This past week I had the opportunity to attend the Aspen Institute’s forum entitled: “The Future of College Sports: The Government’s Role in Athlete’s Pay.”

NCAA President Mark Emmert and a wide variety of stakeholders were present. The challenge for Emmert is the rapidly decreasing strength of the NCAA and the speed at which the NCAA’s credibility is evaporating.

You can read the full coverage that I wrote for the Sports Philanthropy Network here:

NCAA Under Full Attack at Aspen Institute Forum

Yesterday the NCAA released a statement proclaiming that it was starting the process to allow student-athletes to be compensated for their name, image and likeness.

Sadly, though it is at least a step in the right direction, it leaves loopholes that are big enough to drive a football equipment truck through.

While it is nice to see the NCAA finally taking any type of action, its own statement raises many of the exact issues that I predicted as trouble spots in my October 4, 2019 posting: California’s Name, Image, Likeness Law Won’t Solve All Problems with NCAA.

Since that time, New York, Florida and Illinois have also proposed legislation that addresses these areas.

• New York
• Florida
• Illinois

A peek at the headlines that littered Twitter and the sports journalism landscape yesterday included the following headlines from high profile and reputable sources:

• CNBC: NCAA to permit athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness
• USA TODAY: NCAA Board of Governors opens door to athletes benefiting from name, image and likeness
• CNN: NCAA says athletes may profit from name, image and likeness
• ESPN: NCAA clears way for athletes to profit from names, images and likenesses
• CBS: Inside the NCAA’s move to allow athletes to profit from name, image and likeness rights

None of those headlines seem to accurate capture what the NCAA actually said in its statement. The NCAA did not set any clear timeline nor clear guidelines nor an indication that it was going to do anything other than “examine” the process and find a way to make some change. In my opinion, when you look at the words: “in a manner consistent with the collegiate model” you start to see the problem?

You have visions of enforcement nightmares and the bureaucratic inefficiencies of the NCAA coming to mind. Most people in sports (and elsewhere) agree that the collegiate sports model is broken. So now you have the leading organization telling us that the Name, Image and Likeness issues need to be handled in a manner consistent with a broken model? Obviously, that makes little sense.

The NCAA is hardly perceived as a bastion of fairness when you see how much trouble it has enforcing relatively simple regulations like transfer waivers. Some players like Ohio State’s Justin Fields are granted immediate eligibility. Others like Wisconsin basketball player Micah Potter are now told to sit out what amounts to three semesters of basketball despite having the support of the school he was leaving in his the petition for immediate eligibility (which isn’t even really immediate eligibility because it is already after having sat out a full season).

Fortunately for us (and unfortunately for them), the NCAA even lays out the manner in which it intends to treat this initiative. You can see in its own language, how difficult it is going to be to enforce these guidelines:

Take a look at all of the wiggle room that is identify in each of these guiding principles

NCAA GUIDING PRINCIPLES ON NAME, IMAGE, LIKENESS COMPENSATION

►Assuring student-athletes are treated similarly to non-athlete students unless a compelling reason exists to differentiate.

Wiggle room: “treated similarly” and “compelling reasons” Who is going to make these evaluations?

►Maintaining the priorities of education and the collegiate experience to provide opportunities for student-athlete success. 

Wiggle room: “priorities of education”–Whose priorities? “opportunities for success”–What type of success? Defined by who?

►Ensuring rules are transparent, focused and enforceable and facilitate fair and balanced competition.

Wiggle room: “transparent, focused and enforceable” and also “fair and balanced” These are virtually impossible to enforce fairly.

►Making clear the distinction between collegiate and professional opportunities. 

Wiggle room: What exactly is that distinction in the current world?

►Making clear that compensation for athletics performance or participation is impermissible.

Wiggle room: Of course you are getting paid for performance or participation. You only have value if you are on the field and being seen by the consumer! So the better you play and the more you play the higher your market value.

►Reaffirming that student-athletes are students first and not employees of the university.

Wiggle room: This is a pure CYA (cover your ass) move by the NCAA and the universities. They don’t want student-athletes positioned as employees because that causes all kinds of tax issues, liability issues and potential health-care issues.

► Enhance principles of diversity, inclusion and gender equity. 

Wiggle room: How is any of the name, image and likeness going to address these larger issues? Nice as a theory, not practical as a way to determine what is permissible.

► Protect the recruiting environment and prohibit inducements to select, remain at, or transfer to a specific institution.

Wiggle room: Recruiting environment already a problem and played on an uneven landscape. This will only make it worse. Virtually no way to distinguish what is a payment to select, remain at or transfer to a particular institution compared to what is a payment for “name, image and likeness” while you are at that institution (i.e. an athlete has no value to a business in Columbus, Ohio unless they are playing in Columbus and not in Tuscaloosa).

Can you honestly imagine the NCAA finding a reasonable way to enforce these issues? I could literally come up with 100 problems with these guidelines but let me just share a few of them to highlight the difficulties the athletes, schools, conferences, NCAA and businesses are going to have with this process:

PROBLEM #1

Problem #1: Do you trust the NCAA to handle the intricacies and nuances of regulating this process?

Answer: No chance. The NCAA has not proven itself to be transparent and explain its rulings. I believe that the hidden nature of the NCAA proceedings has been an enormous detriment to the organization and more importantly to the goals of the organization. It seems to be against its own interests to keep the rationale secret because that uncertainty undermines the process. If you really look at the multitude of issues that will arise under any potential legislation, you are now asking multiple parties to be part of the process, further complicating an already complex set of issues. The student-athlete, his/her university, the conference, the NCAA, the state laws and the business desiring to contract with the athlete all have their own interests. Toss in sports agents, attorneys, marketing agents, financial advisors and many other and you will quickly see how implausible it will be for the NCAA to properly govern these issues.

You don’t believe me? How about NCAA President Mark Emmert? The USA Today article above quote him as saying that threading those general principles into meaningful rules changes for for Division I schools will be challenging.

PROBLEM #2

Problem #2: When are the players going to get paid?

Answer: There is no guidance on this issue. Some people suggest that the NCAA’s solution is going to be that the funds go into some form of trust until the player either graduates or leaves school. That somewhat defeats the purpose of allowing an athlete to have a stream of income that they might need for their survival or to help support their family members (or even–GASP–for them to be able to enjoy the fruits of their own labor). Paying them immediately does not necessarily remove the problems because now you have teammates competing together, only some of whom are getting paid (see below). What happens when the star QB, WR, RB are getting some lucrative endorsement deals, but their offensive linemen are not? Does this internal jealously create rifts on the team? Are the stars allowed to “share” their compensation with teammates? In the NFL, QBs and other stars are more highly paid than their teammates. But the teammates are still pulling in mid-6-figure incomes (or more). Additionally, there is no restriction on the QB buying dinners, vacations, watches or other luxuries for the guys who help them succeed. Leaving this in the NCAA’s hands to monitor this process is just going to create a mess.

PROBLEM #3

Problem #3: Who is representing the players?

Answer: Historically, the NCAA has prohibited (with a few exceptions), college athletes from having proper representation. The NCAA’s perspective has been that the representation of the athletes makes them a professional and therefore, no longer eligible for college sports.

With the array of regulations and drama that is going to accompany a change of this magnitude, it only seems fair for us to allow the student-athletes to retain an agent or an attorney to help understand and manage this process. If we are moving towards a free-market solution, then why not go all of the way to the free market. Asking student-athletes to navigate these murky waters alone is entirely unreasonable, especially given that everyone else in the process has extensive representation.

PROBLEM #4

Problem #4: How many players really merit compensation on the open market?

Answer: It depends on how you define “merit”. If you truly use the concept of “name, image and likeness” then only a few college athletes would reap benefits. Take out QBs, RBs, WRs and a few high profile defenders, and the estimate is that fewer than 10 players on a Power 5 football team would have “true marketability.” Others that are paid compensation would be getting it in order to attract them (or retain them) at a university. These payments may be disguised as Name, Image and Likeness payments, but they would violate the NCAA’s own guideline language.

PROBLEM #5

Problem #5: What happens when some players on a team get paid and others do not?

Answer: What happens when the star QB, WR, RB are getting some lucrative endorsement deals, but their offensive linemen are not? Does this internal jealously create rifts on the team? Are the stars allowed to “share” their compensation with teammates? In the NFL, QBs and other stars are more highly paid than their teammates. But the teammates are still pulling in mid-6-figure incomes (or more). Additionally, there is no restriction on the QB buying dinners, vacations, watches or other luxuries for the guys who help them succeed. Leaving this in the NCAA’s hands to monitor this process is just going to create a mess.

PROBLEM #6

Problem #6: This process will not help protect the athletes or the universities

Answer: Correct. Athletes can still be taken advantage of. Unscrupulous boosters and agents will still have ways to get at the athletes. Unrepresented athletes will be susceptible to entering into contracts which are not in their short or long term interest.

From the university side, the competitive landscape will become more ruthless. Instead of negative recruiting or recruiting players previously committed to other schools, the universities will have to contend with a whole array of compliaance issues, booster issues and competitive issues. The recruiting process will start looking like a bidding war, only it will be diguised to fit within whatever parameters the NCAA establishes.

The bottom line, is that I could keep going and going and going. There are more problems in this NCAA statement than what possibly is solved. We are going to be in for huge changes ahead in the college sports system. Many people will not like them because there is really no middle ground.

Tune in tomorrow to read our next article when we look at the reality of the landscape in college sports. Truly, there are only two options: 1) Try to maintain a level playing field; 2) Completely open up college sports to the free market.

Neither solution is perfect and each has its own pitfalls. Check back and read our analysis tomorrow and then tell us which side you choose. Remember, there is no middle ground and you are forced to choose one side of the other! It will be interesting to see how you all vote!

Held the night before the official NFLPA’s annual required training, Inside the League sponsored its annual gathering of agents at the NFL Combine.  The meeting was led by long time agent Peter Schaffer who set a strong leadership tone for the conversation.  The agent community has long been splintered into factions, and the divides typically look like this:

1. Large agencies;
2. Successful smaller agencies;
3. The solo guys;
4. The dabblers;
5. New agents.

The challenge has been to bring these groups together, because while they compete against each other, the only way to protect the value of the agent and to fight against the NFLPA’s attempts to reduce compensation and restrict activities, is for the agents to work together. The larger agencies usually do not want to be involved with the efforts to reform the system, since they are the ones that usually have the resources to spend the money on recruiting and servicing clients that the other groups cannot afford.  So efforts to restrict any of those tactics run counter to their professional objectives.

Schaffer sought a unifying environment as he led the conversation into the following areas:

• Inducements
• Transparency
• Payments to players over 52 weeks
• Strike preparation
• Agent Association
• New leagues

INDUCEMENTS�One of the biggest issues for anyone trying to break into the agent business is how to compete with the large inducements given to players coming out of college.  One of my ongoing criticisms of the NFLPA has been its fictional attempts to enforce its regulations.  Though it purports to ban inducements” the NFLPA has repeatedly refused to consider marketing advances, training payments, living expenses and many other items paid by the agent as inducements.  The NFLPA says that anything paid after the player signs is not an inducement, essentially meaning that an agent can show you what he paid for other players last year, and that does not constitute an inducement.  In any other body of law, that would clearly be held as an inducement.  Schaffer quoted research which showed him that the average agent netted less than $5500 per client, a number that is far lower than most new prospective agents expect when they enter the business.  Under this business model, he said that nobody is making money.” This number is likely skewed up based on the successful agencies, meaning that for most new agents, this is not a viable business, a viewpoint reiterated by many solo agents and those trying to break into the business.  The $15,000 training bills along with six figure marketing guarantees are significant barrier to entry for most agents.

TRANSPARENCY�One frustration for agents (and many others) has been the lack of transparency in this process.  The addendum’s that agents ask players to sign have never been released and so there is no way to tell if the agent (or player) is being truthful in their characterization of the relationship.  Without transparency, many players (and their families) are not comparing apples to apples in the selection of their agent.  Schaffer would like to see the addendum’s standardized and allow the agents access to a database that shows what the players are being offered and promised.

PAYMENTS TO PLAYERS OVER 52 WEEKS�An ongoing challenge for NFL players (and athletes in many other sports) is their ability to manage their finances.  The NFL pays the players on a 17 week schedule.  This means that they have seemingly huge amounts of money in every paycheck.  This distorts the reality that the money they are paid needs to last an entire year.  While the amount that they are paid is enormous in any normal context, the players are typically inexperienced in managing money and fail to take into account some critical elements: 1) They need to pay taxes; 2) They need to make the money last an entire year; and 3) They are likely to have VERY short careers.  Some agents believe that spreading the payments of 52 weeks will help with those issues.  This is one of the few areas where I disagree with the push of agent group. My advice to my clients is ALWAYS get the money as early as possible. I would much rather have the money in my hands than in the hands of another party.  Good planning and financial management can help alleviate the other issues for the players.

STRIKE PREPARATION— Everyone in the football world is anticipating a strike when the current Collective Bargaining Agreement expires in 2020.  It is hard to imagine how any extension will be reached in advance of that time.  So what this means, is that the players may face a lockout and may need to be prepared for a work stoppage.  The agents are recommending that the players start putting away 10% of the money from each game check, 20% of the playoff money and 50% of performance bonuses so that they have the funds to endure a lockout.  Negotiating from a position of strength is always preferable and by making sure the players are not desperate to take any deal, it will be give the Union some backing in the negotiations.

AGENT ASSOCIATION�A long overdue initiative, an agent association will ultimately help the players as well.  This association will give the agents some leverage with the NFLPA and possibly even with the NFL.  There are a multitude of issues that the agents face regularly that are dismissed completely by the NFLPA as either unimportant at all or not relevant for the power agents that the NFLPA has long catered to.  The room was surprisingly unified in the desire to create an agents association and many agents expressed their willingness to pay a fee that would be required.  One important note in this area was raised by longtime agent Jack Bechta, as he strongly cautioned the agents against litigating with the NFLPA.  Bechta’s fear was that it would ultimately cost their own client’s money and that given the expense it would be unlikely to produce any meaningful changes.

NEW LEAGUES�The event was Co-Sponsored by the XFL, and former Buffalo Bills GM Doug Whaley spoke to the agent group. It was interesting to hear some of the input the XFL has taken from the agents, most notably, that the XFL will have the agents paid directly by the league.  This is a significant change since one continual battle for many agents is to have their players pay their fees and expenses.  The NFLPA’s refusal to allow this payment structure is the cause of many fee disputes, because it is easier for the player to just not pay” without any good reason. 

It was refreshing to see so many agents addressing the issues that have plagued the agent community since I was first in the business in 2000.  Sadly, the issues really have not changed and the agents have never pulled themselves together.  Prior attempts to create an association have failed, frequently because the individual leading the charge did not have enough respect in the agent community.

Schaffer seems to have that respect and seems to be marshalling the resources that are needed to make an agent association a reality.  It will be interesting to see how the NFLPA reacts at Friday’s meeting and over the next several months.

The one noticeable absence at this meeting was the large agencies.  There did not seem to be any representation from CAA, Athletes First, or Rosenhaus Sports, three of the biggest agencies.

An agents association would ultimately serve the players better as well, a fact which seems to escape the notice of the NFLPA.

Wow.  I rarely say that in response to anything on TV these days (unless it was the replacement officials’ absurd call in the Packers-Seahawks game).

But after watching ESPN’s outstanding 30 for 30 Broke” there is not much else to say.  I guess you could say it is sad, scary, disturbing or any of another dozen negative thoughts.  I did not expect to be overwhelmed by it since this is a field with which I have a lot of direct experience.

I have met numerous athletes who have been defrauded  by their agents, financial advisors, attorneys and friends.  Many of them have been victims of ponzi schemes and other types of scams that were perpetrated on them due to their high profile, great wealth and relative lack of sophistication in dealing with these issues. 

I know attorneys who have filed lawsuits to recover the funds from these ponzi schemes, but unfortunately, the scammers have typically spent and used most of the funds for their own personal benefit, acquiring expensive homes, cars and jewelry and also taking exotic vacations and trips.  While it might make the victims feel a little bit better when they find out that the people who defrauded them have been disbarred, indicted, convicted and sentenced, the reality is that they rarely recover their funds.

When I discuss the cases with the attorneys who have filed the lawsuits on behalf of these athlete victims, they almost universally say that the athletes were defrauded by their own advisors, and that the athletes were too ashamed to come forward sooner to get authorities involved or get attorneys involved early in the process.  The athletes (and their advisors) typically did too little (if any) due diligence on the transactions and on the people who are promoting the transaction.

So while we wonder why this occurs, the reality comes down to one point. TRUST.   Athletes really do not know who to trust.  They rely on the information that is put in front of them by their advisors and their friends.  But who are the ones most often responsible for getting athletes into these ponzi schemes or other scams?  These same advisors.

The trick here is for the athlete to develop and implement a large team of independent advisors that can work together to help the athlete conduct due diligence.  This is where the stories from Broke” were the most disturbing. 

One thing that Broke” made clear is that a lot of the problems arise from the athlete’s feeling of invincibility.  We have read that hundreds and thousands of times relating to physical issues whether it is physical altercations, domestic violence, bar fights, drunk driving or others.  

Yet, we expect these same young athletes to exercise better business” judgment, even though none of them have actual business experience (and few of their families have that experience either).    When you think of who most people rely on when they need help, it is the people closest to them.  Their family and their trusted advisors.  The difference with professional athletes is that they do not grow” into these roles over time.  They do not advance in their careers before their earn big dollars.  They do not develop relationships with advisors while the stakes are small and have that relationship mature over time.  Instead, they are left extremely vulnerable to their agents, their attorneys, their family, their friends and their financial advisors.

One disturbing element in Broke” was how often these players described just handing out money to other people.  The sums of money are so large that they lose ALL perspective to the value of money.  Yet, if you asked them how much money they could earn in a year in any job other than professional sports, that perspective might help them understand their spending habits.

But would they listen?  If you go back and watch broke and listen to the stories from Andre Rison, you will see a tremendous attitude of I do what I want.”   And that comes at an extreme price.  It means that the athletes do not even want to listen to the people who really do want to help them.  Everything in their life is about competition.  About bigger and better.  About  having the best.  So it is easy to see why that also applies to their investments.

You want me to take conservative investments.”   Why should I?”   My teammates just invested into a deal that is getting him [10/20/30%].”

And that is how it happens.  The perpetrators of the scams and the ponzi schemes only need one access point.  They find one athlete that they cater to and cultivate a relationship with, and then they use that person to gain athlete to pro teammates, college teammates, high school teammates, etc.  You can see why the ponzi scheme format is so powerful in this environment.  It connects all the victims and they all feel insecure about the investment loses and they do not know who to turn to.  Many of the athletes write off their loses without even pursuing legal remedies.  And by doing so, they do not bring enough attention to the problem.  Lawsuits against these dishonest advisors would facilitate getting federal and state authorities involved.   Given the limited resources of the FBI, the postal inspectors and the US attorneys offices, they are unable to investigate and pursue all of the claims that are out there.  But with some help and with high profile victims, the lawsuits could help institute the proper administrative and disciplinary proceedings against those operating the ponzi schemes and other scams.  By having cooperative witnesses, supporting documentation and good attorneys leading the way, the opportunity to recover funds before they are all squandered would increase dramatically.   Because ultimately, the players really want a few things:  1) to get their money back; 2) to get their vengeance by having the scammers disbarred, indicted, convicted and sentenced; and 3) to not have this situation take over their life.

Hopefully for most athletes, these losses to fraudulent schemes do not constitute the bulk of their wealth.  But many lose money in other ways.  You saw the descriptions in Broke” talking about how many of them lost money in bad” deals as opposed to fraudulent deals.  At the end of the day, the financial impact is the same even if the emotional toll is not the same.

But perhaps the most difficult losses” to overcome are not those from ponzi schemes, fraudulent investments or bad investments.  It is the result of bad decisions by the athletes.   The amount of money spent on cars, homes, jewelry, gambling, strip clubs, alcohol and other luxuries is way beyond proportion to their financial status.  Athletes do not have the same length of earning career as the average business professional.  In football, the average career is approximately 3 years.   That means that most of the athletes never even make it that far. 

In our next feature, we will look further at how the athletes can overcome these negative habits and what advice they should be given early in their career by the agents and families in order to protect them from slipping into the Broke” mentality.

We honestly hope that Broke” becomes required viewing for the all athletes who have professional sports aspirations.   Because we know that many athletes will NOT listen.  But we also know that the more often they hear the message, and the more often it is from neutral” sources, the more likely they are to give it some credence and give much stronger consideration to the steps that are necessary to prevent the losses to ponzi schemes and other fraudulent scams.

One of the most important decisions that a college football player has to make is the selection of an agent to represent them in their mission to reach the NFL**. 

Unfortunately, there is nothing that prepares these players, nor their families for this process.   Just like the recruiting process in high school, the athletes go thru it one time.  The agents have typically been thru the process dozens or hundreds of times.  So the agents know the rules, know the hot-buttons and know how to manipulate the information into a format which is most digestible for the player and their family (or most slanted to the agent’s favor)

It is really an unfair advantage, and an unnecessary one.  The schools could do some basic education about the process.  This would arm their student-athletes with the information that is easily available.  It would allow the players to get a grip on the process before the agents start recruiting them.  We will have a follow up article about how the schools could do a better job educating players and managing the process, but for today, we are examining the most important things a player needs to know in order to select the best agent for themselves.

So here are 17 tips for making a good selection of an agent:

1. Big Names are not everything
2. Complete trust is the single most important element in choosing your agent
3. More money does not equal better representation
4. But, more money can help provide you with important services
5. Beware of promises
6. Do not believe everything you hear
7. Make sure that they behave professionally
8. Make sure that they have their own success(es)
9. Understand the process before you start
10. Best time to meet with agents is after Spring football before fall camp starts (for those who are planning ahead for next year)
11. There is nothing an agent can do for you during your senior season (legally)
12. Training facilities are rarely the differentiating factor
13. Beware of bundled services
14. Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket
15. Make sure you are comfortable�fully comfortable
16. You have to be open and honest throughout the whole process
17. There is no rush-do your own due diligence

Big Names are not everything�it is great that some of the big names” are interested in representing you.   But you have to ask yourself the question, Is that the type of person/agency that I want to be represented by.”  There are many good independent agents so make sure you consider some of the following factors.  Your agent does not need to be with the biggest organizations.  The agent’s experience is definitely relevant, but the real question for you becomes the agent’s ability to service your needs.  Will the agent give you the personal attention you desire?  How much effort will they put in if your career runs into some bumps along the way?  Will they stick with you and help even if you fail to live up to the overall expectations.  I have heard many stories of players, even high draft picks, who failed to get proper help and communication from their agents because the player was running into difficulties and not living up to his potential.  While larger agencies can provide some additional perks and benefits, remember that the most important part of the agent’s role is to help guide you through the draft process and the contract negotiation.  The other perks are typically relatively minor in comparison.

Who do you fully trust?  TRUST is the #1 most important element in this relationship.  If you do not trust EVERYTHING that your agent is telling you (because of lack of experience, potential conflicts of interest, other agendas), then you will have a very difficult time having a productive relationship.  One of the hardest parts going into this process is the feeling that you are in it alone and you do not have anyone to trust.  The person you trust the most SHOULD be your agent.  If you do not get that feeling about an agent you are considering, (or that is currently representing you), then you should look elsewhere.  There will be many frustrations as the process proceeds, you need someone you can rely on, and someone you TRULY believe is giving you honest and accurate information (as opposed to the information that YOU want to hear or the information that THEY want you to hear).  Other players will yap in your ear, other agents will try to steal you away and often even college coaches, pro scouts and training facilities will try to have an impact on your selection.  If you fully trust your agent, that should just amount to background noise.  If you do not fully trust your agent, then that chatter will become a big distraction and continually create the doubt which will undermine your relationship with your agent.

More money does not equal better representation�Over the years I have seen many, many agents jump into the process, spend a ton of money, make a quick splash and then flame out quickly.   Often they flame out because they fail to properly evaluate prospects and spend in the wrong places.  Other times they flame out because they were more concerned about the splash and the image than they were about working hard on behalf of their clients.  Many people are not willing to put in the effort that it takes to represent athletes. Once they realize that the business side of being an agent is not about being at parties, events and games, they get easily discouraged.  While it is nice to be taken to an expensive dinner, and to be given other perks as part of the agent recruiting process, you would NEVER select other professionals (accountants, lawyers, financial advisors, etc.) by how much they spend entertaining you.  You should not select an agent based on that criteria either.

More money does help provide you with important services�Money is not necessarily evil.  Money is a very important element in this process.  No agent can represent you well without having the resources available.  Someone struggling in their own life may not be in a position to do a good job for you.  If they are stretched thin as a result of business demands, family demands, divorces, business failures or other draining events, their ability to help you might be limited.  It takes a lot of money to pay for the required travel, training and other expenditures that are part of the recruiting, training and draft process.  The biggest agencies can offer many of these perks, but there are many successful agents who operate in a smaller agency environment and do a terrific job for their clients.

Beware of promises�nobody can promise you what round you will be drafted in, what team will draft you or which teams will offer you opportunities as an undrafted free agent.  This is especially true early in the process when you have not had the Senior Bowl, East-West Shrine or any other all-star games, you have not been to the NFL Combine, and you have not gone through your pro-day workout.  People can give you a fairly accurate idea of where you might fit in to the overall ratings (based on earlier scouting reports), but you have to recognize that many of those rating systems are flawed and are only early projections.  Until the entire process is completed, you should be wary of these promises.  Do you own homework.  Each year there are significant changes between the top players projected coming into the season, and where they end up in the draft.   I once met with a father of a DL at Michigan.  He was upset because I told him his son was a 7^th round pick or free agent.  He said he had other agents promising him that he was probably a 2^nd round pick or at worst” a 3^rd round pick.  Needless to say, he signed with another agent and didn’t get drafted.  Just because one agent is giving you information you do not like to hear, that does not mean he/she does not believe in you.  In fact it might be a signal that they are being more honest with you.  If they did not want to represent you, they would not be recruiting you.

Do not believe everything you hear (or that is presented to you)�make sure that you understand the sources of the information being presented to you.  A lot of the information you receive from different agents should be the same.  If it is inconsistent with what several other agents have told you, it is worth further examination. Unfortunately, many agents misrepresent some or all of the following information:

• their client lists
• work that they have done for NFL players
• their work history and background
• contracts that they have negotiated
• how much their players rose” in draft rankings after they started representation
• the degree of customer service
• their ability to get your marketing/endorsement agreements
• the extent (and value) of their relationships around the league

Listen to everything that they say.  Study it carefully.  Do some of your own due diligence (as we explain later) or ask someone else that you trust to help.  Some of the misrepresentations are very well disguised and hidden.  In his book about the agent game (Illegal Procedure: A Sports Agent Comes Clean on the Dirty Business of College Football) , Josh Luchs gives some terrific examples of how agents completely changed projected draft orders of prior seasons early draft projections so that they could show how much they had helped their clients climb up the draft boards. 

Make sure that they are professional�you do not need someone else to party with.  You do not need a person who wants to hang out” with you.  The person you are hiring as an agent is there to provide you with professional services.  You have plenty of other people to hit the clubs with.  You agent needs to spend his time networking with scouts, player personnel and coaches.  In weeks like the Senior Bowl or the Combine he/she should be out late and working those networks.  But your agent has his/her role to perform, and if they are looking for the party scene, they are probably not a good choice to provide you with the professional service that you are looking for.  Obviously nothing wrong with the agent going out with you for dinner or drinks or spending time together at a club, but make sure you keep an eye on the frequency and extent to which they are living this lifestyle”

Make sure that they have their own success�This is one of the most important items.  If you agent is dependent on YOUR success, than that means they are not established and have not achieved their own success.  Even if you choose to select a less experienced agent, make sure that they have been successful in their prior endeavors (i.e. law practice, accounting, financial services, other business).  Too often I see players signing with individuals with no demonstrated track record of any kind.  They select someone they became close to (or often an agent or runner became close to the athlete with this in mind).  These are the situations where the agent can become dependent on the athlete’s success and that level of desperation may cause the agent to take actions which are not in the player’s interest (i.e. giving in too easily to contract demands, asking the player for loans, not taking trips or attending events that the agent should be at).  The professional track record of the agent you are selecting is very important.

Understand the process yourself before you start�This is something that you can easily do to help protect yourself.  DO NOT accept all information given to you by agents as a given.  Unfortunately, many of them want you to believe that they are giving you some proprietary secrets.  They rarely are.  Much of the information is available online through the NFLPA website or other easily accessible resources.  One of my pet peeves is that many of the schools do a very poor job of educating their athletes.  This failure allows the agents/runners to get closer to the players and provide them with information, misinformation or other inappropriate items.  If the schools took time to educate the players about this process earlier in their college careers, they would be reducing the perceived power and value the agents have.  A brief program of educating players would go a long way.  And by educate, I am not talking about the NCAA rules, university regulations or other life skills (though those are also important).  They need to educate the players specifically about the draft process, the agents, the timing, the expectations and the frustrations.  My analogy is this:  1) the universities’ refusal to educate the players about the agent process under the rationale of they don’t need to know about agents until they are done with college football because they don’t need an agent before that”; would be like saying, 2) I am not going to talk to my kids about sex, drugs and alcohol until they are done with high school because they don’t need to be doing any of those things during high school.”

Training facilities are rarely the differentiating factor�Training is important.  No question that good training can help you in the draft process.  Good performances at all-star games, the NFL Combine and your pro-day can go a long way to solidifying your draft position.  Read that again:  Solidifying.  Not necessarily changing.  If you talk to NFL personnel, they will tell you that most of your grade comes from your performance during your college career, your character and your perceived ability to contribute (taken from observations, conversations with your coaches and interviews).  Estimates vary, but I put the number at no more than 10% of your overall grade being determined by your actual physical performances at the NFL Combine and/or your pro-day.  So if you take that number, ask yourself how much better any one facility needs to be in order to have a dramatic impact on your draft position?  Find a place that you are comfortable with BUT DO NOT select your agent based on your like/dislike of a particular training facility.   Trust your agent to have you in a good spot.  If you are selecting an agent you like less because he has reserved slots at a training facility you like more you are asking for trouble.  I still believe the colleges could eliminate almost this entire problem by training their athletes for the combine.  Some schools do that, but at many schools the players training for the NFL Draft are viewed as a distraction rather than an asset and the staffs are happy to get them away from their current players.  I think many players would do well training in familiar environments with a support network in place and some familiarity.  Instead, the current trend seems to be to send the players away from their comfort zone, away from classes (if they still care about graduating), away from people that can allow them to be a normal person.  When they get in the draft culture”, they have too much unstructured free time which can often become difficult for many of the players to manage.

Beware of bundled services�I have never been a fan of the model that allows the agents to virtually require a player to utilize all of the services that they offer.  The important role of the agent is to be at the center of the circle with the player.  The other service providers should be independent people/organizations in order to provide the best chance for checks and balances.  If an agent says Don’t worry, I will take care of everything,” you should be concerned.  In today’s world, no one person has the ability to handle their duties as an agent, as well as issues relating to: insurance, marketing, financial management, marketing, social media, training and conditioning, nutrition, legal services, accounting, etc.  And just because you have a great relationship with one agent, that does not mean that you should necessarily be stuck with their people” for all of those services.  The most healthy structure for the athlete is where all of those services are provided by independent people that can serve as checks and balances and prevent misuse of power or help you through difficult times.

Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket�related to the point above, I put this as a separate item just to make sure that you read it again.  Do not give any one person/organization all of the power.  Make sure that you develop a strong group and strong team to represent all of your interests.  The different perspectives of your team of professionals will give you a valuable overview of what is going on in your world.

Make sure that you are comfortable�Your doubts will only increase as times goes by.  If you are not comfortable now, you will probably not be comfortable later.  You need to go in with full confidence and excitement.

Have to be entirely open and honest throughout the process�Your job is to find the best agent.  Do not try to hold back information or play games with the agents.  The agent can only do as good of a job as you allow.  If you are holding back on your agent, that is a signal that you may not fully trust them (as discussed above).  That will be extremely detrimental to the agent’s ability to represent you.  As I often told my clients when they consulted me on legal issues, you have to tell me everything.”  We make decisions based on the information in front of us and we develop strategies which allow us to avoid landmines and other problems.  If there are hidden issues, that could undermine your own interests.  If you are unhappy or upset or uncertain about things along the way, you have to realize that is to be expected.  Your agent is there to help you resolve those issues and feelings.  But if you get upset about something and do not discuss it with your agent, you are not helping yourself.  You are building up the barriers and the resentment.  If you are ultimately not comfortable with the way your concerns are addressed or with the explanations you are given, then you may need to look for different representation.  However, if you fail to have the conversation with your current agent, you will not know the difference between normal insecurities and concerns as opposed to significant problems.  If you ultimately have ongoing problems, then look for someone you trust so that you can discuss with them whether your concerns are a sign of real problems, or just needing a different perspective.

The best time to interview and meet with agents is after spring football and before fall camp starts�We included this section in here for the players who are starting to think about this process for next year, or in the future.  Take advantage of the summer.   Most schools will let you meet with the agents on campus if the agents are registered with your school and your state (as they are supposed to be).  This demonstrates to the agent that you are in control of the process, that you intend to keep everything above board, and that you expect them to comply with all applicable regulations.  Whether you do it on campus or not, make sure you meet with several agents, hear their varying pitches and give some thought to which 2-3 agents you might want to consider as part of your final process after your senior year.  A lot can change during your senior season (for better and for worse).  Let the year play out.  Take the time to get to know the agents who are recruiting you.  See whether they honor your requests and give you the space to play your season without distracting you from the task at hand.  You will learn a lot about them when you observe how they treat you during this period and it should be considered an important part of the process.  So get those interviews out of the way when you are not playing football.  And then make sure you tell the agents that you need to concentrate on football.  The professionals in the industry understand that.  They will stay in touch but should not be intrusive and should not be disruptive your football schedule.

There is nothing an agent can do for you (legally) during your senior season�The most important thing you can do during your senior season is play football.  And play well.   Having a successful senior year greatly exceeds anything else that can be done in the draft process.  So by the time you select an agent (and they go to work on your behalf) recognize that YOU have done the hard part.   There is nothing an agent can legally do for you during your senior season that will help you in the process.  They cannot pay for things, cannot take you places and cannot do any of these things for your family and/or girlfriend.    Agents can stay in touch with you and are likely to email, text or call.  But they should do that at times that do not disrupt the demands of your football or school schedules.  Many will want to stop by and visit for a few minutes after games to show you that they are still interested in you.  But if you lay out the boundaries over the summer during your interviews, you should be able to expect the agents to respect those requests.  If an agent is doing improper things to recruit you, then you have to ask yourself whether they will be just as likely to do those things TO YOU at a later date.  Any promises which violate NCAA, university or NFLPA regulations should be an immediate concern to you about the long term viability of the representation relationship, even if the immediate reward/perk being offered is enticing.  You should report any improper activities to your compliance officer.***

There is no rush�Too many people rush the process. Too many agents will put pressure on you to make your decision. The reality is that other than selecting a training facility, the agent will have plenty of time to work on your behalf. I always told my clients I liked to have our representation in place prior to the Senior Bowl so that I could use that week to discuss my players with NFL personnel such as scouts, coaches and others that can influence the draft process.  You do not need to sign as you walk thru the tunnel after your bowl game.  You do not need to sign the day after you may have had a tough bowl loss.  This is an important decision.  Take the time to consider it properly.   If you have followed the advice above and have interviewed agents over the summer, you should feel less rushed when your senior season ultimately comes to an end. Larry Fitzgerald did not sign with an agent until very late in the draft process because he had a very good understanding of the process, had people around him who helped him through the process and knew he was going to be a very high pick.  He is an exception.  But the point is DO NOT MAKE A DECISION UNTIL YOU ARE FULLY COMFORTABLE.  Regardless of what pressures” are put on you by an agent, this decision is too important to rush.  Make sure you do your own due diligence or have someone you trust help you with that process.  The person helping you should NOT have any type of vested stake in the results of the investigation (i.e. should not be a current teammate, former teammate, college coach, university official or other players you know in the NFL—because each of these groups have significant potential conflicts of interest).  The only type of information you should get from those groups is their perspective on the type of service and the integrity of the agent you are asking about.  Remember, people will typically be VERY willing to tell you about things that they are unhappy about in their investigation. 

As you go through the process, remember that you are selecting a person to represent your interests in a high stakes professional career.  It is a very personal decision.  There are many very good agents who are qualified to represent you.  Think about your own values and the type of personalities you are comfortable with.  Those should be your guiding principles.

* This article can apply in principal to many other sports and the agent selection process involved therein.  Each sport has its own culture” and its own set of rules.  It is important to select someone familiar with the landscape for the sport you are playing because that makes it more likely that they will have at least some of the relationships which will assist in representing you.

** Though some players acknowledge their willingness to work their way up through the CFL or AFL, the reality is very few players make it on this path and nobody’s career goal is to play at that level (though some are willing to accept it).

***yes, I realize many people reading this will tell me that is a fairy tale expectation, but I still believe that if the players were given education and an easy mechanism to report this conduct, it could be handled more effectively by the universities, the NCAA and the NFLPA.

Here are the stories that we have identified as the biggest stories in 2011 that incorporated elements of Sports Law into their midst.

1. Penn State
2. Ohio State
3. Syracuse
4. NFL CBA
5. NBA CBA
6. Chris Paul trade
7. Sam Hurd drug bust
8. FIFA corruption
9. Concussions
10. Agent regulations
11. Conference realignment
12. ***Explanation for why NO TIM TEBOW

So now if you want the details, you have to follow along below:

1. Penn State

Where do we even start with this process?  The entire conspiracy and cover up at Penn State is beyond belief.   Despite the objections of supporters of the school and supporters of Coach Paterno, there is no feasible way that this situation should not have received much more attention and awareness prior to 2011. 

The incidents were clearly known in 1998 when Sandusky was essentially forced” to take an early retirement.  There is no other explanation for that occurrence.  And yet Sandusky was allowed to continue to have a presence on campus and obviously continue inflicting unspeakable terrors on those young boys.  Even when the incident of 2002 occurred, the university and its administration did virtually nothing.  While everyone chooses to bash Mike McQueary, and while he may deserve some of the wrath and anger, his failures” pale in comparison to those of Spanier, Curley, Schultz and Paterno.  They can choose to classify this situation however they want to, but the reality is that their decisions in 1998 and 2002 allowed at least a dozen more incidents to occur.

Should Mike McQueary have taken greater steps to prevent the 2002 incident.  Perhaps.  But none of us know how we would react despite our instinctual response of saying of course we would have intervened, stopped the incident and called the police immediately.”  When your boss and/or supervisor are doing inappropriate things it is very difficult to even report it up the chain.  McQueary did that.  Much more of the blame belongs to Spanier, Curley, Schultz and Paterno.

And while the media blasts Penn State for the cover up of the activities, you have to wonder where the coverage of the incidents was in 1998 and 2002.  And even more egregious, why was it so late in the year when these incidents came to light.  One of the best reporting jobs in 2011 was by Sara Ganim (@sganim).  Her coverage was there for everyone to see in APRIL!!!  YES APRIL!!! How did the stories she wrote go unnoticed for so long by the mainstream media?  She provided great coverage throughout and was one of the first people with most of the elements of the story as it unfolded.

Where does Penn State go from here?  They were probably wise in laying low in the coaching search until after the bowl season is completed so that it does not become a major distraction for the team.  That strategy also helps keep it out of the limelight of bowl week when college football dominates the landscape.  By the time PSU makes its hire, the college football calendar is essentially over and everything will be dominated by the NFL playoffs and the NFL Draft preparation season (Senior Bowl (and other All-Star games), National Signing Day and the NFL Combine.

Can PSU recover?  Absolutely.  A few people made terrible decisions that allowed this situation to continue way long than necessary.   But the school remains.  Its pride and heritage remain (though tarnished).  With a good hire PSU will be back as a major force in football in just a few years.  So in an absurd turn of events, those fans looking for new leadership and an end to the Paterno era got their wish, though certainly not in the manner they desired.

• Ohio State

If Penn State was the pure evil” in college athletics, Ohio State was the mischievous younger sibling that feels like they can get away with anything.  You heard me rip apart the decision last year to allow all of the OSU players to participate in the Sugar Bowl before starting their suspensions.  It was absurd.  And the degree of absurdity was not really discovered until we had hard facts and evidence showing just how early Jim Tressel knew about the problems.  

Ohio State has frequently acted with the sense of entitlement throughout its program.  The attacks on the Little Sisters of the Poor and the annoying introductions of THE Ohio State University.”   And its athletic department continued to show the same arrogance as it expected the NCAA to roll over and let its weak, self-imposed penalties stand for its actions.

Nobody can compare what happened at OSU to the despicable conduct at PSU, but the great lack of institutional control is one that needed to change.  So now, from this day forward, it will be known as A state of Ohio university.”

• Syracuse

Oy, aren’t we tired of scandals yet?  The long time frame in which Bernie Fine remained in his position is far less surprising than what happened at Penn State because there have been no allegations that Fine used University facilities to accomplish his actions.  There may have been some involvement and connection to the program, but there have not been credible claims to date that anyone else at Syracuse knew what was going on.  The early statements by Jim Boeheim may be the ones that cause the school the most damage.  We still have a long way to go to hear all of the details of this situation so you can expect it to remain at the forefront of the news for 2012.

• NFL CBA

It was only” 136 days, but the impact of the NFL labor dispute received almost round the clock coverage.  From the lockouts to the lawsuits, to the appeals to the procedural manipulations engaged in by both parties it was an interesting battle.  But it was also a battle that could not be won by either side without a negotiated resolution.  All parties were poised to lose too much money.  While the grandstanding and media ploys of each side played out, the public grew increasingly agitated with BOTH sides.  Support was sharply divided and there were many good arguments made by both the NFL and the NFLPA.   Players sacrificing their bodies for short careers and long term damage and owners who have invested billions of dollars in team ownership, operations and infrastructure.  Despite the legal maneuvers of each party, you could tell that each side was entrenched in its core beliefs and until they were both threatened with losing real dollars, neither would budge.  Ultimately Robert Kraft probably saved the day and essentially went in like a business person, took some of the control away from the lawyers, and helped pushed through an agreement that appears to be more positively constructed for the long term than the prior deal that was opted out of by the owners.  Labor peace for 10 years.  Now if only they would allow cable systems and smart phones to get the Sunday Ticket without needing to be a DirecTV subscriber we would all be set.

• NBA CBA

The NBA lockout received FAR less attention from the media than the NFL lockout did.  In part there was much more going on in the sports landscape with MLB post-season, college and NFL football underway and the NHL continuing to grow in popularity.  As with most labor disputes, nothing seems to get done proactively.  It typically takes significant losses or collateral damage before the parties are willing to give concessions over the last few points of contention.  For the NBA, this amounted to the split of the revenues.  So with the season pushed back and the Chris Paul fiasco over (see below), the NBA appears poised for a strong season with interest heightened by the fact that there will be a condensed schedule which will make each game more meaningful in the playoff race.

• Chris Paul trade

Can you say conflict of interest?”  I knew that you could.  But apparently it is a concept that the NBA is not clear about.  High on everyone’s list of problems in the NBA is the fact that no league should own a team.  Who is the league really representing?  The existing franchise?  The fans?  The future owner?  The value of the franchise?  The current community in which the team exists?  Depending on how you answer those questions you will see that there is an enormously large discrepancy in what actions need to be taken and the prioritization of those actions.  Voiding the Chris Paul trade was something that the league did purportedly to protect the value of the franchise.  Was it Dan Gilbert’s public admonishment? Was it prospective owners getting unhappy? The reality is that Chris Paul was going to be leaving at the end of the season regardless of anything that the league did.  So the question begging to be asked is Was it better for the franchise to get something in return instead of nothing after the season.”  There is obviously no right or wrong answer to that question, it is one that each owner (or ownership group) has to answer for itself.  Putting the league in the position of deciding what media market to send one of its biggest starts to smacks of self-dealing.

• Sam Hurd drug bust

How scared are any NFL players that were getting their drugs from Sam Hurd?  Hurd was not merely dealing a small quantity of drugs to a few close friends and/or acquaintances, he was preparing to establish and operate a drug empire of the scale that has never been seen within professional sports, especially by an active player.  Nate Newton’s infamous arrest with enormous amounts of marijuana occurred after his playing days were over.

If you did not follow the details closely, go back and read through the links in this posting which outline the magnitude of the drugs Hurd was seeking to purchase.  There is little doubt that he was supplying to other NFL players but those merely buying and using the drugs will not face great punishment.  The question is whether any other NFL players were working with Hurd or working under Hurd to establish their own distribution schemes.

• FIFA corruption

One thing that you have to give FIFA credit for is doing something that no other organization has ever been able to accomplish�Making Chicago politics look clean and efficient.

Has there ever been a more corrupt organization from top to bottom?  The only question that remains about FIFA is whether it should even exist.   It certainly has an important role in world soccer and there is undoubtedly the need to have an organization to provide the function. 

But if you analyze what FIFA has done and how it has done it, you are likely to reach the conclusion that the entire organization is TOO broken to be fixed.  At a certain point if you have a money pit of a building you are better off knocking the whole thing down and building from scratch.  Is there really any way to salvage FIFA from a structure that has layers of corruption built upon other layers of corruption which are obscuring more corruption which is undetectable from the surface because you cannot get past the first 3 layers of corruption.

Go and look at the number of high ranking FIFA officials brought into question.  Look at the voting process involved in awarding the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.  Look at the way in which any of these things came about.  I dare you to find any shreds of integrity.

• Concussions

How many concussion lawsuits have we seen?  The number rises every single week.  By some accounts, the number of suits filed against the various entities is already in double digits. Every player (and many of their lawyers) are trying to get their piece of the concussion lawsuit pie just like the large class action firms try to sign up Plaintiff’s in the mass tort litigation space.

The sad part is that we seem to be having a fundamental failure in the approach to concussions. Virtually all of the time and energy is spent on just 2 of the 3 elements:

• Preventing concussions
• Diagnosis
• Treatment and Recovery.

The third element is virtually ignored.  The only recovery anyone talks about is how quickly can we get someone back on the field/court/ice.  But the long term impacts have been almost entirely ignored and there are very few groups working to develop a process that can allow athletes and former athletes to overcome some of the effects of concussions.

1. Agent regulations

Do I have to repeat myself year after year?  You can read my article from the preview for 2011 and you will see that the core issues have not changed.  Is anything going to be done? Soon? 

Earlier this year I made a plea for National Regulations.  Not on top of the other regulations, but instead.

The timing seems right and I would have been more optimistic about where this was going before all of the sexual abuse scandals broke.  Deservedly they have received more of the attention and the powers that be are scrambling to find ways to not only prevent it from happening in the future but figuring out how to handle the next inevitable scandal that breaks, hopefully not from their institution or organization.

1. Conference realignment

Are we done? Doubtful.  Have we reached the saturation point?  Maybe.  When all heck seemed ready to break loose and turn into four 16 team power conferences, the process got bogged down in TV deals, rivalries and often a desire of certain key players (Texas and Oklahoma) to stay together and try to keep their power spots.  Would UT and OU have the same clout if they joined the Pac 12, SEC or Big Ten? Nope.  And therefore the Longhorn Network was born.  But with Boise going out to the Big East and with TCU going east, then not going or were they going?  Can you really keep track of where everyone is these days?  Just a few short years ago any college football fan could easily tell you what conference the Top 100 schools were in.  Today, that is a far more challenging task.  

1. NO Tim Tebow???

Before I get bashed by all of the Tim Tebow supporters out there, remember this is supposed to be a sports law blog not a cult icon blog.  While Tebow has transcended the game in an amazing way for a QB who has so few on the field accomplishments in the NFL, he has fortunately not been involved in legal issues.  Plenty of dilemmas as he went from 2^nd string at the start of training camp to a reported 4^th string to a starter when Kyle Orton was not getting the job done to the satisfaction of the Denver fans. 

Is Tim Tebow the answer?  Long term?  Does not look like he is ready to be a quality PASSER in the NFL.  Does that mean he cannot play QB?  No.  Tebow is undoubtedly one of the greatest leaders that we have ever seen, especially from a person whose skill set is questioned around the country on a minute by minute basis. 

Was Tebow played by the Broncos merely with the hope that he failed so that they could say See, we gave him the chance and he did not get the job done.”  We will never know because Tebow never let himself fail.  His win streak had an almost divine intervention like quality with recovered onsides kicks, runners going out of bounds to keep Denver in the game, his kicker hitting 50+ yard FGs like they are XPs and a slew of turnovers and outstanding play generated from his defense.

So it is always interesting to take a step back and look at what we believed would be the Ten Biggest stories for 2011.  I think we had a pretty good hit rate on these but we take a look in greater detail.

They certainly did not all make our Top 11 Stories for 2011 because I don’t think that anyone could have envisioned some of the things happening at Ohio State, Penn State, Syracuse and beyond.

1. Agent regulations–HIT
2. Concussions–HIT
3. Conference realignment–HIT
4. LA luring professional football teams–SWING AND MISS
5. Lance Armstrong federal investigation–SWING AND MISS
6. MLB use of instant replay–FOUL TIP
7. NBA CBA–HIT
8. NFL CBA–HIT
9. MLB CBA–SWING AND MISS
10. Roger Clemens–FOUL TIP
11. Social Media–HIT
12. Tiger Woods–FOUL TIP

Agent regulations              HIT

We hit this one pretty squarely on point.  There was finally some movement non this landscape to look into the issues of agent regulation and for the first time to really consider whether a national regulation would be appropriate and what measures would be needed to accomplish better regulation.

Concussions       HIT

This one was easy, just as it will be for the next 10-20 years.  You can put this one in the permanent list and enshrine it into the Hall of Fame.  As we said in our preview,

It is probably the biggest health related issue in sports (and not just football) in over 20 years.   While people pointed to steroids and other types of performance enhancing substances, concussions impact everyone that plays collision sports, not only those that voluntarily take banned substances.

Conference realignment              HIT

Another busy year as schools moved all over the place, in many instances making the geographic and numeric conference designations meaningless. 12 teams in the Big 10; Ten teams in the Big 12; Pac 10 to Pac 12; And now we have teams from the west in the Big East, Missouri and Texas A&M in the Southeast Conference and more crazy moves potentially on the horizon. 

LA luring professional football teams                     FOUL TIP

It was a story and the stadium construction was a big story.  Might not have been big enough to warrant being in the Top 11 but was definitely a relevant story

Lance Armstrong federal investigation                  SWING AND A MISS (SWUNG WAY TOO EARLY)

This investigation still goes on in the background. Reports from sources that I trust a lot indicate that there are still potentially serious consequences ahead for Lance Armstrong.  But we were probably a year premature given the slow pace of federal investigations.

MLB use of instant replay            SWING AND MISS

MLB continues to be absurdly slow in adopting proper replay rules.  An ongoing process that needlessly prevents getting the calls right.  Still relevant but not a top story for the year.

NBA CBA                              HIT

You cannot get more relevant than the lockout which claimed the early part of the NBA season preventing fans from getting any games until Christmas Day

NFL CBA                               HIT

The NFL labor dispute got a lot more coverage and publicity than the NBA, in part because only baseball was still going on.  But certainly the lockout and the deal that was put in place for the next ten years dominated the middle part of the year.

MLB CBA                             SWING AND MISS

The MLB labor situation never materialized to be a big story in 2011.  With the NFL and NBA dealing with actual labor stoppages, lockouts and lawsuits, MLB did its work behind the scenes and appears to be in a solid position.  While the accomplishments may have been very important they did not merit inclusion in the Top 11 Stories

Roger Clemens                 FOUL TIP

Roger Clemens trial on perjury charges was pretty weak.  The government failed to get the verdict that they were looking for and Clemens did not receive the degree of punishment that the government hoped to use as an example.  Not surprisingly, they failed similarly with Barry Bonds.

Social Media                      HIT

Twitter, Facebook and a variety of rapidly developing tools continue to plague/benefit professional and college sports (depending on what perspective you want to take).  For fans, the social media access is great because it allows us to hear directly from:

• Ochocinco telling us about his escapades
• Barry Sanders congratulating Montee Ball on his records and attempts to break Barry Sanders own incomprehensible accomplishment
• Dan Marino congratulating Drew Brees moments after Brees had shattered Marino’s season yardage passing record.
• Media covering the event in a more personalized style than they are allowed to express in their formal” written pieces
• Teams and universities making announcements available directly to the public rather than having to have all statements filtered through the (sometimes) jaded perspective of long time reporters.
• College and professional athletes sharing their thoughts and interests with us

For the teams, schools, leagues and conferences, the social media is a terrific tool, but one that can create great harm when not managed properly or when an employee or athlete make off-the-cuff remarks that are now reported as mainstream news on the ESPN ticker.  The ability to monitor, teach, guide and explain the process to the athletes is one that will be ongoing and challenging.  But it is one the teams will have to face to survive.

Tiger Woods                      FOUL TIP

Tiger Woods is no longer relevant in the way that he was prior to the disclosure of his adulterous lifestyle.  Will he ever reach that magnitude again?  Everyone watched and waited and Tiger did display some signs of brilliance, but he was not able to gain any ground on Jack Nicklaus’ record, his inclusion on the President’s Cup team was controversial (rather than a given) and he kept himself out of most of the limelight.  Our bet is that we will start seeing A LOT more of Tiger in 2012.

FINAL SCORECARD FOR THE 2011 PREVIEW

Hits                                                        6

Foul Tips                                              3

Swing and Miss                                 3