Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Talk about a comeback...

Talk about a comeback. Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick should receive the NFL's Comeback Award for 2011 even if he doesn't take a single snap.
Last week, the Eagles announced they had signed Vick to a 6-year, $100 million contract. That marks the second time in Vick's career he has been the recipient of the largest contract in the league. The Atlanta Falcons gave Vick a 10-year, $130 million contract in 2005.
While the numbers seem mindboggling, you should know that unlike other professional sports, NFL contracts are not fully guaranteed. A $100 million contract in Major League Baseball, for example, means just what it suggests: The player will receive that sum regardless of his future production. But the NFL is the only one of the big four professional sports where only a portion of a player's contract is guaranteed. In Vick's case, $40 million is guaranteed. Not bad, but not the $100 million the media and public fixate on.
On the other hand, this is the same Michael Vick who four years ago was convicted of committing unspeakable atrocities on dogs and spent 18 months in a federal penitentiary for his crimes. In addition to losing his freedom, Vick also forfeited the remainder of his contract with the Falcons. After he was released from prison, Vick signed a two-year deal with the Eagles that paid him $1.6 million in 2009 and $5 million in 2010.
After last season, Vick became an unrestricted free agent. To prevent him from signing with another team, the Eagles slapped Vick with the franchise tag, which required them to pay Vick the average of the top five salaries at his position. In March, Vick signed a one-year contract that would have paid him $16.2 million in 2011. That contract was voided when Vick and the Eagles agreed to a long term deal. However, this being the NFL, two other quarterbacks, the Colts' Peyton Manning and the Patriots' Tom Brady, have more guaranteed money in their contracts than Vick and both of them have a higher average salary.
During Vick's first season with the Eagles, he was essentially their third string signal caller. But last year, after taking over for the injured Kevin Kolb he led the Eagles to an 8-3 record, made the Pro Bowl for the fourth time in his career, and was named the Comeback Player of the Year by the Associated Press, Sporting News, and Pro Football Weekly. Based on what appears to be a relatively small sample size, the Eagles obviously see Vick as their quarterback of the present and future.
Vick's redemption, at least on the field, may be complete. But while the contract numbers are huge, even if Vick stays healthy and earns the entire $100 million he won't get to pocket it all. In addition to his legal woes, Vick filed for bankruptcy. Shortly after his release from prison he entered into an agreement with the bankruptcy court which earmarked the lion's share of his future earnings to pay off his creditors. The list includes the Falcons - who are owed a portion of the bonus money they previously paid Vick - his former agent, the Internal Revenue Service and assorted banks, lawyers and accountants, among others.
Darren Rovell of CNBC.com broke down the numbers with the help of one of the lawyers who worked on Vick's bankruptcy case. With an annual income of approximately $17 million, Vick will first have to pay taxes, leaving him with net pay of $10 million. From that, Vick gets to take a $300,000 allowance. Creditors get a sliding percentage of the remainder, a total of almost $6 million per year. In addition, Vick must pay his former girlfriend, his mother and others, leaving him with roughly $3.7 million per year, of which half goes to his lawyers and accountants.
After everyone gets their cut, Vick ends up with just under $2 million, or roughly 11% of what he earns from playing football. However, he can't touch more than the $300,000 allowance until all of his creditors have been paid, which will be after the 2014 season should he still be playing for the Eagles.
Whether Vick's redemption will ever be complete is debatable. But it's clear he's still paying a monetary price for his actions.

By, kobritz's corner

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Temporary contract ends Serie A strike

The Serie A strike ended Monday after the Italian players' association and league signed a temporary collective contract, clearing the way for the season to start this weekend.

The new contract expires in June, whereas usually the deals last three years.

The players' strike postponed the scheduled start of Serie A the weekend of Aug. 27-28, and both sides wanted to reach an agreement before the second round begins Friday with defending champion AC Milan facing Lazio at the San Siro.

By ANDREW DAMPF

______________________________________________________________________

Breaking Down the Slow Death of Notre Dame Football

By TheXLog

Going into Week 1 of the College Football season I found myself wondering, "What year do the people who placed Notre Dame 16th in the preseason rankings think this is?" After losing their opener 20-23 to South Florida, I would still like to know, "What year did the people who placed Notre Dame 16th in the preseason rankings think this was?"

Notre Dame has the most consensus national championships (11 or 13, depending on how many you recognize) and has produced more All-Americans than any other school. Additionally, seven Fighting Irish football players have won the Heisman Trophy. None of those legendary players or coaches are associated with this year's team however and there haven't been any associated with the program for quite some time. In fact, I'm quite certain that the janitor that befriended Rudy isn't there any longer either.

Notre Dame suffers from what I like to call the "ESPN effect". The way I see it is that ESPN is solely responsible for taking down the Notre Dame Football Empire. No it doesn't have anything to do with the Irish's national TV contract which they renewed with NBC in 2008 through the year 2015 (I bet NBC would like to rethink that one), it has to do with the fact that no longer do the best players in America feel compelled to go to the very best football programs in the nation to get the recognition to take them to the next level. NFL caliber players can now go to a Division 1 college that has a football team near where they live (it can be just about anywhere) and play on an ESPN televised game almost every weekend.

Be honest, if you don't live in the South West or don't root for a team in the Big 12, how many of you out there reading this even knew where Baylor University was before Friday night's 50-48 classic against TCU? I'm guessing that the only thing you may have known about Waco, TX before this Friday's prime time nationally televised thriller was that the Branch Davidian Cult Massacre occurred there in 1993. And if you're not at least in your mid 40's, you probably didn't even know that. After Friday's game however, everyone in America now has Baylor QB Robert Griffin on their Heisman watch list.

Legendary football schools such as Notre Dame once attracted the very best players in the nation like magnets, but no more. Take a close look at the NFL Draft and you'll find a plethora of players coming from schools you never heard of or that you didn't know had a competitive Div 1 football program. Remember the September 2007 Appalachian State (34) vs. Michigan (32) upset game? That doesn't happen in the Bo Schembechler era. The advent of cable television has changed the landscape of College Football forever. Now that you can play anywhere and be seen, entire programs have been built around the concept that "if you build it they will come".

In 1992 Boise State installed a blue playing field to attract national attention to their program. Four years layer in 1996 the Boise St. Broncos started playing major Div 1 College Football and the rest is history as they seem to have a top 10 program every year. Maybe Notre Dame ought to color their field.

Despite their national TV contract Notre Dame is no longer relevant. Should NBC decide not to renew their contract with them after 2015, you will find your grandchildren asking you who Notre Dame is and where they play. One has to wonder if they are starting to feel the pressure to have to join a conference. With all the big-time programs aligning to create super conferences, Notre Dame is at a real risk of totally falling off the map, something that just a generation ago no one would have imagined.

In 2008 when NBC renewed their contract with Notre Dame, NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol said the network doesn't look at year-to-year results when it comes to Notre Dame, calling the football program a premier brand that defines the network as much as the Olympics, the NFL and the U.S. Open golf championship.

"We're big believers in how Notre Dame time and time again over all these generations has maintained its strength," he said. "I don't see that going away."

Dick, it went away!

Ebersol said the important thing for Notre Dame, who hasn't won a national championship since 1988, is to be in the race to be a top 10 team in most years "for it to be a wildly successful arrangement."

"We go into this thinking that if the vast majority of the years has Notre Dame competitive in that top 10 or for that top 10 through the majority of the season, then we'll be very happy," he said.

Forget wildly successful Dick, how about just mildly successful!

The time where everyone looked up to the Fighting Irish for doing things the Notre Dame way is long gone. Notre Dame is flying around the College Football landscape using planes with propellers while the rest of the programs throughout the country are whizzing around in jets. Programs and fans of other schools are now laughing at them for trying to take their old school approach and implement it in today's society. Players are no longer quaking in their cleats when they line up against Notre Dame, they are licking their chops.

This one time proud football institution appears to be too stubborn to change with the times. Should Notre Dame not have their NBC contract renewed and also attempt to remain independent, history will have people talking about the legendary football program that was Notre Dame like they talk about the dynasty that once was the Army.

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Monday, September 5, 2011

Golf still easy to sell as viable for networks

In the battle of the economy vs. sports, chalk up a big victory for the PGA Tour.

The victory came in the form of a new nine-year television contract between the tour and its two big network partners, CBS and NBC. That contract will kick in for 2013, meaning the PGA Tour doesn't have to worry about television deals through 2021. In an era of uncertainty over money and sponsorship commitment, knowing what your television deals look like through 2021 is the equivalent to hitting the lottery and knowing you've got a check coming in the mail every week for the next 10 years.
Of course, with 2012 already locked in for television, there will be questions in the coming weeks and months about what tournament might land where on the tour schedule and how that might change that tournament's television coverage. But most things won't change.
And while there were no financial details announced in the new deal, talk among those around the tour is that the PGA Tour did not take a cut in rights fees. In fact, the fees might have edged up a bit, though far less in terms of percentage than the last two television contracts that were fueled by Tiger-mania and which helped raise tournament purses drastically.
The thinking not that long ago was that the tour would struggle to get a decent television package. Ratings were down, Tiger Woods had gone from dominant player to non-winner and troubles in the economy would limit the networks' ability to pony up big money.
So how did the tour pull this off and walk away with a plum of a deal that other sports will be envious of?
A couple of things are apparently true:
Networks love bought commercial time: The PGA Tour comes to each contract negotiation being able to tell the networks that a vast majority of available commercial time in each tournament will be bought by the tournament's title sponsor. Networks hold parties over that kind of news.
Golf has retained a core audience: OK, ratings are down from when Tiger Woods was the king of the sports world. But the fans who have stopped watching were fans of Woods more than they were fans of golf.
(Page 2 of 2)
Golf fans are still watching sports, and the demographic of the hard-core golf fan is still appealing to networks and advertisers.
Tiger is missed, but not as much as we thought: Parity is nice, but golf's biggest booms in popularity in recent times have come thanks to two dominant forces (both in their game and persona), Arnold Palmer and Tiger Woods. Another dominant player will pop up at some point. Younger players with charisma such as Rory McIlroy and Keegan Bradley have helped soften the blow.
The appeal of the digital world: Apparently, golf fans are much better at accessing their favorite game through digital means than fans of other sports.
The ability to sell the idea of fans providing page views and in turn helping to drive digital advertising sales is something the PGA Tour could sell to CBS and NBC. And in the brave new digital world, that makes golf a safer bet than some other sports.
By, Larry Bohannan

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Saturday, September 3, 2011

In run of mega-contracts, none as big as re-signing Brees

Every week, it seems, a player is demanding to have a new contract or have it redone, extended, blown up, blessed by a priest or genetically engineered to produce baby contracts.

The names are huge and the money astounding. Quarterback Michael Vick got almost $40 million guaranteed in a new deal. Larry Fitzgerald's new money could buy him a large island in the South Pacific. Peyton Manning re-signed for five years at $18 million per. Chris Johnson, while angering fans with his tweets, just signed a new deal worth $53.5 million over four years, with $30 million guaranteed. DeSean Jackson also wants a new deal. Adrian Peterson is in line for a new contract.

On and on it goes. One personnel executive told me he has never seen a period in which so many high-profile players in such a short period all wanted or received new contracts. He doesn't think this is a coincidence. He calls it "the new CBA effect."

"There's a feeling that the league is awash in cash," he said, "and everyone wants a bite at the cash cow."

Can't blame them. That is one big, billion-dollar heifer.

One name that has gone slightly stealth under the new-contract radar? Quarterback Drew Brees.

I'm told by several sources the talks are moving along at a faster pace than is publicly known. There is still no indication when a new deal gets done, but it could be sooner than later.

In fact, though it remains unlikely, it's possible the two sides reach an agreement by the time the Saints open the regular season against the Green Bay Packers on Thursday. Brees is in the final year of a six-year, $60 million deal.

With the recent run on new contracts, Brees could easily be next.

"They've been in discussions," Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune, referring to talks between his agent Tom Condon and the team. "That's been ongoing."

Of all the big names that have received new deals or are looking for one, none deserves it more than Brees.

Brees deserves to be the highest-paid player in the NFL not solely because of his skill on the field but because of what he's done off of it.

It's been many years since one guy has done so much for both his organization and the city in which he lives. In that regard, Brees is now in the same stratosphere as athletes like Bart Starr or Brett Favre, Wayne Gretzky when he was in Edmonton, Jackie Robinson in Brooklyn and Los Angeles, Roberto Clemente in Pittsburgh, Cal Ripken in Baltimore and Hank Aaron in Milwaukee or Atlanta.

Sure, those are some seismic and historic names -- but tell me how Brees, who was key in helping a city recover from the worst natural disaster this country has seen and helped prevent the Saints from bolting town following Hurricane Katrina, doesn't belong in that select group.

Saints fans have a telling nickname for him: "Breesus."

Brees has the trifurcate working for him. First, what he did post-Katrina was astounding. Second, he's already a lock for the Hall of Fame. Third, though it was an unpopular stance to some fans, he was a key figure in a lockout that established peace with ownership for the next 10 years.

Six years after Katrina, there remains a closeness between Brees and New Orleans that is unmatched today in sports. The city bonded with Brees and Brees the city. It's something New Orleans will never forget.

"Obviously in so many ways New Orleans has come back better -- while in one moment you say, 'Look how far we've come,' you also have to say, 'What's still left to do?'" Brees told reporters this week. "And I think that's definitely motivation for all of us just to continue on. It's gone by fast. That's where you just have to say, 'Life does go by fast.' And so let's take advantage of every opportunity we have and improve our place to live."

More players will sign new deals. It's likely Jackson's new contract is next, but none will be as important as Brees signing his. None.

By Mike Freeman

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Friday, September 2, 2011

columns cricket It has control written all over

When I first looked at the draft Sports Development Code on the sports ministry's website, I was befuddled. Having contributed to the making of the first sports law in the country (the Rajasthan Sports Act, 2005), I did not know whether I was looking at a draft legislation or an operations manual association.

Normally, a legislation lays down the essentials and leaves the details to be prescribed in the rules and guidelines. Here we had a compendium which seemed to address every micro detail.

Perverse logic
It prescribed age limits, tenures, coaching and tournament guidelines. I was not sure whether we were headed in the reverse liberalisation era. I learnt that an argument had been advanced that since certain associations got free land, they were amenable to government control. Taking this logic further, almost every hospital, educational institution, most industries, and many NGOs should also come under government control and RTI. In legal parlance, it is called perverse logic.

The tenure prescription is not based on sound logic either. If the Bill targets the BCCI, Injeti Srinivas (former joint secretary, sports) should know that it's the only organisation which has tenure limits prescribed. Some of the best-run associations in the country have been piloted by persons of repute over long periods to attain today's status. Are we willing to credit super performances in boxing and shooting to the respective associations? Limiting tenures takes away the focus of a leader.

Age limit illogical
As far as age prescriptions go, I am not clear how limiting it to below-70 would help. A sportsman spends all his youth playing and it's only around the age of 40 he starts getting into sports administration. If we want experienced sportsmen to retire by 70, there is a huge contradiction here. Non-sportsmen get into administration much earlier. Thus, the avowed purpose of the Bill of making more sportsmen part of the top administration gets defeated by prescribing age limits.

Control is writ large in every aspect of this Bill. Legislation must aim at regulation and not control. Every association must aim at controlling a particular sport through its autonomous constitution. The Bill seeks to take away this autonomy and impose its will on the associations through government nominees, guidelines and other instruments of coercion.

There are several ways of ensuring accountability and our laws are good enough for this. What we need is close attention to the issue of accountability through scrutiny rather than placing virtual control in the government's hand.

By, Sanjay Dixit

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Thursday, September 1, 2011

London 2012

Ghanaian sportsmen and sportswomen can now heave a sigh of relief and look forward to participating in the London 2012 Olympics following the decision of the International Olympic Committee to lift the suspension placed on the country.

The IOC suspended the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) on January 13, 2011 because Ghana was unable to change its sports law (SMCD 54) which had promoted political interference by giving the authority to government to appoint the leaders of the various sports disciplines since 1976. An earlier order was to have this law changed by December 31, 2010.

With the amendment of sub-sections 2a and 2b of Section 42 of SMCD 54, and the subsequent gazetting of the amended law on April 15, 2011 leading to the passage of the new Sports Regulations 2011 (L.I. 1988) on July 26, 2011, Ghana's sports legislation is now in conformity with the statutes of the IOC. The result was that the Executive Board of the IOC unanimously voted to re-admit the local Olympic governing body back to its fold at its meeting in Daegu, South Korea, at the ongoing World Athletics Championships.

The Ghanaian Parliament recently adopted the new sports legislation which is in consonance with the Olympic Charter. The next step for the GOC will be to convene its elective General Assembly as soon as possible, an IOC release has said.

The nation's athletic contingent at the 13th IAAF World Championships was at practice and just couldn't control themselves when the GAA President, Professor Francis Dodoo, broke the news to them about the IOC decision last Friday.

It seemed that they had been given a new lease of life with that announcement, and they are expected to put their best foot forward in the coming months in their quest to qualify for the Games.

Ghana's sportsmen and sportswomen — including boxers, track and field athletes and weightlifters — have something to look forward to when the world's greatest nations assemble in London next July.

It is imperative to point out though that the IOC's decision was expected, especially after the Government took steps to amend the legislative instrument that governs the nation's sports law despite opposition from certain quarters.

The road was not as easy as it seems. The very process of reviewing the national law took several twists and turns, with some people from the old GOC administration — namely B.T. Baba and Frank Appiah — even taking to the law courts to stop the amendment of the Law although it was a key requirement of the IOC.

Now all that is behind us as we look forward to a fresh beginning.

But even before the athletes begin preparations towards London 2012, the GOC has been mandated by the IOC to convene a meeting of its general assembly to elect a new leadership for the organisation.

The IOC President, Jacques Rogge, told me minutes after the Executive Board meeting that the power to call congress lied within the ambit of the GOC and as such it was the responsibility of the B.T.-Baba led GOC to call for congress.

Under the GOC's own constitution, the president shall call for congress by first giving a 21-day notice. So the earliest time congress can be convened could be between a month or two at the most.

That brings me to another interesting revelation. While the IOC and some of its members wanted congress to be convened at the earliest possible time, I am reliably informed that B.T. Baba had wanted the new elections delayed for about six months. The coming months and days will go a long way to determine the date for congress, but the IOC will be keeping an eagle's eye on developments in the country.

Suffice it to say that the wrangling at the GOC has gone on for exactly two years and two months, and has left deep scars in the nation's sporting landscape, both locally and internationally. It will take a lot of effort by the new administration — whoever wins the next congress — to rebuild the image of the Ghana Olympic Committee in particular after the skirmishes that occurred at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi and the 2010 Youth Olympics in Singapore.

One only wonders whether the outgoing GOC executive had any good motives for their action to slight officials of the Ministry of Youth and Sports at those competitions. Like wounded Lions, the GOC officials only sought to take their pound of flesh by refusing accreditation to Government officials at those games, but in doing so, they ultimately soiled the name of the country.

Now the GOC's current situation is akin to a boxer who got beaten up mercilessly the night before; the GOC needs to do some introspection and get its act together quickly.

The cost of the GOC saga is immeasurable, with the most important part being the loss of goodwill, both locally and internationally. The GOC has now come to be associated with chaos and confusion of the highest order.

But one of the most painful losses the GOC suffered during the turbulent period was the withdrawal of the proposed £1m British Council grant last year. The money was meant to develop sports in the country, but after a year of waiting the British decided to retrench the money rather than give it to the GOC, and it is still not clear whether the nation can recover that grant even after the situation has been sorted out.

Also Ghana's Olympic funding was withdrawn following the ban earlier. The nation's athletes and officials have also lost out greatly due to the inability of the GOC to access scholarships and refresher courses under the auspices of the IOC.â€©

Another area where the nation lost out is in kit sponsorship. Kit manufacturer Puma failed to renew its sponsorship with the Ghana Athletics Association in 2009, and then-ongoing discussions with other sponsors fell apart because it appeared Ghana would not be at the 2012 Olympics. There is also the need to recover ticket allocations for the nation's representatives at the London 2012 Olympics since Ghana was not originally added to the list. There is a lot to be done.

However, it is not all gloomy though because now the sports associations in the country are fully democratised and are mandated to elect their own officials.

The next step is definitely the GOC election, and it is my fervent hope that this will happen before the end of October.

Ghana Sports is only beginning the road to recovery. London 2012: here we come.

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London 2012, Here We Come - As IOC Lifts Suspension Of Ghana

Another area where the nation lost out is in kit sponsorship. Kit manufacturer Puma failed to renew its sponsorship with the Ghana Athletics Association in 2009, and then-ongoing discussions with other sponsors fell apart because it appeared Ghana would not be at the 2012 Olympics. There is also the need to recover ticket allocations for the nation's representatives at the London 2012 Olympics since Ghana was not originally added to the list. There is a lot to be done.

However, it is not all gloomy though because now the sports associations in the country are fully democratised and are mandated to elect their own officials.

The next step is definitely the GOC election, and it is my fervent hope that this will happen before the end of October.

Ghana Sports is only beginning the road to recovery. London 2012: here we come.

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