Sports Law • Risk Management

Blogs

The Danger of NFL Replacement Referees

The NFL insists that it does what is in the best interest of the game, the players, and the fans at all times. Yet through the first three weeks of the NFL season, replacement referees from the high school level and lower branches of college football, have been used because of the lockout of the regular officials. After three weeks of replacement referees, everyone seems to have something to say about the NFL and its replacement referees. Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe wrote:

G4S Security Shortfall at London 2012

Many of the security concerns and issues at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London were allegedly caused by G4S Security Company. Richard Allen Greene of CNN reported that the private security firm G4S signed a $444 million dollar government contract to provide 10,400 security personnel for the Olympics. However just weeks before the games G4S came out and admitted they only had 4,000 trained security personnel, and could only have 7,000 ready by opening day of the Olympics. With G4S’s shortfall being a huge issue the government deployed 4,200 extra troops and extra police.

Adidas' miCoach Elite System

This summer Adidas and Major League Soccer announced that the MLS would be using Adidas’ miCoach Elite System throughout the league in 2013. The 2012 MLS All-Star Game was the world’s first “smart game” using the miCoach Elite System. This miCoach system works with a small data cell that fits in a protective pocket on the back of a player’s base layer (shirt? Shorts?). This data cell, along with two more in the athlete’s shoes, transfers data for each athlete to a computer or to a coaches iPad.

NFL Concussion Lawsuits

As recently as July 1, 2012, Greg Rinsling of the Associated Press reported that there were more than 94 pending concussion related lawsuits against the National Football League with over 2,425 players as plaintiffs. These lawsuits are alleging that the NFL hid information that linked football related concussion injuries, even mild ones, to permanent brain injuries. Much of this is due to recent studies detailing the overwhelming evidence that even mild concussions can cause far more severe problems.

Incident on the Golf Course

While playing a round of golf today I noticed a parked, empty flatbed truck near one of the holes where I was teeing off. It seemed strange to see a semi truck parked that close to the golf course, but it apparently was there to transport heavy construction equipment. The image of the truck was logged in my mind because I had to drive my golf cart around the truck to get to the next hole.

Golf Course Extreme Weather Protection Measures

While playing eighteen holes on a golf course over approximately a four-hour period of time, the weather can change substantially, affecting the safety of those on the course. A good golf course manager can do much to protect players and workers on the course when extreme weather approaches.