Joe Pack
10-22-2003, 8:44 PM
My apologies for being WAY off topic here, but I know the breadth of backgrounds here, and hope someone can steer me in the right direction. Plus, I just GOTTA talk at someone who might empathize.
I just got off the phone with a former student of mine, a quiet, kind, shy, unassuming 17 year old senior whose hobby for the past few years has been bicycle racing. I knew he had ridden in a few races in Ohio, and a few even around the US, but I assumed that he was just a serious hobbyist. I found out he was a bit more than that when he called a couple of months ago to tell me about his summer in Europe as part of a US team. Knowing that lots of kids are part of a "US" team that is really just part of a glorified vacation tour, I thought just that when he started talking. Then, I found out that the trip cost him nothing except his meals - not the glorified tour I expected. And, then, I found out that he had won far more than half the races he had entered, and those against international competition....Okay, you get the picture of a high school kid who does pretty well against other high school kids. My picture, too.
Some background...This young man rarely mentions his father. Other than spending a little more time with him than most kids, we were not particularly close when he was in my jr. high and high school classes -- just talked a lot about mostly trivial things. Evidently it meant a great deal to him, though, because one day he came up to my room after school to talk, and, in the course of talking to me about "guy" stuff, including stuff about his father, actually asked if it would be okay if he called me "Dad." Wow. How to handle that? Now, four years later, he is asking me what I think he should do at a major turning point in his young life, and I want to help. For a little while, I will be his "dad," but I need help and advice myself.
Tonight, just a few minutes ago, he called again. This time it was to ask for my advice about an offer made to him to race again. Friends, I was totally blown away when he told me he has been offered a contract (50+ pages, 3 copies in hand) to race for a California based team then, after the racing season, train with the US Postal Team! HIS CONTRACTUAL OFFER IS FOR AN EXTREMELY HIGH SALARY, WITH BONUS INCENTIVES..
My first comment was, "Mike, you need an attorney, and right now!!!!" He said that he had already contacted an attorney, "some guy in ..." in a nearby town. No disrespect intended, but I told him that he needed someone with expertise in this kind of deal - someone who was familiar with athletic contract law, not someone who handled traffic tickets and divorces. He was not sure of his attorney's background, but, given the lack of research, I am skeptical.
I then asked him what his mother had said, and he said that she said, "If you want to do it, go for it. I'll sign the papers." "I haven't told her how much money the contract is for, because I think she'll freak out..." Other than that, the young man doesn't have much guidance, and is, naturally, a little afraid.
The "dad" thing I can handle, I think. What I have zero experience with is the legal thing - information on an attorney who would be experienced in handling this contractual thing. How/where does one go to find an attorney (in the Cleveland, OH area - we are about 50 miles west of Cleveland) who would be experienced enough in this field to give advice on what is, essentially, an athletic contract. I don't want to be involved in this end, but I want to steer him toward someone who will look out for his interests without taking advantage of him.
If any of our attorney woodworking friends out there care to weigh in on this one, I promise to not tell lawyer jokes for at least 3 days. If any of our non-attorney friends want to weigh in, I'll send you my updated list of lawyer jokes.
Thanks for reading, folks. Wish him (and me) luck.
I just got off the phone with a former student of mine, a quiet, kind, shy, unassuming 17 year old senior whose hobby for the past few years has been bicycle racing. I knew he had ridden in a few races in Ohio, and a few even around the US, but I assumed that he was just a serious hobbyist. I found out he was a bit more than that when he called a couple of months ago to tell me about his summer in Europe as part of a US team. Knowing that lots of kids are part of a "US" team that is really just part of a glorified vacation tour, I thought just that when he started talking. Then, I found out that the trip cost him nothing except his meals - not the glorified tour I expected. And, then, I found out that he had won far more than half the races he had entered, and those against international competition....Okay, you get the picture of a high school kid who does pretty well against other high school kids. My picture, too.
Some background...This young man rarely mentions his father. Other than spending a little more time with him than most kids, we were not particularly close when he was in my jr. high and high school classes -- just talked a lot about mostly trivial things. Evidently it meant a great deal to him, though, because one day he came up to my room after school to talk, and, in the course of talking to me about "guy" stuff, including stuff about his father, actually asked if it would be okay if he called me "Dad." Wow. How to handle that? Now, four years later, he is asking me what I think he should do at a major turning point in his young life, and I want to help. For a little while, I will be his "dad," but I need help and advice myself.
Tonight, just a few minutes ago, he called again. This time it was to ask for my advice about an offer made to him to race again. Friends, I was totally blown away when he told me he has been offered a contract (50+ pages, 3 copies in hand) to race for a California based team then, after the racing season, train with the US Postal Team! HIS CONTRACTUAL OFFER IS FOR AN EXTREMELY HIGH SALARY, WITH BONUS INCENTIVES..
My first comment was, "Mike, you need an attorney, and right now!!!!" He said that he had already contacted an attorney, "some guy in ..." in a nearby town. No disrespect intended, but I told him that he needed someone with expertise in this kind of deal - someone who was familiar with athletic contract law, not someone who handled traffic tickets and divorces. He was not sure of his attorney's background, but, given the lack of research, I am skeptical.
I then asked him what his mother had said, and he said that she said, "If you want to do it, go for it. I'll sign the papers." "I haven't told her how much money the contract is for, because I think she'll freak out..." Other than that, the young man doesn't have much guidance, and is, naturally, a little afraid.
The "dad" thing I can handle, I think. What I have zero experience with is the legal thing - information on an attorney who would be experienced in handling this contractual thing. How/where does one go to find an attorney (in the Cleveland, OH area - we are about 50 miles west of Cleveland) who would be experienced enough in this field to give advice on what is, essentially, an athletic contract. I don't want to be involved in this end, but I want to steer him toward someone who will look out for his interests without taking advantage of him.
If any of our attorney woodworking friends out there care to weigh in on this one, I promise to not tell lawyer jokes for at least 3 days. If any of our non-attorney friends want to weigh in, I'll send you my updated list of lawyer jokes.
Thanks for reading, folks. Wish him (and me) luck.