Posts Tagged ‘sports’

Appealing to a Higher Authority

While most of the law-related praying news centered on Pat Robertson’s missives to “ask for miracles in regard to the Supreme Court” (CBS/AP, Jul.15), Deion Sanders — ex-baseballer, ex-footballer, now an NBC football analyist — allegedly did the same. Rumors had him refusing to pay more than $1,500 of a more than $4k car repair bill — the repairman claims that “[w]hen Sanders drove up, he refused to pay the invoice amount, handing Compton a $1,500 check and saying, ‘Praise Jesus … I follow what in my heart I’m told to pay.’ (ESPN/AP, Jul. 14). One reader wonders, “I don’t know how he could have won.” Answer: Prime Time apparently told the repair man up front that he’d only be forking over $1,500, so the bill best not be padded. And imagine that — the court actually enforced the contract. Perhaps it helps to be a well-known celeb. (Fort Worth Star Telegram, Jul. 14).

Chewing the Shrink’s Ear Off

Mike Tyson is being sued — by his psychiatrist. (If that’s not the start of a good post, what is?) Seems that Iron Mike — a candidate for psychotherapy if there’s ever been one — has been seeing one Mitchell Gibson at the cost of $12k a month, plus $900 for “emergency cross-country visits.” But now Mike won’t pay up the $44,000 he owes the analyst. We’re not one to agree with Tyson, but if the shrink couldn’t talk him out of getting the Che Guevara and face tattoos… well, at least he didn’t bite Lennox Lewis. Yet. (“Tyson sued by his shrink,” Agence France-Presse, Jul. 15; Link via Fark).

And that’s not all! Tyson is doing his part keeping lawyers above the poverty line by beating up bodyguards. Apparently, the former champ “[ran] down the median of I-95 on top of the concrete barrier, with a string of winded people in pursuit” and then punched Izzy Bolton, Don King’s bodyguard, smack in the face. Bolton needed stitches and now claims to suffer from double vision. (“Mike Tyson sued over attack on Don King bodyguard,” Atlanta Constitution-Journal, Jul. 12).

Who am I? And What am I Doing Here?

Hi, I’m Dan Lewis. Pleased to meet you. You may have met me before — I run WhatTheHeck.com, home of the strange eBay auction archive. And I’m a sportsblogger — yes, we exist! — over at my personal site, DLewis.Net. (Yes, .com was taken.)

But why am I here? Glad you asked. Sure, I can, and will, sprinkle some sports posts here. But get this — I’m a first-year law student. That’s right, I’m being trained to come up with “creative legal theories,” not dissimilar from those that have graced OverLawyered for four years strong. It’s my pleasure to be with you for the rest of the week.

Souvenir-ball wrangle

A baseball story: “Alex Popov and Patrick Hayashi scrambled in the stands for Barry Bonds’ No. 73 home run ball, fought in court over it, and walked away after its auction for $450,000 Wednesday with nothing but bittersweet memories. … A couple hundred grand for each side’s lawyers, a cut for Uncle Sam and sundry expenses. What’s left for Popov and Hayashi? ‘In the end it’s probably going to be a wash,’ Hayashi said.” (Steve Wilstein, “Bonds No. 73 ball: a story of greed”, AP/San Francisco Chronicle, Jun. 26). (& see Jul. 12: lawyer sues Popov for fees). Update Jan. 3: Hayashi’s lawyers waive part of fees.