Daily Archives: February 11, 2004

Cheney-Scalia Hunting Trip

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Jay Leno last night in his monologue on The Tonight Show:
“This is unbelievable to me. Vice President Dick Cheney went duck hunting with Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, private jet, you know, a hunting reserve up in the mountains.
And Scalia went with him while the Supreme Court is still deciding a case involving Dick Cheney’s energy task force. Cheney said today there is no conflict of interest.
And just to be sure, he said as soon as Halliburton finishes construction of Justice Scalia’s new home, he will look into it personally to make sure there is no problem.”

Fifth Circuit Big News

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Two fine federal appellate judges with Texas ties will be getting married to one another this summer. Chief Judge Carolyn Dineen King and Senior Circuit Judge Thomas M. Reavley, of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, are getting married this summer. All the best to both of these fine jurists.

Wes Clark says goodbye

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As noted in this earlier post, Ryan Lizza of the New Republic Online has been writing a terrific blog from the Democratic Party presidential campaign trail. Today’s entry focuses on the demise of the Wes Clark Campaign, which one Democratic pundit characterized as “Michael Jordan playing baseball.”

Museum of Fine Arts receives huge gift

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The Houston Chronicle reports on Houston’s Museum of Fine Arts‘ announcement of the late Caroline Wiess Law‘s bequest of almost 60 artworks valued at between $60-85 million. Mrs. Law was a daughter of Harry Wiess, one of the founders of Humble Oil Co., the predecessor to Exxon Mobil. Mr. Wiess and his wife Olga were founding members of the Museum of Fine Arts, which has grown into the centerpiece of Houston’s Museum District just north of the Texas Medical Center.

Tinkerbell, meet Howard Stern

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The WSJ (subscription required) weighs in with this article on Philadelphia-based Comcast‘s bid for Walt Disney Co. (can something be surprising and expected a the same time?). The LA Times article is also on top of the story, including a copy of Comcast’s letter to Disney’s Michael Eisner.
Given Eisner’s poor recent performance as Disney’s CEO and his stubborn refusal to give up the reins to Disney, the fact that an adverse takeover bid has emerged is not surprising. However, it is surprising that a company such as Comcast is the bidder. Comcast, essentially a cable TV company, controls a rather unusual programming line, including the controversial talk-show host Howard Stern’s show, the Golf Channel, and G4, a videogame channel.
My sense is that the late Walt Disney would not be particularly bullish on the potential market benefits of combining Tinkerbell with Howard Stern.

Buying assets out of bankruptcy

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Acquiring assets from a company in bankruptcy is arguably the best way to acquire assets in a way that prevents the bankrupt companies’ creditors from asserting any interests or claims against the assets. However, such bankruptcy “cleansing” of sales is not limitless. John Higgins, a Houston attorney and old friend, oversaw the writing of this Houston Business Journal article on asset sales in bankruptcy. It is a good overview of the law in this area for businesspersons and non-bankruptcy lawyers.

NFL Moves for a Stay in the Clarett Case

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This previous post reported on the National Football League‘s recent loss in attempting to prevent former Ohio State underclassman running back Maurice Clarett from entering this year’s NFL Draft. Yesterday, the NFL requested that the federal district judge stay the order requiring the NFL to allow Clarett to be eligible for its 2004 draft pending the NFL’s appeal of that order.
Clarett’s attorneys have an interesting strategic decision to make here. Clarett would be eligible for the 2005 NFL Draft under the league’s current rules. Also, my sense is that Clarett has a strong case on appeal and will probably win it. Inasmuch as any such stay would be conditioned upon the NFL posting a rather large bond, Clarett may be better off strategically attempting to move the District Judge to set a high bond in favor of Clarett in connection with granting the NFL a stay of the order. In that case, Clarett could use the next year preparing for the 2005 NFL Draft (I’m sure Ohio State would not mind having him back for a season) and recover a windfall if the NFL posts the bond and then loses the subsequent appeal. Certainly something to consider.
Well, so much for that strategy. The Judge in the Clarett case has already denied the NFL’s motion for stay in this order.

LeBron’s a Bargain

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LeBron James is an 19 year old phenom (his favorite breakfast food is Fruity Pebbles) who signed a $19 million contract out of high school with the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association. This Forbes article explains why James is a bargain, even at that price:

By the time the 19-year-old James turns 25, the muscular 6-foot-8, 240-pound forward will have earned upwards of $200 million from playing basketball and sponsoring sneakers, trading cards and soft drinks. That’s a record for an NBA rookie: Not even Michael Jordan made that much in his first seven years.
Could one player be worth so much? Actually he’s a bargain. By James’ seventh season, FORBES calculates, he’ll have generated $2 billion in revenues for his team and all his sponsors. Not a bad return.

CSM on Haiti Unrest

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The increasing political unrest in Haiti was noted earlier here. Today, the Christian Science Monitor provides a good overview of the current conflict. Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department warned Americans against travel to Haiti.

Methodist Hospital Announces Major Expansion Project

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The Houston Chronicle reports today that Methodist Hospital in Houston’s Texas Medical Center has announced a huge expansion that will likely cost just under a billion dollars when completed. Methodist Hospital and St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital are two of the major hospitals in the Texas Medical Center. Baylor College of Medicine, one of two medical schools in the Medical Center, has traditionally used Methodist as its primary teaching hospital, but has recently expanded its relationship with St. Luke’s amidst widespread speculation that Baylor is considering termination of its relationship with Methodist. It will be interesting to see how or if Methodist’s expansion impacts Baylor’s decision on whether to maintain its long relationship with Methodist.