Albany Government Law Review

While the title of this piece fits well within the context of the Albany Government Law Review symposium, the addition of “A Reality Show” does not, and certainly begs some explanation. The facts are that “by day,” I am a law professor specializing in constitutional law and federal courts. But for an extended period of time, “by night,” so to speak, I assisted/represented a variety of amateur high school and college baseball players in regard to the potential, usually via the draft, of forsaking their amateur career to sign and play professional baseball with a Major League Baseball team. So this is notice to the reader, though published in a scholarly journal, and given my occupation, having previously published scholarly pieces in such journals, this is not such a piece. Befitting (hopefully) the intent of the Albany Government Law Review symposium, this is an essay dedicated to the real world of amateurism and professional sport negotiations, which will provide insight into how it works, how it happens, and the impact of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rules in the real world. Thus, this essay is in the nomenclature of present day media, if you will, “A Reality Show!”