Athletes and Activism

Since taking a Sports Law class last semester, I have been following the Sports Law Blog to keep up on current issues.

This post on why modern athletes avoid political activism and taking stands on tough issues caught my eye.

I've found you can answer most "why" questions with the same word: money. This is no exception.

Wisconsin v. Ohio State

Once again, the University of Wisconsin finds itself a notch below Ohio State.

The U.S. News Law School Rankings.

We're actually tied for 31st, together with William & Mary. At first I thought we were just below Ohio State alphabetically, but then noticed that William & Mary is above Ohio State, which doesn't make sense. Maybe they go East to West?

Water Law in Vietnam

Last week, I was offered one of eight positions in a program studying Comparative East Asian Water Law and Governance. The program takes place at the University of Hanoi, in Vietnam, for two weeks following spring finals.

One focus of the program is the lack of access to clean water that is experienced in many places in East Asia. Here is one article discussing issues in Indonesia, but Indonesia is not alone. Clean water is really a luxury that I, for one, too often take for granted.

So, needless to say, I'm excited about this opportunity and the few people who read this blog should be excited as well, because this will more than likely offer me a good reason to post pictures.

This takes me back...

Now that Tennessee has 3 teams in the Sweet Sixteen, who are Tennesseans cheering for?

CBS has the answer. And they hit the stereotypes right on the head.

I lived in Nashville for 3 years, so I'm cheering for Vandy and maybe UT, but definitely not Memphis. After all, "the people of Memphis spend most of the week robbing and shooting each other."

Badgers are upset du jour

Probably based on their ridiculously poor showing in the Big Ten Conferense Final, the Badgers have become the upset on every "expert's" bracket. Check out the various brackets at CBS. Despite being a number 2 seed, only one bracket has Wisconsin in the Elite Eight. Several brackets have them knocked out before the Sweet Sixteen.

By the way, the Big Ten Tournament was a lot of fun, despite the disappointment that was Sunday. The Badgers played especially well on Friday against Michigan State. The highlight of the weekend for me was watching Flowers guard Neitzel - it was a defensive clinic. And you have to enjoy watching defense in the Big Ten.

Sorry, no pictures - I forgot the camera.

Two posts in one day?

Interesting interview with John Edwards at beliefnet.

I liked this part:

"Faith is not a political strategy, and should not be a political strategy. If it is being used as a tool to garner votes, to convince people they should support one political party or the other, I think that is a huge mistake. "

This from a man who is doing an interview about his faith during a time when he needs to put himself on the political map as a serious contender for the democratic ticket for President and all the other democratic candidates are talking about faith as well. Not that they shouldn't...

Ah, the Madness

For the 2 or 3 people who read this blog, sorry about the lack of posts. School is driving me nuts right now.

On a more positive note, March is here, which means lots of college basketball. Of most significant note, my brother-in-law and I will be attending the Big Ten tournament this weekend in Chicago. I'm excited (and nervous) that the Wisconsin Badgers will likely have another shot at Michigan State, and possibly Indiana and Ohio State, which are the only three Big Ten teams to beat the Badgers this year (see bracket here).

On another basketball note, the Belmont Bruins from my undergraduate school won their conference tournament last weekend and will make a second straight appearance in the Big Dance.

What could make this very interesting is the fact that Wisconsin is a projected 2 seed for the tournament right now and Belmont is a projected 15 seed. If, by chance, those seeds hold and both teams are placed in the same region, they would play each other in the first round. Ah, the Madness.