Uptown Radio

Pele of the New York Cosmos gestures during a press conference at a New York Hotel on Thursday, Sept. 29, 1977. It was Pele’s final media session prior to the Pele farewell game and his subsequent retirement from professional soccer. (AP Photo/Ira Schwarz)

Listen to the full piece: 

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

INTRO: New York is getting a second team in Major League Soccer. Reports say that New York City FC — short for football club — will join the New York Red Bulls in the league in 2016. The new team is backed by one of the biggest names in European soccer. But Max Rosenthal reports that the news has some New York fans wondering if a famous name in American soccer is being forgotten.

NARR: For decades, there was no bigger name in American soccer than the New York Cosmos.

(Fade up AMBI from 1976 game “At forward, number 10, Pele” Fade under at applause.)

The Cosmos brought the Brazilian and other world legends to play in the North American Soccer League. The team sold out 76,000-seat Giants Stadium. And now the team is back. In August, the Cosmos start playing in the top minor league in the country. It’s soccer’s version of Triple A baseball. And the team’s history is still so powerful, it attracts fans who weren’t even born the last time the Cosmos played.

ACT: Lucas Vasquez, I’m from Long Island. Carlos Mieles, I’m from New Jersey.

Vasquez and Mieles are freshmen at NYU. Their families are from South America, and they grew up cheering for teams from Argentina and Ecuador.

But they don’t watch MLS. Vasquez and Mieles never connected with the New York Red Bulls, who have played in the league for nearly twenty years. Vasquez says the Cosmos history is a powerful draw.

VASQUEZ: What the Cosmos can bring to the table is they already an identity within New York. Not some foreign company or owner that wants to promote their selves or their own brand. This is an identity that took root within New York and already has its roots their and has people remember that. So this is really a New York based club.

Compare that to the Red Bulls, who play in New Jersey and are owned by the energy drink company of the same name. Vasquez and Mieles are so excited about the Cosmos that they’ve organized a Latin American-style fan group called La Banda del Cosmos. They say they’ve already got about 50 regular members, and they’re expecting big things, both from the group and the team itself.

VASQUEZ: I can see Cosmos really playing in the one of the highest levels, signing players from all over the world and acting like a European club.

For years, MLS wanted to put a second team in the New York area. And when the Cosmos reformed in 2010, many fans thought the team was the obvious choice. Vasquez admits he’s disappointed the Cosmos won’t be in MLS. But he thinks that could change.

VASQUEZ: I think what the Cosmos can do right now is show the league that this is an opportunity they can’t miss.

But that may just be wishful thinking. Mark Noonan was an executive vice president at MLS. Now he runs a sports marketing company in Connecticut. He says it was the stars that made the old Cosmos great. Without those big-name players, the new Cosmos can’t live up to the team’s history.

NOONAN: Now it’s just a name. It’s a name that thirty years later still has recognition amongst the, I would say, hardcore soccer aficionados in this country and perhaps outside of this country. But most kids under the age of 20 don’t have a clue. So trying to recapture what it was is impossible.

BELL: I think it’s like, thirty years later, seeing a woman you went out with in high school. You’re going to be disappointed.

That’s Jack Bell. He runs the soccer blog at the New York Times, and he covered the Cosmos in their glory days. He agrees that the Cosmos name is the new team’s biggest asset. And the team’s biggest moneymaker is the merchandise, like jerseys, that they sell worldwide. For that reason, MLS probably isn’t the best fit.

BELL: You know, the structure’s a little bit different. If they went into MLS, they wouldn’t own their own marketing rights, and that’s a big deal to them right now. It’s weird, it’s kind of the merchandise before the team.

So instead of the Cosmos, MLS is reportedly turning to a European powerhouse.

(Fade up Aguero goal ambi to full at “Aguero…he can win it…Oh! He’s won the title, surely, for Manchester City!” then fade out)

Last year, Manchester City won the English Premier League, the most popular soccer league in the world. Their owner, Sheikh Mansour, is an Abu Dhabi royal. He’s pumped billions into Manchester City over the past five years. And according to published reports, he’ll be the money man behind New York City FC. It’s chance for MLS to bring in not only a big name and big money, but also a big fan base that doesn’t ordinarily watch American soccer.

(Ambi from bar underneath)

The Mad Hatter Saloon is the official hangout of New York’s Manchester City fans. On Tuesday afternoon, a few of them gathered to watch their team’s latest Premier League game. Right now, MLS isn’t high on their agenda.

Frank Desanto is a native New Yorker. He says he never saw the Red Bulls as a New York team.

DESANTO: They play in Jersey. So it’s like, I’m a city kid. I want a team that plays in New York.

Michael Warren is coming from slightly farther away. He’s originally from Manchester, and he’s been a City fan his entire life.

WARREN: Well, longer than you’ve been alive. Over 50 years.

He comes in from Connecticut nearly every weekend to watch Manchester City, but he rarely watches MLS games. That is set to change.

WARREN: It’ll be nice to have a City-connected team playing in the States, absolutely. I was talking to a couple of friends at the weekend and we said that we would probably go to see most of the games.

It’s proof of the drawing power that that Manchester City brand can bring to MLS. But Jack Bell of the New York Times says the new team’s management can’t assume that the brand will do all of the work by itself.

BELL: They seem to think that they’re in Europe. And they’re not, and they still need to sell this team. If they think they can do the same things that they do in the Premier League, I think they’re going to be sorely disappointed.

MLS is expected to formally announce the new team within two weeks. But whatever happens, New York City FC won’t start play until 2016. It will take that long to sort out issues around a proposed new stadium for the team in Queens.

Max Rosenthal, Columbia Radio News.

Champion Jon Jones, top, lands an elbow against Chael Sonnen during their UFC 159 Mixed Martial Arts light heavyweight title bout in Newark, N.J., Saturday, April 27,2013. Professional mixed martial arts is illegal in New York. (AP Photo/Gregory Payan)

Listen to the full piece: 

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

HOST INTRO: Mixed Martial Arts is one of the fastest-growing sports in America. But New York is one of only two states where the sport is banned. Tony Maglio tells us why 2013 may be the year that this changes. Or possibly why it won’t be.

If you’ve never seen a mixed martial arts — or MMA — match before, it can be tough to watch.

[Bring up UFC 121 ambi]

At a 2010 event in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, or UFC – which is the “big league” of mixed martial arts — the heavy weight champion is about to lose his title. The challenger and soon-too-be-champ is on top, hammer punching his face and head. There is blood on the mat, all the champ’s. He has a bad cut under his left eye. It’s over quickly. A first-round knock out.

It is this kind of spectacle that led New York legislators to ban professional combat sports in 1997. In 2000, the legislature also cracked down on amateur bouts.

[Fade out UFC ambi]

[Bring up gym ambi]

But that has not put a damper on the dreams of Anthony Pipola. At a gym in midtown, he sees becoming a pro MMA fighter as a way out of his current life.

[Fade down gym ambi]

Pipola: “Currently I dig holes for a living…and it kind of sucks. So I’d rather much try to beat the sh** out of people for a living.”

Pipola’s 31-years-old and from Queens. He’s currently 2-0 as an amateur.

Pipola: “The fighting’s the easy part, the training sucks. The dieting, the conditioning, the strength training, the living like a Buddhist disciple, pretty much removed from everybody and just concentrating on what you have to do – that’s the hard part. The nine minutes of fighting is easy.”

[Bring up gym ambi]

Pipola alternates between two-minute rounds on the heavy bag and wrestling with his coach. He trains six days a week for his next amateur fight on May 25 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. But he would rather fight in New York.

[Fade out gym ambi]

Some legislators, like Manhattan State Senator Brad Hoylman, want to keep the sport illegal.

Hoylman: “The reason I’m concerned about mixed martial arts is because I have a two-year-old daughter and the main venues where mixed martial arts at a professional level would be held are in my district.” 

And there are activists on Hoylman’s side. One group hosts a web site called UnfitForChildren.org. Let’s break those initials down: “U-F-C.” The site accuses Ultimate Fighting Championship of sexism and homophobia, and accused one of its stars of having made a ‘how-to’ rape video.”

Mixed Martial Arts can be dangerous, too. Aspiring pro Anthony Pipola certainly has had a few injuries.

Pipola: “Uch, about 7,341.”

all sarcasm aside…

Pipola: “None during fighting, all during training and my conditioning routines. Three broken noses, broken ribs, sprained my back, sprained my knee…

Since MMA in New York is illegal, any bouts that do occur are unregulated. Stephen Koepher is Pipola’s coach and owner of the New York Sambo gym. He says that means anything can happen.

Koepher: “There was an incidence where a gentleman fought on an unregulated show in New York, and he was banned by the Association of Boxing Commissions for having hepatitis. So he couldn’t fight anywhere else, but he fought here in New York where nobody cared to check.”

And that’s not even as bad as it gets. In the past year alone, there have been three deaths in amateur mixed martial arts. Last month, a 35-year-old fighter collapsed and died following an amateur bout in Michigan. There was no doctor on site.

Koepher and other critics of the New York State ban say that legalizing the sport would make it much safer.

Koepher: “And New York right now having a blank slate, actually has an opportunity to make some really important changes.”

It could also be a boon to the state’s economy: The UFC’s own study estimates that legalizing and regulating MMA in New York State would bring in $23 million annually and create over 200 new jobs.

In 2013, for the fourth straight year, the state legislature has taken up a bill to legalize the sport. The past three efforts failed. This year’s bill has passed through the senate and into the assembly. That’s where it sits now.

The reason the bill has been shot down over and over is … a union dispute 2500 miles away.

Culinary Union Local 226 is by far the largest union in Nevada. And it’s locked in a battle with the Fertitta brothers, who own Station Casinos in Las Vegas. The National Labor Relations Board found Station Casinos violated U.S. labor law 82 times in efforts to block the Culinary Union from organizing its employees. Stephen Koepher of New York Combat Sambo says there’s one more thing the Fertitta’s own…

Koepher: “They are also the owners of he UFC. So their beef in Nevada has dragged its way over here to New York. So both parties are sort of using New York MMA as a proxy battleground to take shots at each other. And New York, being a union-friendly state, obviously has some ears that are listening to what the union is having to say.”

New York Legislators are listening because this culinary union is a part of a larger union, UNITE HERE, which has a major presence in New York. Sources with knowledge of the situation in Albany confirm that it is union pressure that has killed the bill to legalize MMA in the past.

And remember that website “UnfitForChildren” which bashes the Ultimate Fighting Championship? That website is connected to Culinary Union Local 226. Though you’d really only know that if you emailed them. Which Uptown Radio did. No one at the website responded to multiple requests for comment, nor did the culinary union or UNITE HERE.

The bill is still up for consideration as the legislative calendar year approaches its summer recess.  And some backers are hopeful. But with only about four weeks left for the bill to get going, other backers say they’ve used up all of their optimism in the past.

Tony Maglio, Columbia Radio News.

Listen to the full piece: 

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

HOST: The Nets are headed to the playoffs for the first time in six years, and after their first year in Brooklyn. But they will be moving on without minority owner Jay-Z, who is moving into sports management and selling his share in the team to become a sports agent. Lance Dixon reports. 

NARR: On Jay-Z and Kanye West’s 2011 hit song “In Paris,” Jay-Z boasts that the Nets could lose all of their games and he’d still be content with the money he’s making.

(Fade in “In Paris” after “he’s making” then fade out.)

The team has won many more than zero games. They won 49 and clinched the 4th seed a week ago against the Indiana Pacers. But their success hasn’t stopped the Brooklyn native from moving to another business venture. He announced a new marketing company earlier this month, Roc Nation Sports. It’s a partnership with entertainment and sports management firm Creative Artists Agency.  He signed his first client earlier this month–New York Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano.

But, to represent NBA players, he’ll have to sell his share in the team that he’s been invested in for a decade. The rapper owns less than one percent of the team, but his influence has been huge. He pushed for years for the move to his home borough and was reportedly deeply involved in the team’s rebranding and marketing. The Nets now have the 4th largest selling jersey in the league. Jay also placed his 40/40 nightclub in the Barclays Center. New York Times basketball writer, Howard Beck, thinks that creative imprint will outlast the rapper’s official stake in the team.

BECK: I think if Jay-Z is no longer a part owner, but his club is still part of  Barclays Center and his Rocawear store is still part of Barclays Center. To the public’s perception it’s as if he still has strong business affiliation with them and he will.

Jay-Z says he plans to keep his courtside seats to Nets games, and Beck says that his presence will be just as beneficial as his marketing ideas.

BECK: If Jay-Z remains a fan and a guy who’s gonna wear a Nets jersey in concert and to awards shows or wherever else for branding purposes, or for popularity’s sake, for just connecting with potential fans I think that all remains.

(Fade in Barclays ambi after “Outside” to a bed then fade out after VERNON act.)

Outside of the Barclays Center in Brooklyn after a win versus the Washington Wizards, Nets fan Cornell Carelock says he doesn’t view the move as disloyal. He thinks Jay succeeded with the plan he had all along.

CARELOCK: He wanted people to invest in this Brooklyn team, and people that are close by and are gonna be committed fans they’ll do their part in helping to boost this team. 

Henry Vernon says he lives down the street from Barclays and plans to continue his support of the team. He appreciates how easy it is for him to attend games thanks in part to Jay-Z.

VERNON: I used to go all the way out to Jersey to the games, so being that I get on the 3 train–I’m home in 10 minutes, man. So, you know, I don’t have a problem with him at all and I don’t think anybody else will.

No matter what anyone thinks, Jay-Z is moving on. Even though he hasn’t represented athletes before, he has represented and managed artists with his label Roc Nation, ranging from Shakira to Santigold. And he served for three years as president and CEO of Def Jam Records where he helped launch the careers of Rihanna and Ne-Yo. Jordan Kobritz teaches sports management at the State University of New York at Cortland. He thinks that experience could make the transition easy for the rapper.

KOBRITZ: He’s negotiated and been involved in negotiations in big time entertainment deals, so he isn’t exactly a novice to this entire concept.

And his role in Roc Nation Sports is similar to the one he had with the Nets. While he has a larger ownership stake in this case, he isn’t officially a sports agent yet. He’s the big name to represent the brand and create interest, a role Kobritz says he thrives in.

KOBRITZ: He has an instant recognition factor and even some sort of rapport, if you will, with an athlete, so it’s not like he’s actually starting from scratch like some other individual who wants to become an agent.

Jay may still face some problems moving forward. He’s signed a baseball player, but the NFL Players Association has requirements for agents who want to represent their players. These include a bachelors and post graduate degree, passing a certification test and attending training courses. But, if Jay wants to continue to serve as just a star recruiter, and let his partners at the Creative Artists Agency handle things, Kobritz thinks he’ll find success for now.

KOBRITZ: In the short term, he’s affiliating with others who are licensed and do have experience, so I don’t think in the short run it’s going to be a major concern.

And even if major issues arise, when it comes to business moves he will probably do as his 2009 song says and just move on to the next one.

Lance Dixon, Columbia Radio News.

(Fade in “On to the Next One” after SOC then fade out.)

Listen to the full piece: 

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

HOST INTRO:

After years of fighting for equality on the mat, female wrestlers at public high schools
across New York City are now in a league of their own. Jessica Gould reports …

Listen to the full piece: 

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

HOST:

It’s been two weeks since Olympic runner Oscar Pistorius was charged with the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. The circumstances that led to the tragedy are still under investigation. The case has prompted a broader discussion  about the problems of  other athletes, and the guns and mental trauma that may lead to domestic violence. Lance Dixon reports.

REPORTER:

Whether Oscar Pistorius purposely intended to kill his girlfriend or not remains uncertain for now.
But, his case raises greater questions about other high-profile athletes involved in incidents of violent
behavior. Sports psychologist Sara Hickmann has worked with the New York Jets and she says that if
athletes are more prone to these behaviors it might have to do with their celebrity status. (:20)

SARA HICKMANN: “It’s more about abusing power and control, and the mentality of, “I own you, you
are here to serve me. I need to call the shots I’m going to do things how I want to. If you push back I’m
going to inflict pain on you and put you back in your place.” (:16)

There are plenty of examples of athletes involved in violence off the field. Like former New England
Patriots receiver, and occasional reality TV star, Chad Johnson, who arrested for allegedly head-
butting his wife. Or Chicago Bears receiver Brandon Marshall. He has a history of disputes with former
girlfriends and even his wife allegedly leading to stabbing and choking incidents and more. Nearly all
the charges in these cases were eventually not filed, dropped or reduced. Hickmann says that kind of
impunity is not uncommon. (:29)

HICKMANN:

“I think often times the consequences are not appropriate or proportionate to the offense and it’s
harder for them to learn, oh this is probably not a good idea, because they haven’t had the same
consequences as the average person.” (:15)

If the athletes own guns the stakes are higher. Baltimore Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs was ordered to
give up his seven guns last year after he allegedly punched his girlfriend and dragged her on the ground.
In a separate incident only 11 days later, Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher shot and killed his
girlfriend and then committed suicide. Hickmann says that when players she works with are charged
with domestic violence, specific questions arise. (:25)

HICKMANN:

“Do you have a gun? Do you have a weapon? Do you feel that’s the best thing for you right now while
you’re working through the way you feel about your relationship?” (:08)

In suicide cases, brain trauma can be a factor. As it was with retired linebacker Junior Seau who
committed suicide last May. He was found to be suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy or
CTE, a disease caused by multiple blows to the head and concussive damage. CTE expert, Dr. Julian
Bailes, says other problems are usually involved when CTE leads to suicide. (:22)

JULIAN BAILES:

“Those problems are often failed businesses, failed marriages, failed finances, and then it goes on to
include things like depression and often alcohol or substance abuse, cognitive impairment and many
end in suicide.” (:15)

Hickmann notes that the competitive nature of sports can lead to aggressive behavior off the field, but
Bailes says that that competitive nature is not exclusive to athletes. (:09)

BAILES:

“Everybody who’s in a competitive environment probably feels certain pressures and stresses and a
need to perform. So I think that regardless of what sport you’re in or even what profession you’re in.
Some of these are natural aspects of human behavior.” (:15)

We won’t know for sure what Pistorius did that night until his trial begins in June. But, we do know he
was extremely competitive as a double-amputee and that’s why he was celebrated by so many.

Lance Dixon, Columbia Radio News. (:14)

The Tampa Bay Rays play the New York Yankees at Steinbrenner Field on March 7. Photo by Kathy Willens, AP.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

BY HRISTINA TISHEVA

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

NFL's Roger Goodell (left) and NFLPA's DeMaurice Smith are the main players in these negotiations. Photo by Charles Dharapak/AP.

The National Football League and its union, the NFL Players Association announced today they’ve agreed to meet with a federal mediator for the next week. It’s an effort to negotiate a new Collective Bargaining Agreement and avoid a strike that could mean an entire year without football.

Simply put, team owners and players are at odds on how to divide football’s massive revenues: a 9 billion dollar pie. Other points of disagreement include the addition of two regular season games, increased benefits for retired players and a rookie salary cap. Robert Boland is a sports business professor at New York University. He says team owners have considerable leverage.

“The worst-case scenario probably right now is that the owners would choose to shut down the game to force an agreement on the players,” he said. “The players would eventually run out of money and sue for peace.”

This is called a lockout. It’s the management’s way of offsetting a strike. Boland says strikes are legal in football, but costly.

“A lockout allows management to stop that economic damage from happening at a critical time by saying we’re just going to cease operation so you can’t hurt us,” he said. “It’s been quite effective in hockey and basketball.”

In the event of a lockout, players wouldn’t get any bonuses or workout off-season money. Team owners on the other hand would still be able to rely on billions of dollars in television revenue. Recently, the players’ union director, DeMaurice Smith, reminded reporters that team owners have consistently earned more since 2006, when the last union contract was struck. Yet, player’s salaries are still years behind.

“We have pushed hard to first get a proposal to understand a justification for a rollback in players share that would put us back around 1992 or 1993,” Smith said. “It’s that serious.”

But NFL commissioner Roger Goodell says the process can’t be rushed. During his annual State of the League press conference on February 4^th, the mood was pretty light, even when player and sometime journalist Chad Ochocinco took the mic.

But then, the Cincinnati Bengals receiver asked him when to expect a deal. Goodell wouldn’t commit.

“We will get an agreement, and I think that’s only going to happen when there’s intense negotiations between your union and the owners,” he said. “This is this the window of opportunity to get this done right because otherwise uncertainty is going to seep into all of our operations.”

Both sides have yet to make concessions. Ken Belson writes about the business of sports for the New York Times. He says the dispute has been somewhat sensationalized by both parties and the media.

“It feels a little bit like a Hollywood negotiation, just given the stature of the players and the league,” he said. “I’ve covered enough labor negotiations to know that a lot of this is theater for our consumption to get one side’s point across or the other side’s point across, and both sides will sort of claim that Armageddon is near.”

Boland, the NYU professor, says the ball is now in the owners’ hands. He says if games are shut down, they would lose money because they wouldn’t sell any tickets or play any games.

“However, they would have a long period of time before they actually play any of those games,” he said. “If they locked out in March, they’d have six months really before games started to be played again and they had any real loss. So they would at least make money in the short run from their television revenue, and not have to play the players.”

A lockout would still  end up hurting team owners, if only for the potential loss of thousands of fans. Boland says that every sport that’s had a significant work stoppage, like a loss of half a season or the loss of a championship, has always taken a lot of time to recover.