On April 23, the day after the London Marathon took place, the
home addresses and emails of 38,000 London Marathon entrants were published on
the organizer’s website by mistake. Some of these were high-profile celebrities
and politicians, and this personal details was available to anyone who logged
on to the site.
The BBC discovered this security breach the night of the 23rd,
and the BBC Sports Correspondent alerted the organization. The problem became
apparent when a television presenter was contacted by a member of the public who
found her home address. The London Marathon organizers dealt with the problem
very quickly as soon as they found out; however, all 38,000 runners personal
details were freely available throughout the whole day Monday 23rd. The London
Marathon Organizers are very apologetic and said that the problem had been
corrected on Tuesday.
This is an issue of breach of security, and the UK Data
Protection Act are now investigating this data breach, and state that
appropriate measures must be taken against this accidental release of personal
data.
Metta World Peace, or as many people remember him, Ron Artest, is the center of more disciplinary action. In a game over the weekend against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Peace ran the length of the floor and threw down a monster dunk. When he turned around to run back on defense, he elbowed James Harden of the Thunder, delivering a hit so hard that Harden will now have to sit out with a concussion.
This incident begs the question, Where is the line drawn on repeat offenders? Peace's first major offense was in November of 2004 in a game against the Detroit Pistons (at the time he was playing for the Indiana Pacers), where he entered the stands to fight with fans. He subsequently was suspended for the remainder of the season and the playoffs; he missed a total of 86 games which is the longest suspension the NBA has ever handed out. Even before this incident, Peace, was known for being a tough player that would not take crap, but in many instances he took his playing style too far.
The interesting point here is that the NBA could have eliminated what has recently happened by banning him from the NBA. He is a good player, but his playing style is not indicative of the values of the NBA. At what point should the NBA take a hard line with players like this. Artest should have been suspended for going into the stands in 2004 for at least multiple seasons, instead they allowed him to come back and reek havoc on the league once again.
Professional sport leagues typically do not get involved with outside law enforcement, but when you have a player with such blatant disrespect for the rules and regulations of the NBA, shouldn't someone else jump in. We all know the NBA is going to give him another slap on the wrist, but if they allowed law enforcement to jump in, they would send a message to other players and Peace would finally get a dose of his own medicine.
The next few days will reveal what the NBA will do, if anything. Below is the video of the incident.
Bobby Petrino was fired as football coach at the University of Arkansas, nine days after he was injured in a motorcycle accident and then covered up the fact that a female football staff member was on the bike. Last night during a news conference, Athletic Director Jeff Long said Petrino has been reckless and was involved in a "patten of misleading and manipulative behavior." He also said that Petrino gave the female employee $20,000 at one point during their relationship but did not disclose what the money was given for.
Long said Petrino was fired "with cause" which means that he will not receive the $18 million buyout his contract called for and there were no discussions about ways to keep Petrino at Arkansas. According to Long, Petrino was given multiple chances to come clean to long over the pst 10 days about his lying which included infidelity to workplace favoritism. "He made the decision to mislead the public," Long said.
Petrino is the former head coach of the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League, led Arkansas to a Cotton Bowl in and a No. 5 final ranking in the Associated Press national college football poll this past season.
The completion of his fourth season with the Razorback ended with a 34-17 record along with four broken ribs and other injuries from the April 1st motorcycle accident. He was placed on paid leaves after acknowledging he had lied at a news conference about the presence of the 25 year old woman.
Petrino has since issued a length apology and is going to try to heal the wounds he has left with his family at this time. "All I have been able to think about is the number of people I have let down by making selfish decisions" he said. "I chose to engage in an improper relationship. I also made several poor decisions following the end of that relationship and in the aftermath of
the accident. I accept full responsibility for what has happened."
In his statement, Petrino said he and his staff had left Arkansas in better shape and wished for its success.
"As a result of my personal mistakes, we will not get to finish our goal of building a championship program," he said. "My sole focus at this point is trying to repair the damage I've done to my family. They did not ask for any of this and deserve better. I am committed to being a better husband, father and human being as a result of this and will work each and every day to prove that to my family, friends and others.
"I love football. I love coaching. I of course hope I can find my way back to the profession I love. In the meantime, I will do everything I can to heal the wounds I have created."
The Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Roberto Hernandez Heredia, formerly known as Fausto Carmona was arrested on Jan. 19 in the Dominican Republic outside the U.S consulate for falsifying his identity. During that process he went from being 28 to in reality being 31 and the Indians have since taken action and have restructured his contract, which is reflective of how the team feels he will now perform this season and is in response to his illegal actions that landed him in a Dominican Republic jai. Before he was busted for falsifying his identity to be more attractive to MLB teams, Heredia was 3 years younger and was becoming a more reliable pitcher for the Indians. Hernandez was set to make $7 million this year and had options for $9 million in 2013 and $12 million in 2014. The Indians still don't know if Heredia will even pitch for them this season or ever because he is still having VISA issues back in the Dominican Republic.
The Dominican Republic dropped the charges against Heredia after he completed a work program in which he met with young ball players and discouraged them from falsifying their identities and committing the same mistake he did in order to play in the U.S. He has since said he knew what he was doing was wrong but was "scared to reveal what happened" after other players were caught.
Under the terms of his new restructured contract, Heredia will make $2.5 million as a base salary in 2012 and can earn an additional $2.7 million in performance and roster bonuses. These incentives include: $200,000 when he reaches 20,23 and 26 starts and for 150, 170 and 185 innings. In addition , he'll get $250,000 for 95 days on the roster and then $250,000 for every 15 days up until 165. The team also reduced his 2013 option to $6 million. He can earn $3 million in additional bonuses as well.
Currently he is on MLB's restricted list, which is for players that have a contractual obligation to the team but for non injured reason are not currently part of the team and may not play in an MLB game. In the meantime he has been training and pitching in the Dominican Republic at the teams academy under the watchful eye of some of the Indians trainers and coaches. The team is hoping Heredia can get his legal issues straightened out in time to help the team this season
Article can be found here: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120327/SPORTS0104/203270361/1004/sports10/Monday-s-baseball-notebook--Indians-slash-pitcher%E2%80%99s-contract
This past weekend, in Bethel Connecticut, a 48 amateur cyclist died from injuries sustained during a race. The cyclist was Markus Bohler of Germany who worked as en executive for an industrial company. Almost every professional sport has some sort of organized amateur level and cycling is no different. The governing body over cycling in the United States is USA Cycling. This organization promotes, organizations, and runs many events, but the majority of races are conducted by organizations or individual race organizers that are licensed by USA Cycling. Every cyclist is required to purchase a license that allows them to race, but the license doubles for a waiver of liability. Before racing, officials ensure that all cyclists are meeting certain requirements. These include all riders wearing helmets, no loose fitting clothing, and every cyclists must have plugs in their bar ends. The fact that officials let Mr. Bohler ride, must mean that he was abiding by all necessary safety precautions. Accidents in professional and amateur cycling are very common, but serious injury resulting from the said accidents is not.
The question that arises from this incident, from a legal standpoint, is two fold. Firstly, VeloNews, which is a print and online publication of amateur and professional cycling news, reported that police are investigating the incident. In this case, police would be looking for any indication that there was criminal activity. If there was any wrongdoing, it would be negligence or even manslaughter. From the details that were released it seems that this was an ordinary crash with no major issues.
The other legal issue, my be a civil suit. If the family of the deceased feels that someone was at fault they may pursue a lawsuit. One of the main issues may be how legally binding the cycling license is. It is understandable that a sport like this is very dangerous. Even in amateur races, speeds can reach 40 miles per hour on flats and upwards of 60 miles per hour on downhills. Is this inherent danger something the riders can waive legally? Also, USA Cycling requires that riders do so many races before upgrading to a faster and better category of racing. This is something that allows for a level competition field and for rider safety. There are 5 categories with 5 being beginner and 1 being the best; Mr. Bohler was racing in a category 3/4 race. It says that he was the only one injured, but died from multiple skull fractures early Monday morning.
It is with hope, that no legal action be taken against a sport that already struggles with revenues, but if wrongdoing is found, those who were involved need to be punished. From the initial reports and reports since, it seems that this was nothing out of the ordinary, except that the end result was much more grim than normal.
In recent weeks,
The NFL have said that around 22-27 New Orleans Saints defensive players, as
well as an assistant coach, upheld an illegal bounty program from 2009-2011
that included payments to players for causing game-ending injuries on the
opposition.
Players are said
to have been paid $1,500 for “knockouts” and $1,000 for being carted off the
field, and the stakes went up in the playoffs.
Former defensive
coordinator Gregg Williams, has recently admitted to his involvement in the
program and has apologized. The Saints head coach Sean Payton and general
manager Mickey Loomis have also released a statement taking “full
responsibility” for the violations within the league.
The statements
made by New Orleans Saints management and coaches are making it look very
probable that they engaged in improper and coercive activities. Taking a look
at the NFL’s current CBA, it includes detailed rules on how clubs and coaches
can be penalized for violations of safeguards. Not all facts are currently
known, and the NFLPA is undertaking a full review of the circumstances
surrounding these reported violations of League rules.
Currently, the
New Orleans Saints franchise, its players, coaches, and former player Gregg
Williams are awaiting words on penalties from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodwell.
However, there may be bigger consequences for those involved in this bounty
scandal. The criminal defense attorneys and a former federal prosecutor have
said that if the Saints did engage in the scandal that paid players to deliberately
injure the opposition, then this situation could be considered a criminal
organization.
As of right
now, there has been no sign of federal law enforcement activity, and it is
unlikely that local law enforcement would take up the case, “given the
political sensitivities of tackling a case involving the beloved Saints”.
However, the local federal attorney could assign a special prosecutor to
investigate the case.
Football is
known to be a violent sport, and there is a certain level of consent to the
violence when a player steps out on to the field; however, this consent changes
when there is an intentional effort to actually injure someone rather than actually
tackle him or her. “The intent element is manifested by the money payments”. As
well as local federal attorney’s possibly getting involved, the individual
players who believe they were hurt as part of the Saints’ efforts could also
file their own civil complaints as part of the scandal.
It may be
difficult to establish a criminal case here; however, the NFL has said it has
tens of thousands of pages of evidence to back its argument that the program
exists, so there is a possibility that the criminal law will get involved.
