Football

• 6% of players suffered at least 1 concussion in 2010 [NFLPA Injury Report Finds Increases During 2010 Season].
• All about Steinberg Party XXV [Steinberg still host with most].
• A lot of praise for Bob LaMonte [Vikings coach Leslie Frazier, agent Bob LaMonte make a good team].
• The perfect majority owner of a future LA franchise? [The grooming of Casey Wasserman]

Baseball

• Nello Gamberdino’s representation of Canseco is no joke [Why One Baseball Agent Is Taking A Chance On 46-Year-Old Client Jose Canseco].
• Boras throws out the acquisition cost argument [Scott Boras Explains Jayson Werth's 7-Year/$126 Million Dollar Deal With The Washington Nationals].

Sports Law

• Fill out your own and get it framed [2011-12 National Letter of Intent].

Action Sports

• This article makes it seem like there is no lack of  endorsement opportunities involving mainstream brands for those at the top [At X Games, Battle for Sponsors Is Also Fierce].

Shabbat Shalom: Friday Wrap-Up (2/4/2011) from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

FIFA reports that more than 450 players were tested, including around 200 match-day checks, and no athletes were positive for any steroids or banned substances. FIFA chief medical officer Jiri Dvorak confirmed that no positive results were found.  That means that for the fourth straight World Cup tournament (1998, 2002 and 2006, 2010), no soccer/ futbol player has ever been caught for doping.

When first hearing this news, I was glad that no athletes turned up positive for this year’s 2010 World Cup. Then after thinking further, I had to question how this could be possible for four straight tournaments. I played club and college soccer at many different levels throughout my career and never really ran across soccer players talking about using steroids, but I know it has to exist out there.  Even if it is not openly used or discussed, it is hard to believe that nobody slipped up and took a supplement or something over the counter that contained a banned substance similar to the StarCaps case currently going on in the NFL with the Minnessota Vikings players testing positive for a banned substance they “unknowingly ingested.” In 2008, two New York Red Bull players were caught for violating the MLS Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health Policy (SABH). According to Red Bulls manager director Erik Stover, both players said “that they ingested an over-the-counter supplement that unknowingly contained a banned substance.”

Four straight World Cup tournaments means that nobody has “accidentally” ingested a banned substance in sixteen years during tournament play.  Either all the athletes do a great job of hiding this from FIFA officials, or FIFA and the magnitude of the World Cup do a great job of deterring these athletes from doping by suspension and loss of pay.  Could this unblemished record for four straight World Cup tournaments really be possible, or will the next Jose Canseco pop out sometime and start blowing the whistle?

Soccer Players Don’t Use Roids from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

In 1993, Gilbert was sharing headlines with Scott Boras in publications like Sports Illustrated.  He was able to achieve record breaking deals for clients whose names you have heard a few times before: Bobby Bonilla, Jose Canseco, Barry Bonds.  He also represented George Brett.

Beverly Hills Sports Council (BHSC) still exists today, and over a decade ago, Gilbert was the head honcho at the agency.  He started the company with Jeff Borris and Rick Thurman, who along with Danny Lozano and Dan Horwitz, are still in charge of BHSC today.  And Gilbert did not pay much attention to the draft.  He left that chore for Scott Boras to handle, a competitor of Gilbert’s, who was even loathed by owners back then, sixteen years ago.  Boras used and continues to use a claiming negotiating approach, while Gilbert was known by owners as someone who could create value for both sides in a cooperative style.

In 1999, Gilbert retired and put his sports agent hat in his closet.  Immediately, he took on his current role of special assistant to Jerry Reinsdorf.

In 2002, Gilbert funded a baseball field in South Central L.A. that cost $1.5 million to build (now the home to MLB’s RBI Youth Program).  That is pennies compared to what he will have to pay to own the rights of the much larger Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

Dennis Gilbert May Buy The Rangers from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules

Magnolia pictures sent me the Sundance version of the movie and in the included press release, told me that it was a funny yet emotional documentary about performance enhancing drugs that unflinchingly explores our win-at-all-cost culture. After watching the film, I would agree that it was emotional and include some new adjectives: interesting and informative. The humor; however, was not really there. In fact, I found it rather sad how obsessed some of America is with success that the ramifications of taking steroids is not even a thought in their minds.

When Christopher Bell thinks of baseball, he does not think about The Babe or Hammerin’ Hank, but Canseco, Palmeiro, and steroids. What do you think today’s children are thinking when they read Jose Canseco’s books and then watch the players he discusses continue to smash homers in lieu of the corruption occurring in the MLB? Bell’s movie makes it more understandable for a child growing up in this steroid-infused and accepted culture to create his own habit of abusing the drug.

In America, we define ourselves in the superlative: we are the biggest, strongest, fastest country in the world. We reward speed, size and above all else: winning – at sport, at business and at war. Metaphorically we are a nation on steroids. Is it any wonder that so many of our heroes are on performance enhancing drugs? When you discover that your heroes have all broken the rules, do you follow the rules, or do you follow your heroes? The Bell family followed their heroes, but they are not alone.

After watching the movie, I am left to wonder whether other countries categorize Americans as either Bigger, Stronger, Faster iron men or Super Size Me McDonald’s lovers. But not everyone in the movie looks at our steroid obsessed culture as being such a bad thing. In fact, many believe that there have not been enough studies performed to prove that there are bad longterm effects from anabolic steroid use. Children have died from using anabolic steroids, though…why are they necessary or even preferred over natural weight/muscle gain? Do steroids really have to be as American as apple pie? I am usually not a big fan of documentaries, but this was definitely an interesting one, and should be a good view for readers of this site. See the trailer below:

Bigger, Stronger, Faster from Sports Agent Blog - Sports Business, Sports Law, Sports Negotiations, NCAA Rules