The headline describes this as a "novel" approach to Sports Law -- I don't think that's the case, although I would attribute that exaggeration to a headline-writing editor rather than the author.  Sports Law classes have often been taught as "simulation" courses since they first entered law school curricula.  Phil Closius taught one here at Toledo well over a decade ago which featured contract-negotiation exercises.  UCLA has a sports law simulation housed in its clinical program.  What might be different and new about Steinberg's class is the introduction of guests into the simulation activities - which gets the class closer to feeling like a live-client clinic.