An interesting part of the Woods discussion centered on whether he was instructed by his advisors to take the course of action that he followed or if he was advised to act differently, but did what he thought was best.  I believe that his advisors most likely told him accept responsibility and apologize at an early stage (which would be the appropriate thing to do), but that he ignored is because he believed that he was truly invincible.  What we saw last week, which was hardly a press conference, was Woods’ realization that he could not escape the media and slightly gave in to the public’s desire to hear him speak.

As advisors, all we can do is suggest the way we believe our clients should act.  At the end of the day, we are employed by the athletes (the principals); if they don’t want to listen, they do not have to.  But if they are not going to listen to us, then why pay us in the first place?  That’s what Gilbert Arenas figured.  The guy negotiated his own 6-year, $111 million contract.  Would an agent have done any better?  Maybe not.  But would an agent possibly helped Arenas after Arenas was found storing guns in his locker and drawing a weapon on his teammate?  Quite possibly.  Arenas acted very stupidly thereafter, but eventually came to his senses, hired an attorney from Washington D.C. and accepted full responsibility and apologized.

That’s the key: Accept responsibility and apologize as soon as possible (unless you are being charged with killing somebody – Stallworth).  The problem comes when an athlete is employing all of these different “advisors” who are pulling the athlete in different directions.  Another thing I think is important is that even though social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter allow instantaneous communication between an athlete and the entire world, the 4th Estate (traditional media) cannot be forgotten.  Tiger Woods basically gave the media the middle finger throughout his career, so why would they do him any favors at this point.  Make the media your best friend, or else they will look for any opportunity to pin you and your clients.

Since speaking on the panel, I have read one article that makes me shake my head sideways and one that makes me shake my head up and down.  The sideways: Elijah Fields Got Paid, Kicked Off Pitt Football Team. The up and down: Anything Worth Doing.

The post about Fields shows the potential harm that sites like Twitter can cause for athletes.  One act of stupidity can kill a career.  The other post is about the damage control used by Jeremy Jeffress’s agent after he received a 100-day suspension for substance abuse.  While Joshua Kusnick and I have had our differences in the past, this particular post on his blog is brilliant.  Here are some parts of his piece:

The first step in repairing a damaged image is to apologize but only if its sincere. The second step in this process was finding a place for this player to get help for his problem.

And that’s the game plan when something goes awry. 1.Get everyone calm. 2.Contact the media and apologize 3. Get help. 4. Apologize more. 5. Live up to all the promises you have made. It doesn’t take dangerous gypsy magic to rehabilitate an image, just genuine contrition and the desire to right your life.

No one is perfect.  Apologize, be sincere, mean it, and act on it.  For the most part, the public will not forget, but they will forgive.

The ELI Essay Competition invites law students focusing on the entertainment practice to write a 3,000-word paper on a compelling legal topic facing the music industry today. The contest culminates with the winning student authors presenting their essays at the prestigious ELI luncheon on January 29, 2010. For competition rules and the ELI Writing Competition Workshops, visit the Entertainment Law Initiative page on Facebook. Non-Facebook users should send an e-mail to eli@grammy.com for more information and instructions.

Submission deadline: January 4, 2010

Winners will be announced on January 22, 2010

Awards: First Place Winner $5000; Four Semifinalists $1,500 each

All winners receive: One GRAMMY Awards Show Ticket; Round Trip Airfare to the GRAMMY Awards in Los Angeles; Hotel Accomodations; and Ticket to The MusiCares Person of the Year Tribute Dinner

Ashwin Krishnan (Editor-in-Chief) and Josh Podoll (Submissions Editor) at the Harvard Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law (JSEL) are currently soliciting and reviewing submissions for the very first edition of its Journal.  Their plan is to publish the inaugural issue of the Journal in Spring 2010 and they believe that you kind people reading this blog might have written just the type of piece they are looking for.

JSEL will provide the academic community, the sports and entertainment industries, and the broader legal profession with scholarly analysis and research related to the legal aspects of the sports and entertainment communities.  The Journal is accepting articles, essays, book reviews, notes, and comments regarding legal and/or public policy issues from academics and legal practitioners for its upcoming inaugural issue.  JSEL is one of the few journals in the United States that focuses exclusively on legal topics related to sports and entertainment.

Legal topics that affect sports and entertainment include antitrust law, civil procedure, constitutional law, contract law, corporate law, copyright law, labor law, and real estate law.  In addition, there are many other legal topics that have an impact on the sports and entertainment industries, or otherwise have an application to sports and entertainment.

Submissions are being accepted on a rolling basis.  To be considered for the first issue, please send completed submissions no later than November 15, 2009.  The editors also made a point to note that an indication of your interest before that date would be greatly appreciated.

All submissions must be sent to Josh Podoll, Submissions Editor, as an attached Microsoft Word document via email to jselsubmissions@gmail.com.  Also, please feel free to contact Josh regarding any questions you may have concerning citation format, topic, or other issues involving the submissions process.

See Joshua’s proposal below:

Some law schools have extensive sports and entertainment programs.  Marquette, Tulane, and UCLA are institutions that offer a variety of classes in both areas.  Would you be surprised if I told you that University of Florida offers no sports nor entertainment law classes?  Occasionally, UF offers a Sports Law Seminar, capped at fifteen students (real nice when your school has about 1,200 students all interested in the subject).  Oftentimes, the only way for a law student to get involved in entertainment and/or sports law is through a sports & entertainment law society.  If your law school does not have one, the National Sports & Entertainment Law Society would like to help you get one started.  If one already exists, but there is a need to expand its programs and infrastructure, NSELS will lend a hand as well.

I plan to get involved in NSELS, especially after my term as President of the UF Entertainment & Sports Law Society has expired.  Delaney and Rothstein have the guidance of one of the best sports law scholars in the country, Michael McCann, who will be a panelist at the UF Sports Law Symposium on January 23.

This fall, the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Law will launch a new concentration in sports and entertainment law. The new concentration will allow students to study subjects in intellectual property, media law, copyright law, intellectual property licensing, telecommunications law, trademark law, antitrust, business planning, entrepreneurship and technology.

The Master of Studies in Law (MSL) program is designed for students who want to better understand law in a particular area, but do not want to become lawyers.

A student can receive a Master of Studies in Law degree within one full-time year, or four part-time years. There are 18 concentrations to choose from in the MSL program, including employment and labor law, family law, and disability law.

For more information about the MSL Program and to download an application, go to http://www.law.pitt.edu/academics/msl or call 412-648-7120.

Where: University of Virginia School of Law (Charlottesville, VA).

When: March 6th and 7th.

Topics Include:

• The basics of sports and entertainment representation.
• Advanced issues in sports law regulation.
• The latest in entertainment issues, including panels on literary publishing, issues of relevance to the music industry, making a TV deal, and challenges to artists over appropriation art.
• How to represent your client in the Internet/digital age.

Cost: $350.00 regular registration. $199.00 regular registration – Thursday, March 6 only. $159.00 regular registration – Friday, March 7 only. $99.00 law student registration. Click here to register.