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Final Entry from Boston

By Jeffrey Standen

The last panel of the conference was comprised of the heads of three of sports major unions: Billy Hunter of the NBPA, Donald Fehr of MLBPA, and Gene Upshaw of the NFLPA. Most of their comments were (consistent with the theme of the conference) in the nature of informing attendees of the news. I spoke to one veteran lawyer who said he attends the conference every couple of years "just to make sure he learns nothing," in other words, to be certain his knowledge is sufficiently complete even before arrival. That comment's more than a little smug, but it's also sad that a conference could assemble so many bright, innovative lawyers and have nothing of value in terms of new thinking to give this veteran lawyer something to take away. Sports law is a far too intellectually stimulating field to aim this low.

Not much in the way of news to add from the union bosses' panel, although it did appear that some news reporters were in attendance. I'm not sure what should be done about their inclusion, as reporters often show up at conferences, but certainly their visible presence (one even asked a reporter-like question about the executive directors' salary) undoubtedly makes the commentators more guarded. But like I said, what to do about it? Bloggers like me could just as easily use our little forums to break news or disclose unusually frank and perhaps newsworthy comments by public figures. Not that I would. In TSLP's world, only what TSLP says is news. Let these public figures get their own blogs.

Instead, since the lack of genuine reflection in the comments leaves little grist for my particular mill, I thought I'd use the last panel to try to take measures of the men. How would I describe Hunter, Fehr and Upshaw? Here's my scouting report:

1. Billy Hunter: It was hard to get a read on this guy, since it looked like he really didn't want to be here. His speaking manner was quite rough, with poorly formed sentences and incomplete thoughts. All this suggested to me that Hunter really didn't care what impression he made on the rest of us. Yet here's a guy negotiating a pretty complicated CBA and butting heads with David Stern's fast crowd, so obviously he knows what he's doing in his practice. I would worry about working with a union boss like him, as I'd wonder if the disdain his manner suggested today indicates he's someone who doesn't listen much to others. But hey, as he said, he serves at the pleasure of the players, so his lengthy tenure suggests he's doing something right. Hard to figure this one out. Grade: Incomplete.

2. Donald Fehr: My heart goes out to Bud Selig, and I'm as surprised as can be to feel that way. Fehr was the opposite of Hunter, taking every opportunity, and even making a few more where none existed, to lecture the rest of us about whatever was on his mind. This man came across as insufferable, and I was only in the room with him for an hour. At one point, a person in the audience innocently and concisely asked Billy Hunter about the NBA's age limit on entry. After Hunter gave his answer, Fehr butted in to say he "found the question offensive," as if just the idea of asking about an age limit was tantamount to a frontal attack on the union or racist speech or something. If these kids can go to war, then by golly why can't they play basketball too? Gee, Don, nearly every worthwhile occupation in the world, including your little learned profession, has various requirements to entry: do all such requirements offend you? Next time someone asks me about the need for a bar exam, I'm going to reply that the question offends me and refuse to answer it. Grade: C (plus a half-grade off for bad conduct).

3. Gene Upshaw: Can we form a union of law profs and hire this guy? He absolutely stood out. Cogent, principled, decisive, knowledgeable. And the irony is that this is the union chief who by far gets the most flak in the public discourse. He's clearly a guy who would be a tough negotiator yet at the same time someone who would listen to reason. TSLP will soon be putting together my all-star roster for my biennial sports law conference at Willamette. I'm going to ask Upshaw to give the keynote. Grade: A

4. Off the Red Sox game tonight and back to sunny Oregon in the morning. I'll get back to my regular substantive posts starting next week.

Full post as published by The Sports Law Professor on May 19, 2007 (boomark / email).