The United States has made undeniable strides in human rights and anti-discrimination efforts, but there is still much to work on. For forty-three years, Title IX has been enacted, but the glass ceiling for women remains alive and well within the sports industry. Female athletes competing at intercollegiate levels are receiving about 10 percent less in scholarship amounts than their male counterparts. - Read more...
Many of the nation’s finest college athletes are preparing to participate in the upcoming 2016 summer Olympics in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Participating athletes should keep in mind that the National Collegiate Athletic Association (“NCAA”) and its regulations will still affect them during their participation in the 2016 Olympics. - Read more...
A painted face with symbols of war. A feathered headdress worn for sacred ceremonies. The steady beat of a leather drum. A brave giving a war cry. A garment worn to show affiliation. As thousands of fans visit their teams’ stadiums they witness vendors selling team gear, savory treats from carts, and protesters. Opposition to the honorary titles of the redskins, the Indians, the savages. - Read more...
Since the domestic assault in 2009, Chris Brown has garnered much media scrutiny related to his every action. The media’s discussion about Brown has continually focused on publicly condemning him and creating a “culturally resonant villain” in the fight against domestic abuse. Many will disagree, but Brown’s case must be analyzed through a racial lens. - Read more...
One hundred million people tune in every month to watch their favorite players go head to head online and on ESPN. Stadiums around the world sell out in minutes when an event comes to town. The superstars of this sport make seven figures for winning a single tournament (that’s not even including the lucrative sponsorship opportunities from companies itching to get in on the action). You may think I’m talking about baseball or basketball, but you’d be wrong. This sport brings in more viewers for a single tournament than the World Series and the NBA Finals combined. What I’m talking about is something called “e-sports” and if you don’t know about it yet, rest assured you will soon. - Read more...
Anderson Silva woke up on July 6, 2013 as the greatest UFC champion of all time. As of this morning [March 10, 2015] he is perhaps the most controversial Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter of all time. This journey from the mixed martial arts (MMA) penthouse to doghouse can be attributed to four events: (1) Silva’s July 6, 2013 title loss to Chris Weidman in which he taunted Weidman before being knocked out; (2) Silva’s December 28, 2013 rematch loss to Weidman in which Silva brutally broke his leg; (3) Silva’s January 31, 2015 comeback win versus Nick Diaz; and (4) the subsequent release of two positive tests for performance enhancing drugs by Silva before the Diaz fight. - Read more...
The University of Hawaii Manoa's athletic department has already had a rough 2015. At the end of January, Athletic Director Ben Jay received a bill of more than $500 from a Riverside, California hotel for the cleaning costs to remove marijuana smoke residue from the walls of rooms assigned to the University of Hawaii men's basketball team. - Read more...
The Super Bowl is coming to Phoenix. The city is ablaze with the pump of tourist money and the adrenaline of hosting possibly the most important sports match of the entire year for Americans. However, I wonder how I can cash in on the action. I do not intend to scalp tickets, sell T-shirts, or sit on a street corner offering soda or water for a dollar to the crowds on the hot sidewalk. Nor will I do anything illegal or morally unsound. I intend on making money in a far easier and more legitimate way. As a student residing in five bedroom house, my immediate money making ideas stem from the amazing property I have in the city of Tempe--not far from the city of Glendale--where the actual Super Bowl will be played. The simplest mechanism I can imagine for making money is the one pioneered on the internet by an overwhelmingly young demographic, Airbnb.com. - Read more...
For the last year, the spotlight has been on Hollywood’s unpaid interns demanding payment for their work. Although the issue has existed for years, a lawsuit brought by a pair of unpaid interns against Fox Searchlight sparked subsequent lawsuits against industry giants like NBCUniversal, Marvel, and Warner Music Group. This explosion of lawsuits has set the stage for public inquiry into why unpaid interns are denied so many legal protections, including legal recourse for sexual harassment. The case of Lihuan Wang has provided a close-up of this issue, inspiring recent changes in legislation that will hopefully edit sexual harassment from the script of Hollywood internships. - Read more...
Another vertical integration lawsuit has risen to life. Frank Darabont, the writer-director-producer of the most watched show on all of television, The Walking Dead, is in court, facing off against American Movie Classics (AMC), the network that broadcasts the hit zombie apocalypse show. The Walking Dead lawsuit is the latest in a long line of “vertical integration” cases in Hollywood that arise when a TV show broadcaster also produces the show via an affiliated entity. The broadcaster pays a license fee to the production studio, which is then shared with talent. The license fees are supposed to be negotiated between broadcasters and producers to reflect the fair market value of a given series. - Read more...